BJ
"What are you going to do if I don't hand over the Crystal-shard?" I taunted Dusty.
He lifted a hand. Julia screamed again.
"Now look behind you," he said.
I turned around. Where was Julia?
"Dusty!" she yelled. "Why are you doing?"
I looked up.
"That ball your girl's in contains enough air for ten minutes. But what happens when the ball shrinks?"
"This isn't a science class!"
"I know that, Nichols. But what's the answer?"
"The air pressure becomes stronger. She suffocates."
"You're a smart kid. Now, make the logical connection. You give me the Darkness Crystal-shard now or she dies."
"Don't worry about me! He's evil! I should have realised that before," Julia said.
Although it was simple to her and had been simple to me, something wasn't right now. But I had no idea what that something was.
I pulled the Crystal-shard out of my pocket and began to walk towards Dusty.
"Don't worry about me, BJ," Julia pleaded. "I'd rather die than help evil win. Don't give him the Crystal-shard. Don't."
Dusty seemed shaken. I tried to focus on when he seemed shaken. Then I realised it.
"I won't give you the Crystal-shard, Dusty," I said.
"You're going to let your girl die?" he asked, shocked. "Why? I thought you were more chivalrous than that. At any rate, I'll just kill her now."
He fisted his hand.
"Don't you dare!" I screamed, jumping towards him, the Darkness shard in my hand. I was frozen!
"PSI Freeze Omega!" Paula cried, appearing behind Dusty. He spun around and froze her Freeze.
"Don't mess with me."
"What?" Paula asked, oblivious. She ran towards Dusty, but then he froze her. Just behind her Freeze. He walked over to me.
"I'll take that, thank you very much," Dusty said, snatching the Darkness Crystal-shard from my hand.
Oh no, I thought. I've let everyone down again. First in Threed, for Ñrutas, then in Winters with the Power Crystal. And now here.
"I wonder who should go first," Dusty wondered. "Your girl, you, Nichols, or Paula." He thought about this for a second. "Her."
He aimed the Darkness Crystal-shard at Julia.
I let her down. It's my fault. Mine. I shouldn't even have reacted to Picky. I wouldn't be here then.
"Why isn't it work--" The Crystal-shard flared black. "Ah, now it's working. Farewell," he said to Julia.
"JULIA!" I cried.
A black beam shot out from the Crystal-shard...
Brought Julia down...
And burst the bubble she was in.
"Huh?" Dusty said. "How? Ouch!" He dropped the Crystal-shard.
My muscles, tensed from the freezing, were suddenly freed of their prison. I ran over and picked up the Crystal-shard. I felt nothing. But it still glowed.
I pulled it up towards him. "I think that's your cue to leave."
"What are you going to do, Nichols? I'll just freeze you again, take the Crystal-shard, and kill the lot of you."
"You can't take the shard any more. I've touched it; my energies are touching it. Why do you think it burned you?"
"I'll put Julia in a bubble again."
"I can just take her out again. And by the way, if you're going to impersonate, make sure you know about the person whom you'll be impersonating."
"What do you mean, BJ?" Julia asked.
"He's not Dusty. He didn't know your name until I cried it. If he really were Dusty, he would have known you were Julia to begin with. I'm right, aren't I?" I said, turning towards 'Dusty'.
"Erm, uh... Goodbye!" The fake Dusty disappeared. Paula fell to the ground, free from his freezing. Her PSI Freeze, by now slush, fell to the ground too and spread.
I put the Crystal-shard back in my pocket, though the card I'd found the night before fell out.
"BJ, what are you doing with this card?" Julia asked, walking over to me.
"Why do you ask?" I wondered out loud.
"Because it looks like something I found near the Department Store earlier..."
"Oh, yeah. You never finished your story."
"That's right. Like I said, I saw Dusty go in, then I tied my shoelaces. I was down only a few seconds. The streets were completely deserted, except for me. Any way, when I got back up, there was Dusty. Again."
"So, he went back out, right?" Paula pressed.
"No. And that's what's weird. He was walking towards the department store. Crossing the road."

Tracy
The Gi-Mook smiled. They wriggled their tentacles and made a strange ndn-nd sound. I guess it was their way of laughing.
"Master Giogas has entrusted us with the task of defeating the two of you," the lead Gi-Mook, formerly the condiments vendor, said.
I looked beside me. The kid who'd revealed the false Dusty was rummaging through a set of cards. "This isn't good, isn't good at all," he kept muttering.
As the cards flashed by, I thought I saw some familiar designs.
"Watch out!" the kid cried, pushing me down and rolling away. I heard a weeee sound as the lead Gi-Mook fired a beam from its eye.
Some of the cards went flying. I picked up a few, all of which were charred. Just like the one BJ had found.
The kid ran a good distance away, and pulled out one of the cards he'd managed to hold on. "Shining Pattern!" he cried, throwing the card towards a Gi-Mook. After the attack, a flashing gold wave, finished, the Gi-Mook collapsed.
"It didn't faint?" I wondered. "PSI Thunder Beta!" I cried, realising a new power.
Thunder roared once, but it didn't hit; it roared again, and this time it hit!
Another Gi-Mook collapsed, screeching as it fell.
"That's two down," the boy said. He pulled out another card. I saw his lips purse as if whispering or mouthing something. "Heracles Gloves!"
His hands glowed and gloves appeared on them.
What's with these powers? Shining Pattern, Heracles Gloves... And the cards...
The kid jumped towards one of the Gi-Mook, who tried to attack him with his [her?] eyebeam. But the kid blocked it with the gloves.
The Gi-Mook I'd knocked down got up, apparently not collapsed. He turned towards the kid.
"I don't think so!" I yelled, running over and pushing the condiments cart towards him. He screamed a pained scream and collapsed, hopefully for good this time, as the cart ran over him.
The three remaining Gi-Mook drew their attention towards me.
Crack! The kid used one clearly strong glove to pound a third Gi-Mook, who collapsed. He leapt onto the body of the Gi-Mook and jumped towards another.
"PSI Thunder Beta!" I screamed, trying to get both Gi-Mook with this strike. Thunder roar one hit! And the second did, too. But it was the same Gi-Mook. I guess the saying that "lightning never strikes the same place twice" doesn't apply to PSI Thunder.
I pulled out my Frying pan and ran towards the second remaining Gi-Mook. The kid impacted the fourth Gi-Mook with his Heracles Gloves, knocking the Gi-Mook out, although the Gloves disappeared with that impact. I brought my Frying pan back and swung!
The Gi-Mook's eye closed and it, too, collapsed.
"Now what?" I asked the kid. Like he'd know.
"That fake seemed to be interested in a 'Crystal-shard', Tracy," the boy said. "And it seems he believes you have one."
"I do," I admitted. But for safety's sake, as I pulled the shard out, I took care to step away from the kid.
"Afraid I'm serving Giogas, Tracy?" the kid asked, laughing. "I wouldn't have hunted -- the fake down and revealed his true face if I served him. In fact, I'd have helped him. And I didn't. But I'll appease your fears." He stepped away from me, giving a strangely familiar smile as he did.
I shook the Crystal-shard. Work, get us out, I thought earnestly. And please, heal those people. I can't be all right with who I am if they aren't.
It remained a dull red.
"Please..." I whispered. "Work."
"Believe in yourself," the kid urged. "Believe in the shard, Tracy. Otherwise, it won't work."
I took his advice to heart. I believed. In myself. And in the shard.
The shard began to glow.