======================================================= Improfanfic presents: IMPROPARTY The Twenty-First Chapter: Don't Stop the Insanity! Primarily written by Kate Malloy With scenes, ideas, and generous help by: Chris Nichols ColdFury Illyria Myth Ravi ImproParty started by W4 the Mad Author (who is probably rolling over in his grave by now) ======================================================= It was madness at Chez Impro. Well, it was always madness at Chez Impro, but things were more mad than usual. Aaron Shattuck was on the loose. A good half of the Party Members were on a no-holds-barred crusade for Epsilon, Blade, and the Normaliser. And Cousin Pete and Hardhead Fred, the most zealous of the Evil Neighbors from Hell, had just stepped up to the door of Chez Impro and were about to ring the bell. "Are you *sure* about these here costumes?" Cousin Pete asked once again, tugging at the skirt of his Senshi outfit. "Course I'm sure," Hardhead Fred replied, adjusting the bow on the front of his costume. "All we have to do is mosey on in there and steal their normal-makin' thing. What could go wrong?" *OMINOUS THUNDER* "Fred, was there a big storm in the forecast?" "Pete, you should know better than to trust those mete...meato...weather folks and their fancy electronic thingamabobs. Now push thet durned bell!" Pete pushed the bell. "I'll get it!" a female voice called from inside. Kimberli opened the door and *stared* at the two men standing on the front porch. "Can I...help you?" she finally asked. "We're here for the party thing," Fred stated. "Um...well, okay," Kimberli replied, opening the door wider. "Come on in, I guess..." Fred cast a smug glance at Pete, and they both entered the house. Kimberli made a mental note to ask the next admin she saw exactly who those guys were. Outside, the OMINOUS THUNDER roared once more. ***** "I have *got* to get rid of H somehow," Myth said to herself. "Who knows what could happen if she takes control of me once again!" She shuddered at the memory of being in a closet with Aaron Shattuck. "I need an Impro Exorcist! Hell, even a regular exorcist would do in a pinch!" Suddenly, she got an idea. From somewhere or another (not AnythingSpace, just a very convenient location) she got a phone book, and leafed through until she found the "E" section. "Okay...enhancers, epidermis, oh, here we go! Hmm..." She scanned through the listings of exorcists until she found the perfect one. Walking over to a very conveniently placed phone that Epsilon hadn't gotten his hands on yet, she dialed the number. "Hello? Demon Busters 'R Us? Mmmhmm, read your ad...yes, I've heard the slogan...no, I don't need to hear your advertising jingle. I need to have a hentai alternate personality banished from my body...Yes, I can pay with Visa. Location? Chez Impro...look, just head towards the ocean and stop before you hit the water. Yes, I'll be there for quite a while. Three hours? Okay, that'll do. Thanks!" She hung up the phone with a feeling of triumph. Now she just had to find something to keep her busy enough for the next few hours so H wouldn't have a chance to establish dominance again. That problem was solved when HottCoffee walked into the room. "Myth! I've been looking all over for you! Where have you been?" "I've been taking care of a few problems. Why?" Myth asked in slight confusion. "Jonatan just announced a new item for the Scavenger Hunt! And it's worth 500 points!" "Really? What is it?" "Well, Epsilon invented this thing called the Normaliser. It's going to take away all our special Impro powers and turn us into (gasp) normal people!" "That's unspeakably horrible! Except I just spoke of it." "Luckily, he hasn't finished it yet, so we've still got time to stop him." "Yes, this menace must be stopped!" Myth, in her excitement over having H removed soon, forgot to put the stopper on her Drama. "We shall form the Anti- Normality Rebellion!" "We're rebelling against normality?" "Sure, why not? Let's get the rest of the scavenger hunters to band together. Then we'll storm Epsilon's headquarters!" "Great! Except there's one problem..." "What?" "Well, where are Epsilon's headquarters?" ***** Somewhere in Chez Impro, there was a closet. *Not* the one that had contained Aaron Shattuck, but another closet. One that had a sign on the door that read, "This is absolutely not Epsilon's Headquarters. Epsilon and Blade are not here trying to finish the Normaliser." I'll bet you can guess what's inside, right? "Boss," Blade asked, "are you *sure* this is another part of your great evil plan?" "Of course it is, lackey!" Epsilon exclaimed. "How dare you doubt my greatness?" Actually, he'd heard the crowd of scavenger hunters-turned-rebel army downstairs, crying for his blood, and this was the first good hiding place he had found. Blade trembled in awe. "Oh, Epsi, I'm sorry I ever doubted you..." His fawning was interrupted by a sound smack to the head. "Thou shalt [NOT] call me Epsi!" the smiting one cried. He heard the voices outside coming closer. "Quiet!" A few minutes later, the assembled troops of the Anti-Normality Rebellion were gathered outside the closet door. "Hey, do you think Epsilon and Blade are in there?" Omi No Miko asked. "Of course not!" Jonatan replied. "Do you not see the sign?" Inside the closet, Epsilon and Blade breathed a sigh of relief. "And since they are not in this closet," Jonatan continued, "I'm sure nobody would mind if I just happened to stand outside this door and insult Pantyhose Tarou." Blade fumed. "He can't do that!" he whispered indignantly. He tried to make a break for the door, but Epsilon grabbed him. "Just be quiet and take it," Epsilon ordered. "Right!" chimed Phoebe. "And we can do a group critique on Epsilon's writing, too!" Epsilon turned bright red. Steam started to come out of his ears. "Boss..." Blade warned. Epsilon stood rigidly still. He must control himself. He must keep his calm. He glanced up at the ceiling. "What is that?" he asked, pointing at the ceiling. Blade flew up to investigate. "It's a trap door," he said quietly. "Perfect." Cradling the Normaliser with one arm, Epsilon climbed up some boxes until he reached the top shelf, then pushed the door open. He and Blade climbed through, to find themselves in another world where wide fields of flowers bloomed, and people flew on wondrously-made wings. No, actually, they just ended up in the attic. "bwahahahaha..." Epsilon let out a quiet evil laugh. "Those fools are no match for me!" "Brilliant, boss! But what happens when they come up here to look for us?" Epsilon abruptly stopped laughing. ***** The two stared into each other's eyes, steeling themselves for the battle that was about to begin. They had both trained hard for this day, hours and hours of grueling practice to prepare themselves for the moment when they each found the perfect opponent. Now, that moment had finally arrived. "So, what rules do you want to use?" Illyria asked Kate. Kate thought for a moment, then replied, "Same, Plus, Elemental...that's about it, I guess." "How about Open?" "Sure, why not. On the count of three, we put down our cards, okay?" Illyria nodded. Kate took a deep breath. "All right, here we go. 1...2...3..." They both set their cards down on the table in front of them at exactly the same moment. Illyria's eyes widened. Kate gasped in surprise. Both of them had put down 5 Irvine cards. "What, you too?" Kate asked in shock, staring at Illyria. Illyria started laughing uncontrollably. After a few seconds, Kate joined in. "We should start a club or something," Kate suggested after their laughing had died down a bit. "The Unholy Sisterhood of Rabid Irvine Kinneas Fangirls." Inspiration struck Illyria. "I've got just the thing! Hold on a second, I'll be right back." Illyria left the room and returned a few minutes later, holding a pair of cowboy hats. She handed one to Kate before putting the other one on. Kate looked at it oddly for a few seconds. "Where'd you get this?" "Brought 'em with me. I'm from Idaho...cowboy hats are a required part of the dress code." Kate put her hat on. "Idaho, eh? I thought that was potatoes." "Everybody does." Kate looked back down at the cards. "Wanna finish the match? Or shall we just call it a draw?" "Let's just call it a draw for now. C'mon, let's get back to the party!" ***** Slowly, light returned to ColdFury's eyes. He sat up stiffly, rubbing a large bump on the top of his head that was tender to touch. He dimly heard a sweet sounding voice say something to him and felt his hand moved away by someone, apparently to apply a bag of ice. With eyes gingerly opened, he looked around. Seeing he was sitting up on the couch, he swung sideways to let his feet hang off the edge. With a sudden awareness he realized that his feet were swinging well off the ground still. He peered off the couch and saw that it was now HUGE. Someone must be playing a joke on him. Then SHE sat down next to him. She was a good 4 feet taller than him, and his eyes were at a perfect level with her... *ahem*. Suddenly it dawned on him. He was now CHIBI COLDFURY! Ardweden sat nervously next to the chibified fan of the taunting godhead legend Dan Habiki. She really should've seen it coming, honestly. He did it to her all the time in chat, in ICQ, in private message. She said hi, he glomped her. That was how it worked. She really shouldn't have hit him over the head with her lute. Specially her chibifying one. She sighed and looked down on him as he started to figure out his situation, noticing with some chagrin the amount of time his eyes stayed on her chest. Finally she broke the silence with a concerned, "Are you all right, ColdFury?" He seemed to jump at the sound of her voice, and looked up at her with a smile and a twinkle in his eyes. Ard couldn't help but smile back at such a kawaii little figure. With a wink he said, "Well, I have a bit of a headache, but the more time I get to spend with you, the better I feel." Ardweden sweatdropped. Maybe she should've stayed in her Aardvark costume. Then she'd been more incognito anyway. "Well, that's good to hear at least. Are you having fun at the party?" ChibiColdFury stood up on the couch next to Ardweden and gave her as big a hug as his small frame could manage. A small "awww" escaped her lips and she couldn't help but ignore the fact that his head was pressed directly against the side of her chest. He was just SO kawaii. "It's been fun, but I was hoping I would see you Ard! Now we can have some real fun!" Ardweden smiled and let go, signaling the end of the hug, even though CF managed to linger a few seconds longer. "I'm not good at fighting games remember?" ChibiColdFury gave her his best hentai smile, which unfortunately for him wasn't very hentai. "I was talking about a more serious type of fun!" He leaned forward and whispered in her ear. Ardweden turned 7 shades of red during his whispering, and turned to look at him with astonished eyes. "You can do that!?" ChibiFury nodded. "Wait till I get full sized again and I could do more." He gave her an unintentionally plushie-looking wink. She stared at him for a moment, then shook her head. "ColdFury.. Chris... friends. Remember? Friends!" With a shrug and a smile he replied, "Well, of course we're friends, Arwen. But how can I resist hitting on the most beautiful woman I know that takes me seriously sometimes?" Ardweden smiled at him... "Awww. You're so kawaii!" She leaned forward and gave him a big hug, nearly smothering his frame. "Cute. Not that cute. But cute. Maybe some other time." She let him down and walked off into the party. He pouted for a second, but saw some of the Improladies pointing at his plushie sized body and decided to take cover until the chibification wore off. As he ran for the men's room as fast as his little 6" legs could take him, he renewed his vow to get Ardweden to release her hentai side! "Yes Ard... you will fall for the hentai powers of *deepbreath* #1 Fan of Taunting Godhead Legend Stone Cold Dan Habiki ColdFury! [OOSHA]!" He stopped rolling and taunting when he saw a few of the ImproWomen following him and took off at a dead sprint. ***** Katy had wandered back out to the front yard, and was admiring the ImproTaxi. The dragon, meanwhile, was getting antsy. Dragons, as a general rule, do not like to be tied up in people's front yards for any length of time without something to amuse themselves with. "You poor thing," Katy said. "You look really bored. Or maybe you're hungry? Hang on; I saw something I think you might like..." She dashed into the house, and returned a moment later with the body of Keith Richards. "Here...he's a little skinny, but I think you'll be okay." The dragon performed the draconian equivalent of a shrug. Hey, it wasn't exactly what it was looking for, but free meals were a good thing. ***** Cousin Pete and Hardhead Fred walked nervously through the rooms of Chez Impro. So far, they were doing all right. Okay, so they'd gotten a few - no, make that a lot of - strange looks from some of the partygoers, but nobody had asked them who they were or what they were doing here or anything like that. They'd heard vague mentions of the Anti-Normality Rebellion, but they hadn't been able to find any of its members. Well, maybe that was because every time they approached somebody, he or she would suddenly remember someplace else they had to go, someone they had to talk to, or some other thing that would make them just too busy to deal with the Neighbors from Hell at that moment. Their search was interrupted by girlish giggles. They could hear voices coming from farther up the corridor. "So Illyria, there's something I've been meaning to ask you..." "Yes?" "How did you get Lurker's card, anyway? I've been looking all over for it to complete my set." "That's a very long story..." Illyria and Kate rounded the corner and came face to face with Fred and Bob. Both groups looked at each other strangely for a few minutes. "So who're you supposed to be?" Hardhead Fred finally asked. "Jesse James?" "Don't be silly! Their outfits look nothing like this!" Illyria exclaimed. "Hey, I just got the greatest idea!" Kate cried. She whispered something to Illyria, who grinned madly. The two took off to put their plan into action. Cousin Pete shook his head. "This here place jest gets stranger and stranger. We need to find that normal-thingie!" ***** Calculus had finally, *finally* finished chewing Dan and Delfina out for the loss of the Ragnarok (or possibly its sister ship, the Ragnorak - nobody seemed to be able to agree on which one it actually was) when the phone rang. Calc answered it. "Chez Impro? Oh, hi, Todd..." Dan made a quick motion. "Speakerphone, now!" he hissed. Calc obliged him. Todd's voice came through loud and clear a moment later. "Listen, Calculus, can you try and keep this a secret from Dan?" Todd asked. Dan sniggered quietly while Calculus replied in his most innocent voice, "Of course, Todd. I wouldn't dream of telling him." "And the rest of my siblings, too?" Todd continued. Delfina grew angry and almost pulled out her mallet, then realized that she couldn't whack Todd over the phone. She'd have to wait until she saw him again. "Yeah, sure," Calc answered. "So what happened?" "Well, um, the Ragnarok ran out of gas. Seems we forgot to fill up the tank...but anyway, I crash-landed on this island somewhere. The natives saw me come out of the ship and started worshiping me as their long lost Chosen One or something." "That sounds pretty good, actually," Calc stated. "No, this island just happens to have a volcano. You *know* what always happens to the person hailed as the long lost savior on an island with an active volcano, don't you?!" Todd's voice had gotten frantic. "Todd, if you're on an island in the middle of nowhere, how are you calling us?" "Well, the Ragnarok's phone still works. You have to get me out of here! Please!" "Okay, I'll get a trace on the ship's signal and I'll come get you." "Hurry! And remember, don't tell a word of this to Dan!" "I promise. See you shortly!" Calc hung up, then looked at Dan. "I *didn't* tell a word of this to you, now, did I?" "Of course you didn't. Now let's get going!" "Wow, even after niichan called you a 'non-apologising, running away with girls, Woofer-murdering bastard,' and told you he hated you and wished you would die, you still want to rescue him?" Delfina asked. "That's so sweet!" "I wasn't talking about Todd. I was saying it was time to go make that Orion brat's life miserable!" Dan shook his head vehemently. Delfina gave Dan a good smacking. "How dare you say that about my oniichan!" "So you don't care about Todd at all?" Calc inquired. "I...I...damn. Okay, let's go find that stupid island and save him. But this time, *he* has to apologize!" Calc shrugged, and the three went off to find Mark Poa and his miraculous locator software, then figure out some means of transportation to the island in question. ***** Woofer was dead. Just a reminder. In the main room of Chez Impro, various people milled about, talking, eating, and doing a variety of partyesque things. In the midst of this, a burst of static crackled high above the heads of the crowd. A lull in the conversation followed. "WOULD ARDWEDEN PLEASE REPORT TO THE CONCIERGE'S DESK? ARDWEDEN TO THE CONCIERGE'S DESK. BWAHAHAHA. THANK YOU. THAT IS ALL." Ardweden looked up from the conversation she was engaged in with Mark Poa (who still didn't know about Woofer's death yet). "I didn't know we had a concierge's desk," she said quizzically. "I didn't know we had an intercom," added Mark, pointing toward the ceiling. "Look, there's no speakers..." Ardweden shrugged. "It's probably Chris," she replied. "Unless the Impro Inquisition wants to dress me up as an aardvark again, I'll be back in a few minutes. If they want me in the aardvark suit again, I'll be back quicker." Ardweden left, working her way through the room to the front hall. Near the front door, in generally the place one would expect a concierge's desk in a hotel, stood a battered folding card table. A sheet of paper reading 'CoNcieRge' was taped to the front, and a large present wrapped in shiny pink paper sat on the table. Behind the table, wearing the robes of Impro Inquisition stood Chris Nichols, High Commander Torquemada of the Impro Inquisition, the Man Trapped in the Chibi-Impros. The name Woofer haunts his nightmares still. The hood of his robe was drawn up over his head, shadows obscuring every inch of his face above his mouth. Seeing Ardweden, Chris grinned pleasantly. Ushering her closer to the table, he gestured to the present. "Ard, since you've bet such a good sport about the kidnapping and torture and aardvark costume and all, the Impro Inquisition got together and got you a token of our appreciation." He paused. "Did I mention that the aardvark outfit reminded me for the tanuki suit in 'Lain'? A very, very kawaii version, that's what it reminded me of." Ardweden just looked at him, unsure of how to take this comment. A pained silence stretched out, and Chris' grin faded, becoming sickly and watery. "Um... Well, there's your present. Why don't you open it?" Tentatively, Ardweden unwrapped the shiny pink package. Being wary seemed a wise course, given that the gift was coming from people who had forced her to wear an aardvark costume. As the last of the paper fell away, Ardweden pulled aside the lid of the box beneath. A grey muzzle darted out, a slick pink tongue flicking across Ardweden's cheek. "GAAAAAAH!" Ardweden scrambled backward until she bumped into the wall behind her. "Whatisitgetitwayfromeewwewwgross!!" A small grey aardvark peered soulfully at Ardweden, its black button eyes shining. It made a small, vaguely hopeful snuffling noise. Chris lifted the small African insectivore into his arms, cradling it carefully. Under the shadows of his hood, he was smiling broadly. "Aw, Ardweden, come on!" He held the aardvark out to her. "She's not gross. She's a good girl... house-trained, too." Chris stretched behind one of the critter's ear, causing it to close its eyes and shuffle contentedly. After a moment, Ardweden extended her arms, allowing Chris to deposit the animal in her arms. The aardvark snuggled up to Ardweden, making happy little 'whuffle, whuffle' noises. "Her name's Quistis," Chris helpfully added. Ardweden failed to be surprised. "OK. Quistis," replied Ardweden, nodding and smiling until she could leave. "Sure, Chris." She turned, ready to head back towards the main room, Quistis still snuggled in her arms. "Wait, Ard! There's more," exclaimed Chris. Waving his hands like a drunkard trying at sign language, he exclaimed, "Hocus pocus alamagocus! Sim sim salabim! Ichi ni san shi go roku juzam djinn!" There was a piffle behind each of Ardweden's shoulders, and two chirpy little voices called out together. "Wai! Ard-sama!" Looking over her shoulders, Ardweden found a pair of mechanical puppets, which looked rather like Chris but without the robes and with rising sun fans instead of hands, smiling back at her. Chris grinned. "Neat, eh? Just like Washuu's." "Wai! You're the greatest, Ard-sama!" chimed to puppet on the left. "Wai! Kick Twoflower's butt, Ard-sama!" chirped the other. Ardweden facefaulted, the puppets remaining perfectly aligned over each shoulder. Even Quistis managed to facefault. Chris just sweat-dropped. "Maybe I should have been more selective about copying speech patterns from Ultrargg-" "Get. These. THINGS. Off of ME!" explained Ardweden, grabbing a double handful of Chris' robe. She shook him a little for emphasis, causing his teeth to make some fun castanet noises. The puppets waved their fans and cheered Ardweden on. "Kick his ass, Ard-sama!" "Chris sucks! You rule, Ard-sama!" "Um..." Chris grinned sheepishly. "I don't know how." A set of veins began throbbing dangerously on Ardweden's forehead. Meanwhile, Quistis stood beside her mistress and growled (or at least snuffled menacingly) at Chris' boots. "Well... The Super-Deformed Chris Nichols Puppets extend from a pair of d-pockets situation just behind your shoulder, and while my correspondence course has covered the building of the robots and the making of dimensional pockets, it hasn't covered how to shut off the quantum tap energy sources or close the d pockets, I'm sorry, I'm babbling, please don't hurt me...." Ardweden dropped him and marched off to rejoin the party, Quistis following at her heels and her puppets babbling her praises over each shoulder. That Aura of Kawaii would be the death of me, thought Chris. Except for the fact that I can't see a thing with this hood over my face. "You like Ardweden, don't you?" needled Mystic Advisor Flibbity Wumpus, appearing magically out of nowhere despite the fact that Zereth was currently not anywhere near the party. Somewhere under his robes, Chris turned a very nice shade of bright pink. Carnage ensued. ***** "Bad news, 2f," Jake said to Twoflower. Twoflower just grunted. "Aaron Shattuck's gotten loose again. Epsilon's invented some sort of device that's supposed to turn everyone normal. And finally..." "There you guys are!" Kimberli said, standing in the doorway. "I've been looking for some admins. These two weird guys showed up dressed in senshi outfits and...Holy Lina! Twoflower!" Jake turned to see Twoflower doubled over, clutching at his stomach. "Oh no...it must have been all that music Phoebe forced him to listen to earlier! He's having a seizure or something!" Jake cried. If 2f had been able to talk at that moment, he would have said, "No, you fool! I think I've been poisoned!" Instead, it came out, "Garble gluble gleep grumph grak gurk!" "What do we do?" Kimberli asked, panicking. "I've never had to deal with a Backstreet Boys overdose before!" "I don't know...Maybe we can play some other music to neutralize the effects. Go find a CD player!" Kimberli skated off to do just that. Meanwhile, Twoflower was about to undergo a bizarre transformation... ***** Things were going pretty smoothly in the living room until suddenly all the lights went out. A spotlight appeared in front of the door to the hallway, and two figures stepped out. The entire population of the Chez Impro Living Room turned to look at the figures in the doorway. Illyria and Kate stood there, striking a dramatic pose. Both were clad in cowboy hats and Team Rocket uniforms, with a big red "K" on the front instead of a big red "R". Illyria wore one like Jessie's. Kate wore one like James', only in a more feminine cut. The ImproGuys were most appreciative. A few minutes of silence passed. Finally, Tameran asked, "So, aren't you going to make a speech now?" Both ladies sweatdropped. "I couldn't think of anything clever to say," Kate admitted. "What are you supposed to be?" Nick asked. "We are..." Illyria began. "The Unholy Sisterhood of Rabid Irvine Kinneas Fangirls!" Kate finished. "Team Rocket just had the snazziest uniforms we could think of." "So, does the K stand for Illyria, Kate, or Kinneas?" Eslington asked. "All three!" Illyria said happily. "But wouldn't that make you the K...K...-" Lurker began. "Gah!" the two young women chorused. "All right, we're just Team K then," Kate corrected. "Now if you'll excuse us, we have some big plans to attend to!" Illyria exclaimed before the two made a dramatic exit. Lurker just shook his head. Things were getting weirder and weirder around here. But hey, he got to see Illyria in a Team Rocket uniform. He loved it! ***** "Fred, are you sure that the normal-doohickey is up here in the attic?" Cousin Pete asked as he and Hardhead Fred traversed the vastness that was the Chez Impro attic. "Gotta be, Pete. We've searched every durn room in this here place. 'Cept that one bedroom. Who in blazes is Marco Ooohooohooohoo anyway?" Unfortunately for them, the noise attracted some of the attic's other occupants. "Who goes there?" called a voice. Epsilon stepped dramatically from the shadows, holding the Normaliser in front of him, ready to fire. Fred nudged Pete. "See? I done told you it was up here, and I was right!" Blade flew in next to Epsilon, ready to protect his master at a moment's notice. "You aren't getting your dirty hands on Epsi's greatest creation!" *WHACK!* "Thou shalt [NOT] call me Epsi!" Fred and Pete exchanged glances. These were the ones who wanted to make everyone no- An insane giggle sounded throughout the attic... The four looked at each other. "Did you...?" Fred began to ask Epsilon, who shook his head. The giggle sounded again, followed by the appearance of Aaron Shattuck and Rain. "Hiya!" Aaron said. "Who wants to see what their spleen looks like?" ***** Ravi finally emerged from the bedroom. He was still quite depressed about what had happened with Illyria, even if it had been his choice to end it. Still, there were plenty of other nice girls at the party...and he had to tend the bar...and Lina-sama only knew what Chris had been doing with the Impro Inquisition while he was gone. Deep in thought, he wandered down the hall, not really paying attention to where he was going. Thus, he wasn't prepared when someone, or something, crept up behind him and whacked him on the head. He went down in an unconscious heap. ***** TO BE CONTINUED... ***** Where in the World Is Carmen, err, the ImproParty Cast: Mark Poa: Chez Impro Steve Scougall: Chez Impro Damien Roc: Chez Impro ColdFury: Chez Impro Chris: Chez Impro W4: Dead - In the iceberg Iron Chef Chen Kenichi: Kitchen Nick: Living Room Anko: Chez Impro Yun Cheolsu: Out Cold - Game Room BlackMage: Living Room Kate Malloy: Chez Impro Twoflower: Chez Impro Squall: Basement HottCoffee: Chez Impro Myth: Chez Impro Tameran: Living Room Stephica: Still in a bedroom with Roe Omi no Miko: Chez Impro Delfina: On the way to rescue Todd Phoebe: Chez Impro Ardweden: Chez Impro Keith Richards: Dragon's Dinner Ura: Bar Roe: Still in a bedroom with Stephica Jess: Chez Impro somewhere Chaos: Basement Lusipher: Chez Impro - still disguised as "K-Sama" Zombie Elvis: Still Dead - Bar Kimberli: Chez Impro Calculus: On the way to rescue Todd Eternal Lost Lurker: Living Room Lawrence: Chez Impro Rain: On the loose in Chez Impro, with Aaron Shattuck Wang Tu Chun Out cold - Bedroom Eslington: Living Room Jonatan: Chez Impro Epsilon: Chez Impro - Attic NeoVid: Chez Impro Fatman: Chez Impro Aaron: Chez Impro nihility (Eric): Chez Impro Illyria: Chez Impro Ravi: Chez Impro Aaron Shattuck On the loose in Chez Impro, with Rain Jake: Chez Impro Blade: Chez Impro - Attic Mecha Tom Green: San Diego ? Todd: Stuck on an island, and the natives are getting restless... Dan: On the way to rescue Todd Dragon: Front Yard Random: GGG Katy: Front Yard with Dragon Ragnarok: Crash landed on an island Leonardo DiCaprio: Dead. Honestly! I ain't bringing him back! Evil Neighbours From Hell: Next door to Chez Impro Cousin Pete: Chez Impro - Attic, in a Sailor fuku Hardhead Fred: Chez Impro - Attic, in a Sailor fuku ***** Author's Notes: It snowed, so classes were cancelled. No, Seriously: Ah, ah, okay. First and foremost, thanks go to ColdFury, Chris Nichols, Illyria, Myth, and Ravi for ideas and prereading. More thanks to Delfina, Lawrence, Calculus, and Kimberli for more prereading. Thanks go to Eslington and Steven Scougall, for letting me add scenes into their parts that set some of this stuff up. Finally, thanks go to Lurker and Illyria for helping me get over my writer's block, so writing this thing became lots of fun! Therefore, I send big hugs to Lurk, and nifty shiny FF8 merchandise to Illyria. And a big hug for W4 too, before he gets too jealous. ^_~ "Normaliser" was much cooler a spelling than "Normalizer," so I stuck with it. ^_^ And if anybody gets the magical land in the attic reference, I will be incredibly impressed. Kate