Topic: Third storyline: No Sympathy for the Devil

[Lum-chan]

By Parias on Friday, March 17, 2000 - 10:38:
Ginkbot's pretty much out of the scene for the moment, "preparing for other plans" >) The references to him were during the time Cygni was in Shinobu's little dream world, that was about it... hehe

(RP ON)
While Sergei was grabbing his belongings, he noticed Cygni digging out her FN-P90 from a duffel bag and loading a clip into it. He walked over and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Haven't you had enough action for one day?"

She shook her head, checking the aim of the weapon and tweaking it slightly. "We've still got Shinobu to worry about..."

"Surely she won't be so much of a problem as to require firepower.."

"I've still got to find out what's going on..."

She finished preparing the rifle and holstered it, then picked up her Desert Eagle and slid a clip in with a click.

"..Personally!"

She checked a nearby monitor quickly, confirming the projected impact zone of Shinobu's cruiser, then turned to leave. Sergei stopped her.

"There's something about this whole thing that stinks. You can't just go running off and.."

Cygni made a frustrated sigh, cutting him off, then motioned to Hayes as paramedics swarmed around him. "Look after him, I'll be back soon." And without another word, she walked out, leaving Sergei speechless.

Hudson was checking out Ryouko at the ambulance outside the recently touched down ship when he noticed Cygni coming out, a determined expression on her face. He waved to her.

"Where you headed Cygni?"

The stormtroopers, who had just caught up with the ship and were out of breath, also noticed Cygni and began frantically waving. She ignored them and headed towards the schoolgrounds, breaking into a run. He noticed the familiar black FN-P90 slung over her shoulder as well, but wasn't too concerned.

Hudson was about to shrug it off as fatigue when Sergei burst out of the ship, yelling for her to wait.

"What's going on? And why's she so moody just now?" he asked.

"I'm not too sure, but I think Cygni just went a bit over the edge in regards to Shinobu.."

Hudson's face paled. "And she was armed! Oh shit..."

They both looked up and saw a faint burning ship in the distance, slowly making it's way down to the schoolgrounds. Lum, Ataru, Sakura, and the rest burst out of the ship, wondering what was going on.

"Cygni's going to have a showdown with Shinobu!" explained Sergei, turning to pursue. Hudson stopped him and pointed to a nearby car that had pulled up recently with Kurokos to check on Ryouko. "We'll catch her faster if we drive.."

The rest of the group nodded and piled into the vehicle, filling it up to the brim. Lum and Ataru entered last, chatting.

"I think we should just leave Cygni alone.." commented Lum, smirking. Ataru put on a horrified look. "But.. but.."

"Oh darling don't tell me you still worry about that silly girl! She almost tried to kill us!"

Ataru stopped and thought a moment. Lum had a point, but then again, Shinobu pretty much did that on a regular basis. He was starting to feel torn up inside, being ripped apart both ways. On one hand, his respect for Lum was beginning to build again, especially after what had happened. On the other, he still had a place in his heart for Shinobu, despite all the problems they had been through. He simply sighed as he stepped inside the car, giving up for the time being and letting the world go to hell.

"Ok, everyone inside?" Hudson grunted under the pressure of the overflowing mass of bodies, then gunned the engine and took off down the street.

Beavis and Butthead found themselves in an odd position on top of Lum, in perfect reach of the back of her bikini top. Butthead chuckled while Beavis shifted his hand slightly.

"Huh huh, go for it Beavis.."

Megane was deep in thought, reflecting upon the events of the day and trying to figure out where his life was going to go after the cops caught up to them when his thoughts were jarred by an ear-piercing scream by Lum, who was sitting directly to his left. Then chaos ensued as massive streaks of lightning coursed through the entire vehicle, causing great pain and injury to all it's passengers.. and it's driver. Hudson yelled out and attempted to regain control of the vehicle, but it was too late. They veered off the road, impacting against a building and doing a good deal of damage to the front of the car. Smoke began pouring out of both the damaged engine and his burnt clothing. He groaned and attempted to re-start the car, to no avail.

He leaned back, took a deep breath, and slowly counted to 3. He then suddenly understood why it was clearly not a good idea to have so many passengers in a vehicle at a given time, especially when one of them was Lum and another was a pair of overly horny teenage boys. Sergei simply grunted, opened the door, and ordered everyone to exit the vehicle. Those who were able to move complied happily.
(RP OFF)

Hope my quick turn of events isn't going against what you had planned or anything >)

[Lum-chan]

By Jocko on Friday, March 17, 2000 - 22:45:
Hmm, no I guess not. I just need to clear up that Ryouko has, of course, two broken legs. I have no earthly idea why I wrote Hudson saying she was fine...oh well brain fart.

(RP ON)

The car left with Ataru, Lum, Hudson, Sergei, and Megane occupying it. Shutaro had stayed behind to stay with Ryouko and confer with his parents.

Perm shook his head sadly, "what now?"

Sakura and Cherry started running down the street towards the nearest Metrorail station.

"Hey!" Chibi screamed, "where are you two going?"

"Back to my shrine!" Sakura shouted as she and Cherry ran through traffic; nearly causing another accident.

Kakugari punched the brick wall where the Kuroko car had crashed, "Now what are we supposed to do?!?"

"CYGNI-CHAN!!!!" all three wailed.

"Uh," Butthead chuckled angrily, "will you, like, shut up or something?"

"Yeah, hehe. I almost scored...hehe" Beavis smiled as best he could.

"Damnit Beavis!" Butthead glared (or tried to), "it was my idea to cop a feel!"

Onsen-Mark stomped his foot on the ground, "you boys shut up or I'll have your school expel you!"

Butthead thought this over for a second, "Cool!!!"

"Yeah, hehe," Beavis laughed rapidly, "like please expel us...sensei," Beavis seemed to like the Japanese word for teacher because he began to say it to himself over and over.

Chibi abruptly smelled business opportunity in these two dill-holes.

"Say guys...we have pictures of Lum-chan WITHOUT her top on..." the little stormtrooper laughed lewdly, "you can have them for a price!"

"Whoa!" Butthead turned to Beavis, "these Japanese dudes are pretty cool, Beavis."

"Yeah, hehe. Lum-chan topless, hehe-hehe," Beavis started to salivate.

Onsen-Mark wasn't having any part in this. The Tomobiki High teacher began raising more hell than any teacher at Highland High had ever raised because of Beavis and Butthead.

But he soon realized he was raising hell to a damaged brick wall; Beavis and Butthead had already been dragged off by the stormtroopers.

Mujaki, Ten, and Kintaro, utterly disgusted with this exchange in its infancy left to find a safe place to hide until everything blew over. They soon ended up at an icecream stand and later at Kintaro's garage.

Ran's ship was a mess. She had six US Army and Oni people there to help clean up, remove Ron's body, and go shopping. She also had Warren Hudson's US Treasury debit card, her first act using the card was to call Kurokawa Steamers for an emergency top to bottom on the ship.

The only good thing was that the officer assigned to go shopping for her was Rei. Who was eating a candy bar while Ran made up a twenty page grocery list while happily giggling and talking sweet to Lum's former fiance.

As Rei was about to leave Ran decided it would be a better idea to go with him.

An American officer named Burke watched the couple leave, piling into the dump truck that had been requisitioned for this operation.

Burke shook his head and motioned to his Oni counterpart, Kal. "Burke?" the Oni asked.

"Warn the marketplace, Kal. Double R alert."

Meanwhile at the hospital Shutaro was pacing around the waiting room with his parents. Ryouko was being examined by Oni and Mendou doctors and the prognosis was good. A few hours here and the bones would be repaired, after that a few days of rest. The only thing Ryouko would be complaining to Warren about was sore legs and an ankle.

Right now the topic for Shutaro was Shinobu. "Father, I don't know why she's doing this!" Shutaro said for the fifth time.

"Well son," Master Mendou said simply, "you're her best friend."

"Maybe..." Shutaro trailed off and sat down, "one day she was at school and everything was normal and the next she was not. And I didn't notice," he said completely disgusted with himself.

"What about," Madame Mendou searched for the name, "Inaba-san or Mr. and Mrs. Miyake?"

Shutaro chuckled darkly, "good question. No one can find him at the current time."

"But you mentioned something about a diary," Madame Mendou sat down beside her son.

"Yes," he then related to his parents Ryouko asking Ran for help in finding Shinobu, "Ran broke into Shinobu-san's residence and found her diary," Shutaro grabbed a cup of water and gulped it down.

"Where is it now?" Master Mendou asked.

Shutaro eyes nearly bugged out. "I'm...not entirely sure where we left it."

Tomobiki school grounds...

Cygni arrived at Tomobiki High to find students doing various after school activities like baseball practice and club meetings.

One by one the students looked up and noticed the steadily enlarging ship heading for the ground. Most had already seen Ran's ship in the distance and weren't too concerned at first.

That all changed when the helicopters filled the sky and police sirens were heard. Then the tanks began arriving.

Ryuunosuke had followed Cygni from Ran's ship and tapped her on the shoulder. Cygni spun around and saw the tomboy standing besides Kotatsu-Neko staring at her quizically.

"So," Ryuu pointed at the sky, "Shinobu's become a warlord and wants revenge against Lum, eh?"

"It seems that way," Cygni confirmed shortly.

"Man," Ryuu shook her head, "what a shitty Tuesday this is turning out to be," she walked off with the ghost cat to talk to the Principal.

Right then a car breaking nine traffic laws speed through the school gate, it was a Kuroko outfitted BMW, but with both headlights and the grill smashed out. It puttered to a stop besides Cygni as its radiator exploded.

(RP OFF)

[Lum-chan]

By Parias on Saturday, March 18, 2000 - 12:41:
Bah, happens to the best of us >)

Wow, big post.. my position as "longest post maker" in our little stories is being challenged, and probably overrun! AAAAUUGH! *cough*

Hehehe >)

(RP ON)
Sergei rushed out of the vehicle towards Cygni, stopping and gasping for air when he reached her. His and Hudson's combined efforts to move the vehicle back onto the street and get it running again had been stressful, to say the least. Cygni simply offered a glare.

"Didn't I ask you to look after Hayes?"

"He's fine... and I never was too good at following orders I didn't like." He put up a small grin, which dropped quickly when he looked up into Cygni's frowning face.

"I'm able to handle this by myself. What Shinobu's done just isn't right.. it's completely broken my trust, plain and simple. A lot of good people were killed up there..."

She turned around and looked at the schoolyards, where chaos was ensuing and the military was attempting to evacuate the students from the area. Sergei came up beside her.

"What's happened? You weren't like this an hour ago."

"That deal with Ron.. got me thinking.. I've never hesitated to shoot something when needed, but I've also never seen it up close and personal.. the mess.." She flexed her hands uncomfortably.

Hudson was watching the conversation from a distance when he looked up as a faint screaming was heard, slowly getting louder. Cygni and Sergei also noticed and looked up, along with the rest of the group that had followed along.

A blazing fireball greeted their eyes. Shinobu's cruiser was coming in fast, and crippled already. Large chunks of the ship had already been torn off or melted from the intense heat, thanks to the fact that there were no protection systems available to shield the ship. Sergei checked his watch.

"She'll hit about a minute.. are you sure you want to go through with this?"

Cygni nodded.

"Then I suggest we get to some cover.. I'd assume getting melted isn't part of your plan."

Hudson, who had come closer to inform them that they should move away, spoke up. "Nor mine.. shall we?"

Cygni was about to turn away when something suddenly caught her eye. She quickly grabbed the pair of electronic binoculars Ataru had around his neck, nearly choking him in the process, and looked up at Shinobu's cruiser.

Massive chunks of the vessel were still being peeled away, and all that remained now was the protective armour around the bridge area, leaving a smooth round shell about the size of two semi-trucks.

"Looks like we won't have to.. there's so little of the ship left, I think the worst we'll get is a minor quake.. especially if the shock-resistant plates are still in place. Although I'd imagine the crater is going to be a pain in the ass to cover up.."

She was pulled from her thoughts when a large chunk of flaming debris crashed to the ground nearby, completely smashing the BMW into the ground and nearly taking Megane with it. A few more flaming pieces were falling all around town. Hudson sighed deeply and put his hands to his face. Explaining all of this would be a task within itself.

Onboard the bridge of the soon-to-be-lost cruiser, Zard, Shinobu, the surviving Kurokos, and what was left of the bridge crew desperately clung to their chairs in an attempt to avoid being thrown to the front of the bridge and smashed to pieces under the debris falling from the rear. The roof section of the bridge suddenly let loose a loud groan, then tore itself loose and flung away from the derelict section, heading to god-knows-where. A cold blast of wind rushed in.

"Get ready, here comes the ground!!" yelled Zard over the noise. Shinobu clung to him closely, her eyes shut tight in fear. Various thoughts were racing through her head. Everything seemed to be so easy to do when she was up in space a few hours ago, with a massive fleet under her command. And now here she was, in a crippled chunk of her cruiser on a suicide trip to hell. She hadn't felt this afraid in months, maybe years. For the first time since she had assumed command of the cruiser, she began to seriously reconsider her position of authority.

She longed for the simple life of not so long ago, the petty struggles between her and Lum over Ataru, the interesting adventures that had happened.. all of her friends..

"I wonder if it's too late to change.." she murmured under her breath. Zard seemed to somehow pick it up, and took her chin in his hand and gave a re-assuring smile. Then, a loud crash and scream came from somewhere below, and her whole world turned upside down.

Cygni had to wince as she saw the bridge section plunge directly into Onsenmark's classroom, completely crushing it and leaving a small crater.

"Wouldn't wanna be caught in there.." muttered Sergei. He turned to Cygni, but she had taken off again, running towards the debris before it had even settled. He sighed and began wondering what the hell he had gotten himself into.

(RP OFF)

[Lum-chan]

By Jocko on Saturday, March 18, 2000 - 19:58:
All right, short post for me this time...

(RP ON)

Warren, Ataru, Lum, and Megane stood stunned for a full minute.

"D-d-damn..." Ataru exclaimed.

"No shit," Megane blinked.

"That'll leave a dent," Hudson frowned, "and one hell of a tax hike."

"And Onsen-Mark-sensei will need another room...and I hate tax hikes!," Lum frowned. Ataru and Megane looked at her stunned.

"No he won't," Ataru said a little too quickly. He wasn't about to pass up another week off from school.

"Yeah, I agree," Megane smiled hastily, "Onsen can just lock himself in his boarding house for the next six months for all I care."

Hudson turned to Lum as the group began to jog over to the school entrance, "why do you hate tax hikes, Lum-san?"

"They make Darling's parents sour."

Meanwhile across town at Sakura's shrine Sakura and Cherry were doing various Shinto and Buddhist type deals in order to insure the successful outcome of today's events.

"Exorcise, Purify, Exorcise, Purify..."

"Praise Buddha..."

CRASH!

The entire shrine shook and pieces of the ceiling fell down. One extinguishing Sakura's altar fire and the other konking Cherry on the head.

Sakura and Cherry stood up and ran over to the door. "What the...?" Sakura breathed.

"It looks like a chunk of the ship we escaped from, Sakura," Cherry rubbed the swelling bump on his head.

Sakura smacked him and made the bump bigger, "Of course it does, Uncle!"

The piece of the ship had an open end on it. A hooded figure jumped out, then another, then another, and then another until ten Kuroko stood in Sakura's front lawn.

"Pardon us," the lead one said formally bowing, "but we calculated we would be landing at a salad bar."

The Kurokos began walking off the shrine's property, "Our most humble apologies about the mess! Please alert a Mendou operative as soon as possible and do not inform the police" one shouted as they left the property.

(RP OFF)

[Lum-chan]

By Parias on Sunday, March 19, 2000 - 10:47:
I must admit I'm getting quite a chuckle out of your posts Jocko, your humor is pretty damn good >)

(RP ON)
As Cygni neared the wreckage, she saw a chunk of flaming debris shuffle. Zard groaned and lifted it up, with Shinobu under him making sure she was still in one piece.

Cygni instantly stopped and unslung her FN-P90, aiming it directly at the two and clacking off the safety, letting loose a small growl. The pair instinctively raised their hands. She could hear Sergei calling her name somewhere far behind, but she shut out the distraction and concentrated on the task at hand.

"I want answers. NOW!"

"I... I..." Shinobu stammered in response.

"Damnit I trusted you, you're sure as hell the last person I'd expect to slaughter off a bunch of people just for one person!"

"I'm.....sorry." she said quietly.

"What of all those people killed in the attack? The strange abuse of our minds? Why? Surely there's something deeper than your hatred for Lum!"

"There.. isn't." She turned away, red faced and ashamed. Zard looked at Cygni expectantly. Various military officers and policemen were scurrying around, gathering up the surviving bridge officers, but ignoring Cygni, Zard, and Shinobu.

"I think she's had enough, she understands what happened." said Zard, touching Shinobu's shoulder.

"That's not good enough. I can't even trust her anymore." Cygni restlessly flexed her trigger finger.

"Then what are you going to do, shoot us? I fail to see what that will accomplish."

("He's got a point.. what do you plan to do?")

Before Cygni could think, Sergei finally caught up to her, out of breath again.

"Cygni.. this is nuts, what are you doing?"

Her eyes widened as she stopped to think a moment. "What the hell AM I doing?" she asked herself. "I've got one girl who I'm extremely pissed off with, a smart-talking purple haired person who claims to be her long-lost daddy, and I'm holding them both and gunpoint for no real reason."

("...Course of action?")

She sighed, loosening her grip on her gun slightly, unsure as to what to do.

Ataru was making his way through the debris when he suddenly came upon Cygni, holding Shinobu and Zard at gunpoint, with Sergei trying to talk her out of it. He didn't notice Sergei though, mainly just Cygni's gun and Shinobu.

"I must do something!" he whispered, eyeing Cygni. He let out a blood-curdling scream and leapt towards her.

Cygni's nerves were starting to loosen up as her adrenaline wore off when she suddenly heard a loud scream behind her. Reacting on pure combat-honed instinct, she whirled around, pointing her rifle at the percieved threat and yanking down on the trigger, only to find...

"...Ataru?" she said in confusion, before he made contact with her mid-section, sending her reeling backwards and her right arm flying up, bullets still being firing at a rapid pace. It was released from her hand and sent slowly spinning upwards, it's muzzle silencing as soon as her finger left the trigger. It seemed to take ages to slowly come down and impact on the ground nearby at the exact second Cygni's head impacted against a slab of concrete, sending massive amounts of pain jolting through her entire body. She grunted in pain and tried to move, but the jarring shock of the collision with the debris was still shooting through her nerves, rendering her immobile for the time being.

Sergei became concerned and annoyed at the same time. Concerned for Cygni's health, and annoyed because Ataru was lying directly on top of her chest and not making any effort to move. He didn't care if he was unconscious or injured or not, but the past events of the last few hours was starting to push him over the edge. Lum beat him to the punch before he could make a move, however.

"Darling what are you doing??" shrieked Lum, rushing towards him. A groan was her reply. She bent down, picked him up, then turned to throw him into the flaming debris so she could electrocute him without anything being in the way. She was stopped cold when she noticed drops of blood coming from his back and midsection, along with the fact that he was unconscious. She gasped. Hudson walked over and cried out in surprise when he also saw what had happened.

Cygni finally managed to recover and slowly rose to her feet, rubbing the throbbing pain on the back of her head. Sergei rushed up to her.

"Are you alright?"

"Yea.. except for one hell of a splitting headache.. but I'm more concerned about Ataru.. is he.."

Lum suddenly dropped to her knees, sobbing loudly, Ataru in her arms. Hudson stared at Cygni, searching for an expression to suit how he was feeling. Not finding one, he turned and yelled for a medic.

"My god... what the hell have I done?" said Cygni slowly, tears filling her eyes. Sergei embraced her, and she let it all out painfully, silently wondering if there was room in hell for another lost soul.
(RP OFF)

Before anyone asks, no I'm not planning on killing Ataru, just adding to the drama >)

[Lum-chan]

By Jocko on Sunday, March 19, 2000 - 19:57:
Uh, just so you know, later on in the series Shinobu doesn't hate Lum. There aren't exactly best friends either...steady rivals in a way, but not for Ataru. Yeah, for 80% of the series Shinobu pursues Mendou then Inaba comes along.

On humor; most UY fanfiction of this type sometimes degenerate into needless Out of Character cruelty. Just look at Fred Herriot and Mike Smith's UY: The Senior Year as an example. Although they are capable writers...

(RP ON)

Megane ran over to Ataru, "How badly hurt is he?" Hudson asked.

Megane looked at the collecting blood on Ataru and back to Lum sobbing.

"No..." he glared viciously at Shinobu and Zard.

The medics arrived and Megane tried to coax Lum into letting go of Ataru so the medics could get a closer look and carry him away.

Warren, narrowing his glare, drew his .357 Magnum from its holster and slowly pointed it at the cowering pair.

"Ryouko is the hospital with two broken legs and who-knows-how many else are in body bags because of your goddamn silly little game!" Hudson raged.

Shinobu' eyes began to water and she opened her mouth to say something but no sound came out.

Hudson felt white hot rage extend out into his hands; almost magical in its intensity. "And that piss-poor reason I heard you give Cygni ain't gonna cut it!"

(RP OFF)

Should any of the other characters make an appearance. Maybe one of the Mendou siblings or Ran wanting to have a picnic with Rei in the ruins?

[Lum-chan]

By Parias on Sunday, March 19, 2000 - 23:11:
Shinobu actually not at Lum's throat every 5 seconds? Dear god, I've REALLY missed out on stuff.. thus the reason I'll re-double my efforts to obtain more episodes beyond 1-8 >) There's an anime/console gaming store around town somewhere with an anime addict helping run the place (last I saw).. I'll stop in there and see if I can find something... thanks for the heads up, I'll note it for future reference >)

As for other characters showing up, but of course! Hope you don't mind if I leave that mostly in your hands though, due to the aforementioned reason.. hehe >)

I'll make my post in a bit ("bit" meaning anywhere from an hour to sometime late tonight, depending on how complicated everyone on my ICQ list feels like making my life today *grin*)

[Lum-chan]

By Parias on Monday, March 20, 2000 - 10:50:
Woa baby, Diablo 2 Beta signups are now happenin at http://www.blizzard.com/scripts/signup.dll !! Go check it out if you're up to it! Yeeehaw!

(RP ON)
Cygni peeled herself away from Sergei in time to see what was going on.

("It's a tight situation.. you know what you need to do.")

"Yea.. but....... damnit, there's so much going on.. I'm not sure.."

She heard a click as Hudson pulled back on the hammer of the .357, readying it for firing.

("I'd give you about 5 seconds before she's a pile of gore, assuming Zard doesn't do anything. Don't get pushed into a checkmate.")

She looked at Hudson, and swore for a moment she saw fire dancing across his retinas. Then she turned and looked at Shinobu, who's face seemed to have completely drained of colour. Zard was at a loss for what to do, but seemed almost ready to take the bullet. Cygni was between Hudson and Shinobu, just slightly out of the line of fire, with Sergei behind her. He touched her arm and whispered into her ear.

"Do it."

Taking a breath, Cygni took a step forward, blocking Hudson's line of fire.

"Get the hell out of the way Cygni, this has to be done!"

"The hell it does!" she retorted. "Her ship's gone, her armies crushed, her rage gone. Whatever the hell possessed her in the first place to do this isn't there anymore!"

This seemed to only make Hudson angrier. "I've known that Shinobu and Lum have been alright with each other for quite some time. For her to pull something like this means a lot of going about in the dark behind everyone's back! Especially mine!"

"And how do you know that what occured was entirely her fault?"

Hudson looked surprised. "What do you mean?"

Cygni paused a moment to put together her thoughts. "Where the hell do you think Ginkobot has been all this time? Where did she get the damn cruiser from? Zard right? Zard got his equipment from Terra, who got her's from Ginkobot!"

Hudson slowly dropped his weapon as realization dawned on him. "Of course.."

"Wheels within wheels! That dream-bending machine wasn't meant for just this petty struggle, it had a much deeper meaning to it. It's way too advanced!"

"Wuh.. wait.." came a weak voice behind her, as Shinobu tried to recover from her fear. "When I was attacking.. I felt completely in control.. like everything going on was.. my.. decision.."

Cygni turned to her. "Transparent suggestions implemented during some certain time within the last month or so.. or maybe something a bit different from that.. either way, you were doing it even though it wasn't your nature, and yet it still felt natural." She shrugged. "Sorta like being drunk.."

"But how did you figure all this out? And better yet, how do we find out if it's true?" asked Sergei.

"I just put it together now.. it just seems so obvious. Ginkobot's hardly gone, there's been some deep manipulation going on, and..."

She was interrupted by a series of nearby loud screams, followed by a few groans. Cygni and Hudson glanced over to where Lum was still sobbing, with a few paramedics lying nearby, seriously injured.

Cygni's stomach cramped up. "Oh shit, I forgot about that... I'll handle it." She cracked her knuckles and walked over to Lum, feeling certain that bungie jumping into an active volcano would probably be safer than what she was about to do.

("At least you're immune to her lightning attacks, lets just hope there aren't any easily liftable large objects nearby...")

She walked over and knelt down by Lum.

"Listen, nobody's gonna be able to help Ataru if you keep..."

"YOU KILLED MY DARLING!!" was the ear-blasting reply as Lum dropped Ataru and stood up. Cygni rose as well, measuring a few inches larger than Lum at full height. She sighed and winced.

"I know.. I wasn't expecting him to jump me like that.."

The medics that could still walk siezed the opportunity of distraction to grab Ataru and rush him off to the waiting ambulance.

"It's all your fault you.. you...."

"Bitch? Yea, that's about how I'm feeling right now, so why don't you take it out on me?"

Lum let out a loud growl that shook loose some small pebbles of stone nearby

("Get ready, and don't underestimate her.")

"I'm feeling pretty damn shitty right now as well so it's not like I'm just going to stand here and let her pound the living daylights outta me." she replied to the voice, baring her fists and letting loose a small growl of her own.

Sergei, Hudson, and Megane watched as a massive struggle ensued between the two. Sergei winced as Lum landed a harsh series of blows, only to be beaten back by an equally fierce attack.

"Catfight.." muttered Megane, polishing his glasses.

"Uh, shouldn't we try to break it up?" asked Sergei, looking worried.

"If you're able to, you're a better man than I.."

Sergei grumbled at this, but made no attempt to move forward. Hudson continued watching a moment as the fighting pair took the battle to the air, then turned back to Shinobu and Zard, who were still waiting patiently. He sighed, wondering what to do next.

(RP OFF)

[Lum-chan]

By Jocko on Tuesday, March 21, 2000 - 03:10:
Pretty clever spin, Parias. I've gotta hand it to you...

So what did you cut your teeth on? I started out with Star Trek as a brat; but earned my skills from David Lynch and Stanley Kubrick films before coming to UY and anime.

(RP ON)

Warren collapsed on a conveinantly placed desk. He withdrew a hankerchief from his coat and wiped away some blood from his left nostral.

Megane smiled grimly, "I doubt you're having lewd thoughts just now."

"Mmm? Oh," he chuckled, "its all this dust."

Hudson stood, "Kuroko!"

Fifteen figures jumped up from the shadows of the rubble, the door, several holes in the walls, and two in the ceiling.

Hudson nodded, "Are the injured away?"

"Yes, Hudson-sama," said one from a ceiling hole; directly above Hudson's head.

"Casualities?" Warren whispered.

"Six so far," the Kuroko sadly reported. Shinobu' eyes started welling up with tears again.

"Have they been taken to the medical examiner yet?" Hudson looked above him.

"No, Hudson-sama. I elected to consult you or Ryouko-sama before letting the authorities know."

"And the medics are having enough trouble with the living at the current time..." he clapped his hands; everyone looked up at him, "let's tag 'em and bag 'em boys. Save the parameds some work."

"Yes, Hudson-sama," all at once the Kurokos disappeared except for the one in the hole above Hudson's head.

"Some of the dead's hoods have been lost..."

"Find them, or give them your own if you have to." Shinobu and Zard seemed shocked; as did Sergei.

Hudson's gaze narrowed at the Kuroko above him, "If anyone attempts to interfer; prevent it. Tell the Coroner we'll do all the IDing."

The Kuroko was gone an instant later.

Hudson began approaching Shinobu and Zard as Sergei tapped Megane's shoulder.

"What was that all about?" Sergei nodded towards Hudson.

"It's considered a sign of respect and honor for a Mendou Kuroko to never be unmasked, even in death."

Warren stopped above Shinobu and Zard. "On your feet," he said.

They obeyed. Zard putting his hand on Shinobu' shoulder.

"Do you two require any medical attention?" Hudson asked in a business-like manner.

Zard looked to Shinobu who looked to him; both shook their heads in the negative.

"Listen...I'm sorry...for what happened back there," Hudson danced around his words uncomfortably, "I almost lost Ryouko up there and I don't know what I'd do without her."

Shinobu averted Hudson's gaze and stepped forward quietly, "I should apologize to Ryouko and Shutaro personally..." she trailed off, and glanced up at him.

"Where are your parents, Shinobu?" Hudson asked, his tone a bit softer.

(RP OFF)

[Lum-chan]

By Parias on Monday, March 20, 2000 - 10:50:
Woa baby, Diablo 2 Beta signups are now happenin at http://www.blizzard.com/scripts/signup.dll !! Go check it out if you're up to it! Yeeehaw!

(RP ON)
Cygni peeled herself away from Sergei in time to see what was going on.

("It's a tight situation.. you know what you need to do.")

"Yea.. but....... damnit, there's so much going on.. I'm not sure.."

She heard a click as Hudson pulled back on the hammer of the .357, readying it for firing.

("I'd give you about 5 seconds before she's a pile of gore, assuming Zard doesn't do anything. Don't get pushed into a checkmate.")

She looked at Hudson, and swore for a moment she saw fire dancing across his retinas. Then she turned and looked at Shinobu, who's face seemed to have completely drained of colour. Zard was at a loss for what to do, but seemed almost ready to take the bullet. Cygni was between Hudson and Shinobu, just slightly out of the line of fire, with Sergei behind her. He touched her arm and whispered into her ear.

"Do it."

Taking a breath, Cygni took a step forward, blocking Hudson's line of fire.

"Get the hell out of the way Cygni, this has to be done!"

"The hell it does!" she retorted. "Her ship's gone, her armies crushed, her rage gone. Whatever the hell possessed her in the first place to do this isn't there anymore!"

This seemed to only make Hudson angrier. "I've known that Shinobu and Lum have been alright with each other for quite some time. For her to pull something like this means a lot of going about in the dark behind everyone's back! Especially mine!"

"And how do you know that what occured was entirely her fault?"

Hudson looked surprised. "What do you mean?"

Cygni paused a moment to put together her thoughts. "Where the hell do you think Ginkobot has been all this time? Where did she get the damn cruiser from? Zard right? Zard got his equipment from Terra, who got her's from Ginkobot!"

Hudson slowly dropped his weapon as realization dawned on him. "Of course.."

"Wheels within wheels! That dream-bending machine wasn't meant for just this petty struggle, it had a much deeper meaning to it. It's way too advanced!"

"Wuh.. wait.." came a weak voice behind her, as Shinobu tried to recover from her fear. "When I was attacking.. I felt completely in control.. like everything going on was.. my.. decision.."

Cygni turned to her. "Transparent suggestions implemented during some certain time within the last month or so.. or maybe something a bit different from that.. either way, you were doing it even though it wasn't your nature, and yet it still felt natural." She shrugged. "Sorta like being drunk.."

"But how did you figure all this out? And better yet, how do we find out if it's true?" asked Sergei.

"I just put it together now.. it just seems so obvious. Ginkobot's hardly gone, there's been some deep manipulation going on, and..."

She was interrupted by a series of nearby loud screams, followed by a few groans. Cygni and Hudson glanced over to where Lum was still sobbing, with a few paramedics lying nearby, seriously injured.

Cygni's stomach cramped up. "Oh shit, I forgot about that... I'll handle it." She cracked her knuckles and walked over to Lum, feeling certain that bungie jumping into an active volcano would probably be safer than what she was about to do.

("At least you're immune to her lightning attacks, lets just hope there aren't any easily liftable large objects nearby...")

She walked over and knelt down by Lum.

"Listen, nobody's gonna be able to help Ataru if you keep..."

"YOU KILLED MY DARLING!!" was the ear-blasting reply as Lum dropped Ataru and stood up. Cygni rose as well, measuring a few inches larger than Lum at full height. She sighed and winced.

"I know.. I wasn't expecting him to jump me like that.."

The medics that could still walk siezed the opportunity of distraction to grab Ataru and rush him off to the waiting ambulance.

"It's all your fault you.. you...."

"Bitch? Yea, that's about how I'm feeling right now, so why don't you take it out on me?"

Lum let out a loud growl that shook loose some small pebbles of stone nearby

("Get ready, and don't underestimate her.")

"I'm feeling pretty damn shitty right now as well so it's not like I'm just going to stand here and let her pound the living daylights outta me." she replied to the voice, baring her fists and letting loose a small growl of her own.

Sergei, Hudson, and Megane watched as a massive struggle ensued between the two. Sergei winced as Lum landed a harsh series of blows, only to be beaten back by an equally fierce attack.

"Catfight.." muttered Megane, polishing his glasses.

"Uh, shouldn't we try to break it up?" asked Sergei, looking worried.

"If you're able to, you're a better man than I.."

Sergei grumbled at this, but made no attempt to move forward. Hudson continued watching a moment as the fighting pair took the battle to the air, then turned back to Shinobu and Zard, who were still waiting patiently. He sighed, wondering what to do next.

(RP OFF)

[Lum-chan]

By Parias on Tuesday, March 21, 2000 - 12:03:
Thanks for the comps >)

As for my roots.. whelp, I got started off on Star Trek as well, along with Star Wars and a whole bunch of other sci-fi stuff.. that's always been my taste >) Got my first lick of anime with Robotech, not to mention I used to read anything I could get my grubby paws on (Battletech novels were good). And as you can see, I'm still honing my skills, this is pretty much my starting point in my writing career (assuming I pursue it further) for me >)

(RP ON)

Shinobu looked surprised. "They're not home?"

Hudson shook his head. "We've had no luck in contacting them.. infact, the house was empty when Ran.... uh.."

She folded her arms. "When Ran WHAT?"

"Never mind, we'll cover that later. But do you have any idea where your parents could be?"

Shinbou muttered to herself, then shook her head again. "I really don't know.. they were there when I last left to take over the Martyr."

"Martyr? So that's the name of the cruiser.. anyways, I suppose your parents probably spooked when you didn't come back and went hunting for you."

Shinobu sighed. "I guess so... can we find them?"

Hudson nodded. "It shouldn't be a problem. But what do you plan to do in regards to the deaths? As was said earlier, this isn't exactly something you walk away from.."

Shinobu shifted uncomfortably. "Um..."

Zard took over. "We've decided that she'll send a personal letter to the fellow family members of each person who died on the UNO. It's the last she can do."

Hudson smiled. "It's a start." He looked over at Sergei, who was scanning the skies with a worried face, wondering where Cygni and Lum had gotten to.

"I'm sure they're alright.. probably needed to vent." offered Hudson.

"If that's her way of venting, I think I'm going to need to have an escape plan ready at all times.." Sergei shuddered.

A loud commotion was heard a few meters away. The group turned to look, only to see a massive pile of dust rising into the air from a large pile of debris. Hudson and Sergei ran over, only to see Cygni and Lum, heavily bruised lying on their backs near each other, gasping for air.

"Dear god, are you alright?" asked Sergei, leaning down to help her up. Cygni grunted and rose to her feet slowly, holding the few cracked ribs she had recieved in the fight. She put on a sly grin.

"Despite our massive injuries, I think we both needed that.. of course, when we finally managed to resolve it peacefully, we were so pooped out that we couldn't fly anymore.." She walked over and helped Lum up as well, who was nursing a large scrape on her leg from the impact.

"We managed to work things out." affirmed Lum, then put on a sour expression. "But did you REALLY have to grab my horns like that?"

Cygni shrugged. "I said I was pissed, sorry."

Sergei chuckled and took her in his arms. "Come on dear, lets get you patched up."

She nodded and turned to Hudson as they walked past. "We'll be down at the hospital in a few hours.. meet us there, I've still got a few extra ideas I wanna share.."

Hudson laughed. "Hah, they'll have to boot me out of there at gunpoint untill I spend at least a day in there with Ryouko!"

The pair walked away from the school, heading for home.

Hudson was about to pursue the matter of Shinobu further when a massive roaring was heard all around as an Oni shuttle and it's fighter escort touched down nearby. He trotted over to see who it was.

The rear hatch of the shuttle slowly swung open, and two elite guards walked out, standing at attention to either side of the shuttle. Then a massive burly Oni, who's size rivaled that of Invader and then some slowly stepped out into the sunlight, some of it refracting off of the shiny silver plate covering his left eye. Hudson smiled.

"Zrugg come see Hudson to make sure everything ok!" boomed the large Oni, flashing a grin.

(RP OFF)

[Lum-chan]

By Jocko on Wednesday, March 22, 2000 - 08:17:
Hehe, I also draw a little bit from the old Twin Peaks TV series and FF. Not to mention Frank Herbert's books.

(RP ON)

Warren extended his hand out, "Zrugg!" the Oni with deliberate care shook the human's hand.

"It's been a while," Hudson looked back over at the fighter escort, the pilot seemed to be coming out.

"Zrugg need make reports to Invader about incident," he nodded towards the ruined school building.

"Uh..." Hudson stammered. He could not just tell Zrugg that Shinobu and Zard were inside; it would be a disaster in five seconds.

Zrugg looked down speculatively at the human. The Oni and Hudson went back pretty far to the peace negotiations of 1983 and the technology exchanges of '84. Zrugg had been Warren Hudson's host; while an Oni of few words, he did have a certain bluntness of point and a way of getting to what was really important in a discussion.

"Zrugg," Hudson sighed, "Ginkobot is taking us for a ride; with Shinobu-san as a pawn."

Zrugg rumbled, shaking the ground under Warren's feet, "Brainwashing?!?"

"Something..." Hudson stumbled; held balance, "...much more insidious."

Zrugg's escort walked up then; Warren knew who it was before he took his helmet off.

"Hi Rei."

"Hi." Rei held out his right palm in front of him while eating Tomobiki Ginza cotton candy from the other.

Zrugg smiled, "Lieutenant Rei is leader Concussion Squadron!!!" the big Oni stomped a few times gleefully.

Rei reached inside his flight suit a moment and produced an elegant letter; not one of Ryouko's, Hudson could see.

"You...from Ran-chan," Rei took another mouthful of cotton candy and began walking back to his fighter.

Hudson looked down at the letter, addressed to him from Ran; the writing in English.

"Zrugg go bye-bye to see Captain January," he looked over at the hole in the school where Hudson had appeared out of.

Warren followed the Oni's gaze to where Lum was accepting the help of some paramedics into a nearby ambulance.

"Does Princess Lum need Oni Doctors?" Zrugg looked down.

"We already have more than a few here on tour or something," Hudson chuckled.

Zrugg grinned and returned to his shuttle.

Hudson went back into what was left of Onsen-Mark's classroom to find it empty. Warren walked around the room a few times wistully until he noticed hastily scrawled writing on a desk in heavy black marker.

Hudson,

Ataru's parents showed up while you were talking to that Oni dragging Cherry and Sakura with them and started freaking out. Nice run-on sentence, eh?

Warren smacked his forehead and uttered a phrase sounding akin to "motherflapper," from a distance.

I, Shinobu, Zard, and the rest have been dragged down to the hospital to check on Ataru and Lum. See you there.

Sincerely,
Megane

Hudson smiled at Megane's trademark signature; the diagram of his glasses.

Silently he left the school and began flagging down police cars, ambulances, or any other vehicle he could have take him down to the hospital. Suddenly he remembered the Kuroko fan, he opened it and had a car with a driver in three minutes.

Once Hudson was sitting in the car he relaxed for the first time in a week. He then felt pain, lots of it from the accumulated stress on his muscles. He drew Ran's letter out, opened it, and nearly screamed.

Dear Warren Hudson,
You're total debt is 53,000 of your American dollars and payment is due by the end of the month. Just thought you'd like to know!

Love,
Ran

Hudson wondered whether Ran was giggling or growling when she wrote the letter.

(RP ON)

[Lum-chan]

By Parias on Wednesday, March 22, 2000 - 11:42:
ROFL, that's good! >)

(RP ON)
A few hours later, the group was assembled in Ryouko/Lum's room in the hospital. By special request, the pair had been put in the same large room so that the gang could go about matters with litte fuss.

Cygni took up station by the window and began unveiling her ideas.

"..Ok, so as I was saying earlier, Ginkobot's so called 'dream machine' probably has quite a deeper meaning than what Shinobu.. er.. had in mind for it." Shinobu shifted her feet uncomfortably, but said nothing.

"So what's your idea?" asked Shutaro.

"That's where the complications begin. I have no idea what the direct intention was, but it's evident that those of us who were exposed to the device have come away different somehow. It wouldn't simply be something so complex that you get in and out of it, no problems. I've got a gut feeling that we've got something on us Ginkobot may end up using later..."

Lum nodded from her post by Ataru's bed. "Sakura looked over us... but she found nothing."

Sakura affirmed. "Absolutely no traces that we could find that anything is different.. I checked everything I could think of."

Hudson sighed. "I'm inclined to agree with you.. But the question is, what do we do from here?"

"Wait for results I'd imagine... unless anybody else has a better idea?" She looked around the room, but everyone else shook their head or just shrugged.

A small commotion was raised by Lum as Ataru began to groan and work his way back to consciousnous. He slowly opened his eyes.. only to see a female face with green hair behind it. That was enough to freak him out and cause him to go unconscious again. Lum looked confused.

"I thought darling would be happy to see me!"

Cygni frowned. "Lum, we look exactly the same, and since his last real conscious image was of me.."

"Ohhhh...."

Ataru began to stir again. "Maybe you two should wait outside.." suggested Hudson. Cygni nodded and walked out of the room, Lum following a moment after, casting one last longing look at her darling.

Outside, Cygni walked over to a nearby pop dispenser and put in a couple of coins, then grabbed the two colas that dropped out, handing one to Lum. They leaned against the wall at opposite sides of the door, saying nothing for the first few moments.

"Hey... sorry again about that shooting thing.. I can't believe I lost control like that.."

Lum grinned and pointed to the small bandage around Cygni's ribs. "It's ok, I got you for that one. But really, it's alright, I forgive you."

("That makes one of you.. when are you going to get rid of the guilt? Don't tell me, sometime within the next 3 years?")

"When I need your snide comments, I'll ask for 'em." replied Cygni to the voice, putting on a frown. Lum noticed.

"What is it?"

Cygni was caught off-guard. "Huh? Oh, uh, sorry, just a lot on my mind.." she stammered out, coughing into her hand.

The door opened and Hudson poked his head out. "Alright, I think he's calmed down enough now... we explained what happened."

Cygni pointed to the door and looked at Lum. "You first."

She nodded and slowly walked in. Cygni waited a moment to make sure that there wasn't any loud screaming or lightning bolts flashing around, then followed in shortly after. Ataru greeted her with a frown.

"Sorry." she muttered.

"I can't believe you shot me! What were you thinking?"

"Hey I SAID I was sorry! And what were YOU thinking, jumping me like that when I was so damn tense?" Cygni growled and bared her fists. Hudson laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Now Cygni.. you already look like Lum, isn't that enough?"

After Lum gave Hudson a death stare, Cygni nodded and slowly backed down, finishing off her cola and tossing it into the nearby waste bin and resuming her position by the window, still frowning.

"Oh darling, I'm so glad you're okay!" said Lum, grinning widely and kneeling down beside Ataru's bed. "But you shouldn't be so mad.. she really didn't mean it. And anyways, I already made sure that she was really sorry!"

Ataru looked surprised. "How?"

Lum sniggered and pointed to Cygni's bandage. Ataru glanced over and began laughing as well, then stopped when his sides began to ache and stared at Lum.

"You were really that worried about me?"

"Of course darling, what did you expect? After all this time..."

They were interrupted when Sergei, who had told the group earlier that he would catch up in a couple of hours burst in, panting and, as was starting to become his habit, out of air.

"Wedding.. tomorrow....." he gasped, then stopped a moment to let himself catch some air. "It's all set!" he pronounced after a minute. All eyes turned to Sergei, then to Cygni for her reaction.

Her expression slowly went from the frown she adopted to a sort of half-smile, then something of utter shock. "Tomorrow? Isn't that a bit early? Damn, I'm hardly even ready!"

Sergei looked at her carefully. "We've saved each other's asses quite a few times, been involved in the biggest explosion I've seen in awhile, survived a massive attack, and you're still not ready?"

Cygni thought a moment.

"....Good point, lets go! Catch you guys later!" She rushed out the door, Sergei right behind her.

Hudson stared out at the empty hallway incrediously for a moment.

"Tomorrow? Something tells me he's been planning this all along..."

Megane noticed a white envelope that had been hastily dropped onto the table. He picked it up and scanned the subject.

"Well, as I figured, we're invited.... and hey, what's this?"

Megane pulled out a large cheque, confused. Then he tripped over his own feet and landed on the hard floor with a thud, gasping for air.

"What's wrong Megane?" demanded Hudson.

"Big.... cheque..." he grunted, weakly waving it in the air. Hudson snatched it out of his hands and looked it over. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he saw the amount.

"Seventy thousand dollars?!" wheezed Hudson, aghast. He carefully tore off the small note attached and glanced at it.

Hudson-

Since it was such a pain in the ass to get that mess on Ran's ship cleaned up, and since she's no doubt going to get you to try and cover the costs, I decided to loan you a bit of the cash that Cygni had left over to help out.. sort of a payback for helping me get her back. I'm sure she won't mind. Hope this is enough!

-Sergei Grana
Ex-Officer, Under New Ownership

"Where do you get all this money?" groaned Megane, struggling to his feet. "And better yet, can I have some?" He cracked a fiendish grin, and Ataru, overhearing, followed suit.

(RP OFF)

Hope you don't mind me moving things along a little quicker here, since I don't wanna keep my buddy waiting for TOO much longer.. hehe

Also, have I posted Sergei's last name before? I seem to recall that I have, but I scrolled around a bit and couldn't find any mention of it.. just worried about consistency >)

[Lum-chan]

By Jocko on Thursday, March 23, 2000 - 05:00:
No you didn't post his last name. I've meaning to have Hudson ask Sergei, Hayes or the redneck UNO engineer why they have so many similarities to Earth culture.

You know, Hudson asking the redneck if he's from Montgomery, Alabama or something.

(RP ON)

Mujaki, Kintaro, and Jariten showed up after Cygni and Sergei left.

The magic-deprived dream demon sat down with his young companions between Ryouko and Lum's bed.

Ryouko was still unconcious after surgery; but everyone was relived that she would not need casts. The Oni medical techniques had worked its wonders; just a few hours of bone regeneration, some microscopic laser work and Ryouko would be back at the mansion and her own bed by 8:00PM sharp.

Warren had taken to a seat next to her bed. An Oni nurse had stopped by to examine him, recommending that he take a shower, sleep a day, and get himself a good meal.

"And so..." Mujaki intoned, "I believe that this Ginkobot fellow kidnapped my son from under Mendou's Tarouzakura in order to harness my baby's power to interpret and grant dreams and subconcious desires."

"He's done that," Sakura and Ataru nodded, "but what about what happened to Shinobu?"

"Uh," Mujaki took his hat off, "merely an extension of the same principal, Ma'am."

Kintaro and Ten were picked up by Lum and gently rocked in her arms; obviously tired.

Mujaki continued, "Dr. Ginkobot has corrupted my son into amplifying the emotions jealousy, disatisfaction, and anger in selected individuals."

Hudson frowned, "You say amplify, Mujaki. Am I to take it that these emotions have to be already present in the target?"

"Yes, sir." Mujaki wiped his brow and put his hat back on.

Outside in the hall a Doctor Yamazaki was talking to Master and Madame Mendou and Mr. and Mrs. Moroboshi.

"Doctor," Ataru's father spoke, "when will Ataru be ready to come home?"

Yamazaki sighed, pursed his lips, "we would like to hold him a few days for observation."

Madame Mendou stepped forward, "What about Ryouko-chan and Hudson-san?"

"Ryouko will be discharged at 7:30," the doctor smiled, "she'll just be sore and tired for a few days."

Ataru's mother wondered just why Ryouko Mendou would be going home tonight while her little boy would have to stay.

Yamazaki pressed on, "Ambassador Hudson will need rest and lots of it. Honestly I'm surprised that he hasn't collapsed from exhaustion already. And I'm worried about all the American officials waiting outside for him and the press."

Ataru's mother raised her hand and bowed, "Doctor, it may not be my place, but why is Mendou-sama going home tonight?"

The Mendou parents frowned and glared slightly at Mrs. Moroboshi.

Yamazaki didn't miss a beat, "Ryouko-sama only broke her legs and sprained an ankle, Moroboshi-san. Your son was shot by a high powered alien rifle." Yamazaki bowed and walked off down the hall.

Ataru's mother lowered her head in momentary shame.

Just then Bakuto walked by mumbling something about missing out on all the action and the "fiendish Ataru."

Across town, in an alley behind the Mach-Speed Noodle stand, five figures stood and chuckled.

Chibi greedily counted the American dollars the Highland High duo had forked over while Perm and Kakugari nodded dreamily in time with each dollar.

Butthead handed Beavis a large, glossy, colored photo.

"Beavis, Lum's boobs..." Butthead said quietly, chuckling.

(RP OFF)

[Lum-chan]

By Parias on Thursday, March 23, 2000 - 11:02:
Mmm.. yea.. be some interesting details to work out >)

(RP ON)
Later that evening, while the sun was setting and casting an orange hue across the town, Cygni set down on a small resting area overlooking the town of Tomobiki. There were few people around, aside from the occasional person stopping by the store a ways behind her. She walked over to the railing and spent a few moments just staring at the sights.

"Where the hell did I go wrong?" she asked to nobody in particular with a sigh.

("Wrong? You've saved a hell of a lot of lives, have a lot of money, about to get married tomorrow...")

"Yea but I'm starting to realize how screwed up it is. I mean, a few months ago I was just some geek trying to make a living.. this whole sex-change issue has flipped over my life from day one. And then there's the marriage thing..."

("Whatever's left of your old life is pretty much behind now. I doubt you'd have anything to worry about.")

"But it's gonna feel so damn wierd, I mean, inside I'm still a guy, sort of, and then I've got a female side that seemed to just come with the body... ARGH! I'm not gay damnit!" She yelled out the last part and slammed her fist into the railing in frustration, bruising it in the process.

"Something bothering you?" came a familiar voice from behind. She gasped and whirled around, staring into Sergei's smiling face.

"How long have you been here damnit?"

"Just arrived.. I figured I'd find you up here."

"You didn't overhear anything.."

He chuckled. "Hah hah, no, and considering the way you just dented that railing, I think that's a tad fortunate."

She looked over at the place she had smashed in surprise, and saw that there was quite a a noticable indent.

"Gargh." she simply said, looking out over the town again.

"A penny for your thoughts." Sergei offered. Cygni laughed.

"All the frikken money in the world probably wouldn't be enough to get even a vague idea of my thoughts, or most of them anyways...."

"Worried?"

"Not too much.. just working out a few issues."

Sergei walked up besider her and steaded himself against the railling, joining her endless gazing across the town.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this? It's as much my wedding as it is yours, and I can't do this alone..."

Cygni thought a moment, hard.

"Lesse.. I'll be devoting my life to living with another male, despite the fact that I was a male myself a few months ago, although nobody really knows that yet.. and I suppose that if things DO go wrong, I can just get a divorce.." She cracked a small grin at her thoughts.

("Face it, you're a female now, and from the looks of it you don't have any real intention of going back anytime soon, assuming you could without problems. Go for it, you don't have much to loose, and you can't live your life solo.")

After a few more moments, Cygni slowly nodded. "Alright, I'm in." She turned and drew a bit closer. "..But we'll discuss the 'intimacies" of our relationship later..."

Sergei's smile got wider and he nodded in return. "I'm glad you took the time to think it through. Wouldn't want you diving in without knowing what you were doing."

They turned and headed back towards the road that would lead back to Tomobiki. A ways nearby the place they had chatted, a figure trotted up and sniggered. He examined the dent in the railing with one hand, while looking at the wedding invitation he had recieved in the other.

"Wow.. doing this could be rather hazardous to my health.." he muttered, eyeballing the damage closely. "But the world must know of this injustice!" With some semblance of glee, he also headed down the road that would take him back to Tomobiki, skipping merrily.
(RP OFF)