Saturday, October 24, 1992, 11:00 AM

They teleported to another hatch in some unknown area of the castle.

In front of them was a long corridor, with rooms branching off on each side.

After searching a few rooms without finding Rydia, the team was about ready to move on.

"She's probably in another section." Kevin said hopefully.

They came to the last room in the section. Strangely enough, this one was locked.

"I'll handle it." Simon said as he took out his whip. He whispered a few words to it.

The whip, which had been limp up until that point, became stiff. Simon inserted the whip into the keyhole and began wiggling it gently and silently. In a few moments, Simon had the door unlocked.

Slowly, he opened the door.

The room was lined with two big computers, one on each side. In the center of the room was a metal chair. Rydia was strapped to it with metal bands. There was a large piece of tape covering her mouth. No one else was in sight. When she saw them, her eyes widened significantly, but the tape prevented her from speaking.

"Be careful." Mega Man whispered. "I don't like the looks of this."

The team inched towards Rydia, their heads rapidly turning to and fro in search of traps. They were caught unaware, however, by what they couldn't see.

"Yeow!" Mega Man yelled as he was thrown backward by some unseen force.

Kevin walked up to where Mega Man had been. He slowly reached out. His hand met a strong resistance.

"A force field!" he said.

"That explains why I feel as though I've just run into a mega brick wall!" Mega Man said as he stood up.

Suddenly, a large gate came crashing down behind them, blocking their only exit.

"Well, well, well. Look who decided to drop in." said a new voice. Dr. Wily moved out from behind the machine he was hiding behind.

"Let her go, Wily!" Mega Man shouted.

"Patience, my little green friend, patience. If she tells me what I want to know, I'll let her go." Dr. Wily assured. He turned to Rydia. "Now, my dear. I am going to remove your gag. I want you to tell me how to summon these monsters of yours. If you try anything funny,..."

Wily walked to one of the computers and grabbed a lever. He pulled it slowly. A large laser cannon slowly lowered out of the ceiling above the N Team.

"I'll incinerate your friends!" he finished with an insane laugh.

"Don't listen to him, Rydia!" Lana called out. "If he gains that knowledge, all of Videoland will be in grave danger!"

Wily returned to Rydia and ripped the gag from her mouth. "Now, how is it done?"

Rydia grimaced. "I've told you a thousand times. You have to have caller blood in your veins. Then, you have to prove yourself worthy to the monsters. Being that you are not a caller, and you are not from my world, they won't even consider you!"

"There must be some other way. Perhaps if I were to capture them?"

"Even if you could somehow go to my world, they wouldn't allow you to do that. What do you think they are, weaklings?"

"Stop being difficult!" Wily yelled as he returned the gag to her mouth. "Your friends will pay for that!" He walked over to the computer and began aiming the cannon.

"What do we do-icus?" asked Kid Icarus as he attempted to stay away from the cannon.

"Aaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!"

Unable to react in time, Dr. Wily found himself knocked to the ground by the combined weight of Rick and Stacey, who had just popped in.

"Where am I now?" Rick and Stacey asked in unison.

"Rick! Stacey! Help Rydia!" shouted Lana.

They glanced at each other, then jumped to action. Stacey restrained a struggling Dr. Wily while Rick dealt with Rydia.

"Maybe one of these buttons will release her." Rick thought aloud. He began pushing buttons and pulling levers.

"No! You'll ruin everything!" Wily protested.

"I think it's happening again! Hurry, Rick!" shouted Stacey.

"I'm going, I'm going!" said Rick. He pushed one last button before he and Stacey both popped out.

Luckily, that button freed Rydia. She jumped from the chair and ripped the gag from her mouth. "You're gonna pay for all of this!" she yelled at Wily. She went into her trance and began chanting.

"Now, let's not get hasty." Wily pleaded.

Great orbs of fire burst from Rydia as she thrust out her arms and yelled "Leviatan!"

A huge blue serpent appeared in the room. It opened its mouth and screeched. A huge wave of water came out of nowhere, flooding the room. The sea creature disappeared as quickly as he had come.

"Now what would water - " Simon started.

"My machines!!!" Wily screamed in agony.

Indeed, the water seemed to not have damaged the humans in the room, but it had ruined the computers. They were sparking in numerous places, obviously no longer working correctly.

When the N Team saw this, they tested the force field. Sure enough, it was no longer there. They raced over to Rydia.

"Wowicus!"

"That was great, Rydia!" Kevin exclaimed.

"Yeah, good job!" Lana added.

"Of course she did a good job. Then again, if I had been free, you would have seen a much better show!" Simon bragged.

"Whatever, Simon." everyone else said.

In their excitement, everyone seemed to have forgotten about Dr. Wily.

"You'll pay for that, you little witch!"

Everyone whirled to see Wily with a remote control in his hands. He moved the joystick. This caused the cannon, which had been untouched by the water, to aim at Rydia. Wily gleefully pressed the fire button.

The cannon charged up and fired a red hot beam. Rydia nimbly leaped out of the way. Kevin, who was standing directly behind Rydia, wasn't so lucky. The beam hit him squarely in the chest, knocking him to the ground with a sickening thud.

"Kevin!!!" Lana screamed, rushing over to him.

"Oh, well, one's as good as another." Wily said as he made a hasty retreat.

The team ignored him. They were too worried about Kevin.

Lana, with tears streaming down her face, cried "He's dying! There's nothing I can do!"

The rest of the team lowered their heads silently. The loss of a leader was something not to be taken lightly.

"Will you let me try something?"

They all looked at Rydia.

"Sure. Can't make him any worse, I suppose." Lana said, moving aside.

Rydia re-entered her trance. Once again, she was surrounded by orbs of fire. She slowly extended her arms and said "Asura."

A strange woman, with three revolving faces and six arms, appeared.

"Oh, my goodness!" Asura exclaimed as she rushed over to Kevin.

"Can you help him?" Rydia asked.

"I can try, dear. I can try."

Asura knelt over Kevin and began working. Her arms were flying in a fury. In a few moments, she stopped. Her faces began spinning at an alarming rate.

When they stopped, she said "Cure 3."

Kevin was bombarded with colored prisms of light. When they disappeared, Kevin groaned and opened his eyes.

"Kevin!" Lana shouted as she knelt down and hugged him.

Asura smiled. "Now, you've just had a very close call, young man. Be more careful in the future."

And with that, she vanished.

Kevin stroked Lana's short hair. "Thank you." he said to the open air where Asura had been.

Rydia smiled. "If I ever get home, I'll tell her that you're grateful."

Lana pulled away from Kevin. "We should thank you, too, Rydia. You saved his life!"

"No, I didn't. Asura did. I just informed her of the situation."

"Take credit where it's due. If you hadn't have been here to call her, Kevin would have died."

"Well, I'm glad he didn't." Rydia said with a smile.

"When all of you are ready, I can teleport us out of here." Mega Man said.

"What about Wily? Are we just going to let him get away with that?" asked Simon.

"He's probably long gone by now. We'd never find him." answered Mega Man.

Everyone clustered around Mega Man and touched him. He activated his teleporter, and they all disappeared in a flash of blue light.

"And that is how you came here, and what happened to Rick and Stacey." Dr. Right finished with a smile.

The N Team and Rydia had made a semi-circle around Dr. Right.

Rydia leaned back in her chair. "So, when I return home, everything will be returned to normal?"

"If my calculations are correct." Dr. Right said with a smile.

"I'll have to remember to thank the Elder when I return." Rydia said casually.

"The Elder? Who's that?" asked Kevin.

"The Elder of Mysidia. I'm certain he's the one who kept the warp open for me. He's in tune with the Earth, and when something goes wrong, he knows it. I'm just glad he reacted quickly enough."

The room became silent.

Then Mega Man said "Look, we're denying the inevitable. None of us want to see Rydia leave, but we know she must. So, let's say our good-byes and get on with our lives."

Rydia rose from her chair. "He's right. I don't want to lose such good friends, but I'm better off home. Not only do I have friends and responsibilities there, but then Rick and Stacey's problem will be resolved."

"I know, but I'm going to miss you!" Lana said as she swept Rydia up in a big hug.

The room exploded in a series of shouted farewells.

"I'll miss you too-icus!" said Kid Icarus.

"As will I." said Simon with a slight crack in his voice. He kneeled down and took Rydia's right hand. He then planted a kiss on it.

Rydia chuckled. "Thank you, Simon."

The N Team, Dr. Right, and Rydia made their way to Final Fantasy. They returned to the same forest they had had the picnic in, trusting Dr. Right to lead them to the exact location of the warp.

"All right, we're here." Dr. Right said, looking up from his tracker.

"What do you mean? There's nothing here!" Simon protested.

"Ah, but there is. It's right...there!" Dr. Right said, pointing to an area between two trees. Dr. Right turned to Rydia. "I'm afraid we won't be able to see you off. I don't want to take the chance that someone else will be pulled through." He handed her his tracker. "This device will open up the warp for you. Just point it at the warp and press the green button when you are ready."

Rydia nodded silently.

The team no longer had anything to say. The all waved to Rydia, wishing her luck. Then, using Mega Man's telelporter, they left.

Rydia was left standing there with the strange machine.

"I guess it's now or never." she said softly.

She pointed the device at the area Dr. Right had indicated and pressed the button. The warp opened in a brilliant blaze of blue light.

Rydia felt the tug of the warp, but she hesitated. Looking over her shoulder, she said "Good-bye, Videoland." Then, she stepped through.

Rydia found herself in a grand hallway. She looked around with a smile.

" - and I want you to look in every crevice! Leave no stone unturned!"

A beautiful lady with dazzling blue eyes and flowing blonde hair topped with a crown entered the room. She was followed by a man in soldiers' uniform.

"Of course, Your Highness." the man answered. "Under my command, the Red Wings will find her! After all, she couldn't have vanished off the face of the Earth!"

The woman chuckled. "Of course not." Her gaze swept across the room, finally resting on..."Rydia!!!" she screamed, knocking the man off his feet. She ran over and embraced Rydia. "Where have you been? I've had all of Baron's forces looking for you after you disappeared!"

"It's a long story, Rosa." Rydia said sheepishly.

The man stood up and dusted himself off. "Shall I call off the search then, Your Highness?"

The team returned home to find Rick and Stacey pacing around the living room nervously.

When they saw the team, Rick said "Hey guys! Not to get your hopes up, but...we haven't hopped for half an hour!"

Kevin grinned. "Dr. Right was right then! He said that when Rydia went home, you would stop hopping!"

Rick and Stacey leapt for joy.

"That's wonderful! Wait,...Rydia's gone? Oh, rats! And just when I'd remembered what game she was from!" said Rick.

"Which one is she from?" asked Kevin.

"Well, you guys said that you found her on Final Fantasy, right? However, she said that she wasn't from Final Fantasy. Later, Dr. Right said she was from another dimension. Well,...she's not from Final Fantasy, but she is from Final Fantasy II!" Rick announced with a grin.

"Final Fantasy II? I've only played the first one." Kevin said.

"It came out after you disappeared. It takes place on a world that's completely different than the one in the original game. It's been a while since I've played it, but I do remember that there was this really cool girl in the game that could call monsters." said Rick.

"In other words, Rydia." Lana interjected.

"Exactly." Rick said, looking smug.

"I know that game!" Stacey shouted joyously.

She ran out of the room and returned soon with her keyboard. She plugged it in, turned it on, and began playing. The sound she produced was nothing more than a series of scales that were strangely soothing. Then she added a very simple background accompaniment that made the song even more lulling.

"I know that. It's the prelude to Final Fantasy." Kevin said.

"Yes, but it's also the prelude to Final Fantasy II. This is a better version than in the original Final Fantasy game, if you ask me." Stacey said. "Hey, Kevin, do you know the prologue theme?"

"I think so."

"I'll teach you the Final Fantasy 2 version." Stacey said.

Kevin and Lana ran to get their guitars.

At first, Stacey concentrated on Kevin, who already knew the basic tune. In a few minutes, he was playing it almost as good as Stacey. Then Lana joined the fray. After a little bit, they were playing it very well.

"I've never heard a rock version of that song, but, I must say, I like it!" Rick said.

"We'll have to add it to our list of concert songs." Lana said.

Soon, they got tired of practicing and decided to put their instruments away.

However, when Lana removed her guitar strap, it got caught in her hair, making her crown fall to the floor.

"I'll get it, Your Helplessness." Simon said as he reached down to retrieve the crown. "Hey, what's this?" he asked. He returned Lana's crown, but was looking at a small white object.

"That's Rydia's flower. The one she always wore in her hair." Kid Icarus said.

"Oh, yeah? I think I'll keep it as a momento." Simon said, placing the flower in his backpack.

"Don't put it in there! It'll never come out!" Mega Man said with a laugh.

"Oh, yeah?" Simon asked defensively. "When was the last time I lost something?"

"What about the time when you ran around the castle screaming 'I lost my mirror! I don't know what my hair looks like! What am I to do?!'" Kevin asked with a grin.

"Yeah, but - " Simon protested.

"And the time you lost your blowdrier? You went around screaming 'I have to go to the banquet with wet hair! What will people think?!'" Lana added with a chuckle.

"Oh, oh, all right, you win!" Simon grunted.

GAME OVER