At the Venerable Ancient Duelist's Arena and Squash Court, it was a bright and sunny afternoon, without a cloud in the sky, without a care in the world. Except, of course, for the throng of students gathered there, waiting for the upcoming duel between Shizuhara Seki and Kobayashi Ijima. "Where's Ijima?" Kotaro said, flipping off his GameLackey and switching out the cartridge. "Obviously not here," Benma grunted, crossing his arms over his chest. "You think she skipped out?" "No," Benma growled. "She'll be here." Meanwhile, behind the bleachers... o/~ The players are missing, o/~ one girl said. She and her cohorts were, of course, merely seen as silhouettes on a wall, thanks to the magic that is a sheet over the back of the bleachers. o/~ But half their worlds are missing, o/~ another sang. o/~ Could their Way be cluttered? o/~ o/~ If the Way is cluttered, it can be vacuumed clean, o/~ the third girl sang. All were silent for a minute, and then the second spoke up. o/~ But with all that's gone on lately, the bag will explode. o/~ *** **** *** FURNITURE WARRIORS X PLUS SIGMA TURBO THALLIUM BATTLE 2002 or, for those who have a short attention span, FURNITURE WARRIORS X *** **** *** Furniture Warriors X was created by Brian Stricklin. This part is from the mind of Tuxedo Jack, whose soul is continually chopped up by Iron Chefs and whose sanity is sipping margaritas on the shores of Costa del Sol. Furniture Warriors is the property of Nihana-san, y'know? If I ever even came close to laying claim on it, I'd be locked in the Enron Tower and be forced to eat unanswered subpoenas to survive. Hey, wait a second, there are snack machines in there... hey! It took my money! *** **** *** Chapter IX Illuminating Dark Corners of the Attic Loft of the Mind! - or - For Bed-der or Worse! *** **** *** Yashiko stared. It wasn't what she saw that entranced her. No, it was what she didn't see. It also didn't help that she was semi-catatonic, and therefore could only stare. Across the Secret Underground Chamber and Electrical Closet, Ijima also stared, but she was blinking rapidly. She was also beating her fists aaginst the glass that separated her from her two captors - Nakajima Akai and the ever-mysterious (and highly bishounen) End of the Rug (who was, no doubt, slightly mentally frayed.) The two semi-villains in question were staring as well. Not at each other. No slash for you fangirls! Not at Yashiko and Ijima, despite that being the reader's second guess. No, they were staring at a small, ovoid object on the ground in front of them. Yes, it was indeed a coin, and in the great tradition of Murphy's Law, it was on its edge. The End of the Rug blinked. "That's the fifth time we've done this, and it still keeps coming up on its edge." Akai shrugged. "So?" "So I have an... important appointment to get to." At this, the End of the Rug's tan face sported a noticeable blush. "Leave that girl alone, boy," Akai growled. "She's too much trouble." "She's worth it." "She thinks you're a _woman_!" "So? True beauty is on the inside." The End of the Rug tossed his hair back. "But it doesn't hurt to look like I do." At this, Akai blinked. "Let's just send them both up and be done with it." "Good idea." The End of the Rug flipped a switch on the wall next to him, and then quieted as Akai spoke. "Shizuhara Yashiko, if you seek absolution, you know what you must do. Go forth." Akai flipped off the switch and turned on another one. "Kobayashi, two paths lie before you. You can defeat him to find her, or you can defeat her to find him. Go!" The End of the Rug snickered. "You think they'll notice if they both try to defeat Seki?" Nakajima Akai shrugged. "Meh, your students need the entertainment. After all, they had to deal with that Kumayama fellow for ages anyway. Whatever happened to him, anyway?" "Oh, nothing much. I just killed him, that's all." "That explains the parties around campus, then." * \/\//-\| * \/\//-\| * \/\//-\| * \/\//-\| * It was five in the afternoon by now, and only Seki, Vanity, and the members of the Student Council (minus Kouto, who, for some odd reason, had declined to attend) remained at the Venerable Ancient Duelist's Arena and Squash Court. "All right, that's it," Kotaro said, flipping off his GameLackey. "If she's not here in five minutes, she forfeits the match. Besides, 'Mahouromatic' is on in thirty minutes." "She'll be here," Benma grunted. Seki flipped back his hair and leaned back. "While you're on the subject, Kotaro-san, have you seen Yashiko? She was supposed to be here to watch the match." Kotaro shrugged. "Beats me. She's probably off with Kouto somewhere." Seki visibly twitched. "What?" "You didn't know?" Even the normally emotionless Benma had dropped his jaw. "Those two were quite an item for quite a while." "It's true, master," Vanity whispered, slowly coming up behind Seki. "She rather liked Kouto during middle school, and during her freshman year, they dated for a while. But eventually, they split up, and I don't know why." "You know why, Vanity," Kotaro said. "Kouto ditched her for you." Benma grunted his assent. "Right when the major duels started." "Ever since then, she's hated him. It's not like a cat-and-mouse hate," Kotaro said, and winced when he saw Vanity flinch at the "mouse" bit. "It's more like a Democrat and Republican hate. She hates him, but uses him, and Kouto doesn't mind being used. I don't even think he gets it that he is." Seki blinked. "And you are telling me this for what reason?" Vanity sighed. "It's plot exposition, master. It has to go somewhere." * \/\//-\| * \/\//-\| * \/\//-\| * \/\//-\| * The Fourth Wall promptly crushed the author beneath its awesome weight. When he didn't get up, the Wall sighed and cast Life 2 on him. It then proceeded to bitchslap him into writing this thing properly. * \/\//-\| * \/\//-\| * \/\//-\| * \/\//-\| * Meanwhile... The End of the Rug pushed the button, and a platform holding one of the girls rose to the Arena/Squash Court. Akai pushed a second button, and a platform holding an unconscious Kouto followed the first platform. "You're sending in your own son?" "It's his own fault he missed that shot I took at him with the file cabinet." * \/\//-\| * \/\//-\| * \/\//-\| * \/\//-\| * Seki still stared at Vanity. "You mean..." Vanity nodded. "Yes." "Then..." Kotaro pointed behind them. "Don't mean to interrupt you, but you've got company!" Benma grunted. "Just like Ijima, always with the flashy entrances." "That's..." Seki stared in shock at the newly-ascending platform, on which was... "Kouto?" "What's he doing here?" Vanity said, her mouth hanging open in shock. "More importantly, who in the name of all the Marioverse is _that_?" Kotaro said, pointing to a _second_ rising platform on which stood... "It can't be..." Benma said, eyes wide open for once. "Master..." Vanity said, her eyes filled with tears. Seki merely nodded, his face growing ever grimmer by the second. For across from him was not Kobayashi Ijima, the user of denkijutsu he had expected to fight. Instead, Shizuhara Yashiko stood there, unarmed, dressed in a bizarre black outfit not unlike Nakajima Akai's... if the designer of his outfit had been high on sugar and caffeine at the time. * |-| |_| |-| * |-| |_| |-| * |-| |_| |-| * Seki blinked. "Yashiko-chan, what are you doing there? And why is Kouto-san behind you?" Yashiko just stared at Seki. "Seki-niichan, it's my turn," she whispered, then walked over to Kouto and lifted him up off the ground. She then promptly dropped him, seeing as how Kouto was somewhat heavier than she expected. "Forget lifting him... I'll just do this my way!" She bent over him, and Kotaro snickered. She threw him a glance that promised pain, suffering, and other yummy things, and he immediately shut up. "Seki has his Rosewood Bride, and that weird voice said that I could get something from you to beat him with, so she'd be forced to leave... Give me whatever it is!" With that, part of the Entangler protruded from a mysterious black hole in Kouto's chest - mysterious to Yashiko, anyways, since she had no clue what FurnitureSpace was - and with some effort, she pulled it out. "Fight me, big brother! I can't let that hussy have you any more!" She pointed the Entangler at him, and charged. With a scream, Yashiko swung and spun the Entangler at the same time, trapping Seki's chair in its hooks. She leaned in close to him and hissed, "Vanity can't have you. Lumi can't have you, and I'm sure as _HELL_ not going to let Kaede-sensei have you!" She ripped the Entangler away from his hastily improvised block, and started spinning it. Kotaro and Benma merely blinked. Suffice it to say, they were... confused, to say the least. Lumi-chan... hey, wait a minute, where _is_ Lumi-chan? * |-| |_| |-| * |-| |_| |-| * |-| |_| |-| * The End of the Rug was... calm. Yes, that was it, he decided. No girl's going to get under my skin, no... onna... is going to take control of my emotions and play with them like a puppetmaster with his strings. "Anou, pretty lady, why aren't you eating your ice cream?" Lumi-chan said, leaning in close to him and staring straight into his eyes. "If you don't want it, can Lumi-chan have it?" The End of the Rug merely nodded, and hoped that the other side of Lumi would emerge soon. After all, his plan depended on it. "Aaa-iii-su ku-riii-mu WAI! WAI WAI WAI WAIIIIIII!" The End of the Rug almost plotzed. And nearby, Nakajima Akai laughed and laughed and laughed. * |-| |_| |-| * |-| |_| |-| * |-| |_| |-| * Seki lowered his chair. "Yashiko-chan, how did you..." Yashiko fired a bolt of lightning out of the coatrack she held. "For absolution, that's how." Seki dodged, and countered. "CROSS CHAIR SLASH!" The Entangler flew out of Yashiko's hands thanks to the ki-charged projectile, and one end of the mighty coatrack whacked her in her head. The girl fell to the ground, unconscious. Seki placed the tarp over his chair. "Why was she fighting me instead of Kobayashi-san? And what is this... 'absolution' she seeks so vehemently?" Just then, a deep hum and whirring sounded throughout the Ancient Venerable Duelist's Arena and Squash Court, and _third_ section of the ground retracted itself. * |-| |_| |-| * |-| |_| |-| * |-| |_| |-| * Nakajima Akai giggled. "Oh, you poor, poor boy! It's not hardly over yet. She's coming for you. Just you wait. Denkijutsu versus Isujitsu..." And with that, he started cackling like a madman. Which wasn't too far from what he really was, after all. * |-| |_| |-| * |-| |_| |-| * |-| |_| |-| * Indeed, Nakajima was right, for the platform that came up held Kobayashi Ijima. And she was most defnitely not out cold, for her "Oh, hohohoho" echoed around the Arena/Squash Court like only an Evil Bitch Laugh could. "Shizuhara, you didn't run off! I must commend you on that." "Kobayashi-san." Seki shifted his stance and drew out his chair. "Let us begin." Benma lowered his hand. "FIGHT!" Ijima pulled a massive spotlight out of FurnitureSpace. "Oh, hohohoho! Face the might of the denkijutsu style! LENS FLARE!" With that, an incredibly bright beam of light shot across the arena towards Seki. He barely dodged in time, and immediately, she was upon him, slashing at Seki with the spotlight. It crashed into his chair, they pulled apart, and the struggle began anew. "CROSS CHAIR SLASH!" "Oh, hohohoho! That won't do it!" Ijima laughed and dodged the ki attack handily. "LENS FLARE!" The beam of heated light clipped Seki this time, and burned away part of his school uniform. Yes, a school uniform. You can't wear monks' robes everywhere, ne? Seki dashed towards Ijima, and finding himself within striking distance, let fly. "RISING CHAIR FIRE!" However, her spotlight caught his chair, and while it was forced up by his blow, Ijima cackled and pressed a button, which severed a part of her spotlight. "You can't keep me locked in!" Ijima aimed her spotlight/cannon again, and Seki scampered out of the way. "And you're not going to dodge this! Oh, hohohoho!" She pulled back a lever... "STROBE HALLUCINATION!" With that, the light pulsed erratically - fast enough to create seizures in epileptics, and throwing Seki completely off his stride. Daezd, he wandered around for a second, wondering where Ijima was... yes, which one of those many dots on the horizon was she? His question was answered when he felt a heavy mass slam into his back. He knew enough to tell that it sure wasn't Yashiko - she was softer - and that there were many little pointy things on it. Yes, it was Ijima's spotlight, and she wielded it like... a club. Seki rolled, and tried to remember what Ikea had once told him about the Furniture Warrior Marlo. * FLASHBACK * FLASHBACK * FLASHBACK * FLASHBACK * FLASHBACK * "No talent at all," Ikea said. "All he did was swing the furniture. He did not even use it like a true Warrior would." "But Honorable Ikea-san, did he not nearly win the tournament?" "He would have, except that the Mysterious Psychic Chick and the Emperor locked him in an armoire and banished him to his subdimension." Seki blinked. "Oh." Ikea shrugged. "Do not worry. They feed him on Tuesdays." Seki smiled, and the two went back to practicing. * FURNITURE DUEL * FURNITURE DUEL * FURNITURE DUEL * FURNITURE DUEL * Seki continued rolling. He figured that if he could just get away from Ijima, he'd have a chance to defeat her. A second later, he leapt up, and swung his chair into position for another attack. "CROSS CHAIR SLASH!" The ki flew towards Ijima again, and once more she blocked, but Seki had charged her right after his attack, and... "RISING CHAIR FIRE!" The spotlight flew out of her hands, landing a short distance away. Ijima looked straight into Seki's eyes and spoke. "We all fight for someone." "What?" "I fight for her, I fight for him. Who do you fight for?" Seki blinked. He'd never really thought about that. "If you fight for her, then say so!" Ijima threw down a standard-issue theater smoke bomb, and dove for her spotlight. She yanked it up and aimed... but it somehow seemed off... "Face the Denkijutsu special attack!" She pulled back a lever on the spotlight, and streams of metal disks flew from it. _Sharp-edged_ disks. And they were heading straight for Yashiko. "GOBO CANNON!" Seki grabbed his chair, and leapt, but it didn't seem like he'd make it in time to stop them from seriously injuring - or even killing - Yashiko. A crack of thunder sounded, a light flared, and out of the plaid, a BED appeared before Yashiko and blocked the gobos. Kotaro blinked. "That's twice! Once against Benma, and now this! He's activated the power of the Soul of Furniture!" Benma merely grunted. "He's gained the power. We're in deep trouble." Kotaro frowned. "But can he control it? And how does he activate it?" Seki shot straight towards Ijima, and screamed. "SOUL OF FURNITURE SPECIAL ATTACK - CHAIR MIRAGE CARNIVAL!" Seki seemed to phase in and out of existence - much like Kotaro and his FurnitureSpace teleport ability. Three times he struck Ijima physically, three times he used the Cross Chair Slash, and three more times he used Rising Chair Fire on her. Finally, he struck with the Hyper Rising Chair Fire, and Ijima flew through the air - minus spotlight, which fell to the ground and cracked - to land on top of Vanity, who merely went "meep" and promptly fainted. Seki then promptly collapsed, panting. "Impressive," Kaede said from a nearby tree. "The kid's certainy picked up a lot since he left the dojo. This kid could prove useful." He then hopped down from the tree branch he was perched on and walked to his classroom, where he promptly took a nap. * /-\ ( |< * /-\ ( |< * /-\ ( |< * /-\ ( |< * Shortly thereafter, Ijima awoke. She hurt. A _lot_. "Oh, good, you're up," a soft voice sounded next to her. Ijima turned her head, and saw Vanity sitting there with a cold compress in her hands. For once, she didn't do her bitch laugh when she spoke. "Vanity-chan... what are you doing here?" "Master Seki told me to look after you while he went to take care of Yashiko-san." Vanity gently rubbed a wet towel over Ijima's forehead. "You took quite a beating out there. For a while, I wasn't sure that you would make it. I had to heal you." "Heal me?" "You know." "Oh." Ijima was quiet for a minute. "Vanity, about that attack..." "Don't worry. Master Seki said Yashiko-san was all right, just a little shaken up. You scared us when your aim was off, though." Ijima closed her eyes. "That's just it. My aim wasn't off." Vanity gasped. "Oh, my." "Something inside me told me to aim for her. It told me that if she was gone, Seki would leave, and there would be peace back here once more, and I'd have you again, and Nizo would come back to me..." "Ijima-san..." Ijima let her hand flop down off the bed she lay on. "Who am I kidding? That can't happen." "Ijima-san, look at the bed you're on." Ijima looked, and saw that the bed was the bed that had blocked her Gobo Cannon, and it wasn't the worse for wear. "What... this is..." "The bed of the Soul of Furniture. The one who can call it forth can use the power it grants to..." "Revolutionize the world, I know, I know." Vanity looked puzzled. "No, that's something else. The power of the Soul of Furniture... well, it allows its wielder to do something, but we don't know what yet. It sure isn't revolutionizing the world, though. That'd be copyright infringement." "Oh." Vanity stood up. "I'll let you rest now." She walked towards a nearby door, which conveniently led into the school, and turned back to Ijima. "In case you get hungry, there are some of my muffins on the bedside table." She then turned and left. Ijima reached for the basket of muffins and nibbled on one. So deep was her appreciation of the food - and her thoughts of the lost boy - that she didn't hear the light thud that signified that consciousness had left Vanity once more. "Nizo... where are you? Why haven't I seen you in ages? And why haven't you called, or written, or even sent me an e-mail?" Ijima sighed in frustration. "For once, I wish that the power _was_ to change the world." "But it's not, is it, Iji-chan," Nakajima Akai's voice sounded from a dark corner of her room. "YOU!" Ijima gasped. "You're the one that told me to hurt her!" "That's perfectly correct, Iji-chan. And you failed me," Akai said, in his half-menacing, half-madman tone. "It's not my fault!" Ijima said. "Shizuhara used the power of the Soul of Furniture against me!" "It doesn't matter, now does it?" Akai said. "You've failed. The time will come when I'll call on you again, and you had best not fail then... or the consequences will be far more severe than a mere beating." With that, his voice, smooth as oiled silk, faded to nothingness, and Ijima shuddered in fear. "Even the muffins aren't going to help me now..." * |-| |_| |-| * |-| |_| |-| * |-| |_| |-| * Seki was in a similar position with Yashiko. She was unhurt, except for a slight bruise on her head from where the Entangler struck her. "Poor Yashiko-san." Seki dabbed at her forehead. "What on earth could have possessed her to take up the coatrack against me?" Yashiko took that moment to come out of her unconsciousness, and her eyes fluttered open slowly. "Did... I get... absolved?" "Be quiet, Yashiko-san," Seki said, wiping her forehead clear. "You have been injured in combat, and you must rest and regain your health." "Seki-niichan..." Yashiko grabbed his hand. "Sumimasen." "Nani? For what?" "I attacked you, and tried to hurt you!" "Do not worry, Yashiko-san. I'm quite fine, as you can see." "In more ways than one," Yashiko muttered to herself. Raising her voice to almost normal, she continued. "But something told me to do it. You know I'd never, _ever_, fight you on _anything_ or hurt you... unless you wanted me to." Seki facefaulted, but quickly recovered. "You say something told you to attack me? What did it say? Who was it?" "I don't know," Yashiko said. "All I heard was that thing's voice. I never saw it, but it kind of sounded like Kouto." "Kouto was out cold on the field next to you, and you never leave my side, so since he didn't bother us today, it couldn't have been him." "But it sounded so much like him!" Seki shrugged. "Do not worry about it. Just rest." Yashiko started to close her eyes, then turned her head to Seki. "Big brother, what am I to you?" Seki stopped. "What?" "Just what I said, Seki-niichan. What am I to you? Am I Yashiko-neesan, or Yashiko-san, or Yashi-chan?" Yashiko bit on her bottom lip softly. "Who am I to you, big brother, and what am I? I don't even know myself anymore..." Seki just stood there, thinking. He continued to think on it until he heard snoring come from the bed where Yashiko lay, and quietly slipped out, planting a brotherly kiss on her head as he did so. "You are who you are, Yashiko, and nothing is going to change you." Yashiko smiled, and shifted in her sleep. * \/\//-\| * \/\//-\| * \/\//-\| * \/\//-\| * "If the appliances are not plugged in, the house cannot function." "We are the appliances, the house is the world." Benma grunted. "That was a singularly stupid one," Kouto muttered to Kotaro. "Quit your whining," Kotaro said. "All of the appliances have been unplugged. The house is silent, the world is darkened." "Shizuhara's beaten us. He took out _all_ of us." Kouto said quietly. "The End of the Rug is _not_ going to be happy about this." "We'll deal with it when it gets here," Benma said quietly. "It's out of our hands." * \/\//-\| * \/\//-\| * \/\//-\| * \/\//-\| * Elsewhere, Ichiro sighed and looked over Tokyo, which was lit up like gems on a black velvet sky. "He just doesn't get it. None of them do. They're not ready yet." He turned around. "Are they, my dear?" The Mysterious Psychic Chick shook her head. "And they have the most dangerous challenge of their lives coming up soon, too. It will take more than just being a spiky-haired Tibetian to triumph over it." Nizo stepped up behind them. "And with that person's involvement, there will be much to deal with." "When does that being arrive?" Ichiro asked. "Two days, and it arrives at the Ancient and Honorable Tibetan Furniture Warriors Dojo. Three days later, it'll arrive here, directed by Ikea, and bearing a message from Queen Radiance. That's when the fun really starts." The Mysterious Psychic Chick sighed. "It's just never enough, is it?" * \/\//-\| * \/\//-\| * \/\//-\| * \/\//-\| * "WAI!" Suffice it to say, Lumi-chan had gotten her fill of ice cream for the day. No, wait. Let me rephrase that. Lumi-chan had emptied her share of ice cream parlors for the day. The rest of the stores in the Hiroto area had closed - and locked - their doors while the owners hid in fear of the "enemy of all that's sweet and cold" raged in her path downtown. It was almost as bad as that time the other redhead with a passion for food came through town and... oh, wait, wrong series. Never mind. She and the End of the Rug were walking towards the Shizuhara home, with her mind focused on, of course, the ever-menacing ice cream, which must be eaten. The End of the Rug's mind was upon her, no da. In his demented, twisted way, he actually liked Lumi beyond the superficial feelings he held, but he knew his limits, and he remembered why he went out with her. "Well, here we are," he said quietly to her. "Wai, wai, we're home!" Lumi turned towards the End of the Rug. "Arigato gozaimasu for the ro-man-ti-ku da-ito! Lumi-chan had fun!" "So did I," the End of the Rug said, with a genuine smile creeping over his face. "May I..." He leaned towards Lumi slowly. "Ano, may you what?" He kissed her. The End of the Rug kissed Lumi-chan, and no, the world did not blow up. It wasn't a kiss like Kouto's, no. Kouto had forced his kiss on Lumi, and his said "I know you want me. Come and get me, and we'll do things my way and in the end I won't bother calling you." The End of the Rug... well, his gave Lumi pause. He seemed to say, "For once, I'm being totally open and honest here. Give me a chance, ne? I can stop being an evil bastard when I want to. It just takes the right incentive, and gods, this is it." A lightbulb suddenly shattered in the overhead light with a "crack" that startled them both. They pulled apart, and Lumi ended up with her hands behind her head, and the End of the Rug looking like a bashful schoolboy. Lumi blushed. "Ano, pretty lady, that was fun." The End of the Rug smiled. "I liked it too. Perhaps we could do it again sometime." "Maybe." For just a second, Lumi seemed grown-up. Not the normal Mihoshi- eclipsing ditz she normally was, but a fully sane adult. "Lumi-chan's got to go to bed now! Sayonara!" That image shattered like glass before Tim Allen with a sledgehammer, and Lumi-chan ducked inside and slammed the door behind her. The End of the Rug stood there for a moment, contemplating and pondering, and then he put his hands in his pockets and walked towards the elevator. An evil grin broke out on his face. Yes, his plan was proceeding perfectly. * |-| |_| |-| * |-| |_| |-| * |-| |_| |-| * Next time, on Furniture Warriors X Plus Sigma Turbo Thallium Battle 2002: (Maybe...) WHY did the lightbulb explode when the End of the Rug kissed Lumi? WHAT is the plan that the End of the Rug is... planning? WHY are expositional characters being brought back in supporting roles? WILL Yashiko's burning question be answered? WILL Yashiko provide fanservice to offset the lack here? WILL the next part bear Castlevania 1970 influence, since it's being written by the guy who started that series? WHO is the mysterious visitor Ichiro and Nizo spoke of? Find out next time in chapter 10 of Furniture Warriors X: Her Loveseat Could Use A Little Padding! - or - Don't Couch Your Opinions! ... whichever title Gaijin Dan picks. ^_^ * \/\//-\| * \/\//-\| * \/\//-\| * \/\//-\| * Author's slightly-less-crazed-but-still-high-on-sugar notes: First - First Impro. ^_^ Wai! Secondly - I've not seen any Utena. I've merely read the first 2 manga volumes, the character profiles, and the scripts, so I've not quite gotten it. And no, Mr. Scougall, I didn't get all the in-jokes. ^_^ Thirdly - this turned out waaaay more angsty than I had intended it to. I'd originally intended for it to be just a light duel between Seki and Ijima, then Yashiko coming up and clocking Ijima from behind when Akai brought her up from her prison. Unfortunately, events - as well as my unholy love for Cadbury Cream Eggs - corrupted me, and as a result of the union of the Cream in the Eggs and my bloodstream, I gained the angsty stuff to write this. Fourth - To those of you who are wondering, Ichiro and Nizo were mentioned in part 1. They said they were expositional, and I needed two people, one of which had to be Ijima's old Drama Club VP, so... who else but the expositional characters? Oh, and gobos? They're small pieces of metal with holes cut in them that you put into the front part of an ellipsoidal reflector spotlight (i.e. Ijima's weapon) to shape light for various purposes. Finally - Steven gave me a _perfect_ setup for this, and I've got to thank him for that. Kudos to Brian Stricklin for creating this series, and "wai"s to the Bed, for being a good place to sleep. Matter of fact, it's 1 AM right now, and I can't take much more time without sleep. One last little thing. According to the Properties tab, this thing's 29.6 KB. That's the biggest part yet. >_< Bad bandwidth costs! BAD! Signing off to a chorus of the Nekohanten Menu Song, I remain, "Tuxedo" Jack Chiles April 5th, 2003 Submitted for IFF-ing on 05/04/03 "If the answer's not 42, why does it keep showing up so much?"