A Dark Past... A Bright Future-- The Origin of Elias FF
I was just a normal dark blue rabbit from Lagunicus. Well, I shouldn't exactly say normal, but that was when I was just a baby. I shouldn't say that I was completely dark blue, either. I had light blue stars on the palms of both hands. At first, when I realized that I had them, I thought they were just birthmarks... little did I realize that they would be an important factor in Carrotus' history.
My parents named me Elias, but gave me the nickname of Jazzy, after the legendary Jazz Jackrabbit himself. After all, he's the one who came and liberated our planet from Devan Shell and his minions.
I felt honored to be nicknamed Jazzy at first... that is, until THEY came! They were Devan's minions. They were ordered to find and kill my parents and kidnap me under any circumstances. They succeeded in killing my parents, but were unable to find me. Since I was just a baby, I quickly became a master at hiding in places where no one would ever even think of looking. I was so afraid... I felt as if I had let my parents (as well as Jazz) down.
After Devan's minions left, which seemed to take an eternity as they almost tore the house apart, I quietly snuck out of my hiding place, which in this case... was inside an old matress! I went over to my mom... she was already dead. I could still hear my father shallowly breathing, though. I rushed over to him. That's when he reached into his backpack (despite my wishes for him to keep still) and pulled out a special medallion that I had seen him wearing a few nights before. He gave it to me. "Here, my son," he slowly said. "Take this."
"What is it?" I asked.
"It's a medallion... with a picture of a jaguar-- etched into it. Whenever you want to-- call upon the spirit of the jaguar... just--"
"Just... what? Dad?-- DAD?!! Dad, can you hear me?"
I never got an answer from him. My dad had died in the middle of his sentence. I don't ever recall crying so much in my entire life.
"Why?" I thought to myself. "Why did this have to happen?!! I'm just a child! I wish that--"
I was interrupted when both the medallion and the stars on the palms of my hands started to glow with a harmonious hum. I placed the medallion, with the picture face-down, onto one of my hands.
What happened next almost scared the life out of me! My entire body started to glow with the same soft blue tone as my hands and the medallion. Then, my right foot changed... followed by my left-- and soon, my entire lower body had become that of a jaguar! My chest then widened, and my voice deepened dramatically. My arms became really muscular, and I knew that this was a sign... a sign of hope.
As the final stages of my metamorphosis began to take effect, I looked at my dead parents... and vowed to get my revenge on Devan Shell... even if it meant getting myself killed in the process!
I took the medallion and put it around my neck. I was still in my jaguar form, but right now, I didn't really care! All I cared about was finding the one rabbit that I knew could help me... the legendary JAZZ JACKRABBIT himself! So, I went over to where my parents kept all their money, took it out, grabbed my father's old blaster, and headed to the airport for the next shuttle to Carrotus.
I made my way to the airport, which was 125 miles away from my current location. I ran as fast as I possibly could, stopping only to catch my breath... which wasn't very often.
You see, ever since Jazz came to my planet and I saw just how fast he was, I was determined to become as fast as him myself. The funny part was, this was when I was just around five years old! Four years had past since I made that decision, but in that time, I practiced like there was no tomorrow... I hadn't become as fast as Jazz yet, but I could run at half his top speed.
It took me over 2 hours to reach the airport. Upon entering, I noticed that there was a shuttle leaving for Carrotus in about three hours. I cautiously went up to the lady who was in charge of selling tickets and tried my best to be noticed. (Short size has a lot of disadvantages, I can tell you that!!)
It took me a full five minutes to get her to look down. "Hello... welcome to Lagunicus Airlines. Can I help you?"
"As a matter of fact, yes. I want to buy a ticket for the next shuttle for Carrotus, please." I said, looking at her.
"Aren't you a little young to be flying alone without your parents?" she asked.
I looked down at the floor with a guilty look on my face... she sensed what had happened immediately. "Oh, you poor child. I'm sorry about what I said."
"That's OK. What happened couldn't have been stopped," I said sadly, tears now running down my face.
The lady stared at me for quite some time, then spoke to me again. She seemed to know why I wanted to get to Carrotus so badly. "You want to avenge your parents, don't you?"
I nodded my head.
"Well, I happen to know Jazz myself, so I'll only be glad to help."
Upon saying this, the lady started to process the ticket. She handed it to me seconds later.
"Thanks," I said. "How much do I owe you?"
"Nothing. This ticket is on me."
I looked up at her, and asked her possibly the dumbest question I could ever ask to a sweet lady like her: "What's your name?"
"My name is Autumn... what about you, young man?"
"Elias."
"Well, good luck on your journey, Elias," she told me.
"Thanks, Autumn... I owe you one!" I replied as I headed to the gate. I waved to her upon leaving the booth, with a smile starting to show upon my face.
Around three hours later, I boarded the shuttle to Carrotus. As it rocketed into space, I thought about how it would be great to meet the legendary Jazz Jackrabbit himself. I was so excited that I could barely control myself!
It took nearly five hours to finally reach Carrotus Airlines. I stepped off of the plane and into the building... and received the biggest shock of my life! There... RIGHT THERE... waiting for me-- was the legendary JAZZ JACKRABBIT!!!
I felt the soothing softness of the matress underneath me... SOFT MATRESS?!! The only matress that I had ever slept on was the one at home. Those springs sure gave me a pain in the neck!
I bolted up out of my bed and checked out my surroundings. I knew that I wasn't at the airport... so where was I?!
"Hey, Elias! You're up!"
I looked to my left and noticed a stange-looking rabbit sitting on a chair. He was short and gray, with long floppy bangs and weird electric-like stripes running all over him. The scar on the upper-right part of his arm was HUGE, and one of his ears was pierced with a gold loop in it.
"Who are you? How did you know my name?! Where's Jazz?!! I need to--"
"Whoa, there, Elias! Don't get so uptight!"
The guy was right... I had gotten so excited to meet Jazz that I completely forgot about controlling myself!
"But-- but I, uh..."
"First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Ducky...."
"Ducky, Ducky, Ducky... why does that name sound-- NO WAY!!!" I shouted. "Ducky, is that really you?!! You've grown up so much since I last saw you!"
You see, Ducky had been my best friend ever since I was about 6 years old. He was around fifteen years of age... a huge difference when you really think about it.
"Elias! You remember me! I'm surprised that you almost forgot."
"How are things going?"
"Just great! I'm now working as one of the castle guards around here, and--"
"Castle guards?! You mean you get to protect the Royal Family of Hyrule-- I mean, Carrotus?!" (Sorry folks! Wrong game!)
"That's right-- well, actually, I'm in charge of protecting only Eva Earlong."
"You don't mean THE Eva Earlong, do you?!!"
"Of course, Elias."
Upon hearing this, I must have fainted for the second time. But this time... I didn't wake until morning. It was then that the REAL training would start.
I woke up the next morning, still tired from yesterday's flight. The first thing I saw was a heavenly face looking at me.
"Hi there. I'm Lori... who might you be?"
Stunned at the sight before me, I barely managed to stutter out my name.
"E-E--Eli--Elias."
To tell you the truth, I thought I had died and gone to heaven!! Lori was so BEAUTIFUL!!! Her bright yellow face glowed like the mid-day sun, and her eyes!... Her eyes were like sparkling sapphires, glistening proudly as they met mine. (NOTE: I don't know what color her eyes are, so just bear with me, ok?)
I bolted up out of bed so fast that poor Lori didn't have any time to react! "Whoops! Sorry about that, Lori! Didn't mean to do it." I said as my lips met hers.
"I'll bet," she replied, pulling away. "My brother, Jazz, wants to see you ASAP, so hurry it up!"
"Wait a sec... Jazz Jackrabbit is your BROTHER?!!"
"Uh, yeah! Now hurry up! Jazz hates having to wait!"
With that, I rushed out of bed and grabbed my blaster. "Where's he at?" I asked.
"He's in the Castle Courtyard... where else?"
"Good point! Thanks, Lori!"
---------------------------------------------
In the Castle Courtyard, Jazz was impatiently tapping his foot on the ground. "You're late... we were supposed to start your training ten minutes ago!" he said, a little bit a frustration in his voice.
"Sorry, sir, but I--"
Jazz suddenly cringed. "Please! If there's one thing I hate being called, it's Sir! Just call me Jazz, OK?"
"Um... ok!"
"Now... where should we begin? Ah yes! How about here?"
I looked up, and almost fainted for the third time in three days. The only thing that kept me from doing so was Lori. So... I followed my hero to where he was heading to, waiting for my first challenge.
I followed Jazz for a few minutes until we came to a HUGE wall with hand grips all over it! Looking up in awe, I estimated it to be around 150 feet high! "Oh, my gosh!" I thought to myself. "He's not gonna make me CLIMB this... is he?!!"
Suddenly, Jazz turned around and set his backpack on the ground. Reaching in, he took out two 5-pound weights and strapped them around my wrists.
"Wait a sec! What are these for?!!"
"Elias, you just didn't expect me to tell you to scamper up this wall without something weighing you down, did you? This is to test your strength and endurance!"
"Ay yi yi! I don't know if I'm gonna be able to climb this now!" I told Jazz in a worried voice.
"C'mon, Elias!" Lori told me upon hearing my words. "Believe in yourself, and you can do anything!"
Upon hearing Lori's angelic voice, I suddenly had the confidence to walk up to the wall. Grabbing onto a couple of hand grips, I lifted myself up off of the ground and began the long, exhausting, and painful ascent.---------------------------------------------
Two hours had passed, and I was already halfway up, when all of a sudden, I slipped and fell 20 feet. Everyone gasped.
"Elias! Be careful!" Jazz shouted.
"Relax! I'm OK!" I replied.
Actually, that fall had really shaken me up. I was so nervous of falling again... this time to the ground. I barely managed to make it up to the second half when my grip gave way again.
"Elias! Don't give up! I know you can do it!" Lori yelled out.
That's when I felt a tremendous weight being lifted off of me. I scrambled up the second half of the wall almost no problem!
Jazz, amazed at what he just witnessed, smiled at me from down below. "Great job!" he shouted.
"Thanks!... But you can thank Lori for encouraging me up here!"
With that, I held my special medallion in my hand, morphed into a jaguar, and leapt off of the wall.
"What the heck does he think he's DOING?!!" Spaz asked. "He's more insane than I am!"
I landed on my feet... er-- paws, then slowly walked over to Lori and gave her a big, wet lick on the cheek. I then went back into the castle and got myself a bite to eat, and afterwards, I took the weights off and decided to take a little nap... pretty good thing, too! I'd need all the energy I could muster up!
You know how cats sleep for most of the day, right? Well, I felt like that, because when I woke up, it was 5:30 A.M.! "GEEZ! Did I fall asleep or something?!!" I nearly shouted.
"Yep, you sure did!" Jazz said, already getting breakfast ready.
"Hey, Elias! Glad to see you're awake!"
I turned my head and saw Lori standing in the doorway. I got up and walked to her. "Listen..." I started. "I'm really sorry for what I did yesterday. I shouldn't have licked you in the face like that."
"Hey... it's OK. I was kinda shocked after you did that, though. Do you have some sort of crush on me?"
"Well, um-- er... ah... yeah, I guess I do." I replied in a soft voice, looking into her eyes. "As a matter of fact... whenever I see you, I feel as if an angel from Heaven has come down from above. Your eyes... they sparkle like sapphires, and your face-- it radiates like the warm glow of the sun.... Your voice is so angelic that, whenever I hear it, I feel like I can do anything."
Then I asked her a question I know shouldn't be asked to a woman... "How old are you, Lori?"
"Me? I'm 16. What about you, Elias."
"I'm only 9... but I'm gonna be 10 in a few weeks."
"Heh... you know, Elias, for a kid who's gonna be 10 in a few weeks, you sure do know how to associate with the ladies."
My heart started beating like a machine gun. "Well, I guess I always had that ability... you can ask Ducky about that. She'd know for a fact."
"Oh, Elias, you sure act like a flirt! I think I like you!" Lori replied, giving me a kiss on my forehead.
That kiss hit me like a rocket! It was as if fireworks were going off all around me! That's when I realized it... not only did I have a crush on Lori... I was in LOVE with her!
"BREAKFAST TIME!!!" Jazz announced.
I watched as Lori walked over to the table. "WOW!!! WHAT A WOMAN!!!" I thought to myself as I followed her....
After breakfast, Jazz got up from the table and looked at me sternly. "All right, Elias... spit it out! What's with that medallion around your neck?"
"Why do you wanna know?"
"Your hands are almost always clenched shut! The only time we've ever seen them open is when you're holding that medallion!"
"Look, Jazz! I don't wanna talk about it!" I snapped.
Jazz, not to mention both Spaz and Lori, was shocked at my sudden change in behavior. "I didn't mean it like that! I'm just wondering why you wear that medallion all the time... you never take it off!"
Now I was getting mad. "I said I didn't wanna talk about it! You got a problem with that?!!" With that, I got up and stormed back to my room.
Spaz and Lori glared at Jazz.
"Was it something I said? Jazz wondered, scratching his head.---------------------------------------------
Fifteen minutes had passed since I slammed the door behind me. I was on the guest bed, still crying my eyes out. The fact that my parents were dead STILL hit me like a bullet... which was normal, I guess, considering that it had only been a few days since Devan's minions brutally murdered them. I then began wondering why Devan Shell wanted his cohorts to do such a thing... and on top of that-- why did he want them to KIDNAP me?! It was a mystery that I could not figure out!
My train of thought was derailed when I heard someone knocking on the door. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't gain the strength to get up, walk over, and open it. So I did the next best thing.
"Who is it?"
"A friend.... Could I come in, Elias?"
That was the only answer I got, but it was in a voice that I never heard before. I turned my head toward the door just in time to see it open. A tall, slender rabbit, wearing a long dress and a silver crown (or was it gold? Ah, who cares?!) walked over and sat down in a chair beside my bed.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"Who am I? Why, I'm the rabbit princess of Carrotus, Eva Earlong. Haven't you ever heard of me?"
"Yeah-- I've heard of you. How did you know where I was? How did you know my name, for that matter?!"
That's when Lori came in with a somewhat guilty expression on her face. "Sorry, Elias. I'm responsible for letting her know about you."
"Thanks-- I think," I replied, sitting up on the bed.
Eva noticed my medallion at that point. She pointed to it. "I have a medallion just like that, only it's white and has an eagle etched into it."
"Oh? May I see it?" I asked.
"Of course."
Eva unfastened the latch on her necklace and showed me the medallion. It was an ivory white, and it had a picture of a majestic Bald Eagle on it.
"Who gave this to you?" I questioned.
"My grandmother gave it to my mother, who gave it to me after I turned 16. I always keep it around my neck... but there's one thing that I haven't figured out yet."
"What's that?"
"Sometimes, it starts glowing a pale red... and the palms of my hands start to do the same thing, only it's in the shape of a star. Do you know anything about why this might be so?"
My eyes shot open upon hearing this. Lori was the first one to notice.
"Elias? Is something wrong?"
"Huh? Wha--?! Oh... no, nothing's wrong." I replied, giving the medallion back to Eva.
Lori didn't believe me. "Elias... if something's wrong, just tell us. We don't want to keep any secrets from you, so... would you please tell us?"
"All right...."
I opened up my hands, showing the stars in the middle of my palms. Both Lori and Eva gasped.
"Elias?" Lori asked.
"I'll tell you the whole story... as long as you promise not to tell Jazz or Spaz, OK?"
"We promise."
"All right then...."
With that, I began to tell my story.
Elias started to tell his story:
"It all began about a week ago. I was just doing my normal activity, which was trying to become as fast as Jazz himself. I practiced for a few hours until my mom told me it was time to eat. I went to the table and sat down, just like any normal kid...."
"Go on," Eva said.
"That's when I noticed that my father was wearing this medallion. I thought it was kinda unusual for him to be wearing it. I had never seen it before in my life-- so I asked him what it was."
"Did he tell you?" Lori asked.
"No... he just told me it was a necklace that mom gave to him before they got married. But I knew better."
"Ok... so what you're saying is that you had never seen this before in your life, yet you knew that it wasn't an ordinary necklace, right?" Lori questioned.
"Well-- I guess you could say that. Anyway, around three days ago, as I was sitting close to the computer playing my games, I heard the door being blasted open. My parents suspected trouble and told me to hide. Scared as I was, I did so. What I heard next practically took my childhood away from me."
"What happened?" Eva asked.
"I heard my mom gasping for breath... my mom is unusually strong, so for her to be gasping for breath, I knew that it had to be some of Devan's minions. I grew terrified as she suddenly stopped gasping. They then went for my dad, who had just grabbed his blaster. (I could remember that thing hitting the floor before he got the chance to use it....)"
"What happened after that?" Lori said.
"They came looking for me. I could hear them literally tearing the house apart! It's a good thing they didn't try to look for me inside the matress I hid myself in. I don't even want to think what might have happened if they found me! Anyway, after what seemed like an eternity, I heard them leaving in their spaceships. I slipped out of my hiding spot and rushed over to my mom. She had been choked to death. When I rushed over to my dad, however, he was still breathing, but just barely. That's when he gave me this and told me just what it was... that's when I asked him what it was used for, but he died in the middle of his sentence."
I was growing furious just having to recall those horrible memories, and Eva and Lori sensed this.
"Elias! Calm down! You're out of control!" Lori said to me sternly.---------------------------------------------
It took me five minutes to cool down. "Ok... now, where was I? Oh, yeah. After my father died, I noticed that the palms of my hands, as well as the medallion, were glowing in a soft blue tone. I placed it in my hand and received one of the biggest shocks in my life. I was starting to morph into a jaguar!"
"WOW!!!" Lori shouted.
"That's not what I was thinking at first, but I knew that I had a powerful weapon at my disposal... all I needed to do was to become a master at using it."
"Is that when you decided to come here?" Eva asked.
"Yes... now, all I have to do is come up with a nickname for when I morph into my other self...."
"Hmm... you morph into a jaguar, yet you need to master-- THAT'S IT!!"
"What's it, Lori?!"
"I think this will be perfect for you!... How about the JaguarMaster?"
"Lori, you are a genius! That's perfect!" I said, giving her a hug.
That's how I came up with my name... and my slogan.
Evildoers beware! The Claws of Justice will be unsheathed by the one and only JAGUARMASTER!!!
It had been several months since I first met Jazz at the airport. In that time, I had earned respect among him as well as Spaz... and especially with Lori! 
Then, one day, Jazz came up to me as I was walking around in the courtyard.
"What do you want, Jazz?" I asked.
"Well... how would you like to go up against some of my other trainees in a mock battle?" Jazz replied in a sly voice.
I turned to face Jazz with an odd look on my face. "Are you serious?!! I don't even know if I can stand up to it!..."
"Relax, kid! You'll be OK."
"Are you sure about that?"
"Yeah!"
"Well... OK, then! Bring on those trainees!"---------------------------------------------
Fifteen minutes passed as I waited in the castle dungeon. I was growing impatient with every passing second, and to tell you the truth, I was about to leave.
That is... until Jazz showed up, with four other rabbits. The first one I saw had weird, silver-like fur, with a gold blaster hanging from his shoulder.
"Hi there... and who might you be?" I asked.
"My name's Baeauman... and you?"
"Elias...."
The second rabbit had red fur with gold stripes all over him. His blaster glowed a bright emerald green in the sun, and I soon realized that it was made out of actual emeralds!
"Who are you, if I may ask?"
"My name's Stu. Glad to meet you, Elias!"
"Likewise...."
The other two looked exactly like Spaz and Lori... and it hit me. I was going up against not only these two strangers, but I was also going up against the Jackrabbit Clan!!!
"So, where are we fighting?" I asked Jazz.
"Why, right here!" he replied.
"WHAT?!! You've got to be kidding!"
I took one look at Jazz's face and realized that he wasn't joking. I gulped. "Well, then... let's begin." I said meekly.
"First, we need to decide on how many roasts will be required to win. Since you've never fought before, Elias, you'll get to choose."
I thought carefully. One roast would be too easy, while 100 would take forever. I decided to settle for a number that was sure to satisfy everyone. "Ten... first one to ten roasts wins." I declared.
With that out of the way, we took our blasters out and made our way to our starting places.
"Ready everyone?" I asked.
"YOU BET!!!" everyone yelled in unison.
"Well then... 3... 2... 1... GO!!!"
With that, my first battle had begun.
I had absolutely no idea as to where I was going... this was a real bad sign, as I was getting roasted left and right because of that fact. "If only I had a map..."
Surprisingly enough, Lori had been the only one so far who DIDN'T roast me. I didn't know why, and I was trying my best to avoid her.
My efforts failed. She found me seconds later... but instead of roasting me, she motioned for me to follow her.
"Is this some sort of trap?" I asked.
"No... I just want to show you some secrets about this place... follow me."
"Um... OK."
I followed her to the top-left corner of the arena, where I saw two Disparo Rapido (which is Spanish for Fast Fire... accent over the a in Rapido...) guns, as well as a water shield. I grabbed the FastFire guns and watched as Lori dropped to the bottom.
"Come on! I'm going to show you where the Activars are!" (Activar is Spanish for Power-Up... I've been playing Jazz 2 in Spanish recently.)
I did so. Good thing, too.---------------------------------------------
Fifteen minutes passed since Lori led me to the Power-Ups.... In that short time, I had made a tremendous comeback! I was two roasts away from a victory... the problem was, Lori and Stu were both one roast away.
Suddenly, I felt a rocket hit me... not only did I get roasted, but I heard a yell of victory. It was Stu, and he had managed to beat me. Not a big surprise, since this was only my first battle.
"Nice try, Elias... maybe next time!" he told me as he helped me back up.
"Yeah... maybe next time." I thought to myself.
Jazz evaluated everyone's scores:
Jazz: 7 Roasts
Spaz: 4 Roasts
Lori: 9 Roasts
Elias: 8 Roasts
Baeauman: 8 Roasts
Stu: 10 Roasts
Jazz then turned to me. "Pretty good, kid... for your first battle!"
"Thanks!" I replied.
I knew I had to train harder. Years would pass, battles would be won or lost, and I would end up being an important factor in Carrotus' history... how?
That, my friends, is another part for another day.
In the two years that had passed since I first set foot on Carrotus, I had become one of the best students that Jazz ever had. I could now turn on a dime and shoot targets as far away as 250 feet, and I had even become faster than Jazz himself!
Pleased at my progress, Jazz decided to put my skills to the test.
"Hey, Elias! Come over here!"
I rushed over. "What do you want?" I asked.
"How'd you like to go against Lori in a free-for-all battle?"
"ME?!! All by myself? Against HER?!!"
"She's one of the best fighters in the world... you should see some of the trophies she's won!"
"Well... I, uh--"
"Well, what? Don't you want to fight?"
"Fight against who, Jazz?"
I turned around and saw Lori coming down the stairs... but something wasn't right. Instead of seeing her pleasant smile, all I saw was a face of pain... the kind of pain you see when you're really sick.
"Lori? What's wrong?" I asked.
"I-- really don't feel... all-- that--"
That's when she fell to the floor.
"LORI!!!" I shouted.
Eva heard my yelling and immediately came down the stairs. "Oh, my gosh! What happened to Lori?!!"
"I don't know... quick! Let's get her to the doctor!"---------------------------------------------
An eternity seemed to pass as the doctor examined Lori. He came out of the operating room with a hopeless look on his face.
"I hate to say it... but Lori is near death with blood poisoning."
"WHAT?!! THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE!!!" I shouted in my loudest voice.
"I'm afraid it's true, Elias."
"How could she have gotten it?!!" Jazz asked, worried about his sister.
"Must have been something she ate."
"Is there any hope?" I asked.
"As a matter of fact, there is...."
"Well?!! What is it?!!"
"There's a rare plant that grows only in the depths of Hell... it's called the Herb of Rejuvination. Whoever drinks the juice of the herb will immediately feel like they've been reborn."
"Wait a sec..." I told Jazz. "Isn't that where Devan Shell lives?"
"Yeah... why?"
I gulped and walked forward. "I'll get that herb for you... how fast do you need it?"
"I need it ASAP... Lori only has 48 hours to live...."
"Whoa, there, Elias! There's NO WAY I'm letting you go down there on your own!" Jazz suddenly shouted.
I turned to Jazz with a look of death on my face. "Listen, Jazz... Devan has tried to get me before... I know that this could be a trap.... But right now, I really don't care! All I care about is Lori! So get out of my way!!"
With that, I pushed Jazz out of the way, headed out of the castle, and started digging all the way to Hell.
"Heck, I'm gonna destroy Devan in the process while I'm down there!" I thought to myself....
Lori's life was on the line... and I wasn't gonna let her down!
I smashed through the ceiling and entered Hell, home of Devan Shell. My entrance, however, took two other rabbits by surprise.
The first one I came across was a hot pink color and had a purple star on her forehead. The next one was camouflaged, permitting her to blend in with anything that she desired.
"Tiff?!! Kazooie?!! What are you two doing here??!" I asked.
"I was about to ask you the same thing, Elias!" Tiff answered.
That's when I noticed that the two were in chains. "What happened?!"
"We were taken prisoner by Devan Shell and now we're forced to do his every bidding. If we don't, he's threatened to kill us both!"
My eyes shot open. "Why that no-good-for-nothing son-of-a--"
"Whoa, Elias! No need for the swearing!" Kazooie warned.
"Sorry about that... it's just that I'm looking for the rare Herb of Rejuvination. Have either of you seen it?"
"As a matter of fact, I have some right here!" Kazooie said, showing it to me.
"I need that! Lori is close to death with blood poisoning! If I can't get that back to her within... 47 hours and 33 minutes, she'll die for sure!" I quickly said.
"Whoa, Elias! You're not getting it THAT easily!! If you want it so badly... you'll have to help us escape!"
"Anything for friends!" I replied. "Just let me call Jazz first."
I reached in and took out my portable cell phone. I quickly dialed Jazz's number and waited for him to answer.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Jazz! This is Elias! I need you and every one of your trainees to get down here on the double! I've got two prisoners of Devan Shell with me.... Seems like this is gonna be harder than I expected."
"I see... well, since I'm worried about my sister, we'll be there ASAP!"
"Oh... bring Ducky along, too!"
"OK... cya in a bit!"
"Thanks, Jazz! I owe you one!"---------------------------------------------
Sure enough, in fifteen minutes, Jazz and Company were with me, Tiff, and Kazooie.
"Jazz... you know where Devan's castle is, right?" I asked.
"Yeah... why do you ask?"
"Lead us to it! I'm sure that there are a lot more prisoners than these two! We need to free them all!"
"Got it!"
"All right, everyone... let's do it to it!!"
With that, we headed for Devan's castle, with Jazz leading the way.
What happened next could scare the life out of anyone!...
We all followed Jazz as he sped over burning bridges, past flaming demons, over lava-filled stumps, and other dangerous obstacles on the way to Devan's castle. Upon reaching it, I stopped him and told everyone to huddle around me.
"Ok... here's the plan. Ducky, I want you, Jazz, and Spaz to locate and release any prisoners that there may be in the castle. My instincts tell me that there are at least 50 in there, and they all want out. Be careful of all the guards, though!"
"Don't worry, Elias! If any guard tries to harm us, they'll find out the true meaning of pain!" Jazz exclaimed.
"Right... Baeauman, Stu, I want you to deactivate any defense systems that might be around the castle. Devan may be a villian, but he ain't stupid!"
"Got it!" Stu replied.
I then morphed into a jaguar and ripped the chains off of Tiff and Kazooie.
"Thanks, kid!" Kazooie said. "Here's that herb you wanted...."
"Thanks, Kazooie! I owe you one now!"
"By the way, what do you want us to do?"
"Kazooie, I want you to go with Jazz. Your camouflage ability will allow you to sneak up on the guards and knock them out before they know you're there."
"What about me?" Tiff suddenly asked.
"You go with Baeauman and Stu... I've heard about your legendary ability to disarm any traps that may haunt the castle. That's gonna be vital to the success of this mission."
"But, Elias... what about you?" Jazz suddenly asked.
"I'll look for Devan.... He's gonna pay for what he did to me two years ago!!"
"Well, don't let your emotions get the better of you, OK?"
"Got it, Jazz! Now, if everybody is ready... let's do it to it!!!"
That having been said, we all managed to sneak into the castle undetected and went about in our mission....
I went off on my own to find and destroy Devan Shell once and for all!!!
Taking my blaster out, I snuck into the castle as Jazz's group went about finding the prisoners' cells. Baeauman's group immediately set forth trying to deactivate any alarms that might let Devan know that his castle-like fortress was being invaded.
To tell you the truth, I was kinda nervous. The fact that I was going alone to defeat Devan Shell kinda hit me like a bomb... but he DID kill my parents, after all.... It was time that I returned the favor!
I looked at my watch. Time was slowly winding down. I had approximately 46 hours and 54 minutes to defeat Devan Shell, get back to the surface, hand the Herb of Rejuvination to the doc, and save Lori!
Suddenly, I heard footsteps coming my way. I froze in my tracks. I could tell by the way the ground shook that it was one of those tough turtles wandering around.
I peered around the corner just slightly. His back was turned toward me. I took a sniper shot at him with my blaster and destroyed him in one shot with my missiles.
I advanced... as I did so, I called Jazz on my watch.
"Yo, Jazz! How's everything going?" I asked.
"We've found the prisoners' cells!... You were right. There are a lot of rabbits being tortured in here!!!"
"What's wrong Jazz?... You sound as if you're a little surprised or something."
"I am! Guess who happened to be one of the prisoners?"
"How am I supposed to know?" I wondered.
"I couldn't believe it myself! It's the one-and-only DethMan the Intrepid!!!"
"That's impossible! He's one of the best warriors in the UNIVERSE!!!" I said.
"Be that as it may, he's one of the prisoners...."
"Well, anyway, keep up the good work! I'm gonna check on Baeauman and his group."
"Ok, Elias! Good luck!"
I switched to a different frequency. "Elias to Baeauman... come in Baeauman!"
"This is Baeauman... what's up, Elias?"
"Just wondering how you were doing on the alarm systems."
"Not too well... even Tiff is having trouble with it!"
"That's not a good sign...."
"Wait a sec... she's just managed to disable the alarm systems!"
"Primary, I'll bet. Find the backup system and disable that too! Keep it up, you three!"
With that, I turned off my radio on my watch... just in time for a Schwartzenguard to spot me!
"How did you escape from your cell?!!"
"Easy!" I said, firing.
The shot hit right on target, obliterating the guard. I walked over to the ashes and finished the rest of my explination.
"I was never a prisoner! Heheheh...."
That was when I decided to run the rest of the way, blasting anything that got in my path.---------------------------------------------
Within minutes, I was at the front door of Devan's tower. I slowly opened it and started walking up the stairs. It seemed to last an eternity! When I finally made it to the top, I looked at my watch. I had 37 hours and 22 minutes left. I slowly opened the door.
"Well, well, well! If it isn't my old friend, Elias!" a voice beckoned from the shadows. It was Devan, and he was holding his trusty plasma blaster in his hand.
"I never was your friend!" I shouted. "I never will be, either!"
"My, my! Why are we so testy today?"
"You of all people should know why! Two years ago, you sent a troop of turtles out to Lagunicus to find me! You tore my house apart, killed my parents, and almost ended up finding me! If I hadn't hid where I did, you would have found me...."
I continued. "I know all about what you tried to do to Jazz and Spaz. Going back in time to make sure they were never born?!! How STUPID!!! You should've known better than to do that! You might have also altered your future... against yourself, that is!!"
My eyes were like fireballs at this point. "You murdered my parents... I swore revenge from that very day forward that I would find and destroy you ONCE AND FOR ALL!!!"
I was now furious. "If you think you can get away with murder, you're wrong!"
With that, I pulled my medallion out.
Devan suddenly gasped. "THAT'S IT!!! THAT'S WHAT I WANT!" he shouted. "Give it to me now!"
"NEVER!!! This was a gift from my father before he died at your hands!!!"
I held the medallion in my hand. Within seconds, I had morphed into a jaguar, hell-bent on slashing Devan to Turtle-Kabobs!!!
"PREPARE TO FACE MY WRATH, DEVAN SHELL!!!" I roared out.
I leapt forward... the final battle had begun!
Devan and I had begun a fight to the finish... my power against his. Although he may have had the forces of Hell at his command, I had the spirit of the jaguar lurking inside of me.
I leapt toward Devan again, this time with claws extended. I sent a dose of punishment at him as I scratched him in the side, causing him to yelp. He reacted by firing his plasma blaster at me. I ducked underneath the blasts, causing them to smash into the wall and create a huge hole.
"So... you wanna play rough, eh?" I asked, leaping up into the air agian.
"That's the ONLY way that I play, you overgrown cat!!"
"Oh, you're gonna pay for that!"
I took a shot at Devan with my missiles. It hit him square in the chest, causing him to scream in pain. The scream pierced my ears so much that I temporarily went deaf.
I started shaking my head like mad, trying to get my hearing back. Devan took advantage of this and shot me with his blaster. The plasma seared into my fur, causing me to roar in pain.
"You are a sadistic little punk, aren't you?" I gasped, trying to conceal the pain in my voice.
"More than you know... now DIE ALREADY!!!"
He shot at me again. I barely managed to dodge it. I then started to utter a mystical incantation that had been kept in my family for generations. This spell had the power to, ironically, heal myself whenever I was close to death... which I knew would happen unless I said it quickly.
"Sun's mighty rays, I summon thee...
Do as I ask and answer my plea!
Bring your soothing rays down upon me...
And allow me to fight for justice and peace!"(OK, so the last two lines don't rhyme... sue me!)
Rays of sunlight came down upon me, healing me instantly. However, I noticed that they weren't doing Devan a bit of good!
"NO!! NOT THE SUN!!!" he yelled out, trying to shield himself from the light.
This gave me an idea. I put my blaster away and reached into my backpack. A few seconds later, I pulled out my bow and arrows. Slipping the quiver over my shoulder, I took an arrow out and exposed it to the light. It immediately became a Light Arrow.
(This is almost starting to sound like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, isn't it?)
"SO... you don't like the sunlight, eh?" I yelled out.
"Huh? Wha-- NO! Don't fire that arrow!!! I'm begging you!"
That little tidbit really shocked me. "Give me one good reason why I should spare you!"
"Simple! If you kill me, nobody else would be able to use me in their stories! Besides... if you spare me, I'll let you have anything you want!"
"Nice try, bub, but I don't fall for that trick very easily!"
"Shoot! Oh well... I gave you a chance-- prepare to DIE, Elias!!!"
Suddenly, I heard the door being blasted open. Thick smoke enveloped the room... and then, I heard a voice....
"I wouldn't bet on that, Devan!"
I turned around as the smoke cleared just in time to see Eva Earlong walking through the doorway!
"EVA!!! What the heck are you doing here?!!"
"I'll explain later. Right now, let's turn this punk into Turtle-Kabobs, shall we?"
"Sounds great to me!" I replied.
Eva grabbed her medallion and held it in her hand. Within seconds, she had morphed into a majestic Bald Eagle. She was determined to help me stop Devan Shell at all costs!
"Oh, no you don't!" Devan said in a sinister voice. "If you two morph, then I morph!!!"
Red light suddenly surrounded Devan as he morphed into his Devilish form. He was just as determined to destroy us as we were to destroy him!
"Oh, my gosh! How in the world are we gonna defeat him?!!" I thought to myself. "His power in that form is TWICE that of Eva and myself when we're in our alternate forms!"
I thought I heard my father's voice at that moment. "Combine your powers with the other chosen one! Together, you are practically unstoppable!" he said.
"That's it!"
"What's it?" Eva asked, flying above Devan's head.
"Eva! Grab my medallion... NOW!!!" I ordered.
Eva flew down and grabbed onto my medallion with her talons. At the same time, I grabbed her medallion with my paws.
A fantastic stage in metamorphosis had been reached on that day, for as soon as we had grabbed each other's medallion, we started to glow a royal purple. Within a few minutes, during which we were both invulnerable, our morphed selves had developed into one huge figure. The upper half was of the eagle, the lower half of the jaguar.
"Prepare to die, Devan Shell!"
Our jaguar half slammed into Devan's devilish body, sending him spinning into a frenzy. The eagle half then swatted him with our enormous wings.
"This isn't fair!!" Devan cried out.
"Nothing in life is fair... especially taking away a child's parents!!! You're gonna pay for that!"
With that, the jaguar side of ourselves kicked Devan Shell so hard, he crashed through the ceiling, up to the surface, and clear into outer space.
"I'll be back!!! You haven't heard the last of Devan Shell!!!!"
---------------------------------------------
The fight must have lasted for hours, because after Eva and I morphed back into our original states (that is, after we managed to seperate from each other), I looked at my watch again. I had only 4 hours and 28 minutes to return to the castle.
"C'mon, Eva! Let's go!!!" I shouted.
"What about Jazz and Stu?"
"They're already outta this place! I can feel it! So let's move it!"
I grabbed Eva. "Hold on tight, Princess!"
With that, we rushed out of Hell.
"I sure hope we make it in time..." Eva said.
While holding Eva in my arms, I practically flew out of Hell, racing aginst time. I knew that unless I received some sort of miracle, Lori would die.
The only thing I forgot about Hell is that time travels faster while you're in it. That's why our fight with Devan seemed to take an eternity... how could I have forgotten it?!!
"Hold on, Eva! We're about to make contact with the ceiling!" I warned.
Eva shielded her eyes as I jumped up as high as I could. I rammed right into the ceiling and tore a hole through it. Against all laws of gravity (heck... there ARE no laws in Hell, when you really think about it!) I started drilling a hole upwards toward the surface.---------------------------------------------
About an hour later, I exploded onto the surface, with Eva still in my grasp. I then made my way to the castle as fast as I could.
Jazz was waiting for me. "Hurry it up, kid! Lori stopped breathing about 15 minutes ago!"
I gasped and looked at my watch. I had 3 hours and 9 minutes left. Rushing in, I quickly gave the doc the Herb of Rejuvination.
"How long is it gonna take to get that juice ready?" I asked.
"Well, five minutes will be needed to prepare it, then another three hours will be necessary to turn the juice into a potion in order to administer it to Lori."
"Great... that'll leave us with... TWO MINUTES to save Lori! Start working on it, bub!"
---------------------------------------------
Those next few hours seemed to take forever.... I was about to give up hope.
Just then, the doc came in. "It's all ready! We'll need to get an IV ready so we can get this into her bloodstream, since she can't drink it."
I knew a little bit about how to start an IV, but I had never done it before. So, I made one in a place where I knew Lori would get the potion immediately.
"Let's hope this works..." the doc said as he poured the potion into the bag.
At first, nothing seemed to happen. We waited... and waited... and waited some more.
It was then that I broke down and cried. Lori was gone, in my opinion. I had failed her, despite my best efforts.
Jazz and the others somehow knew that I wanted to be left alone, so they went out of the room.... I stayed in and cried up a storm. "First, my parents... and now-- and now... LORI!!!" I sobbed. "Oh, Lori... how will I ever forgive myself? I let you down in your moment of need."
I cried some more while I plopped my head down upon Lori's arm. "Never again... never again will I see your shining face, your sparkling sapphire eyes... never."
I continued to cry my eyes out. This was the first time in two years that I had cried as hard as I did since the death of my parents. "Lori... I don't know how to tell you this... but even though I'm seven years younger than you--"
I stopped for a moment, then continued. "Even though I'm seven years younger than you-- I love you, Lori!!"
"Aw... Elias, that's so sweet of you!" I heard a weak voice say.
I looked up and saw Lori actually cry at what I just said.
"Lori?"
"Elias-- you may be seven years younger than me... but I love you too."
That's when Lori sat up and kissed me right on the lips. For some reason, I enjoyed every moment of it. Maybe what I said was true... I really WAS in love with Lori!
Jazz saw what was happening and immediately burst into the room. "WHAT THE HECK?!! Elias?!! What are you DOING?!!" he shouted.
"Lay off, Jazz... Elias just saved my life, for all practical purposes."
"Lori? You're alive?? Thank goodness!"
"Yeah... I'm just fine now, thanks to Elias."
"Well, Elias... I guess I owe you one now," Jazz said, turning to me.
"No, you don't. You don't owe me a thing." I replied. "All I care about is that Lori is alive.... I honestly don't know what I'd do if she actually died."
"Well... I guess so. The way I saw you two--"
"Don't even think about saying it, Jazz!" Lori warned.
"All right, then... I won't!"
I hugged Lori again. Just knowing that she would be fine let me know that all my training was worth it. From the first day that I set forth on Carrotus to now, I knew that somehow, I would be able to adjust to my new life.
---------------------------------------------
I know what you're thinking... you're wondering just what the important role I played in the history of Carrotus.
Well, my friends, I'll tell you this. After I saved Lori, I met another rabbit named Tails FF. He asked me to join his clan, the Freedom Fighters. I accepted immediately.
To this day, I have been a proud member of the Freedom Fighters, fighting for justice and peace. I had even earned respect among the Mighty Merlin and DethMan the Intrepid. To tell you the truth, I had become a legend myself... something that I, as well as Princess Lori, were VERY proud of!
THE END
LORI IS A PURE 100% BABE!!!{Wolf Whistle!} -- Jazzy.