=

Chapter 4 - Aftermath: Enter the Venus Adept

Isaac woke up the next day to find out that he was boiling. Realising that he was smothered in three blankets, he threw them off immediately. However, as he climbed out of bed, he got a thumping pain in his head. Trying not to notice, he gingerly stumbled out of his bedroom to find five teenage Adepts asleep on the floor {"You know what I'm thinkin’ - No hentai. Capishe?"}.
He yawned and poked Garet awake.
"Jenna... mmph... oww! ... um... will you marry me?...... you will? ......."
Garet's eyes popped open, and he looked up to see the blonde Earth Adept standing over him. "Darnit! I was so close!"
"Oh well. Better luck in the real world," Isaac said, sneering.
Garet turned red and muttered unpleasant things under his breath.
"What's going on here, anyway?" Isaac asked, looking around at the dozing bodies.
"Er..." Garet began, "I can explain!"
"Explain what?"
"..."
"Let's just get the others awake."
Garet nodded then one by one they nudged the others awake, Jenna first (Garet nearly tripped over her, remembering the dream), Mia last (Isaac seemed to be trying to poke a leave awake, it was that soft).
"Avast, me hearties! We seek thee treasure coves of the seven seas... oww!"
Sheba had bashed Ivan on the head to bring him back into reality.
"Man, this headache's killing me," Isaac muttered, rubbing his head. Everyone looked at each other darkly, but typically Isaac didn't notice. He had his head down and still looked in considerable pain. Mia looked at him worried, remembering the conversation she and the others had the previous night.
"You should go back to bed, Isaac," she said, but he stubbornly shook his head - or he would've, anyway. As it was, he just grunted.
"How about you, Mia? You don't look 100% to me, either," Jenna said, and Garet. Ivan and Sheba nodded.
"No, I shouldn't. I promised Dora I'd watch Isaac for her," Mia said, but her eyes were baggy, and she looked like a zombie.
"I'm sure my son can look after himself."
Everyone spun around to find Dora had joined the group. Isaac's eyes widened a little.
"Uh... Hello, Mum," he said awkwardly.
"Hello, dear," Dora replied quickly. She turned back to Mia.
"You were awake all night?" Sheba asked. Mia nodded slowly.
"Most of it. I've just had an hour's sleep just now, that's all."
"Well, that just cannot substitute for a good night's sleep," Dora said. "You need a decent rest, Mia, and I won't accept no for an answer."
"But -" Mia began.
"Dora's right," Jenna said. "If you don't get a few hours asleep, you'll be in no condition to care for Isaac." Jenna had a definite teasing tone in her voice, and as the other Adepts sniggered, Mia and Isaac blushed slightly, despite her condition.
Dora smiled.
"Then it's settled," she concluded. But as she started to lead an exhausted Mia into Isaac's room, he sped into it hurriedly.
"Sorry!" he called.
"Isaac, what are you -" Dora began, but Isaac reappeared quicker than darkness to a room with the lights turned off. He was breathing quickly, as if he was frightened of something.
"Sorry," he said again. Suddenly, the pain returned to his head and he knelt down, holding his head. Everyone, Mia included, looked at him worriedly.
"You all right, bro?" Garet asked.
"Argh... I - I'm fine," Isaac muttered, but still Dora looked doubtful.
"I said this long ago on the day you, Garet and Jenna set off on your adventure," she said impatiently, "You're just as stubborn as your father!"
Garet and Jenna remembered that all too well.
"I don't care what you say, you're not well. You're getting some rest," Dora said, then turned to Mia. "You too, Missy."
"But -"
However, Dora dragged Mia into Isaac's room, and that was that. After Dora came out, she glared at Isaac.
"I'm waiting, young man."
"Yes, Mum," Isaac said, and he stumbled into a guest room. He seemed to be looking a little drunk, but that might've been because of the headache. When the door closed with a WHAM, Dora dropped her touch expression and grew a smile. The others became scared.
"I swear," Dora said, "These two are like peas in a pod, never wanting to check for their own safety." Suddenly, Felix crashed into the house and stomped upstairs.
"Felix! Felix! Felix!" unknown audiences cheered from the middle of nowhere, Jerry Springer style. Felix bowed briefly before advancing on the teenage Adepts. He was holding an unlabelled bottle, and his hair looked a shade of lime green. Everyone took one look at him, then covered their mouths quickly to stifle their laughs. This infuriated Felix even more, and he glared at them as he held out the label-less bottle.
"Someone changed my shampoo," he said in a Severus Snape voice. "Someone has changed my shampoo to hair colouring, and I want to know who... oh, hello, Dora," he added, having spotted her.
"Hello, Felix," Dora replied casually. "Excuse me kids, but I have some laundry to do." She left, leaving the younger Adepts to face the older psycho Adept.
"I'm waiting," Felix said impatiently. Everyone was still trying to pull his or her gaze from his wacky hair.
"Erm, we don't know what you're talking about, dear brother," Jenna said, feigning innocence (or trying to).
"I must say, though," Ivan added, "That hair really suits you."
Everyone looked at him.
"What are you talking about?" Felix asked coldly.
"Well," Ivan began, "You're a Venus Adept, and that hair makes you look like a tree."
That broke the dam holding back everyone's laughter, and they collapsed on the floor, laughing their butts off. Felix's face became an image of twisted fury, and everyone quickly fell silent.
"You think this hair is funny?" he spat, spraying Jenna and Garet. "I'm still waiting for someone to fess up."
Just then, Isaac re-emerged from a guest room, rubbing his eyes. Felix rounded on him.
"Do you know the meaning of this?" he said, waving the guilty bottle in front of Isaac's face.
Isaac took one look at it, then a thin smile spread across his face. The others watched him curiously as he recalled events of the previous day in his mind.

*

"What's all the fuss, guys?" Isaac said with a wide grin on his face. "Babysitter schmaybesitter! It concerns not a Jedi like myself."
Everyone's eyes grew wider than satellite dishes.
"Isaac, what -" Mia started, but Isaac was already setting off towards town. "... I think he's lost it," Ivan said, and everyone murmured some word of agreement as they followed Isaac into town.

^

As the group of Adepts entered town, they were halted by a strange man in a green tunic (No, not Link). He was holding a tray of peculiar-looking purple-iced cupcakes, which seemed to be giving off a weird scent. Everyone shrugged as they walked past him and wandered into the nearby Weapons Shop. Everyone, that is, except Garet.
"I'll take two," he said, and although the price was suspiciously high, he wolfed down the cupcakes greedily. Smacking his lips, he turned around to thank the man, only to find that he wasn't there anymore. Looking around, he realised the group had disappeared into the Weapons Shop, and he hurried in after them.
"Shh!" Ivan demanded, putting finger to lips. Garet nodded and the group continued exploring the shop. Finding nothing of value they left then found a convenience store and entered.
"Excellent," Isaac muttered, rubbing his hands together. "It's all going to plan..."
The others followed him at an increased distance.
"Anyone know what -" Garet stopped abruptly. He spoke again. "Does ... Hey! What happened to my voice?"
Everyone except Isaac and Mia (who had continued on ahead) held their mouths shut tightly, in a vain attempt to smother their laughter. Garet slid quietly back out of the store, desperate to avoid attracting attention, and Jenna, Ivan and Sheba followed him out, mouths bulging like volcanoes.

@

"Now," Isaac muttered to himself, "Where's the place for the hair products?..."
He paced carefully up and down the aisles with Mia following quietly behind him. Eventually he stopped at Aisle 87 {"Don't ask."} and hurried down to the hair colouring section.
"Isaac, what are you doing?" Mia asked timidly. Isaac's mouth turned upwards into an evil smirk.
"A certain Venus Adept friend of ours is going to get a nasty surprise when he takes his next shower," he said smugly, looking up and down the shelves. Eventually he located the bottle he was looking for, then used "Move" to lower it down to him. He then turned to Mia, who stepped back nervously.
"W-What's wrong?" she asked, but Isaac resumed his innocent act.
"Oh, nothing. C'mon, let's get outta here and find the others."
Mia nodded, then she and Isaac looked around.
"Uh, where are we?" Mia asked nervously, but the look on Isaac's face told her he didn't know either.

@

"Say something else," Sheba urged Garet. He shook his head stubbornly, and everyone sighed.
"Forget it," Ivan said, "He's too much of a wuss."
"Oy! I resent that!" Garet shouted, but a squeaky voice came out of his mouth. Jenna, Ivan and Sheba erupted in laughter again, and Garet's face twisted in contained fury. However, his squeaky voice prevented any feeling of apprehension, and this angered him even more {"Kinda like deja vu, eh?"}. Luckily, Isaac and Mia finally managed to escape the store, so any chance of Garet exploding became non-existent. They looked around at the band of Merry Adepts and sweatdropped slightly.
"What happened?" Mia asked. Slow, smug smiles grew on the faces of Jenna, Ivan and Sheba, and Garet suddenly closed his mouth as if the end of the world was contained inside of it.
"Jenna, would you like to do the honours?" Sheba asked.
"Well, I'll put Garet out of his misery quickly," Jenna said, then took a deep breath to swallow any more giggles that might escape. "Garet's voice has become squeaky."
A spout of laughter erupted from Isaac's mouth before he could cover it. Garet glared at him coldly, but instead of being intimidated, Isaac's grin grew wider.
"What's so funny?" Garet demanded. However, his squeaky voice erased any source of authority, and everyone rolled on the ground laughing. Garet seethed with fury.

^

A mysterious figure's head popped out of the bushes outside Felix and Jenna's house. After checking that no one was in sight, he jumped out, armed with a familiar bottle; however, it had no label. He wore a plastic mask, just in case, and entered the house.
The stranger was swift and silent in his ascent into the bathroom of the house. Discovering it, he slipped into it quietly and looked around. Brushes, containers of make-up lipsticks, hair gel, wigs... wigs? ... never mind. In the corner of his eye, he found what he was looking for: a labelled bottle reading: 'Felix's Shampoo! Touch and you'll be sitting on a different kind of Mt. Aleph!'
The stranger smirked, ripped off the label, then pasted it on the unlabelled bottle. Suddenly, he heard someone enter the house, and quickly made his escape, Felix's bottle in hand.

*

“What’s so funny?” Felix demanded. Isaac’s expression had become spacey again, so he zoned back into reality and took a moment to remember what was going on.
“… Huh? I don’t know what you mean, Felix,” he said, shrugging. Felix wasn’t amused, so he positioned himself in front of the stairs. Isaac yawned idly.
“I’m not leaving until I get a confession,” Felix said, folding his arms. “Whatever,” Isaac said. “Just try and keep your voice down. Mia’s asleep in the next room.
“Who, Mia?” Felix smirked a little, and Isaac became taken aback. “She hasn’t seen the shrine, has she?”
“I’m going back to sleep,” Isaac said suddenly. “And Felix, good luck - you’ll need it.” He yawned again and went back to the guest room, a smug smile playing on his face, although no one saw it.
“What was that about?” Jenna asked Felix, who was still smirking.
“Simple. As we all know, Isaac and Mia like each other -”
“They do?” Garet asked. Everyone groaned. “What?”
“How slow are you?” Ivan asked exasperatedly. “That’s been obvious since they day we met Mia back in Imil.”
“Oh… oh! That’s why he goes googly every time he sees her,” Garet said. Jenna whacked him on the head with annoyance. “Oww!”
“Shush!” Ivan said. Jenna “hmph”-ed, then Ivan turned back to Felix. “Yeah, so what’s this about a shrine?”
“Well…” Felix began, then started to remember a flashback of his own…

*

“Hail, Princess Mia!”
Isaac bowed repeatedly before a large picture of the Water Adept. He was in his room – well, sorta.
Isaac’s room has several tweaks, secret compartments and stuff other people wouldn’t usually know about. First was the basic scene of the average teenager.
This was the neutral setting of Isaac’s room and was usually set when visitors came to call. It consisted of an untidy wardrobe, jammed with clothes; his medium-sized bed with the blankets sprawled all over it; a rack for his bike and the bike itself; a TV; and a set of shelves, filled with books.

A certain book concealed a secret switch – the book was “Ways To Infuriate Venus”, the switch was green. When activated, Isaac’s room transformed into a secret cove. The cove was a shrine to a certain Mercury Adept, and that Mercury Adept was… Mia! {“Bet you didn’t see that coming… cough.”}
Shrines being shrines, this one consisted of the basics: A giant picture of the idol/king/queen/similar almighty person (Let’s just call the person a God/Goddess for the meantime); a life-size statue of the God/Goddess; miscellaneous items belonging to or associated with the person (In this case, a lock of Mia’s hair); and of course the person who worships the God/Goddess. As a way to avoid people listening in to regular rituals, the shrine was also fitted with sound-proof walls. Lastly, a comfortable floor is essential for effecting grovelling – you don’t want to get scabby knees when you’re praying. This floor was of the softest fabric, and was somehow decorated with Mercury Djinni {“I think that’s the word.”}.
Anyway, enough textbook information, back to the flashback. Isaac seemed to be grovelling in his Shrine of Mia (Or SoM – I don’t think there’s an inappropriate translation of that acronym), and didn’t know that Felix had come for a visit. Felix seemed to have run out of hair gel, and he was too lazy to go buy some more. No one else was at home at the time, so Felix decoded to pay Isaac a little “Hello, good to see you” visit. That usually translates to: “Hello, shorty. I’m here to make your day a living Hell” – in Isaac’s case, anyway.
However, Isaac forgot one minor detail when he designed his SoM – a lock for the door. So he didn’t expect Felix to catch him.
“Oh, Princess Mia! I worship thee, I love thee, I cherish thee! Speak to me, oh Almighty Mercury Adept!”
Felix couldn’t resist, so he cleared his throat and imitated a girly voice {“No offence to girls, of course. Better to be safe than sorry.”}
“Isaac, I love you! I love you with all my heart!”
“… what the?” Isaac spun around and saw Felix, who was trying to keep a straight face and hold back laughter at the same time (Which is difficult, let me tell you).
“Hello, Isaac.”
“What are you doing here?” Isaac gasped.
“I came to borrow some hair gel,” Felix said. He took a moment to examine the SoM. “Although I must say, you’ve done a fantastic job with the decorating.”
Isaac flushed with shock and embarrassment, then pounded a switch on the back wall. In a flash, the cove transformed back into Isaac’s untidy room, then Isaac then turned to Felix, redder than a soccer fan at a netball game.
“This way,” he said, then led Felix to the bathroom.
“What type of sinister plans do you have in mind, now that you’ve seen my Shrine of Mia?” Isaac asked, opening a cabinet and grabbing a bottle of hair gel.
“Shrine of Mia?” Felix laughed. “That’s a good one. But don’t worry. Blackmail’s for the weak and incompetent. I’ll keep the information for my own, less devious, purposes.”
Isaac didn’t like the sound of that, but he handed Felix the bottle and led him out of the house. As Felix left and the door closed gently, Isaac leaned against the wall, dreading the possibilities and the consequences of his own incompetence.
Outside, Felix held the bottle of hair gel, wearing a twisted grin. He certainly did have plans, and they weren’t pleasant…

*

Felix had his eyes closed, with the same twisted grin on his face as in the flashback. Everyone had stepped back from him, and was sweatdropping. "And we're back!" Garet said in a sarcastic manner. "Hopefully our next guest is back in the 21st century. Let's give it up for... Felix!"
Felix opened his eyes.
"Shut up," he said, fixing Garet with another icy glare.
"Do you mind telling us what you were grinning about?" Sheba asked impatiently.
Several options swam through Felix's mind. Should he spill the beans? Should he keep his mouth shut? Should he lead them to a path of ultimate confusion and chaos through means of an irrelevant subject? All valid choices, and Felix couldn't decide.
"We're waiting," Jenna said irritably. Felix looked around at the younger Adepts, as they awaited his answer.

=

Lord Cynic: "Yaha! That's Chapter 4 complete. Let's move on to Chapter 5, shall we? Oh, and I apologise beforehand: It's mainly a flashback chapter, centering on the Is/M factor of the fanfic. I didn't realise before that it's no use putting just 'I'... Anyway, this is all my fault, of course. Read on and hopefully I haven't disappointed all of you that much."

Chapter 5 - "A bizarre twist of fate" A.K.A "The Icebreaker" {"Yes, I realise this is the 5th chapter instead of the 4th. Bear with me on this."}

Felix swallowed and pressed the lever on the slot machine. Er, that is, he finally made his decision on the little dilemma he faced.
"............... Garet has a drinking problem."
Cue satellite dishes for eyes. Everyone was staring at Garet, except for Felix who started whistling idly. Garet had a look of pure horror on his face and he looked around at the others.
"... I like drinking bourbon. It soothes the mind."
"Not to mention drowns it in a potential pool of stupidity," Ivan said.
Everyone nodded and Felix breathed an inaudible sigh of relief, glad that he escaped his interrogation.
"Whoa, wait, wait!" Garet said finally. "This isn't about me, darnit! This is about Isaac and his secret!" That seemed to break the ice. "Isaac has one, too?" Jenna exclaimed.
That shattered the ice into tiny shards. The shards fell onto the floor, covering it with water and causing people to slip if they walked onto it. The shards laughed and yelled, "Haha!" as people continuously slipped on them and broke their spines. Huh? Oh yeah.
"Wait a minute," Felix said. "What do you mean, too?"
"Erm..." Jenna turned pink. "Does Isaac's secret happen to be a shrine to a certain Mercury Adept?"
Garet and Felix nodded. "Then you know what I mean," Jenna said.
Felix nodded while Garet was still trying to figure it out.
"Sorry, but I still don't know what you mean," he said, scratching his head. Jenna positively screamed and started chasing Garet around the house with a frying pan.
Felix sweatdropped, and the three seemed to have forgotten a pair of younger Jupiter Adepts. Ivan and Sheba were in the corner - playing cards. {"Haha, fooled ya!"}
"Go fish," Ivan said, smirking. Sheba swore under her breath and drew a card. "Y'know," Ivan said suddenly, "You could've used Mind Read and found out I had a Clubs after all." Ivan showed her his Queen of Clubs, making Sheba fume and bash him on the head with a kettle. This attracted Felix's attention and he looked over at the two Jupiter Adepts, one huffing and holding a cordless kettle 3/4 filled with gravy, and another unconscious on the floor.
"No one messes with me while playing cards and gets away with it," Sheba said, eyes closed and kettle over her shoulder. Due to the laws of physics and gravity, the gravy spilt on the floor, and Sheba ended up slipping on it and rendering herself unconscious.
Felix sweatdropped nervously and watched Jenna chase Garet through the house, still with a frying pan in her hand.

@

Isaac sat up in bed. His migraine had disappeared but he still had his head in his hands. He seemed to be stressing about something.
'Perhaps I should tell her,' he thought. 'What's the worst that can happen?' That's when he heard a tiny voice in his head.
'She'll break your heart. If you confess your feelings to her now and she rejects you, you'll be shattered.'
'Are you sure?' Isaac asked in his mind.
'I'm positive,' the voice replied. 'You'll only end up making things worse.' Suddenly, another voice piped up.
'I disagree,' it said. 'If you don't confess your love for her sooner or later, you'll never get another chance.'
"Huh?" Isaac became confused.
'Oy!' yelled the first voice. 'Buzz off!'
'I have a right to be here, y'know,' the second voice said defiantly. As the voices continued bickering, Isaac's eyes kept darting left and right while he struggled to understand. Eventually his eyes became swivelled and he passed out.
'... that was your fault,' the first voice said. 'I'll get you for this,' the second voice replied, growling. The first voice laughed rudely.

@

Mia tossed and turned in her sleep. She was muttering someone's name. 'Piers... Piers... Pi - Hey!"

?

Mia got up and charged into the author's dressing room, where Lord Cynic was practicing the Macarena.
"'eeeeey, Macaren - Ah! Mia, what are you doing here?"
Mia marched up to him and glared with all her might. "You think this is funny?" she screamed, throwing the script at him. He picked it up and read what she indicated.
"What the... oh, no, no, no. This is all wrong," he said, shaking his head. "What do you mean?" Mia asked, face relaxing.
"This is tomorrow's script," Lord Cynic replied, flipping it over and reading the back. Mia lost it and encased Cynic in a -50 degree icecube.
"You sick pervert!" she shrieked, marching back out of the dressing room. Lord Cynic remained in his crystal form, wondering where the outburst came from.
Eventually the heating allowed him to thaw, and he turned the music back on. "Now, hands out, over, crossed on my chest..." he recited to himself.

?

Take Two! Scenario: Isaac's Room. Lights, camera, action! "Isaac... Isaac... Isaac..." Mia repeated, shaking her head desperately.

+

"Let's be careful, guys," Isaac warned. "The Fusion Dragon won't be a pushover!"
Garet, Ivan and Mia nodded. then turned back to the Fusion Dragon. It was breathing smoke and towering over them, looking generally menacing. However, while to the naked eye she seemed to be watching the giant beast, Mia was secretly watching Isaac as he confidently drew his Gaia Blade from his sheath. Since Isaac, Garet and Ivan stumbled upon Mia in Imil, Isaac had transformed from a shy, nervous boy to a courageous, skilled young man. During the adventure, his confidence had increased, and Mia found herself falling for the Venus Adept. From his spiky blonde hair to the way he handled a sword in battle, Mia thought he was a dream come true. Boys in her hometown of Imil had frequently asked her out, labelling her a figure of beauty. But not once did Mia share the same feelings for any of them. That had changed when a bumbling band of three Adepts had stumbled upon her mystical healing powers. Since then, they had travelled as a team, helping each other through all situations. Sometimes, when she thought no one was looking, she'd watch Isaac during his private training. She'd wonder if she thought she'd be able to build up the courage to admit her feelings to him. Each and every time, a distraction intervened, and she'd spend the rest of the day ruing her lost opportunity. Now, here she was, facing a massive beast. On one side of her was a spiky-haired Mars Adept by the name of Garet, with an obvious crush on one of Saturos and Menardi's hostages. Each time he looked at her, (Jenna, for those not cottoning on) his heart crumbled and he babbled uncontrollably. On Mia's other side was a short blonde Jupiter Adept by the name of Ivan. Since meeting Sheba, another of Saturos and Menardi's hostages, Mia wondered if those two were related - they did share a strange resemblance to each other. And in front of her was the blonde Venus Adept dreamboat. She never thought her good deeds in Imil would pay so, well, handsomely.
"Mia? Hello?"
Mia opened her eyes and found that everyone was staring at her, Isaac included. She blushed, then held her Crystal Rod at the ready.
"Right," Isaac said, turning back to the Fusion Dragon, "Time to meet your maker."
"Your overconfidence will be your downfall," the Fusion Dragon said, then it suddenly lunged at the Adepts.

+ @

Meanwhile, Isaac was also behaving restless in his sleep. Like Mia, he was muttering someone's name - no surprises as to whose name. However, he was clutching something close to his heart: an emerald from Mia's special tiara. "I'll protect you... I'll protect you..." he muttered.

+

"Watch out!" Isaac yelled, then dove at Ivan. They rolled safely out of the way as the Fusion Dragon landed heavily on the ground. Quick as a flash, it recovered and flared its nostrils threateningly, but Isaac grew a Yami Yugi smirk {"Yu-Gi-Oh... you'd probably not understand."}
"Is that all you've got?" he said, leaning on his Gaia Blade and yawning. His friends grew extremely nervous, the Fusion Dragon very irritated.
"Isaac, are you sure you - whoa!" Garet rolled quickly out of the way of one of the Fusion Dragon's flaming spirals {"Y'know, I'm just gonna type FD instead of Fusion Dragon. Waste of time and space."}.
"This isn't a good idea," Ivan said nervously, but he closed his eyes and summoned a "Tornado!"
Suddenly, a massive whirlwind blew towards the monster, but it stamped out the tiny tornado (At least from its perspective) with little fuss.
"Child's play," the FD said with a loud snort. Ivan and Mia sweatdropped exasperatedly, but when they looked at Isaac, they found him with his eyes closed. Soon, Isaac was enveloped in an emerald glow.
"Mother Gaia!" he bellowed, and an avalanche of boulders fell heavily on the gigantic monster, rendering it unconscious.
Isaac dusted his hands off and watched the pile of rubble wearily. Garet, Ivan and Mia stepped out and glanced at the rubble, somewhat with less trepidation than Isaac.
"Well, that's that," Garet said confidently. Ivan nodded, then propped himself on his Kikuichimonji, looking at the fallen body of the FD.
Isaac and Mia seemed less convinced. Isaac was continuously pacing around the Fusion Dragon, while Mia was tending to people's injuries. Eventually, Isaac sat himself beside the Fusion Dragon and sighed heavily.
"Something wrong, Isaac?" Mia asked, looking up from healing Ivan's arm. Isaac closed his eyes again and raised his head to the FD. He had a sullen expression on his face.
"Do you really think this is over?" he asked. Ivan shrugged, Garet raised his eyebrows and Mia gave a look of apprehension {There's a better term, I know there is."}
"We can't be too certain," she said, surveying the mess that Isaac's attack made.
Isaac nodded, got up then stretched. He seemed to be satisfied that the FD had been defeated once and for all.
"Let's get outta here," he said, and everyone nodded. However, as soon as they started to pursue Felix and Sheba, one eye of the FD opened slowly.
Eventually, it rose to its feet and snorted loudly. Isaac spun around just as the Fusion Dragon prepared a Dragon Diver.
"Watch out!" Isaac yelled, and just in time he managed to rescue Mia from being flattened by a 1-tonne Loch Ness wannabe.
Isaac and Mia rolled to safety, then looked at each other. Both faces were covered in shock, then embarrassment as they stared at each other. Isaac's face was growing redder as the FD fumed.
"Yo, lovebirds!"
The distant shouted from Garet shattered the dome containing Isaac and Mia's special world (Each were immersed in their own world, but neither knew about the other's fantasy land). Both jumped, then looked alarmingly at the Fusion Dragon, who was stomping furiously towards them. It was growing continually more agitated, like Isaac, who swore he'd try to kill Garet after this. Ivan got the feeling that the FD and Isaac had some serious temper problems. "Let's get cautious, guys," Isaac said, springing into action once again.

^

"We... won't lose!" the FD cried, as it stumbled around weakly.
Isaac didn't take this in fully; he was cleaning his Gaia Blade with a cloth, and didn't seem to notice the Fusion Dragon's declaration. Garet, Ivan and Mia watched him nervously again, twiddling their thumbs.
Isaac looked at them, then put down his things and put his hands on his hips. "Anything wrong, guys?" he asked, and the others quickly shook their heads and muttered, "No... no."
Suddenly, the Fusion Dragon gave an almighty roar and launched another attack on Mia.
"Dum dee dum - Mia!"
Isaac dropped his stuff except for his Gaia Blade, filled with fury. Garet and Ivan looked up from their Poker game to see a blonde Earth Adept filled with rage. His eyes contained a fire neither Garet nor Ivan knew or saw before. Indeed, they were downright freaked, and scuttled into a corner, clutching their cards with shaking hands.
"You will pay for that!" Isaac yelled, and ran to catch Mia before she collapsed onto the ground. "You killed my father, and I won't let you kill one of my friends!"
He set Mia down safely somewhere out of the way. Mia out of harm's way, Isaac turned around to face the 1-tonne menace.
"If you want to try and kill one of us, try killing me," he said, picking up his Gaia Blade again.
Mia had recovered by now, and she was watching this confrontation without making a sound. Only when Isaac made his pronouncement did she call out worriedly, "Isaac, no!"
"Mia," Isaac began, turning around to face her, "I won't let these monsters destroy the world! And I won't let them kill one of my best friends!" Isaac stopped for a moment. "My true love," he said to himself, but he raised his voice to continue. "So, if I have to sacrifice myself for the future of Angara, the whole world, so be it. I'm not changing my mind on this," he added, seeing Mia open her mouth. She merely nodded.
"Are you sure?" she asked timidly.
"Dead positive," Isaac replied. The FD snorted with contempt.
"And dead you shall soon be," it said.
"We'll see about that," Isaac said, smirking slyly.
And with that, Isaac and the Fusion Dragon launched into battle.

^ @

The scene was pleasantly cheerful. Birds were singing, bees were buzzing and the sun was shining. The mountains provided a nice change of scenery, and there wasn't a cloud in sight. Yes it truly was a beautiful day, without a doubt. No odd things in sight.
"12, 26, 8, hut! Hut! Hut! Hut!"
Okay, I lied. The ice shards were back, and playing American Footy (or Rugby, whatever). They even had miniature helmets and uniforms, and a miniscule ice football.
"31, 82, 48, hut!"
"You join us at a fantastic time," an ice commentator announced. "It's the Glaciers vs the Icebergs, and it's 9-8 in favour of the Icebergs!"
We leave this confusion to find Isaac and the Fusion Dragon sitting at a table... playing cards? Not again...

"Hah! 2 pairs," the FD declared, revealing his cards. Isaac snorted.
"Straight flush," he said, showing his cards. The FD fumed with fury.
"Cheater!" it said, throwing aside the table. Isaac jumped aside with alarm and wielded his Gaia Blade.
"Oh, no you don't," he said, and he struck the FD with immense force.
Surprisingly, that was all it took to destroy the FD once and for all. Its body lay motionless on the ground, and Isaac spat on it.
"Pitiful," he said, eyes narrowed with contempt. With the FD defeated once and for all, he ran back to the other Adepts, and such is life {"Sorry."}

*

Isaac sat up in bed. He was sweating profusely. "I gotta tell her how I feel," he says, but his strength left him, and he fell back into bed.

Chapters 6 & 7 = GO!