Lum-chan:
By Parias on Friday, May 26, 2000 - 03:31: (RP ON) Terra watched from her post near the bathrooms with some small amount of dismay as Ataru opened the door per Yamaguchi's request.
"Oh well, I was getting hungry anyways..." she muttered, turning and walking out of the store and plotting a course to the beefbowl. She was already getting a few strange stares anyways, a lot of people still didn't know that there was a Lum-lookalike wandering about town.
No more than 2 minutes later she was at her destination. There was the usual crowd about, but she didn't have any trouble finding a chair. She was about to order something when she heard faint sobbing coming from somewhere nearby. Honing in on the source, she found Lum crying uncontrollably a few tables away. There was also a small commotion about as the people tried to figure out the least life-threatening way to ask her to leave. The small smirk Terra was becoming familiar with found it's way onto her face again.
"Perhaps I should lend a hand... man, the fun never stops!"
She walked over and tapped Lum on the shoulder. No response.
"Uh, Lum?"
Still nothing.
"Lum!" she said a bit louder. That seemed to almost get a response, as Lum stopped crying.. only to take a deep breath of air and continue again.
"This is getting difficult.." Terra switched to plan B, the method she was most familiar with. She reached out and closed her fist around Lum's neck, then yanked her back into her chair where she could clearly see Terra's face. The look of complete shock and fear almost warmed her heart.
Almost. A few good hours of serious conditioning courtesy of Hudson, Shutaro, Ryouko, and a lot of injured Kurokos eventually managed to slow down her "must kill everything" train of thought sufficiently that it was pretty manageable, so long as she stayed in a good mood. So far there hadn't been an incident where she felt it needed to go on a killing spree, but she still had an itchy trigger finger occasionally.
Realizing she was nearly choking Lum to death, she released her grip.
"Uh, sorry about that, but it was the only way to get your attention..."
Lum coughed a couple of times and nodded slowly, but the tears were evidently forming in her eyes again.
"I can't find darling..." she whispered. "I looked everywhere! Ryuunosuke said that he was at this 'Elegant Lady Nightwear shop' but I searched all over town and I can't find it!
Terra thought for a moment. The store in question WAS a bit difficult to spot, especially if searched for from the air, due to lack of external features, and the fact that it was square in the middle of a bunch of other flashy buildings. Fortunately she had a photographic memory for addresses and locations..
"Oh, I was just up there.. just head out from here, hang a right, and go on for a bit.. stay low, you can't miss it if you look closely."
"Thanks!" Instantly grinning, she was out of the room in less than the blink of an eye. A young waiter walked over and thanked her profusely, offering her a free lunch. She smiled and accepted, taking her seat again. This just seemed to be her lucky day.
Inside of the mansion, Shutaro was excessively busy in the Mendou control center.
"Yes, that's right, I said EVERYTHING on Hudson! I want to know everything from what diapers he wore as a baby to the last recorded number of hairs on his head! And I want it NOW!" he screamed into the phone, slamming it down onto the cradle. He turned to a servant.
"Get someone to keep an eye on him.. I want constant updates on his position. Prepare a squad of specialized marines! Tell them to suit up in civvies! And get me more food!" The servant nodded and quickly took off out of the room. He turned and sniggered to himself.
"Yes Hudson.. you haven't seen the last of me... soon I'll-"
"Oh, brother!" sang a cheery voice from across the room. He nearly crushed the empty glass he was holding in frustration and whirled about.
"WHAT IS WITH YOU PEOPLE AND SNEAKING UP ON ME TODAY?!"
Ryouko put on a hurtful expression. "Oh, I just wanted to see my DEAR brother to let him know that there's a strange man outside of the front door.. something about some new spy hardware? I do wonder what you could possibly be using it for.."
"AHA! YES!" he yelled in triumph, then gasped. "Uh, I mean, why didn't one of the servants come and tell me instead?"
"Oh, I just wanted to know what you were planning to do. You CERTAINLY wouldn't be planning on spying on your dear sister now, would you?" She flashed a quick evil look across her eyes, and Shutaro could almost swear he saw lightning spark across her retina.
"What? NO! I'm not THAT low!" he said, trying to sound disgusted.
"Ah. Well, just how low ARE you then?"
"What? I-"
"Sir, the delivery man appears to be getting impatient.." said a servant, pointing towards a monitor. He looked over and saw the person in question ringing the doorbell again and huffing.
"Uh, I'd better answer him." muttered Shutaro, grumbling and shoving his way past Ryouko and out the door. She stifled a laugh and turned to head back to her room, where Hudson was waiting. (RP OFF)
Lum-chan:
By Jocko on Friday, May 26, 2000 - 08:27: (RP ON)
When Ryouko closed her room door she collapsed into Warren's arms and the two started laughing hysterically for about two minutes.
"That dolt!" Hudson gaffawed, "did he actually think that he could find all the inside dope on yours truly without you finding out!?!" he snickered like a little boy.
Ryouko laughed but her mind drifted over to the fact that she was still in a way going behind Hudson's back. She brushed these thoughts aside, at least she had Warren's best interests at heart. It wasn't like Shutaro was going to find Warren a girlfriend, after all.
For some reason this thought made Ryouko laugh even harder until it started to hurt her throat.
Hudson without saying a word, but still smirking furiously, got up and fetched her a glass of water.
She stopped laughing in order to acknowledge his kindness with a smile of sincere gratitude and to gulp down the water. After that she was able to speak again.
"We should go make an appearance," Warren smiled, "there's a birthday party to plan."
Ryouko reached for Warren's hand, and smiled in loving determination, "and a man's future too."
Hudson could see that, and couldn't help but smile. Warren accepted her hand holding his and squeezed it gently.
Together they left her room and proceeded to Master and Madame Mendou's sitting room.
Meanwhile back at the Elegant Lady Ranch...
Ataru was standing in front of two beautiful, slightly predatory women. As luck (rare for him) would have it, these two women said they were both friends and like young men.
Now, Ataru *should* be doing high noon and snaking out of his clothes, right?
But as he talked to the sultry Yamaguchi more and more he started to feel more and more uncertain. This entire job was a shame by them for sex, right? Wasn't it supposed to be the other way around?
Yamaguchi and her friend wanted to go into the "back room" with him. Ataru should be feeling about ready to put John Holmes to shame, shouldn't he? Then why all of a sudden did he just go as soft as a freshly baked pretzel?
It took a while, but Ataru realized that these weren't the type of women he wanted to seduce or be seduced by.
Just then, an event which for some reason made him smile happened. Lum flew up to the door and swung it open.
Ataru smiled even wider when he saw that Lum wasn't angry or crackling electricity at him, in fact she seemed genuinely relieved to see him.
'She was crying,' he realized as soon as he made eye-contact with her. And that made him feel like low-life shit.
"Darling!!!" she screamed happily as she flew into the store to the shocked amazement of Yamaguchi and her female friend.
(RP OFF)
Lum-chan:
By Parias on Saturday, May 27, 2000 - 10:22: (RP ON) Terra was now officially bored. After rapidly consuming enough food to feed a small army, she suddenly found herself with little to do.
"I've already messed with Shutaro's head.. Lum and Ataru are either at each other's throats or in blissful glee.. Hudson and Ryouko are up to who knows what at the moment.. and here I sit, doing pretty much nothing."
She knew that she'd only been there about 15 minutes, but it was still too long. Too much inactivity grated on her. So it was for this reason that she almost yelped in joy when yet another familiar face crossed her peripheral vision. And yet, this one made her hold her tongue..
"What the hell is Sergei doing here? I figured he'd be back in whatever hole he crawled out of.."
A bit more visual scanning revealed Hayes in front of him, leading him over to the beefbowl, a grin on his face. Sergei was smiling as well, something Terra never knew he was capable of.
The idea of crouching down in her chair to hide crossed her mind, but she quickly got rid of it. Any problem she had was generally faced, either by brute force or common sense. Hopefully the former wouldn't have to come into play right now, it wouldn't be too convenient to make a scene. She grabbed another bowl from the waiting servant and continued eating.
Quite a bit was going through Sergei's head right now. Mainly the question as to how the people on Earth managed to get along so well, considering the massive crowds everywhere. Order was what he was used to.
"...So he told me this place is supposed to have some good quality food..." rattled off Hayes as they approached their destination. "Heh, then he muttered something about Ataru mis-treating Lum again and ran off.. that Megane guy sure is interesting." he said, chuckling.
"You said it. I could use with a good meal anyways.. say, speaking of Lum, isn't that her over there?" Sergei pointed to where Terra was sitting.
"I guess it is. Didn't know she wore civvies.. first time for anything I guess. Shall we say hello?"
"Sure."
They walked over, and Sergei tapped her on the shoulder.
"Hi there Lum, how're you-"
"Hello Sergei." replied a voice significantly deeper and more mature than Lum's. Sergei's gut wrenched up suddenly.
"Ahh.. uh.. hello..." he stammered. The green-haired figure turned around, revealing Terra's smug face. "Fancy seeing you here." she said.
Noting Sergei's discomfort, Hayes took over. "Nice to see you again Terra, getting along well?"
"Oh, the same old, same old.." she turned to face Sergei. "But y'know, the more things change, the more they stay the same.. or something."
"I'll... uh.. go get our order.." murmured Sergei, walking off into the crowd.
"He's still got some issues to work out I guess." said Hayes, shrugging. "Sorry."
"I guess I can't really blame him... when was that, about a year ago? The Ronin Station massacre."
A dark shadow fell over Hayes' face. "Yes... I remember all too well Terra."
He could remember it perfectly. Ronin station was a medical facility, specializing in genetic alteration and reconstruction. Terra's spies throughout the Oni empire had gotten wind of some kind of project that was being based on the station.. a weapon of sorts that released multiple drones that ate away at the hull of a given ship, continuing to devour it untill there was nothing left but a raw skeleton. Very unfortunate for the crew.
Upon hearing this, Terra instantly ordered the station destroyed, and she gathered her entire fleet to wipe it out. Unfortunately, the information proved wrong. Ronin station wasn't developing any kind of weapon, it was one of the largest intergalactic hospitals the Oni empire had at the time. And the fleet had chosen to strike at the moment it was at it's highest capacity.
Hayes and Sergei had heard the cries of anguish and begs for mercy over the comm channels as the fleet tore the base to pieces in mere seconds. It was only after the base was destroyed that they learned of it's true nature. It was one of the only times Sergei had threatened to leave Hayes if he didn't quit Terra's fleet. After a few days off, they eventually decided to stay, but Hayes couldn't possibly imagine why he decided to. He had always considered himself one of the good guys, but the reason for him joining Terra's fleet constantly eluded him. It was just a necessary evil as far as he was concenered.
"It probably doesn't mean shit right now.." Terra whispered, breaking him from his throughts. "But I'm sorry about what happened then."
"Don't worry about it, we had no idea. And I'm as responsible as you are for joining in the attack."
"Bullshit Hayes and you know it. I nearly threatened you at gunpoint to stick with us."
"Still..."
"Food." muttered Sergei, coming up behind them and passing out plates, then taking a seat himself and starting to eat without another word.
"So what the hell are you guys doing down here anyways? I'd figure you'd be up to your ears in paperwork and whatnot after what just happened a little while ago."
Hayes chucked. "Paper work isn't Sergei's style, nor mine. We wanted to get a better look around this place, and see how you people were doing.. so we decided to just drop in."
"Any word on Ginkobot?"
"Nothing. He's pretty silent. He either chose some other portion of the galaxy to terrorize, or he's busy on other things. I don't like it either way."
"Nor do I."
They continued eating for a few more minutes without any additional conversation. After awhile, Terra broke the silence.
"Sergei.... I've changed."
She didn't get any response from him, but Hayes stopped eating a moment to look at Sergei, then Terra. She cleared her throat.
"Please Sergei.. at least look at me."
He continued eating. Terra frowned.
"Damnit Sergei what the hell do you want me to do, shoot myself in the head?"
"By all means." he murmured. "I don't care anymore... so just give it up." He stood up from his chair.
"I'll be outside."
Terra watched him wordlessly as he walked out of the restaraunt looking like he didn't have a care in the world. She turned to Hayes and noticed he was still looking at her.
"I had to try."
He nodded. "I don't know when he'll get over it, or even if he will. He's tough, but torn."
"Tough indeed.. I still remember that blockade run. Barely held your ship together by the seams if I remember correctly.."
"Yeah. There isn't much I can do I'm afraid."
"Don't worry about it. It's my problem."
"If you insist."
They finished their meals quickly after that. Hayes reached into his uniform to grab some cash, but Terra put a hand on his arm.
"I'll cover it. Thanks for dropping in.. it was pretty good to see you again." She turned a sour glance to Sergei, who was standing just outside, arms folded. "He, on the other hand, can go to hell."
Hayes laughed. "Hah, alright. Yes, we'd better get going.. it was a pleasure seeing you Terra, take care. We'll try to drop in again if we get the chance."
With that, he walked out of the Beefbowl, waved to Sergei, and headed up the street. Sergei turned and stared at Terra a moment, then left to follow.
She sighed and collected the bowls. "That... was interesting. Gonna have a lot to think about tonight.."
(RP OFF)
Lum-chan:
By Jocko on Saturday, May 27, 2000 - 21:41: (RP ON)
"And so..." Ryouko Mendou said, "for my birthday I am having the Kuroko assemble a twenty story birthday cake."
Her father nodded, "Ah, splendid my daughter...just like last year's summer Christmas celebration, I gather?"
"Well," Hudson blushed; chuckled, "not exactly..." he glanced to Ryouko.
Ryouko smiled, "go ahead Warren-kun."
Madame Mendou looked up from her knitting and her husband smiled, "yes, please go on Hudson-sama."
Warren stood from his chair and extended his hand out. A Kuroko placed a pointer in his palm and another hooded servant quietly pushed a large display into view for the sitting room's occupants.
Ryouko smiled proudly at Warren, a smile her parents surely did not miss.
The display was the Tomobiki area...with various roads and residential areas...the red-light district...the town center...business zones...the Tomobiki Parkway and other roads in and immediately outside the city.
The Mendou Estate took up about 20% of the Tomobiki area.
"This obviously," he drawled, "is our lovely town," he indicated the entire display by drawing an invisible "circle" around it.
"Ryouko-chan and her Kuroko propose to close off the city and invite all of the city's inhabitants to participate in her birthday celebration."
Hudson finished his presentation and turned to his audience. Ryouko's parents were a bit stunned. Sure they were use to extravagant parties on the Estate grounds...but this was something so much bigger.
Sensing this, Ryouko smiled at her parents, "we figured we should get your permission first since it would be a major undertaking; requiring commitment from all Mendou forces."
"Any questions?" Hudson asked.
"Yes," Madame Mendou smiled pleasantly, "how exactly are all of Tomobiki-Cho's inhabitants supposed to participate?"
Ryouko and Warren shared a devious look, "think Mardi Gras in New Orleans on a smaller scale with organized games, prizes, and several scavenger hunts."
"Father," Ryouko giggled, "this is not just 'another snipe hunt...' she trailed off searching for the proper words.
Hudson without missing a beat, "it's the snipe hunt to end all snipe hunts!"
The Mendou parents smiled and shared a look of amazement and pride at their little princess and her choosen older prince.
Before Ryouko and Warren had joined them for morning pleasantries the Mendou parents had been discussing how Hudson, eventhough lacking "real money", had good marriage prospects with Ryouko. True, a Tobimaru/Ryouko marriage would be financially good and solidifying...
But Asuka/Shutaro was a done deal anyway and the Mendou family could use the United States/Japan good PR immensely. Plus Hudson had genuine skills and connections the family could use.
The Mendou parents proudly stood up, "you have permission, Ryouko-chan...Hudson-sama. We will *inform* the city authorities."
Arm-in-arm, the parents proudly left the sitting room. A moment afterwards the Kuroko left with the display and the pointer.
Ryouko smiled at Hudson and pretty much flew into his arms, hugging his tall muscular frame. "Thank you so much!" she said over and over.
Warren nodded, "now, now, dear," Warren laughed, "it was all your idea."
She stopped and gazed into his eyes, "thank you for just being you, Warren Hudson, and being with me at this special time in my life."
Hudson's eyes watered somewhat and he just gently clutched her closer to his chest, "No, I must be the one thanking you, Ryouko..."
Ryouko lazily traced her finger along Hudson's shirt-covered chest; right around his heart.
Warren simply closed his eyes, clutched her to him a bit tighter (but being careful not too tightly) and letting himself enjoy the scent of her hair and perfume.
Almost intoxicated, Warren opened his eyes again. Ryouko looked up at him, "I can heal this..." she touched his left breast; feeling his heartbeat.
"Ryouko-chan," he whispered, "we can't do *this* now," he nodded up to a surveillance camera badly hidden in a light fixture, "at least not here."
Ryouko nodded and disengaged herself from his arms.
In silence, the two left the room.
In a darkened room on the other side of the mansion Shutaro Mendou was nearly a raging beast. Katana drawn, he had smashed the monitor to pieces when Ryouko and Hudson had started to...to...grind into eachother...
Shutaro spat at this thought, no one gets that close to his little sister. Ryouko simply *must* be mad to allow the old man to trick her like this...
No less calmer, Shutaro left the darkened room to challenge Hudson to an honorable man-to-man duel.
(RP OFF)
Lum-chan:
By Parias on Monday, May 29, 2000 - 10:26: (RP ON)
After Ataru and Lum embraced a moment (the latter nearly choking the former to death), the ever-popular green haired Oni princess turned to Yamaguchi and the other female. "Who are these people darling?"
Ataru rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I, uh.."
"Come on Ataru-kun, we can show you a good time... much better than you'll get with her."
Lum blinked in surprise. "Are you trying to.... s-s-s-SEDUCE my darling? HOW DARE YOU! Divine retribution!"
Ataru quickly took cover under a pile of bathing suits as the lightning started to fly and screams were heard. He pondered his current situation a moment.
"I guess that settles it then... but I'm still wondering why I hesitated.. I guess this was just too easy."
He yelped in surprise as a stray lightning bolt struck the pile of clothing, annihilating his cover. Things calmed down a few seconds after that, with Lum glaring at the 2 scarred women lying face-down on the floor. Customers had already fled the store, screaming.
"Lum... I.." started Ataru, but was stopped when Lum turned her glare on him, sending ice daggers piercing into his heart.
"And as for YOU, what were you doing out here in the first place? Your mom said you had just gone for a walk!"
"What else was I supposed to say? 'Oh Lum, I'm going down to a nightwear shop so I can sell undergarments to hot girls'?"
"You lied to me! And you came down here for THAT?! Why, I should..."
"Uh oh, here come the sparks, better think fast.." Ataru thought to himself. His brain wieghed the current options in a mere second, a miracle considering his track record of quick and witty thinking, and came to a conclusion.
Lum was about to unleash a second lightning bolt when Ataru suddenly grabbed her by the arms and kissed her right there. She let out a muffled gasp of surprise, then calmed down. After a moment, they seperated.
"Darling....."
"Uh.. I.." Ataru's thought patterns increased in intensity. "Where the hell did THAT come from?" he asked himself, sub-consciously not caring all that much.
"Darling..... lets go home." Lum offered.
"Yeah, I'm hungry anyways.."
Leaving Yamaguchi and her friend unconscious on the floor, they walked out and started on their way home, the female of the group deciding to walk for once.