Topic: Third storyline: No Sympathy for the Devil

[Lum-chan]

By Parias on Thursday, January 6, 2000 - 05:16:
(RP ON)
Cygni was deep in thought. The message she had gotten a short time ago had her extremely confused.

"Ok, so assuming any of this is true, then how much of what I've done is real? Hell, this could have started years ago!"

("I'm willing to believe this is just another trick.. the reality you're in now FEELS real, doesn't it?")

"Yea, but so did the others."

("Well, what do you intend to do?")

"Keep thinking about it, for lack of anything else.. keeps me sane.."

She winced as Ginkobot pressed another button on his console, sending another wave of pain into her head. The voice seemed to shrug it off.

("His pulses are getting weaker.. I wonder what he's trying to do?")

Outside of Tomobiki highschool, the remainder of Cygni's stormtroopers gathered together. Chibi, who had temporarily been assigned leader, spoke up.

"Ok, we know three things. We know that Cygni went to Las Vegas. We know that she went missing. And we know that that idiot Megane almost tried to kill her!"

The rest nodded.

"What we don't know is where she is. But I plan to resolve that situation soon, because we have an ultimate weapon on our side!"

"Ooh, what weapon?" asked Perm.

"Behold!" He stepped back and admitted Cherry, Beavis, and Butthead into the group.

"Cherry?!" yelled the group, temporarily loosing their balance and falling into a heap.

Cherry nodded. "I can pick up unlucky traces miles away! And Cygni had a very unlucky face." He stuffed an apple into his mouth, chewing noisily and spitting out the seeds.

Kakugari looked skeptical. "What about these other two?" he said, pointing at Beavis and Butthead.

"Uh, we're like gonna kick some ass and stuff. Huh huh." said Butthead, chuckling as usual.

"Yea, we're gonna score!" said Beavis, picking his nose.

"But how will we get to Las Vegas?" asked Perm. "I spent my last yen at the beefbowl!"

Cherry dug into his pockets and pulled out $2000 in american dollars. "Cygni was looking very unlucky, so I stole this from her to aid her in her quest."

"Stole it? How does stealing money help her?"

Cherry closed his eyes, still noisily munching away. "It's fate."

Chibi raised his arm and pointed towards the airport. "To Cygni, and our fate!" he yelled out.

They yelled out in return and together rushed off towards the airport.

(RP OFF)

[Lum-chan]

By Jocko on Friday, January 7, 2000 - 04:15:
(RP ON)

After Cygni's Stormtroopers passed, a Kuroko popped his head out of a bush beside the school's main gate. He whispered something into a commlink at his wrist and returned the bush for more surveillance.

Mendou Mansion...

Ryouko was on pins and needles in her room as reports from her secret agents in and around Las Vegas reported what was going on. A Kuroko entered the room, bowed, and handed her a piece of paper. She acknowledged it and read it, Ryouko looked up at the silent Kuroko.

"Contact Hudson-sama," Ryouko said sternly, "and tell him the Stormtroopers are coming. Also dispatch an undercover team to shadow them and keep them out of Hudson-sama's way."

The Kuroko nodded and left the room. Ryouko picked up one of Hudson's books, and flipped through it wistfully. The book's title was "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A savage journey into the heart of the American Dream."

Apparently, as Hudson told her, it was a true story.

(RP OFF)

[Lum-chan]

By Parias on Friday, January 7, 2000 - 08:17:
(RP ON)
Cygni was feeling extremely tired. Ginkobot had long since walked out to go to sleep, and her attempts at following the process failed. She simply resigned to being in a semi-consious state while trying to figure out what was going on.

Right when she felt herself finally nodding off to sleep, a large wave of pain shot into her head, knocking her into blackness.

She suddenly felt herself wake up and attempt to sit bolt upright, resulting in a dull thud as she bashed her head on some kind of surface. She leaned back down slowly, holding her aching forehead.

She looked around. The area she was in was completely dark, but she made it out to be some kind of long tube by feeling around with her hands. She was lying on some kind of hard long surface, like a table.

A loud hiss was heard from outside, then the surface began moving, pulling her outside of the tube and stopping once it was fully out. She winced at the bright light suddenly coming over her unaccustomed eyes.

She sat up and shakily put her legs on the ground, then stood up. The surface retreated back into the tube with a hiss, and a small door closed behind it.

She looked around. There were various other tubes scattered around the room, 5 to be exact, with monitors above them showing what appeared to be vital signs in some unknown language. The one above her tube had a large red alert showing on it.

("You'd better get moving, they'll be coming soon..")

"Who the hell is 'they'? And I don't even know where the hell I am!"

("I haven't a clue who 'they' is either, but I'd assume it's whoever put you here, and they'll be trying to figure out just what the problem is.")

She heard footsteps slowly approaching down the hall in front of her. She spied a door leading off to the right, and sprinted towards it. A small keypanel was next to the door, with symbols all over it that she didn't recognize.

She began madly stabbing away at random combinations, cussing as it bleeped in error each time. The footsteps were beginning to get closer, and the shadows of whoever was coming were seen on the far wall.

She cussed and delivered a hefty punch to the panel, shattering it and sending sparks flying everywhere. She rubbed her knuckles in pain as the door screeched open, then rushed in and spun around, stabbing a red button on the panel behind her. The door whooshed closed just as the figures walked past. Thankfully they didn't seem to notice her.

Cygni looked around the room she was in. It was a small storage area, with crates stacked up to the ceiling and various papers scattered everywhere. The low hum that couldn't be mistaken for the engines of a starship were heard somewhere deep below.

She made her way around the towering crates, barely catching one as it prepared to fall over, and spotted a small desk sitting against the far wall. Her covetted Desert Eagle, 3 clips, and various knives of hers were scattered onto it, apparently under recent examination. She grabbed the belt, fastening it around her waist, then put her belongings in their appropriate places. She then began looking around for another exit.

Outside, someone was heard muttering, then a loud clanging was heard on the door. It began to get louder, and small dents were beginning to appear.

Cygni looked around, worried, then spotted a small ventilation grating sitting in the corner, next to the desk. She grabbed her watch, attached it to her wrist, pulled out her knife, and proceeded to begin hacking away at the grating.

Behind her, the door began to bulge and heave, buckling under the massive pressure it was being put under. Beads of sweat appeared on Cygni's face as she hastily hacked away at the large bolts around the panel, managing to chip one off. She cussed.

"This isn't going to work!" she said through clenched teeth.

Suddenly the door exploded inwards, knocking against a pile of crates with a clatter and sending them crashing down. Three figures in blue suits and holding menacing weapons entered the room and aimed their weapons at her.

Drawing on her last chance, she discharged a mass of lightning into the grating, melting it into a steaming mass. She grabbed it, wincing at the pain from the heat, tossed it behind her, then dove into the duct, managing to squeeze inside. She heard footsteps as the figures took up positions behind her, one of them ducking down and poking his weapon into the duct. Cygni turned a right and managed to crawl out of the way before he began firing. The heat from one of the pulses caught one of her legs, tearing a small amount of flesh from it as the rest exploded against the area she had just been at.

Growling in pain, she slowly turned around in the small tunnel, giving herself a massive cramp in the process, and slowly pulled out her Desert Eagle, aiming it down the dark duct, waiting for the aliens to come in pursuit.

She held the position for 5 minutes, then breathed out a sigh of relief when nothing came.

"This has got to be a reality, not a dream. I actually felt like I was waking up, I know this is real."

("I'm getting the same impression. But if it is, you're in for a rough time.. check the watch, it can scan the ship you're in and figure out where everything is.")

She slowly pulled her right arm in front of her and pressed a few buttons on it. The blank display showed the words "SCANNING..." and a massive complex of tunnels and doorways began to appear on the map. She waited a couple more minutes while it sought out points on the ship and identified them as best it could. She noted the area marked "Bridge".

"Be a good place to start.." she mumbled, checking the watch and plotting a route.

("I suppose, but the bridge is probably one of the more heavily defended areas..")

"If you've got a better idea, I'd like to hear it." She began crawling forwards through the ducts, wincing as pain shot up her leg whenever she moved it.

("Shuttle bay, or escape pods, or something..")

"Number one, I haven't the slightest clue where the hell in the galaxy I am. Number two, I don't even know if any of their ships would have the fuel to take me home."

("Which is why you should make the navigation area your first stop. Actually scratch that, head into the armoury first, then navigation, then head for the shuttle bay.")

Cygni sighed as she came across a large vertical shaft heading both upwards and downwards. She checked her watch again, then slowly crawled out into the small open space, turning on her back and heaving herself upwards with a grunt, then began climbing upwards, bracing herself on the jagged edges of the small tunnel.

"Assuming the damn map picked everything out correctly, and assuming I AM able to get home in one piece. A plan is better than nothing I suppose.."

She froze in mid-climb as she had a quick flashback of the area where she had emerged from the tubes. She remembered the faces she had seen on the monitor.

"I swear I saw Lum and Kintaro up there..but.. how?"

("Might be related to the same way you got up here. If so, then you've got additional complications... make sure to stop by the tube area before leaving. You'd better start moving quicker, they've probably set off all sorts of alarms..")

She nodded and grunted again as she resumed her climb.

(RP OFF)

[Lum-chan]

By Jocko on Saturday, January 8, 2000 - 21:55:
(RP ON)

Hudson and company arrived at the adult bar, without Cherry; who mysteriously disappeared in transit. Sakura thought it was suspicious and Mujaki offered to find him, but Hudson declined.

"To hell with Cherry anyway," Warren bit out as he parked the Buick, "I'd rather have Tsubame here." Sakure shook her head negatively, "that fool's off somwhere in Alaska studying with an Eskimo Shaman."

"Swell," Hudson deadpanned as he picked up Ten and sheilded his eyes from the strip bar's neon erotic displays.

They entered the bar as Ten was arguing with Warren. "Awh come'on, Hudson-san! I'm a good boy! I won't look!"

"Yeah right..." Sergei mumbled, but Ten heard and gave him a dirty frown.

McKnight approached and greeted them in English while Sakura translated into Japanese for Ten. "The images started down there," he indicated a pit area near the bar, "your friend Miss Cygni had a drink and started losing her lunch; she ran into the men's room...while a nearly identical woman was having a conversation with the toddler and the teen with glasses."

McKnight took a sip of water from the obviously freaked out bartender. "A group of toughs started over there," McKnight pointed to the other end of the bar near the slot machines, "and started advancing toward the kid and his lady friend. At first the kid seemed sure he was gonna be killed, but a mean looking machine gun appeared in his hand; no doubt giving his courage a boost."

Sergei grimly finished, "and then they fought."

McKnight regarded Sergei for a moment; then nodded, "yes, they disappeared around the bathroom area. Before that, the kid took out two of the guys coming after him and the lady. The 'ghosts' have not made anymore appearances since."

Sakura looked around and raised her spirit wand, it reacted somewhat but nothing major. She faced McKnight, "how long did the images last?"

"About forty-seven minutes," McKnight sighed, "at first the images were just of a normal bar scene with gambling, stripers, and drinking over the er...*normal* things going on tonight, which were much the same; just real and tangible. These images," he once again gestured to the pit area, "you couldn't touch them or hear them, you could only watch them and even then they were fading in and out. Any other questions?"

Mujaki raised his hand, "what did the real folks do when the 'images'," he stumbled over the term, "appear?"

McKnight chuckled dryly. "They freaked out, of course. The patrons ran out into the streets, and the staff immediately called us. The patrons are probably down at Circus-Circus or the Golden Nugget trying to convince themselves they were only drunk or high, by getting even drunker or higher. We're trying to track some of them down to make statements."

Hudson nodded, "thanks, McKnight. And please pass along my gratitude to your staff and the police chief in this matter."

McKnight smiled, "You're quite welcome Ambassador," he moved closer to Warren, "my father served in the army during the occupation of Japan in the forties; he said you were the most honorable man he ever served with," McKnight shuffled over to the bathroom area to talk with some of the cops taking EMG readings of the wall and doors.

(RP OFF)

[Lum-chan]

By Parias on Saturday, January 8, 2000 - 23:07:
(RP ON)
While Hudson went looking around the area, Sergei turned to Sakura.

"Where is Lum anyways? In safe hands I would assume?"

Sakura nodded. "I had Ataru take her back to his house before we left."

Ataru's face suddenly turned a heavy shade of white. He glared at Sakura.

"B-b-but I thought you were going to take her back?"

Sakura blinked, then scowled.

"You idiot! If nobody took her back, who was going to watch over her?"

"But I thought you said..."

Sakura shook her head. "This is all your fault, as usual."

Ataru looked offended. "My fault?! You're the one who's always-"

Sergei held up his hands. "Settle this elsewhere. It would appear that Lum may have had the same fate as Cygni.. wherever they are..."

Sakura nodded. "I'll check afterwards and try to figure out where she is. Without his help of course.."

She turned to where Ataru had been standing, only to find him gone. She turned around and noticed him wandering around the bar, staring at the strippers. She sighed.

"I'm surprised he even held out that long...."

Cygni squinted, trying to get a good view beyond the grate. There were three guards inside of the room marked "Armoury", each one looking bored or lazy. They were all well within view of each other, and had their weapons at the ready. She let out a small sigh.

"This is going to be.. interesting.. any ideas?"

("If you take one down, there's still two left to sound the alarm and start shooting at you. Although from the looks of it, it would take a moment for them to notice..")

"I'd have to blow open this grate, shoot one, then shoot the other, and finally that guy in the rear.. it'd take me about 5 seconds to pull off, assuming my shots were able to penetrate their armour."

("Sounds like a good plan.. I can't think of anything else.")

"Alright, lets try it. Here goes nothing.."

She took a breath, flexed her hands a moment, then pulled out her Desert Eagle, flipping on the laser sight. She closed her eyes a moment.

"One.. two.. THREE!"

She quickly discharged a blast into the grating, knocking it clear off the paneling it was attached to. One of the guards looked up in surprise. She stuck out her Desert Eagle and shot the first one in the head, smiling when he went down in one shot. The other two stood and went for their weapons. She quickly took aim and fired off two clear shots, capping them both in the head. She began slowly crawling out of the vent, untill two more guards ran in from an area out of her view. She stopped quickly as they raised their weapons, then quickly crawled out and rushed against a nearby arch, getting out of their view. She poked around and fired off two more careful shots, killing them both.

Cygni breathed a sigh of relief. The alarm hadn't been sounded, and all the guards had been killed quickly and efficiently.

("Nice shooting.")

She dropped the empty clip from the gun, dropping it on the floor with a clatter, then slid another full clip inside with a click.

She walked over to what appeared to be a closet and pressed the palm icon next to it, grinning when it slid open with a small hiss. Large rifles lined the back wall, with pistols more towards the front and small canisters of what appeared to be batteries sitting on the bottom. She holstered her Desert Eagle and began looting, keeping a wary eye on the door in-case someone else decided to poke their head in.

"One down.. next stop, navigation.."

(RP OFF)

[Lum-chan]

By Bladeofkintaro (Bladeofkintaro) on Sunday, January 9, 2000 - 04:12:
Ataru was watching the strippers when somebody put their hand on his shoulder. It was the cyberntic onsen Mark who Mendo fought in his dream.
Onsen kid: Hey Ataru you wanna see some really hot strippers?
Ataru: Uhh yeah... Say you look kind of familiar.

Sakura looked over to see Ataru and the onsen kid starting to get kinda fuzzy looking while they began to fade away.

Ten said "uhoh somethings happening to Ataru and look at the stripper!"

Several strippers gathered around Atrau and they all vanished.

Sakura said "I dont like this... Something strange is happening and one of us will be next. We all need to stay toggether."

Ataru found himself in some kind of ritzy penthouse looking place full of women.
Ataru: Wow what is this?

Voice: I am your wish made manifest!

[Lum-chan]

By Parias on Monday, January 10, 2000 - 11:17:
(RP ON)
Cygni tried to wipe off the sweat that had gathered on her hands as she crawled through the ventilation tunnels towards the area marked "Navigation". The air began to feel humid, as if someone had cranked up the heat.

"They couldn't be trying to flush me out, could they?"

("It's a possibility, you've got no idea as to what kind of surveilence they have..")

She finally reached the grating and squinted, peering out. The area was a large tall room, with a massive tower in the center that had a star map on it, rattling off information in the strange language the aliens had.

She reached behind her and pulled the oversized slug launcher off of her back. When she had been deciding on a gun to take back at the armoury, she naturally chose the biggest possible weapon. Operation looked easy enough, simply slide the battery cell into the holder and let the gun do the rest. It had a standard trigger and a display for ammunition. Unfortunately it was also in the cryptic language, rendering it useless.

Cygni watched as techs walked around the area, working at their consoles and inspecting the starmap, while a few scant guardsman looked on from above. She peered in closely at the starmap.

"Shit, I can't see worth a damn from here, I need to get in close..."

She looked to her right, and noticed the grating was right next to a group of large consoles, with a small room at the far end of the wall. She cracked a grin as a tech walked in, apparently stopping to check reports or something.

"This'll call for a little subterfuge..."

She holstered the rifle onto her back again and slowly pushed away the grating, making as little noise as possible. Placing it onto the floor, she climbed out and replaced it, keeping a low profile and ducking behind the nearest console. Nobody saw her. She took a breath, then slowly moved behind the next one.

She readied herself to move on once again, when suddenly a soldier walked in front and stared down the pathway, his back turned. She sucked in her breath suddenly, then turned and quickly moved to another part of the console where the soldier couldn't see her. She heard him grunt in surprise, turn around, then turn back again, apparently satisfied it was just his imagination.

After a moment she heard him shuffle about, then then began walking. Unfortunately, the clicking of his boots on the floor was getting closer.

She held her breath as the tall soldier walked past her, not even glancing down the pathway, then moved on. She slowly let her breath out, then moved out towards the back of the console again, continuing towards the room.

After another incident where a tech nearly spotted her, she finally managed to reach the room and scurry in, palming the door closed behind her. The tech looked up in surprise, then uttered off a question in the alien language.

She stood. "Sorry bud but I've got plans." The tech gasped then bowled over, unconsious, as Cygni kicked him in the ribs.

"Pretty weak..hello, what's this?"

She plucked a small black device from his ear and looked at it closely. It had a label on it, in Japanese.

"Scrambler 9000.. pro edition? What the hell?"

("It looks like there's a lot more to this than meets the eye. Try it on.")

"Alright...."

She carefully slid the device onto her ear, and felt a small suction come on, holding the device firmly in place. A voice spoke in her ear.

"Welcome to the Scrambler 9000: Pro edition. For all your undercover conspiracy needs. Please speak a moment while I calibrate to your voice."

"Uh-"

"Calibration complete. Have a nice day."

"That was- what the hell?"

She noticed instantly she was speaking in the strange language of the so called "aliens".

"This could prove useful.."

She crouched down and took off the unconsious tech's uniform.

"No name tag..hmm.."

("Easier to blend in. As you said, time for some subterfuge..")

"The hair.."

("Blend in, just play along, you'll do fine.")

"Alright.. if you insist.."

She shrugged on the large white uniform and put on his pants, eying his underclothes with some distaste.

"Sailor moon underwear? What will they think of next..."

("Better do something about the body, he's gonna be real pissed when he gets up.")

She looked around and noticed a large closet at the side of the room. She took a breath and picked up the body.

"Heavy bastard... needs to lay off the junk food.."

She slowly worked her way over to the closet and deposited the body inside, then palmed it closed, smashing the control panel with her fist. She rubbed her hand in pain as sparks flew from the dented panel.

"Godamn things hard as hell..."

("No, really?")

She sighed and put on the last piece of clothing lying on the floor, a large white baseball cap with the words "MSS" emblazoned on the front. She walked over to a mirror and took a look at herself.

("Cute...the cap is a nice touch..")

"Well hopefully I'm not so 'cute' that I attract the attention of the entire godamn ship... I guess it's time to figure out where the hell I am now..what the hell does MSS stand for anyways?"

("Microsoft Secret Services? Now THERE's a scary thought...oh well, we'll work that out later. Better do something about the guns..")

She picked up her weapons off the floor and placed them into a large duffel bag sitting on the desk, zipping it shut.

She took one more glance at the mirror, made a face, then walked towards the door, palming it open and stepping out.

She looked around in awe as the starchart finally opened itself to her eyes, as she could understand what the words were now.

"So I'm some 30-odd systems from Earth..."

She stopped a moment and blinked.

"How the hell did I get this far out?!"

She began walking closer towards the starmap when she was intercepted by a surprised looking soldier.

"How did you get out here Lum? I thought you were down in the chambers.. come on, this way..."

The solder grabbed her arm and began dragging her towards the door at the far side of the room. Cygni growled and yanked her arm back.

"You idiot! I'm one of the spies sent in to take her place! Damnit, you just messed up my hair, I spent 3 hours working on that! I'm filing a report with your superiour!"

The soldier nearly bowled over in surprise.

"N-now miss lets not get hasty.. uh, I didn't.. see your rank or anything.. s-sorry.. here, you better take this so there aren't any mis-haps.. any more I mean..."

He shakily pulled out a white card from his pocket, handed it to her, saluted, then staggered off.

("Nice move..")

"Guess Sergei wasn't kidding when he said I'd make a good drill sergeant.."

She glanced at the card.

"Phi level access.. that's pretty damn high, assuming I'm thinking along the proper lines."

She dropped the card into the uniform's left breast pocket then began walking towards the starmap again, with the intent to work out how to get back.

Down on Earth, NASA was preparing to launch a space shuttle. Mission Control was a flurry of activity. A gawky man with glasses and a name tag of "Burns" looked on at the confusion below. The speakers blared.

"We have green-line on all systems. Fuel line is checking out OK.. life support ready.. looks like we're good to go.."

An officer walked up and handed him a pair of papers. He looked over them, then nodded.

"Good, it looks like we're all clear then.. signal them to initiate launch preperations."

The officer saluted, then turned to the mass below and began screaming. Burns held his ears in pain.

"EVERYONE GET READY AND INITIATE COUNTDOWN FOR THREE MINUTES!"

Burns sighed and turned to the officer. "We have a P.A. system for a reason.."

"Aye sir, but they don't get the point unless you shove it in their faces!"

He turned to the crowd again and began screaming off commands at the top of his lungs. Burns continued holding his ears, wondering why he ever signed up for this job.

Inside of the shuttle, the three pilots sat down in their respective chairs and strapped themselves in. The one on the right turned to the rest.

"Man, can't wait to try this baby out.. alien technology huh?"

The middle one nodded. "Yea, they mixed in a bunch of Oni tech with this.. wanted to keep it very hush-hush for some reason though.."

The one on the right laughed. "And we all owe it to Warren Hudson!"

The other two looked at him, making a face.

"Who?"

"You know, Warren Hudson! I'm one of his biggest fans!!"

The other two pilots stared at him for a moment, untill the radio crackled.

"We have a pre-launch prep and are ready to begin countdown for three minutes."

The pilots began working at their consoles, flipping switches and getting the ship ready for flight. Suddenly the hatch behind them opened and a small monk poked his head in. The pilots screamed.

"Who the hell? What are you doing here?! Get out!!" yelled the one on the left.

The monk closed his eyes. "I must requisition this vessel, the fate of many lies on it!"

The pilots stared at him a moment. The middle one laughed.

"Get real shorty, no way we're getting out of here. YOU, on the other hand.."

The monk snapped his fingers, then began waving a large stick in the air. The pilots suddenly vanished with a poof. The monk turned behind him and nodded, then lept up to the middle man's seat. Beavis and Butthead followed behind him, getting into their respective seats and strapping themselves in, laughing.

Outside, the pilots suddenly found themselves at the bottom of the craft, below it's massive engines. They began screaming wildly.

Cherry nodded as the panels lit up green. The radio crackled.

"We have an ETA of 20 seconds. Get ready people, you're gonna make history today!"

Butthead chuckled. "This is gonna be cool. Huh huh."

As the countdown slowly ticked to zero, the massive fusion engines that were a combined effort between Oni and Human engineers began warming up, emitting a massive blue glow from their exhause ports. The pilots below began screaming even louder.

When the countdown finally reached zero, the massive engines sparked to life, emitting a large glow. The craft instantly took off and shot into the sky, as opposed to the long dramatic launches the normal engines provided. The pilots stopped screaming and looked up in surprise when they noticed they hadn't been burned to death, then began pathetically attempting to claw their way out of the pit the engines had been nestled in.

As the ship shot up into space, Cherry expertly put in a set of coordinates and watched as the vessel changed it's heading towards a new destination. He closed his eyes and put his hands together as the radio began crackling from the surprised officers below, asking just what the pilots were up to. He nodded.

"This is fate."

(RP OFF)

[Lum-chan]

By Jocko on Tuesday, January 11, 2000 - 03:48:
(RP ON)

The Edmond family of Des Moines, Iowa was watching CNN news around a nice family dinner...

"...a newly souped-up Space Shuttle Atlantis lifted off the launch pad fifteen minutes ago, and Mission Control reports everything is a-okay!"

The reporter was given a new paper. Little Billy Edmond eyed the TV suspiciously.

"...our Las Vegas newsroom has reported that it appears Ambassador Warren Hudson is in town, and it doesn't appear he's there for a boxing match. No folks, our political analysts are saying this is only another chapter in a possible Warren Hudson candidacy for the Democratic nomination in 1988."

Mr. Edmond swallowed a piece of chicken and smiled, "Billy, you remember the story about how I met your mom, dont'cha?"

Billy sighed, "yeah, you met on that old-timer's campaign *years* ago!"

"That's right son," Mr. Edmonds beamed, "and if he runs again, the whole family is going to every debate and rally in the state!"

Mrs. Edmond laughed, Billy scowled; "oh man..."

The CNN people continued, "our Tokyo bureau also reports that love is chasing the Ambassador in the form of the beautiful, and quite young, Ryouko Mendou, daughter of the heads of the Mendou Coglamorate."

Mr. Edmond jaw dropped as a picture of Ryouko falshed on the screen. "She's only a teenager!"

Las Vegas...

Sakura ran up to Hudson who was talking to the Governor of Nevada on the phone, she didn't wait: "Ataru has disappeared."

"I have to go, Governor. Bye," Hudson barked and slammed the phone down. "How?" he asked Sakura.

Ten floated over, "somebody looking like Onsen-Mark-sensei was talking to him and then they went poof!"

Hudson shook his head, "what do you mean someone looking like Onsen-Mark?"

Sakura sighed, "it has to do with the Memory at the Center of Tomobiki."

Warren glared, "MUJAKI!"

(RP OFF)

[Lum-chan]

By Parias on Tuesday, January 11, 2000 - 06:26:
(RP ON)
Burns stood, looking down amidst the commotion below. Apparently his prized ship had unexpected veered off course, and the pilots weren't responding. He sighed.

"Where did I go wrong?"

Suddenly the three pilots, still in their white spacesuits stumbled into the far end of the room. He looked up in surprise, as did everyone else in the room.

"What is the meaning of this? What the hell is going on?" he yelled out. One of the men stumbled a moment, then spoke.

"Some.. wierd.. monk person, he broke into the craft and stole it! And he waved this stick around and teleported us to the bottom of the-"

"Stop babbling and tell me what happened! What's this teleportation nonsense?"

The second one then began calling back across the room.

"This monk guy said he needed to requisition the craft or something to save a bunch of lives.. then he waved this staff in the air and we suddenly found ourselves at the bottom of the craft! We barely avoided getting killed!"

"Utter nonsense! Nobody could possibly do what you're describing, much less a rogue monk!"

The third one then began speaking.

"But sir, why don't you try calling Warren Hudson? I'm sure he can explain this!"

The other two pilots turned to the third. "What is with you and that guy anyways?" one asked. Burns shook his head and turned to a nearby attendant.

"Get me Warren Hudson on the phone pronto, I have a hunch he might be able to clear this up.. and for godsakes someone get those pilots out of here, they're making a mess."

Out on the mysterious ship, Cygni took a close look at the starmap. Apparently she was indeed some 30-odd systems from Earth, but she hadn't the slightest clue on how to get home.

"Astronomy.. never my strong point.." she muttered.

("I don't think you'll figure out much here.. may as well head down to the launch bay and see if you can figure out a way home.")

"Right."

As she left the room, two soldiers watched from a distance. One of them nudged the other.

"She gave ya a chewin eh Ron?"

"Shut up, I had no idea."

"I'd keep your eye on her if I were you.. looks like she might have the hots for ya!"

Ron gave the other a long stare. "I didn't sign up so I could marry a damn drill sergeant!"

The other began walking out of the area. "Sure, sure...anyways, shift's over, I'm out."

Ron stared a moment at his retreating form, then chuckled.

"Drill Sergeant.. heh heh heh.."

(RP OFF)

[Lum-chan]

By Bladeofkintaro (Bladeofkintaro) on Wednesday, January 12, 2000 - 02:18:
Ten was wandering around the room while Hudson was yelling at Mujaki. Ten thought to himself "This is so boring I wish we didnt have to just sit here and wait."

Someone by the bathroom said "Psst hey kid come over here!"It was the onsen kid cyborg and what apeared to be Sakura."
Sakura: Ten I know how youve felt about me. Come here Ten. I've got a private sweet reserved at our hotel.
Ten (nervous): R-really! I'm so happy I didnt think you liked me! Wait that guy was by Ataru!

He looks over at the Onsen kid "Your not Sakura!"

Pseudo Sakura:What difference does it make? Reality isn't solid. You can make your own reality Ten. Now come to me, dont resist your dream.

Ten: I-I-I

Suddenly the window explodes and someone barges in! It's Bakuto!
Bakuto: Ten get aaway from them!
The onsen kid opens up his arm fireing missiles at Bakuto who dodges!

[Lum-chan]

By Jocko on Wednesday, January 12, 2000 - 03:07:
(RP ON)

Hudson and Mujaki ducked under a table. "What's goin' on here?!?" Mujaki wailed.

Hudson looked around the table, "SHIT! It's that freak Bakuto! Mujaki, can you lend me the use of your friend Baku for a bit?"

Mujaki nearly gasped, "...oh...all right. But you have to pay his food bill!"

Hudson smiled, "I know, there are some bad dreams I've been waiting to have eaten for a long, long time."

Just then Warren's cell phone rang while Bakuto was smashing through walls with Onsen-Kid. McKnight and Ataru were busy blasting at Onsen with high powered American rifles and Sakura was taking cover with Ten by the telephones.

Hudson shrugged and opened the phone, "Hudson here? Better make it fast buster, I'm stuck with a dream demon, a horny teenager, a hot Shinto Priestess, and two dream freaks tearing apart a titty bar in Vegas but other than that I'm okay." Warren listened to the man at the other end of the line and looked over at Mujaki, "say 'hello' to the nice man in Florida named Burns, Mujaki."

Mujaki smiled, "hello, sir! How may we help you on this fine night?"

(RP OFF)

[Lum-chan]

By Parias on Wednesday, January 12, 2000 - 05:06:
Note: Since I'm barely even familiar with who Mujaki is, I'm not really going to touch him at all, I'll leave that to you guys for the most part >)

(RP ON)
As Cygni walked down the long corridors of the ship, glancing down at her watch for directions, she bumped into another officer, who appeared to be highly decorated. He spun around, a snarl on his face.

"Why don't you watch where the hell you're going?"

Cygni's face hardened. "Why don't you watch where the hell you're standing?"

"What makes you think you can speak to a superiour officer that way?"

"The same thing that makes me think you're gonna get the hell out of my way or meet my fist!"

The officer's face brightened a moment. "I can respect a girl with attitude.. what's your name?"

("Uh oh.")

She stopped a moment, groping for words.

"Classified information. Spies could be anywhere you know."

"This ship is as secure as a tied down bondage victim!"

Cygni raised an eyebrow.

"Interesting choice of words..."

He looked surprised a moment. "Erm, uhh.. carry on then." He shouldered his way past her and walked down the hallway. She smiled, then continued walking towards the launch bay.

In the security room, Ron glanced around on the monitors, then smiled when he saw what he was looking for.

"So where the heck are you headed, mmm?"

She watched as Cygni made her way down to the launch bay, bumping into an officer and yelling at him.

"Great, she's got an attitude, but I can't get her out of my mind. I won't be able to live with myself if I let her pass by..."

He sighed and lifted up the large box of chocolates he had bought, examining it closely.

"Well, I guess I may as well try.."

He turned and walked out of the room, the expression on his face somewhere in between excitement and hopelessness.

Back on Earth, Mujacki listened intently on the phone, nodding, untill a stray stream of bullets flew past, obliterating the phone. On the other end, Burns cussed as the line suddenly went dead.

"Damn.. this is big trouble..thousands of dollars, and it's gone. Hijacked. How in the hell did he get in there in the first place anyways?"

An officer walked up and saluted. "Sir, we've been able to get a trace on the shuttle.. or at least we did for a few seconds, then it vanished! They may have brought the experimental jump drives online.."

"Any idea where they were headed?"

"None sir, and all of our Oni representatives are out on vacation. It appears that Warren Hudson is our only chance."

Burns sighed and dialed the number again, only to get a voice telling him it was out of service.

"Dispatch a squad of troops to his location immediately. Tell them not to bother coming back without him. We need to talk."

The officer saluted again and ran out of the room. Burns leaned back in his chair and sipped a cup of cold coffee.

"Hard day.." he mumbled to himself.

[Lum-chan]

By Jocko on Thursday, January 13, 2000 - 04:08:
(RP ON)

Hudson threw up his arms as the cell phone was blown to hell and Mujaki actually yelped in shock. Warren leaned in close to Mujaki, "Ataru tells me you keep the horn in your damn hat; let me have it!"

Mujaki took his big tophat off and produced the horn.

Bakuto was happily fighting Onsen-Kid and Evil Sakura in the men's room by tearing sinks, urinals, and toilets out of the wall and throwing them. Thus making the bathrooms into the "splish-splash show."

Ataru and McKnight had barricaded themselves with several Las Vegas SWAT team members behind the bar and were doing their best, but were still getting nowhere. For McKnight the final straw came when Onsen-Kid flipped open his head and launched a granade at several of his men.

"Jesus H God! We're gonna have to retreat!" Ataru nodded, and signalled to Sakura and Jariten. He looked over to the bullet-riddled table under which Mujaki and Hudson hid.

Just then the entire bar's ceiling was vaporized as fifty Kuroko dropped into the room and, simultaneously, pointed Mendou 44 Laser Cannons at Onsen-Kid and Evil Sakura.

For only the second time in his existance, Onsen-Kid was scared at this turn of events. "Oh...no...!"

Bakuto snickered and kicked Onsen-Kid in the crotch, "not so tough now that my friends are here, huh?"

Two Kuroko figures walked foward towards Onsen-Kid and Evil Sakura while being flanked by guards. One lifted their helmet to reveal...Shutaro Mendou! And the other was Ryouko Mendou.

Onsen-Kid, nearly pissing his pants now, just stared in shock. Shutaro laughed, "fancy meeting you here."

Ryouko pointed her cannon at Evil Sakura's head, "we've come for our friends Lum, Kintaro, Megane, Cygni, and the two drop-outs from Texas!"

Evil Sakura glared, "so what?"

Ryouko shrugged, "so? So indeed? I don't believe you've ever been acquanted with my Kuroko's newest tool, the M44. It WILL vaporize any selected target an official member of the Mendou conglomerate specifies with their thoughts. So essentially, you better do as I say and better (censored) do it fast!" Ryouko Mendou was shouting and cursing by the time she finished the sentence.

Watching this from the table Hudson grinned dreamily, "that's my Ryouko-chan."

(RP OFF)

[Lum-chan]

By Parias on Thursday, January 13, 2000 - 06:14:
(RP ON)
Beavis and Butthead watched Cherry as he slept, or appeared to, as he was humming softly to himself. Butthead looked over the controls.

"Uhh, this is like, some kind of video game or something. Huh huh."

Beavis bit his lip.

"Umm, yea, like, um, what's this thing do?"

Beavis flipped a switch, and a small light above the console that read "Oxygen pump" turned red. Butthead noticed and looked up.

"Cool, it like, uhh, turned the light off or something."

Beavis laughed and began madly flipping the switch up and down.

"Heh heh, this is a cool game."

Deep inside the housing of the ship where the small unit that provided oxygen to the ship was contained, one of the cords leading to the device began to slowly heat up. A single spark flew from it, bouncing harmlessly against the nearby panelling.

Butthead laughed and then unstrapped himself from his chair and got up.

"Uhh, I'm like, gonna find some food or something."

He walked towards the back of the room. Beavis turned around in his chair.

"Like, um, bring me back something and stuff. Heh heh." He then turned back to the switch.

"Light goes on, light goes off. Light goes on.. heh heh, this is cool."

Down in the launch bay of the ship, Cygni studied the ships scattered around intently as various flight engineers swarmed around, doing maintenance. She nearly had a heart attack when someone came up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder, then spun around, quickly bringing her fist up to the person's face, stopping inches from it. She held the pose for a few seconds, then slowly withdrew.

"Not a good way to keep your nose in one piece buddy."

The person looked embarassed. "Uh, sorry about that.."

"So? What is it? Hey wait a sec, you look kinda familiar..."

She studied his face intently for a moment.

"Oh I remember you, the bumbling idiot in navigation who got in my way. What the hell is your name anyways?"

"Ron. Listen.. uhh, I came to apologize about that.. with these..."

He withdrew a small container from his back and handed it to her. Cygni popped open the cover and glanced over the small round chocolates inside, then popped one into her mouth, chewing for a moment and swallowing.

"Not bad... apology accepted. Somehow I doubt you're here for just that though. If it's about a personal relationship, you'll probably be sorry to hear I'm engaged already."

Ron stiffened up. "Uh, no, of course not! Just making sure you're alright and everything.."

Cygni shrugged, popping another chocolate into her mouth. "Alright, just lettin ya know.."

"So, uh, what brings you down here?"

"Lookin for a method of transportation to Earth."

Ron grinned. "I'm a pilot."

"Well now, maybe we will get along after all. How soon can we leave? I got important... ah, business on there."

"Right away if you want."

"Sounds good... hmm."

She stopped in mid-sentence. "Shit.."

Ron paused. "Something wrong?"

"Oh, uh, just remembered I still got some things of mine to get.. can we leave in about 30 minutes, Earth time, or so?"

Ron shrugged. "I suppose, it'll give me a bit of time to get ready for the flight as well, it's pretty far."

"Alright then.. which craft will we be using?"

Ron pointed to a red craft sitting at the far end of the launch bay, with a large squat cargo pod on the bottom and a small cockpit with two seats in front.

"I call her Hell's Angel.. took me awhile, but I bought it, my personal craft."

"Not bad. I'll meet you over there in 30 minutes then."

"Alright, till then."

Cygni nodded and turned around, walking off the flight deck and heading to the elevator.

("Close, was wondering how long till you'd remember..")

"Getting em out of here is gonna be a pain in the ass.."

("There's probably some way..")

Cygni examined the elevator buttons.

"Laundry/Maintenance? Hmmm.."

She stabbed the green button and felt the elevator begin it's ascent.

"Hopefully they won't notice two green-haired girls and one squat little kid walking around in uniform.."

("Assuming your luck holds out anyways, and hell, that could start running out any minute now..")

"Gee I never knew you were such an optimist."

She sighed and leaned against the wall of the elevator as it slowly climbed to deck 22.

In the conference room down on the 15th deck, where Cygni had initially escaped, the scientists held a meeting.

"There hasn't been ANY word of her whereabouts?" one of them asked.

"Nothing! Our cameras spotted a small disturbance in the armoury, but things seem to be ok right now. Guards spotted four unconsious men in the room with bottles of vodka in their hands. Small traces of blood around the room as well.."

The first shook his head. "She's clever, she could be almost back to Earth by now."

Another one also shook his head. "No, she wouldn't leave without coming for her friends. We've seen her thoughts."

The first one nodded. "That is a possibility.. double surveilence around the probe chambers. Nothing gets in, or out, without us knowing. By the way, how is our double for her doing?"

The third consulted a few documents. "She's been spotted around the ship, conferring with officers and yelling at anybody who gets in her way.. she seems to be adopting the attitude quite well, I'd almost swear it WAS her!"

The first smiled. "Good, at least that part is going to plan. No-"

He was interrupted a knock came at the door.

"Enter."

A meek looking scientist walked in. "We have another one, Lum's lecherous boyfriend."

The first one's grin went even wider. "Is he set up in the pods?"

"Yes, we're commencing probes now."

"Very good.. be sure to inform the mistress of our progress as soon as you have a report ready."

The fourth saluted with a "Sir!", then walked out of the room. The first one nodded.

"Then people, if there is no further business..."

The other two shook their heads.

"...then I declare this meeting adjourned."

The scientists piled up their papers and walked out of the room, smiling to themselves.

[Lum-chan]

By Bladeofkintaro (Bladeofkintaro) on Friday, January 14, 2000 - 02:38:
Onsen kid was crying and sitting against the wall.

Hudson walked over to Mendou: Mendo this guy seems to know you. Who is he?

Mendo: I beat him up about a year ago in a dream I had. It was a really good dream where I was an invincible battle champion and I was married to Sakura, Shinobu and more women then I can remember.

Hudson: Uhhh yeah... I see.. Hey wait a second didnt Ataru disspaear... But he's back again!

Mujaki said "Theres something different about him. I'd keep an eye on Ataru."

Then another Ataru walked out of the bathroom.

Bakuto walked over and said "Hey remember about a month ago the place was flooded with Lums well I think it's happening again but...

A bunch of Atarus were surrounding the room and some of them were packing some serious weapons!

Onsen kid got up and said "You didnt notice that my allies have arrived! Now Mendo!I shall have my revenge on you now!"

All the Atarus prepared to fire.

On the shuttle something happened and a large exploshion was heared. An astronuat who Cherry had missed was out cold on the floor somewhere in the shuttle. This astronaut looked just like Tom Hanks. He came to and looked out the window "Oh no the oxygen tank is ruptured!"