Tim's Adventures:

005: The Tale of the Dark Gamemaster

Karen smiled as Tim reappeared on the teleportation pad. "So, how was the mission, Tim?"

"Not hard at all." He smiled, but soon stopped. "There was one thing that I am curious about, though."

"What is it?" asked Karen.

"Garland was what he called himself, but he wasn't."

"Hmm?"

"He said he was of the League. He wore a black Captain N-like uniform.

Karen's face suddenly seemed to turn white. "Darius!"

"So that's what his name is."

"Tim, I think you better come with me!" She grabbed Tim's left wrist tightly and pulled him with her as she ran out of the room.

"Who is Darius?" asked Tim as she ran with him, he dropping his sword as she increased in speed and jolted him along.

"Gamemaster Jenkins will tell you!" she panted as they reached his office. She opened the door quickly and it slammed against the wall, leaving an indent.

Gamemaster Jenkins jumped up from his chair and looked at Karen. "What it is!?" he yelled, angered by their sudden and noisy intrusion.

Karen continued to breath heavily as she spoke. "Sir, Tim encountered someone on Final Fantasy. Darius!"

"Darius!?" screamed Jenkins. "Not him again! I thought we had finally taken care of that traitor to the League!"

Karen frowned. "Apparently not, sir."

Tim coughed. "Would someone mind explaining to me who Darius is?"

Jenkins looked at Tim and sat back down. "I guess you deserve that knowledge. I must ask first, though: Did he like you?"

"He gave me the battle as we could not hit each other with our swords."

Jenkins turned his head back to Karen. "Send out a warning to all Gamemasters that Darius has been encountered and that he may be considering coming back to the League to find someone. Teleporter travel will be prohibited until then."

Karen nodded and exited the room.

"Tim," sighed Jenkins. "Please sit down."

Tim nodded and sat down as he had been told to.

"Darius, Tim, was much like you. He excelled at all things and was the best we had ever seen. He seemed like he would someday be my replacement. Unfortunately, though, he didn't like doing tasks that he was requested to and, after a series of missions to Super Mario Brothers 2 and TigerHeli, donned a black version of the Captain N suit and took a prototype teleporter that did not require a teleporter room to operate like yours does."

Tim looked at Jenkins. "So he went rouge."

Jenkins nodded. "He went rouge. He began to go from video game to video game, creating havoc and chaos on each world by creating armies that he used to attack any Gamemasters on that world and defeat anything else that opposed him. He became a villain."

Tim thought. "So why did you think that you had defeated him?"

"We sent half of the League to attack him in Wizards & Warriors. There was a large earthquake and a huge rock fell from the cave that he was in. It fell on top of him. We were only able to teleport a third of the Gamemasters from the cave before it completely caved in. It was a horrible loss but we had defeated Darius... or so we thought."

Jenkins sighed. "Tim, he likes you. He wants you to become one of his pupils. He recruited two of our best before he was defeated. They called themselves Havoc and Nemesis and were defeated only with heavy losses also. Tim, you mustn't let him turn you! Be careful."

"Don't worry, sir, I won't."

"I hope you are right," sighed Gamemaster Jenkins. "You could very well become even worse of an adversary to us than he is, Tim."

Karen entered the room again. "Sir, the League has been alerted. Headquarters is being secured. If he does come he will not be greeted lightly."

Jenkins nodded. "Then all we can do is wait."

"Then you think he will come?" asked Tim.

"I don't need to think about this one, Tim. He will come. He knows what we're doing and he likes challenges just like you do. He will come and he will be ready for anything we do."

Tim smiled. "I'm going to the armory."

Jenkins shook his head. "I do not think that is wise, Tim."

Tim nodded. "Yes, it is. He's looking for me. Let him find me. I'll be ready for him."

Jenkins sighed. "Fine. Karen, accompany Tim. You two shall stay together at all times."

Tim smiled again. "Don't worry about Darius, sir. I'll get him for you."