DO-GOODERS The Proactive Teen Superhero Team With No X Anywhere In Their Title A FanArt HQ / Spoof Chase Improfanfic http://pixelscapes.com/improfanfic Episode Ten : Sleepless Nights! Will The Dreams They Bring Be Of Any Use? By Ash. (With apologies to DDFA (The Right Dishonourable Mark Page.) Perception of what Hell is different to everyone. For some, it's someplace they might go after they die, and for many others, it's right here on Terra Firma. Of course, one man's hell is another's paradise. For Nemesis Serendipity Villyn, Hell came in the form of an rather unassuming little room. It had four walls, and three doors that provided both an entrance and an exit to the room. One of the walls had large-paned windows, which were currently shuttered, as it happened to be somewhat dark outside. At least one of the walls had an old blackboard, still thick with powdered chalk dust. All of the walls were trimmed with a alphabet-covered fringe and a smattering of pictures drawn in a messy hand by "Taro" and "Kimiko". But the setting was but a prelude to the personal hell he was experiencing. No, it was compounded by the tiny circle of way-too-small chairs, and the way-too- big people seated precariously on them. These people where of various ages, but certain trends in ages could be seen here. For Nemesis Serendipity Villyn, Hell had a name. It was called group session, and being here brought about two reactions from him. A growing annoyance, and a simmering anger that was slowly building to explosive levels. Trying to drown out the droning voices of the others in the group, Villyn immediately went for the control on the tape player built into his evilly magnificent battle armour. He nearly gasped when he discovered that he was not in his oh-so- cherished armour, but smartly dressed in a white nehru jacket and nearly-too-tight w that wayhite slacks. To his left, his daughter Aki was strangely dressed as well, a brief recollection of a television programme he had once surfed onto, which was on the American super-station. She was dressed like an American teenager, at least how the television portrayed them as being dressed. Shrugging inwardly, he realized that the suspiciously familiar woman who was the group's counselour, was talking to him. "Thank you, Mr. Chow. And next, we have a newcomer to our little group. A Mr. Villain?" she said, confusion quickly creeping over her face. "That's VillYn." he replied, making the necessary accent. "Yes... now, Mr. Villyn, what can you tell us about yourself?" "What little there is to know about me is... inconse...quential." replied Villyn, moving a pinky up to his mouth. "Ah. Well, then, what can you tell us about your family?" asked the counselour, scrambling to regain whatever momentum she may have had previously. Villyn arched an eyebrow dramatically. "I... see. My father, who was of Argentinian/Chinese descent, dabbled in the smuggling of badly dubbed anime tapes, and my mother was a 27-year-old para-para-para-legal's assistant named 'Buttercup'. "My childhood was a simple sort, summers in Kowloon, hawking Son May CDs and taunting gang members. When I was 12, my voice was ritualistically subtitled. There's nothing like a subtitled voice. More people can understand you that way. The counselour was not thrilled by the direction Villyn was going, so she changed the subject. "Thank you, Mr, ah, Villyn, but let's talk to your daughter, Aki. Aki, how do you and your father get along?" "I hate him!!!!" she exploded, "he was gone for most of my childhood, and now, now, now HE ruins MY prom!!!!" This interested the counselour. "Mr. Villyn, would you care to elabourate?" But Villyn couldn't. Because he woke up. "Ah uh huh huh uh!!" he panted, while jerking himself straight up, and banging his knees on his desk in the process. "Aaaaaarrrrrggggggggghhhhhhh!!!!! That hurt!" he said wincing with pain. A few minutes later, after going for some ice from the kitchen to soothe his acheing knees, he looked down at his evil plan, which lay next to his evil map. He smiled, evilly, of course, and began to laugh evil laugh #7. Villyn was satisfied. He had an evil plan, and some evil minions, who were more loyal than the last bunch, who were only in it for the money. Although there was that one... what was his name? Thrakkorzog? Thurston Dunne? Tharz-- bah no matter. The boy's potential to warp reality in strange and bizzare ways would be of use in the future. With that last thought, he headed off for bed, because even evil needs it sleep as well. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Sailor Delight was dead. This was fairly easy to discern, as she was lying on the grass here on one side, and her innards were splattered over there. Tejina blinked. There was something wrong here. That was a big definite. Seeing her body on the ground, dead to the world was one thing, but seeing her ghost standing next to it was something else entirely. She watched as her ghost watched the paramedics take her body away.... MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH... The youma were destroying what was left of Tokyo, and even the legions of Tejina clones, each one bearing characteristics of different anime charas, could not hold them back. By this time, Tejina had become somewhat jaded to the events unfurling before her, yet was drawn to them, as if they were somehow... taboo. Then again, watching yourself die several times over, many of those times due to your friends, does take it's toll on your psyche. That was why she was glad when she woke up. She sat up in bed, taking deep breaths for some time after that. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Matsuro looked around. Yep, it was a dream. The swirling mists told him that. But he was wary, because tha all he could see. Where were the crucifixes, and the screaming and moaning-- hell, his mother wasn't even here for that matter. And then the mists parted, revealing an exquisitely carved palace, with perfect columns that rose up to support a massive balcony. Matsuro turned his attentions skyward, and saw-- A girl whose very presence brought out desires and joy in him that he never knew he had. Instinctively he knew her, even though he could not see her face. It was if he did not need to know exactly what she looked like, for her true features were engraved upon his heart. "Bishonen Guy... you're my only hope. You must help me" she said, although it was not certain if she had moved her lips or not. "But what can I do? All I have to offer is my sword, and you --definitely-- don't want that." he replied. "Bishonen Guy my love, you must help me--" she paused, nearly collapsing as she did so. "How? What must I do?" She rose, slowly, even though the very action was taking it's toll on her. "Find the Icon of Rapturous Delight... please help me... My love..." she collapsed, the mists closed in around her. Matsuro stood there in murkiness, completely stupefied. And the he woke up. He got up and leaned against a wall for a while. For some inexplicable reason, there was a very wide, very goofy grin on his face. He actually had a normal dream! Perhaps those visions would actually-- Famous last words. Yet another vision came up gibbering from out of the eldritch depths and clobbered him in the back of the head with a frying pan. Shaking his head, he looked up and saw his mother strung up on those stupid I-beams. "Hi Mom, anything new?" "Matsuro, you must go to Tokyo." "Been there, done that. Go on." "You must join the band." "Right. What can you tell me about the Icon of Rapturous Delight?" Matsuro's mother blinked. "The... Icon? I shall have to check. But you must prevent the formation of evil." "Check. Prevent the formation of evil. How long will it take for you to get the information?" "Processing." He relaxed, waiting for the blackout that always accompanied a transfer. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Brother Maynard slowly dragged himself into the sewer sanctum of the Cult of Cthulhu, local #39924-91, bearing the half dead head of the cult, known as 'His Eminance'. It wasn't too bad a load, but His Eminance was starting to smell, well kind of like a fish. He made it to the computer room, and collapsed on the floor. The Deep Ones would not be pleased. Two attempts to find an avatar for the Great One had failed miserably, and if he didn't come up with something, he might be thrown to the dolphins. A great thunderous rush could be heard heading towards the very chamber he sat in. He waited for several minutes, almost dreading what might be headed his way. The chamber door flew open, and fifty people dressed like they were members of a Cult of Great Cthulhu, began climbing all over each other, fighting tooth and nail for a spot before the coveted computer table. Maynard blinked. And then the whatever-it-was that His Eminance had put into him kicked in. He rose, relishing the influx of power that now filled him. He began to float above the floor, power surrounding him like an eldritch aura, causing the morphing runes that shifted and twisted upon the walls to creep away from behind him. Grinning wickedly, he lifted his head and opened his eyes, behind which maddening flames and shapes danced and gibbered. "sIlEncE! whO ArE yOU wOrms, And whAt ArE yOU dOIng hErE?" he roared, almost in shock in the change of his voice. "Brother Maynard? What happened to you?" asked one of the new cultists, who was a bit confused by all this. "thE grEAt OnE bEstOwEd UpOn mE bUt A smAll pOrtIOn Of hIs PowEr. hOw Is It thAt yOU knOw mE wOrm?" The cultist tugged at the bottom of his hood. "Don't you remember? It's me, Brother Clarence." "clArEncE? I... vAgUEly rEmEmbEr A clArEncE. whErE hAvE yOU bEEn, And whO ArE thEsE OthErs?" said Maynard, floating over to Clarence. "The rest of Local #39924-91, Brother Maynard." Clarence was now kneeling on the floor quaking with sheer terror. Most of the others soon followed suit. "Ah sO. whErE hAvE yOU bEEn? brOthErs tAchI And bOb hAvE fAllEn In thE sErvIcE Of thE grEAt OnE." "W-wong's a-all you can e-eat Mongolian Bar-b-q in Singapore. His Eminence ordered it so." stammered Brother Clarence. "Excuse me," a voice piped in, "but is this the Shubby-chan's Happy Happy Joy Joy Fun Club local#39924-99?" All eyes fell on the unfortunate cultist, who began to look very sheepish. Maynard's grin twisted, becoming wider, and even more evil than before. He floated over to the cultist, and lifted him with the ebon power that danced and gibbered in the air around them. "tEll shUb-nIggArAth thAt cthUlhU stIrs, And thAt hE shAll sOOn AwAkE. sprEAd thE wOrd, thE sEAls UpOn thE OutsIdE shAll sOOn brEAk!!" hAhAhAhAhAhAhA!!!!!!!!!!!!" he continued to laugh, even after he had released the Shub-Niggarath cultist from his eldritch grip. After what seemed an eternity, he descended to the floor and stopped his manic reverie. "I hAvE A plAn. wE shAll mAkE thEm AccEpt grEAt cthUlhU!!!!" he turned around, facing away from the other cultists. Unexpectedly, he spun to meet the collective gaze of local #39924-91, some of whom were considering a change of career plans. In his hands he clutched a small doll. "thIs shAll bE OUr InstrUmEnt!!! brOthEr clArEncE, I chOOsE yOU tO bE thE OnE tO sprEAd thE wOrd! yOU shAll bE hEllO cthUlhU!!!!" he began to laugh again, sending a collective chill throughout the assembled throngs. Raising the doll up into the air, it was seen to be a representation of Cthulhu, but this one was wearing a red and white striped t-shirt and blue overalls. Maynard pulled a string on the back of the doll, which began to speak. "I'm Hello Cthulhu! Will you help me achieve world dominance?" A portion of the energy surrounding Maynard shot out and slammed into Clarence, causing him to fall to the chamber floor, screaming in agony. The energy swirled around him, forming a cocoon around him. Minutes later, the cocoon shifted, and changed, assuming the form of the doll. Hello Cthulhu rose in the place of Clarence. Speaking in the voice of the doll, he said, "Hi Kids! Would you like to sing a song with me?" What proceeded afterward is not fit to be printed. However, it can be said that Maynard continued his evil laugh for some time, and that the form of His Eminance began to twitch in strange ways. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "Annikki, would you care to elabourate as to why a third, balancing force was needed to support the powers of rapture and deilght?" Aki Villyn blinked. Several times, in fact. She looked around, to try and get her bearings. She was seated on an oversized, amply filled maroon floor pillow. Elaborately hand-stitched tapestries hung from the walls, which appeared to be cut from a stone of unknown origin. Across from her, seated on a similar pillow, was an old man, who simple robes of silk, and was completely hairless, save for eyebrows that completely hid his eyes from view, and a mustache that was nearly as thick as the eyebrows. "Well? I don't have all day child." said the old man, who probably did, but was not going to actually admit it. Thinking about the question put before her, she answered with the first thing that popped into her head. "Because they are both extremes of the same thing?" A kindly smile lifted the edges of the mustache. "Very good! Now, three things are needed to control the powers. The first two are the Icon of Rapturous Delight, and the Emblem of Delightful Rapture. Can you tell me what the third is?" "I-I can't remember..." she stammered, anxiety creeping through every pore of her body. "You are!!!!!!!" cried the old man, before an infinite number of insects, tendrils, and wide-eyed screaming little monsters crawled from out of his mouth and jumped at her. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuggggggggggggghhhhhh !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed Aki, before realizing that she was hanging onto the ceiling fixture in her room. "Ah uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh..." she panted while trying to get a better grip on the light. "Aki, just what is the idea of-- why are you hanging from the ceiling girl?" asked a very sleepy Villyn, who opened the door after hearing his daughter's scream. "Dad, I don't know, and right now, I could really care less. Just get me down!!" shouted Aki, as the fixture strained and began to lose it's attachment to the ceiling. "Oh, right." mumbled Villyn, as he stumbled over to the spot beneath his daughter, and held up his arms half-heartedly. "Alright, you can let go now." Looking down for a second, Aki saw the pitiful attempt that her father was making, and held even tighter. "Are you kidding?" The fixture began to fall just a little bit more. Frowning, Villyn looked up, and replied, "Well, I could always leave you to your own devices, but I don't think either of of us, much less the state, could live with that." Aki dropped just a bit further. Taking a moment to look at the ceiling, and then at her father, Aki nodded. "Just make sure you catch me." she said, before letting go, and landing neatly in her father's arms. "Huh? I'm not dead? Or hurt?" Villyn shook his head, and set her down on the bed. "Now, then. Care to tell me why you decided to play 'koala' with the fixtures in the middle of the night?" Aki's eyes widened for a moment. She realized exactly what the implications of her dream (if it were true), would be if she told him everything. "I had a really bad dream." she said finally, in a childish voice. "How bad was it?" Villyn wasn't much of a father, but he would always lend an ear for a good nightmare. "I dreamed that I was taking an oral exam, and when I couldn't remember an answer, lots of horrible, icky things came out of the teacher's mouth." she said, clutching the covers up to her chin. (That's close enough. I hope he buys it.) she thought. Blinking, Villyn let this sink in. "Now, that is a nightmare. One word of advice. When you realize that you're having a bad dream, just tell yourself that you are in a dream." Sleepy again, Aki nodded, and fell asleep "Good night Daddy." she mumbled before drifting off completely. For some reason unknown to him, he smiled and looked at his daughter. Then he walked out of the room and turned out the light. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "Wild One, help me please. You are my only hope." Kireiko looked around, sizing up his surroundings. Almost immediately his sights locked in on the beautiful young woman who stood in the balcony above him in this strange, mist-shrouded environment. A very large grin spread his face to the point of nearly compressing his cheeks into a singularity. Crouching, he leapt up in hopes of getting to know this girl better. Unfortunately, the force-field that was convienently placed in his path kept him from coming into contact with the girl on her lofty perch. Landing hard on his posterior, he winced and said, "Alright, I'll listen. What do you want from me?" "My love, you must find the Emblem of Delightful Rapture. Only it can save me from my ..." The dream suddenly shifted, the misty environs replaced abrubtly by a forested mountainside. Amidst the trees stood an ancient stone shrine. From the shrine came a queer, mysterious piping sound. Kireiko found himself drawn by the sound to the shrine. Walking into it, he nearly fell over when he saw... To start with, it was huge. It was also a deep red colour, and had long, sharp fangs that jutted out of it's mouth, and a pair of stubby little horns located about an inch from its temples. Dressed in a simple tiger's skin, it played a set of pipes-- on second thought, let's not go there. It stopped playing, much to Kireiko's relief, and looked up at him. "Hello son. Come on and take a load off." it said, patting the spot to its right. "Excuse me? Do I know you?" asked a completely doumbfounded Kireiko. "Ah, come on. Don't you recognize yer ol' Dad?" said the thing, its feelings clearly hurt. "You? MY Dad? Come off it man. My Dad's a cost accountant, not some freak in a shrine in the middle of nowhere!" "Right. He's yer human father. I'm yer Oni father." said the Oni, making motions with his hands to try to explain the situation, but not making any sense at all. Kireiko blinked. "You are my Oni father? I find that hard to believe." The Oni shrugged. I guess I'll have to show you a few tricks then. "Huh?" Snakes jumped from out of the Oni's face. "Eeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!" shouted Kireiko. "Believe me now, son?" "Uh huh huh huh huh.... y-yeah." said Kireiko, panting. "So tell me son, what have you been up to?" Kireiko told him what had happened in the past few weeks. "...and where I am now." he said finishing. "You're not mad about my being a super-hero, are you?" The Oni began to laugh. "No, I'm not. Y'see son, we oni have had a chequered past, and when it comes right down to it, we oni aren't that much different from the humans. If you were to look back far enough, you'd find that some oni were actually heroes in their own right. It's just that on an instinctive level, oni have a tendency to do the wrong thing , a little more than humans are." Letting this sink in, Kireiko asked another question. "Okay, but what about my mom?" "Heh. Well son, that was just one of those things. I was in one of my bad moods, the kind that last for a few weeks, you probably know what I mean, and along come a pair of Shinto exorcists. "Now, when I'm in a mood, half the time I'm on autopilot, running on instinct. Well, they caught me when I was eating a deer, and when I saw yer mom, well, my hormones took over. Yer other dad did me favor, kicking me like he did, since it knocked me back to my senses. I just wish he hadn't kicked me so hard. Unfortunately, I had already done the deed. That's when I made up that bit about the curse. "So you didn't have to--" "Oh, no" said the Oni, shaking his hands. "While oni do procreate like humans do, the two species aren't as close as we'd like them to be. Now there are two others ways for an oni to come about, and one of them is to for someone to be consumed by hatred or some other extreme emotion. Those folks are bad news. Most of them are the ones that give us such a bad reputation. The other is to impart a portion of ourselves onto a human, thus creating a half-oni when that human has children of their own." "That would've been nice to know-- sixteen years ago. My folks gave me a girl's name to prevent your so called curse." The Oni lowered his head. "I know, but my wickedly evil sense of humour got the best of me. Besides, I did tell them the truth. But that's beside the point. This Cthulhu business has me worried." Kireiko cracked his knuckles. "Those losers? Hah. Don't make me laugh." "Son, Cthulhu is no laughing matter. You see, Cthulhu is an ancient being, who came here aeons ago with his children/worshippers. After establishing a city known as R'lyeh, and fighting wars with the folks that were already here. Then, one day R'lyeh up and sank into the sea, sealing Cthulhu away until 'the stars were right'. However, when this time does come, certain receptive people recieve 'the calling' and either go insane, or go off wearing hoods doing unspeakable stuff, that gives even me the willies. If one of these idiots has got it in their heads that you're a suitable avatar, then you're gonna be in for it." Scratching his chin, Kireiko mulled over these words. "How do you know about this stuff?" Arching an eyebrow, the Oni scratched one of his horns. "Mostly half- whispered whisperings, but my old pal Saitoh, who's also an oni, told me about three losers that showed up at his door." "Okay, but why Jodi Foster?" "That, kiddo, is beyond me. But stick with your friends, I don't know much about this Matsuro, but if the powers of Rapture and Delight are on your side, you should be fine.But be careful. Especially around that Sword of Duality. Those things are nasty. I remember, years back, when somebody with one of those things did a real nasty number on my uncle Toshi." "Right." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The bass guitar began to wail, filling the chamber with its throaty chords. Becky was at one with the bass, and the bass sang with joy. Fingering a series of complex chordings, she went into a new song. The rapturous light filled her from within, issueing forth from every cell of her being. With the rapture came an awareness of herself and her surroundings. Suddenly, the bass wrenched itself from her hands, taking on a life of its own. In response to this, the rapture left her, and began to fight with the bass. Becky fell to the floor, weakened by the conflict and the loss of the rapture and joy. [Do not despair, oh brave warrior of Rapture.] "Wha--" mumbled Becky, too weak now to even speak. [I, the brave warrior of Joy shall save you, but the Icon and the Emblem must be found. Only then shall your conflict end.] Straining with her remaining strength, she looked up and saw a glowing, yet strangely, tantalisingly familiar form. [Find them, and your conflict shall end. Shall end... end end...] Becky awoke sitting up straight as a post. The rigidity that held her body still slowly dissapated, allowing her to breathe again. As the mother of all migraine headaches held a growing rave in inside of her head, a small smile found its way upon her sweating face. (At last!) she thought, (A way to stop this annoying headache.) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Lunchtime descended upon the sleepy high school, and the Do-gooders soon found themselves sitting under the comfortable shade of a tree in the school courtyard. "Man, I didn't get much sleep at all last night." yawned Kireiko, stretching his arms above his head. "Heh." said Matsuro with a contented look on his face. "Bad dreams little monster?" "Nah, just a couple of weird ones." Matsuro raised an eyebrow appraisingly. "You don't say..." "Quiet you two." croaked Tejina, who had placed a pair of sunglasses over her eyes, and stretched a bit, trying to make herself comfortable. "But mine most likely top any of yours." "Hello." muttered Becky, collapsing next to Tejina clutching her head as she did so. "I may have one nasty headache, but for some reason, I feel better today." "Excuse me." The teens looked up and saw Aki Villyn standing over them. "I... um... have... something to tell... you." she said, trying her best to stay awake. Matsuro and Kireiko quickly rose and helped her to sit down next to Becky and Tejina, glaring at each other all the while. "Waitaminute." said Kireiko, snapping his fingers as if remebering something. "They all look like that girl in my dream last night." Matsuro frowned and glared at him, and said "What do you mean, 'your' dream? I was the one that saw her. She was asking for the Icon of Rapturous Delight." "What? That can't be right. She asked for the Emblem of Delightful Rapture." said Kireiko, pointing at Matsuro. Aki and Becky sat bolt upright. "What did you just say?" they chorused. Everyone blinked at each other for a few minutes. Finally, Tejina spoke, breaking the silence. "Why don't you all explain your dreams-- in order. Matsuro, you start first." Ignoring Kireiko's dagger-vision(tm), Matsuro described what he had seen in his dream, but when he went on to what had happened in his vision, Aki's jaw dropped. "That's what I was going to tell you about!" she said. "My Dad has a bunch of crimes planned all over the city. All of them seem unrelated, except if you were to mark every one of the sites, they'd make the kanji for 'evil'!" "So that's what she meant by the formation of evil." replied Matsuro. Then it was Kireiko's turn. When he got to the part about the reunion with his oni father, it should be stated that several faces went green, and had they been eaten, luches would have been lost. Aki decided she had better tell about her dream. Becky looked at her and said, "So that what that girl in my dream was saying." When all eyes fell upon her, she sighed and described her dream. Tejina yawned and sat up, stretching as she did do. "Okay. My turn. Prepare to be blown away." "Well?" asked Matsuro, "What was yours?" She glared at him. "Okay, in my dream, I died, only to discover that you did the dirty deed. But due to some strange power in my possession, I was reincarnated as a girl named Tejiko. But my friends, distrustful as ever, killed me again. But my soul rose again, and created a city of longevity. Which is where legions of clones of me with anime-based characteristics were created, after which lots of mass destructiona and a really large bodycount, it was revealed that the events that had transpired were manipulated by some mysterious power, and that we had been lied to, and that the whole thing was some sort of weird test." "That, is the most amazing thing I have ever heard. I wish could have dreams like yours Tejina." said a crestfallen Matsuro. Becky shrugged. "Sounds like a Sailormoon fanfiction I read before I came over here." "Alright. We've gone over our dreams, and discovered that there's probably something we need to know. Aki, what's the first place your old man's gonna hit?" said Kireiko, picking at his teeth. "Right. I think the first one is a music shop, which isn't too far from here." said Aki, yawning. Nodding, Kireiko said, "Alright. Let's go home, get some sleep, and meet at the music store tonight, and perpare a live show he'll never forget." "'k." "Sure." "Why not?" "You won't be too hard on him, will you? Even if he's an idiot with dreams of world domination, he's still my dad." Placing a reassuring hand on Aki's shoulder, Kireiko smiled, and said, "Don't worry, Aki. We'll make sure he won't be too badly hurt." as he lightly punched at her chin. Smiling, Aki looked up at Kireiko and said, "Thank you." JUST EXACTLY WHAT IS GOING ON? WILL HELLO CTHULHU BE MORE POPULAR THAN THAT PURPLE DINOSAUR? WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH THE ICON OF RAPUTOUS DELIGHT, AND THE EMBLEM OF DELIGHTFUL RAPTURE? WHY IS AKI CONNECTED TO THESE ITEMS? IS SHE REALLY SAILOR JOY, OR IS IT ALL A SINISTER PLOT OF SOME MYSTERIOUS AGENCY? IS HIS EMENINCE STILL ALIVE? AND WHILE WE'RE AT IT, WHEN WILL SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT ELRIC SUBPLOT? AND MOST IMPORTANTLY OF ALL, WHY IS KIREIKO ACTING OUT OF CHARACTER? FIND OUT IN NEXT WEEK'S EXCITING INSTALLMENT OF DO-GOODERS! Do-Gooders created 1998 by Stefan Gagne.