Estrus: the RPG (game thread)

[ImageKlonoa]

Welcome to Fabulous Durgan City!

Durgan City--the city of dreams, a 24-hour town, open 7 days a week. Come, sample the finest of dining choices, indoor and outdoor recreation, non-stop gambling and nightshows befitting the name, "entertainment capital of the world."
Over the last two decades the tour industry has re-invented itself again and again. Paradise Found Tours of Durgan City offers tours of the Durgan Megaplex, Valparaiso Point and above the Durgan City strip that are the highest of quality.
CEO Michael Dobermann states, "I started Paradise Found Tours with one thing in mind. I wanted to offer breathtaking tours of Durgan City offers tours of the Durgan Megaplex, Valparaiso Point and the city itself that are selected for spectacular scenery, adventure, comfort, safety, and personal attention. I offer you a unique selection of tours that are personally selected by me. I am not offering you any tours that I wouldn't feel comfortable putting my own Mother on."

That flyer made it on top of the apartment Ringo was replacing shingles on. Durgan City semed such a clean place to him, so he just stuffed the flyer in a pocket to throw it away later. He's done his part for the environment.

As the sun started to set, his shift was over. He hurried back home to beat the imminent traffic jams. Plus he had a dinner date at 8.

--

"Who do I have to sleep with to get out of this traffic!?"

Mia had made the mistake of "taking the quick route" home during rush hour. All 4 ongoing lanes were clogged for miles. This could be a lot worse though - this stretch of highway could be out in the burning sunlight.

[Artificial Idiot]

"Erm... Dot? I only have two hands you know... Dot?.... Dot? DOT?!"

Violet let out a slight yip as the contents of the janitors closet came tumbling down on her. She always did it and Dot always let her! And the result was always the same, just you wait and see. Dot came rushing in, just as Violet had managed to climb to her feet.

"Ooh, you poor thing! Why didn't you call?" Dot said, with forced concern.

"I did, several times." She replied, sourly.

"Oh, never mind, eh? You just leave it to go..." od old Dot, yeah, yeah.

"No, I'll help." Violet offered politely, cutting the bison off completely. "I mean, you can't do it on your own..."

"I do every other night." She chuckled, with a slight twinkle in her eye. "Why are you always so stubborn, surely there's somewhere you want to get off too."

"No, not really..." Violet admitted, starting to pick up the various buckets and mops she'd tried to pack away. Dot stared at her, and then made a "hrmph" sound through her over-sized nostrils. "What?"

"When I was your age, I used to go out every night and paint this city any colour I liked! I don't suppose there's some dashing Alpha mal... get a hold of yourself Dot, think who you're talking too." Violet didn't argue. mainly because it was true. She didn't really see the value in going out at night, or what was so bad about being borderline anti-social. "Seriously Violet, you need to get out there, live a little!"

"S'pose..." She mumbled, disheartened. "... I suppose I could go for a walk to the park after work..."

"Seriously, Violet!" She said, stomping a massive hoof. She hated it when she did that. Dot fumbled around in her apron pocket, produced a purse and slapped some crumpled, old notes into Violet's hand. "Get out there. Have a few drinks. Meet people. Or else!"

There was no arguing with that really. Dot means well, but she didn't know Violet. She thought all young people were pressed out on a cookie-cutter mould. All of them living on the edge, causing trouble (something Dot had no real objection too) and having a "good time". Violets idea of a good time is sitting in an armchair, in front of the dull, electrical fire with a hot cup of tea watching "On all fours". But she supposed it wouldn't be too much trouble to go into town after work, cower in the corner of some kind of bar and drink a lemonade or two. after all, what trouble could she get in?

She took off her apron, and threw it into the Janitors closet, before saying good bye to Dot, who seemed quite happy she was leaving. In fact, she always did. But it was best not to ask, she was a stubborn old cow (meant in the nicest possible way) when push came to shove. She walked out of the building, and out down the road. Stopping at the bus stop that she always stopped at (she simply couldn't justify it for her daily trips to work and back). She'd could have walked, of course, but then if there were two times her legs didn't feel like moving, it was straight after getting up and after work.

She sat down under the thin, plastic sheltering of the bus shelter, absent mindedly taking a pink cloth tissue out of her pocket, wiping a drop of cleaning fluid from her fur, the wind swiftly taking it out of her grip when she'd finished and blowing it down the street.

"Hrmph. I actually quite liked that tissue as well."

[SW Freak]

"Hey Pat!" said Naomi breathlessly as she shut the door against. "Jeez, it was nuts at the office today. The phones were off the hook."

Patrick shut the book he was reading with a snap, almost catching his finger in it.

"That time already? Well, I have to go out."

Naomi stopped halfway through dropping her purse on the table.

"Already? But I just got home. We rarely get to talk anymore."

"We'll talk this weekend. I just have to, uh, meet a friend before I get to work."

"Why do you always work the night shift at that place?"

But Patrick was already out the door and he didn't hear the question. He strode down the road, whistling all the while, turned a corner and became Blades. He didn't stop moving or whistling until he had reached a wide, dark alleyway in a tottaly different block. More run down, certainly. A large group of equally scruffy looking figures already waited there.

"Hey Blades! Some newbie wants to try his look against you."

Blades nodded and stepped into the center of the circle of light provided by a torch. A young wolf stepped forward, flashing a cocky smile at the bat.

"He's the best?" The boy laughed. "This is gonna' be too easy."

"Now remember, everything goes but weapons. Fight doesn't end until either one of you can't fight any more or submits. And try not to kill each other. We don't need the cops poking their nose into our fun. When you're ready, Blades."

As the organiser of the fights had spoken, Blades had turned his back to the young wolf. Pulling off his sunglasses, he shoved them in his pocket and pulled out a lenght of thick black material. He turned around as he finished tying it over his eyes.

"What's he doing?" demanded the wolf.

"Bets are still open. The winner of this fight takes two hundred and fifty bucks. Ready? Fight!"

Blades whistled shrilly and then shot forward, grabbed a handfull of the wolf's hair and drove his head down, bringing his own knee up at the time. Both connected with a solid thump and a crack. The wolf let out a cry of pain but Patrick was already moving again. His knee connected with his opponent's stomach once, twice, three times. The wolf sank to his knees and received a kick to the face for his troubles.

"I give up! I give up! For the love of God, I give up!"

Blades nodded and turned away. He whistled again and held a hand up to the organiser. The dog handed over his two hundred dollars and then began collecting and paying out winnings. Then:

"He's got a knife! Watch it!"

Blades spun, his hand reaching to his belt. His ears swivelled towards the sound of the wolf howling and his hand flew out. The knive held within struck the other street fighter in the shoulder, narrowly missing striking his throat. The wolf's dagger scrapped his chest, leaving a small shallow cut. The bat strode away as the others converged on the wolf, and prepared to punish him for his rule breaking. He removed the blindfold and replaced his sunglasses. He walked away, flicking his fingers through the money. He entered a bar and sat down in a shady corner, pulling the small book out. The barman looked over, nodded and brought out a bottle of whiskey and a cloth.

"Thanks," said Patrick, and handed over twenty dollars. "Extra for the lack of questions."

The barman nodded and scurried away as Pat surrepitously wiped his wound. Then he settled down to read his book for the rest of the night. After all, he was on the night shift.

[Nyerguds]

"Josh!" Borran barked. "Hey Josh? Dammit where is that lazy cat?"
"I heard that."
The dog turned around. "Josh, I thought ya'd know better than to sleep on the floor here. There's oil all over the place. Com' on, we got a new client."
"Right, right." the cat said, stretching his body and getting up.

"So... what's the problem?" he asked his colleague as they walked to the main hangar.
"Heh." Borran said. "Haven't looked at it yet, but it seems as if the first thing he ever did with that car was push and hold down the gas pedal."
"Ouch." Joshua grinned. "I'm NOT touching a car that can blow up in my face."
"Bah." the dog sighed. "They buy some expensive machine and get a license, and they think they know how to handle a car. You know the type."
"Hm. Young guy then..." Josh said.

They entered the main hangar. "So!" Josh grinned gleefully. "Where's our terminal patient?"
He saw a young badger standing next to a car which looked pretty new to him; just more than 6 months, he guessed. Just lost its sale insurance, he also guessed. Yes... he knew the type.
The badger looked quite shocked. "Tuh-terminal?"
"Don't worry, it's not about you." Josh said with a sly grin, while slipping behind the wheel. "Just the car." He stuck his hand out the window and looked at the badger. "Keys please?"
"Oh, uh, right." The kid handed over the keys. Well, the 'kid' was probably older than Josh. but that didn't stop Josh from thinking of him as a kid. In terms of mechanical knowledge, of course. He looked like an ice hockey player on a golf course here in the repair shop.

Josh put the key in the keyhole and turned. The engine sputtered, and started to run.
"Owwww...." the cat said, with a painful expresion on his face. He looked at Borran. "Doctor, I need 33 milligram of adrenaline, stat. This one might not live to see the end of the month."

The badger frowned, looked from Borran to Josh, and back to Borran. "He's... joking, right?"
For a few seconds, Borran had trouble keeping a straight face. He looked at the badger. "Sorry kid... he might joke about it, but he's always serious in his conclusions."
"But he didn't even open the hood!"
"And I won't, either." Josh said, shutting off the engine and getting out of the car. "Very sorry, but this car is a loss. If I open that hood, you could go and blame me for what's going to happen to this thing in less than a month."
"You can't be serious." the badger said.
Joshua's eternal grin disappeared as if it had never been there. "I'm very serious, kid. You can go and get a second opinion from some other repair shop, but they'll just tell you the same thing. The only thing we can do is replace the engine. And with this model, it's most probably cheaper to buy a new one."

***

The cat and the dog walked out of the main hagar. It was getting dark outside.

"Damn man, that was harsh." Borran said.
"You know any other way of breaking it to 'em? I mean, at least I gave him some advice on what not to do when he buys a new one."
"Expensive lesson if ya ask me." the dog sighed. "Is Rick around? I wanna go home..."

"Yeah, I'm here." they heard the rhino's heavy voice behind them. "Heard we had another chestburster?"
"Oh yes." Josh sighed. "If he keeps driving that thing its cylinders 'll blow through the hood in less than a month. Pity though; it's a nice car."
"Hm." Rick said. "It's time we call it a day, no?"
"Yep." Borran said. "I replaced the oil and checked the filters on mr. Widge's car, and it seems fine now. We'll check the rest tomorrow. He won't be here until monday anyway."
"Good." Rick said. "You guys go home then. Seeya tomorrow."

"Bye!" Josh said to Borran. "Say hello to the missus for me."
"And the kids?" Borran grinned.
"And the kids." Josh winked at him and ran off in the cool evening air.

[ImageKlonoa]

Mia storms through the same bar Patrick is at, arms crossed and with a pouty looks on her face. She looks old enough to legally drink to the bartender, who then scurries over to her. He stands alongside Mia, and asks, "Whats a young lady like you doing in a bar?'

She sighs, then began her rant:
"I just dont get it! Why do men feel they must keep the most important things to themselves? Take the dip I used to call a boyfriend, for example. He called a few hours ago declaring his oh-so-stong love for other men. Its a slap in the face when you actually had feelings for the sap, ya know? Only can be friends, he says. Hmph! Waste of my time."

And with that she shys away and murmurs a bit, twiddling with a salt and pepper shaker. The bertender then took her hand into his and said, "Someone like you doesn't deserve those kinds of problems. You deserve better. Much better."

Something clicked in her head with that comment. Something about the way he said it; he was no ordinary guy. Or a perv or one of those fanboy morons for that matter. He actually cares, and was actually cute, too. He was definetely someone she could be much more than friends with. That was all she wanted.
After the long, deep stare into his eyes, she did her distinctive cut-eye look and uttered, "Maybe you can make me feel special."
The confused look on the batender's face was a Kodak moment. Mia then dug out a pen and a sticky pad and started scribbling.

"Uh...that wont be necessary, miss..."

"What? you scared?" Mia smiled mischeviously. "I wont bite unless you want me too." She then meows and winks at him.

"Its just that..." he utters, and pulls back one of her ears and whispers a bit into them.


"WHAT!? YOU too?"

She stands up quickly from the stool, and points dead at the bartender, wideyed, with the other hand over her face. She then makes a horrible grunting noise and and glares at him, arms to the side, fists clenched. Finally, she half-ran, half walked out the bar, arms still locked in that position. She shouts, "This is the friggin Twilight Zone!"

Patrick found a bit of humor in Mia's overly dramatic acting, and chuckled to himself.

---

The veil of night has taken over Dugan City now. Everyone is generally at one of two places; at home resting for the workday ahead or out clubbing somewhere. Of course, Ringo and Rose operate on their own schedule and they were just now heading out to town.
They were simply motoring down a dim lit stretch of roadway when a dark figure is seen jogging quite closely to the ongiong lane. Rose misjudges the distance from truck to person, and overcorrects in avioding it. The rear of the truck breaks away, and the whole vehicle slide sideways down the road. It careens into a ditch before the truck goes end over end. Besides mud on the doors and wheels, there is no damage.

Then, silence.

Rose steps out of the truck hurriendly, more mad at herself than what she tried to dodge. She had to vent at something thone besides herself though, that just wouldnt be right, would it? She puts the blame on Ringo.
"What didnt you tell me there was someone in the road? I couldve killed someone! I dont have the money...to be getting sued...over something stupid like SPLATTERING SOME CAT ALL OVER THE ROAD! I dont know why I put up with you sometimes, I just dont know."

By this time, Josh had cut through a cycling path through the forest and put quite a didstance between them

[SW Freak]

"Why do you do it, man?"

Patrick, who's gaze had been fixed on the door, looked around.

"Hmm?"

A figure sat down beside him. Now that he tried, he remembered the voice.

"Oh. I suppose I have you to thank for the warning?"

"Yeah. I suppose. But you didn't answer my question. Why do you do it?"

Pat sighed and closed his book, being careful to keep his thumb in to mark his place. Now he could see that the speaker was a tabby, about his age.

Quite pretty, really.

"Maybe I just enjoy it."

"No. I don't think so. I've seen street fighters who enjoy it. They have more of a, a, a crazed look on their face. You just look as though you're calculating. Listening. Watching."

Pat gave a laugh that seemed totaly out of context.

"Sorry. Well, I do it because I need the money."

"I don't think that's totaly true either. I mean, I've seen the place you live, don't ask how, and it seems nice enough. Maybe money for the rent, sure, but you could have gotten a normal job."

"Not really. I find it hard to work in a set job. I'm a free spirit. And fine, since it may stop the questions, I'm putting by enough money so that I can have something decent to offer the woman I love."

"Oh? So you have a chick?"

"Not yet," all this talking was a veritable speech for Pat. "But, since I don't have the looks I may at least have some money when I ask her out."

The girl opposite him sat silent for a while. Patrick opened his book again.

"If that's all...?"

"Well, there's a big fight going in the basement one of the highrises. No one knows which one yet. The organiser will call us closer to the time. I'll give you my number so you can find the place. I think it's in about two days or so."

"Big cash?"

"Oh yeah. All the best are gonna be there. You'll get two fifty down just for showing up. Grand prize is, well, a grand."

Patrick sat in thought for a while.

"Alright," he said finally. "You can write the number on the inside cover of the book."

There was a scritching sound as the pen wrote and then the tabby started to walk off.

"I'm Lizzie, by the way. Oh, and if the other chick says no, maybe you and I could meet sometime."

Pat looked up sharply, unsure of wheter she was joking or not. But she was already out of the door. He shook his head.

I think that's the most I've spoken in months. That girl brings out the worst in me, he thought with a small smile.

Then he opened his book again and ran his hand down the page with a muttered "Where was I?"

[Wesforce]

Bolts took the good opportunity of it being night, when almost nobody was at the Durgan City technical institute, to actually turn up to the place where she was nominally a student. The structure rose high into the sky on oinions of glass and steel. If it had just a bit more rust and broken concrete, she would have moved in there, but as it stood it made a good place to hang out, providing none of the whiny nerd student types were there.

Bolts approached, her boots making a racket on the asphalt of the drive, and pushed her way through the revolving doors.

'Grr!' Said a Dog in a visored secuity guards cap. 'Whit in hell's goin on here?'

Vague recognistion flashed over his face.

'Oh you. You better have a damn good reason to be waking me up pussy cat.'

Bolts silently cursed herself, because this Dog was a particularly hated meber of the Institute's staff.

'Um, here working on my end-of-year thesis. I got a card...' somewhere.

She dimly remembered seeing the ID card on the siding at her flat.

'And where is this card, grr?'

'Its, um...'

And not being very good at conversation, even less inclined for it, Bolts made a dash for it, jewellery and chains jungling, hindered by her big clumpy boots. She was even worse at running than talking, but her cat-like agility favoured her over the Dog - who fell out of his recliner, smacking his chin on his desk.

Bolts made it to the elevator, and turned back, seeing the dumb guard with x's for eyes and his tongue lolling out, dripping lobber on the floor.

***

Upstairs, none of the lights were on. Dime moonlight shone in ffrom the outside, affording Bolts just enough for her eyes to pick up and tell her where she was going. She stalked the corridors until she picked up the odours of machine oil and burnt solder. The engineering workrooms.

The door was locked, but Bolts took one of her ieces of jewelley off, small bits of metal, selected for function over form, and picked the lock, feeling smug at her own expertise.

Johnathan Tibbles' desk was a shambles, completely covered in unfinished metal junk, and it presided over the rest of the workroom. Here and there student's projects were coverd by tarpaulins. Bolts sneered at the slow progress her 'fellow' students were making: She often came in nights like this, where she could work without being interrupted.

And under the largest tarpaulin in the room lay her own project. She whipped it off to uncover a seemingly formless pile of rust-bown and steely metal parts. She had no idea what it was, but it looked damn impressive. Immediately she began picking up pieces of metal from her scrap bin and started hammering them into shape. She paused only to put on some Einsturzende Neubaten CDs and fire up the Oxyacetelyne torch to weld some more bits on.

She wasn't even sure from what recess of her subconsious this was all coming from: It just seemed to flow. Ideas thundered into her head and she acted on them, adding to the heap all the time. There was some kind of pattern there, she just didn't have time to look at it. She just did. She fized on a crankshaft and a pair of wheels midway up the thing, then bolted on a mechanical appendage she'd fitted together at home, screwed in a hinged flap at a 45 degree angle and stopped for a break - She had a thermos flask that resembled an oil-drum.

Just then a silhouette appeared at the frosted-glass door. The Dog Guard!

'Hey! Who's in there!' He shouted, over the noise of mechanical drills and chainsaws.

'And whats with the power tools? No-one's supposed to be working!'

'Thats my music, dammit!' Bolts shouted, then realised she'd just given herself away.

The Dog burst in, with a nightstick.

'Ah'm gonna enjoy this.' He slobbered out.

Bolts backed away. Then over the music, she heard a noise behind her. Metal scraping against metal, a fanbelt powering up.

The thing... was moving.

She turned, agape, ignoring the Dog. The once-formless pile was pulling itself to height. The hum of a set of dynamos she dimly remembered as the basis of the thing as she built it began to hum and run up to speed.

'Mo...ther...' The thing said, an approximation of a human voice spelled out with clanks and steam-hisses.

The mechanical arm shot out - past her, and grabbed the Dog Guard, who was similarly awestruck.

'Urk!' He said, as it crushed his neck.

Bolts ran, threw herself down the stairs, scrambled out of the lobby and headed for town, screaming.

[Master Chris]

Ivan nervously swallows his pride and tries to act casual as he enters the bar.

"This must be the friggin twilight zone!"

This exclaimation gives Ivan just enough time to shift his bulk to one side as a short (but nicely proportioned) bunny storms past him without looking and keeps going. Ivan watches her for a moment, briefly trying to work out why she was in such a hurry before shrugging and sauntering into the bar.

It takes a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the ambient light but once he can see, Ivan takes in the room, letting his eyes absorb every detail. An interesting dwellings, indeed.

Ivan makes his way to the bar, the bartender, an amused smile upon his face, nods at Ivan and asks:

"Whatcha have?"

Ivan doesn't answer for a few moments, finally, in a gruff voice full of mirth:

"Anything with lots of ice, good barkeep, this climate will be the death of me."

As the bartender turns to attend to the order, Ivan returns his gaze to his fellow patrons, one in particular catches his eye...

[Artificial Idiot]

Keys. First the bus journey from HELL, stuck in traffic next to a gossiping brain-dead teenage girl with an irriating perfume, an equally brain-dead young lad with ear phones blasting away (who didn't wash either, smelt like a skunk trapped down a sewer for three weeks!) and an elderlady who just couldn't seem to stay awake, nor keep her head off Violet's shoulder. Her scent still hung in the air now. And now, when she'd finally got home, she had keys to contend with!

Violet hated keys. And keys hated her. Always the same rigious routine. Remember which pocket you put them in, dig them out of the deepest recess of your pocket (made even harder by the fact Violet didn't keep any car keys, just keys for her own house and work), struggling to put them into the lock, turn it the wrong way, turn it the right way with BOTH hands and then having the entire embarresed scenario of having to ask a neighbor to do it for you. Who then proceeds to do it in two seconds flat.

"Uh... thanks..." She said to the same young sheep who did this almost everytime for her. He was a teenager by Violet's estimate, and usually wore a dark T-shirt with bands Violet had never heard of on them. He also wore quite baggy jeans... and often had to bite her lip to avoid the temptation of asking him if they fell down. Not something you want to do with teeth as sharp as hers.

"No problem. All you gotta do is pull it out just the tinest little bit..." He began, she was smiling in an encouraging fashion, but she felt he still came to the conclusion that she just wasn't listening. "Say... what's your name anyway?"

"Oh... um..." Violet's sensed jerked awake with a start. Small panic alarms went off in her mind for a few seconds. This never usually happened, he usually just walked away. "... Violet."

"Pretty. Suits you. I'm Ewan.." He said, shaking her paw. He felt warm and wooly against her fur... although mostly warm. She could almost feel the blood pumping around under his skin... and had an irrational urge to dig her claws in. Instinct always took over when meeting new people. "Look... I was thinking the other day... and I think it'd be nice to meet someplace other than your doorstep... like, maybe over the weekend?"

"Um...." Murmured Violet, generally speechless. I mean, the guy couldn't be older than seventeen, he probably had a whole circle of friends doted around the city. Why the hell would he want to hang around with her? But then, Dot's words echoed in her head...

' "Seriously Violet, you need to get out there, live a little!'

Well, now was as good a time as any to start. God, how she hated it when people were right.

"Uh... Yeah..." Said Violet, fighting the butterflies in her stomach. "That'd be great..."

"Awesome!" Exclaimed Ewan. "See ya then!"

He departed, and Violet made a rushed exit into her flat, slamming the door behind her and running clawmarks down the woodwork as she slid against it. She got a slight hold of herself, kicking off her shoes before stumbling into her bedroom and collapsing onto her bed.

It wasn't easy when she had the irrational urge to have the only person she knew the name of in the entire appartment block for a main course.

She sighed heavily, before stripping off and hitting the shower. Washed and changed she got dressed, picking the most decent items of clothing she had. A long sleeve shirt and a pair of freshly washed black trousers. Should be formal/casual enough for what she had in mind.

After giving herself a brief checkover in the mirror, she considered grabbing a bite to eat before she headed out, but reasoned she wouldn't be out long, and was only a bit peckish anyway. Besides, she could always buy herself a snack she supposed.... the only problem now was where to go.

She reached for the phone book, but then realised, she was [/i]'living a little'[/i] tonight. So she decided to just grab her coat and shoes and make a dash for it, locking the door behind her.

She whistled cheerfully as she exited the dull grey appartment block, she had to keep her spirits up somehow. After all, this might not be so bad. What's the worst that could possibly happen? She might even have a good time! Or on the flip side of the coin...

Living a little seemed to require a lot more effort and reassurance than the name implied...

[Nyerguds]

Josh ran through the empty streets. He had eaten, showered, changed to more comfortable clothing, and he had nothing to do now but jog through the empty streets quite far from the busy night life of Durgan city. He was kind of planning to go to the center, but right now he didn' know where he was going. He was just enjoying the cool air.

Then, he heard a scream. He stopped, and looked up to the builing he was standing next to. He wasn't planning on going inside though... who knew what it meant. Whoever was there probably didn't need them nosing around in their affairs.

"Durgan City Technical Institute" he read. "hmm..."

Just as he considered going inside after all someone ran into him, knocking him on the ground. He saw the other cat trip, and heard a load of metallic noises, as if someone dropped a toolbox on the concrete. Only, less loud.

"Hey, calm down..." he said, jumping to his feet and grabbing the feline's shoulder. "What's wrong?"

The girl looked at him with a shocked expression on her face. She seemed to be about the same age as Josh, and he personally thought she was quite cute, too.
"It's... alive!" she said. "Killed the... security guard... Oh grud what do I do?"
"Uh... call the police?" Josh suggested.

"NO!" she yelled, and pulled way from him. "I can't! What if they find out..."
Josh walked towards her, and grabbed both her shoulders. "Calm down. Just tell me what happened up there."

[ImageKlonoa]

Mia was out joyriding, beating herself up over how she threw herself at someone like that. She should have known better! But she coulnt dwell on it too long, as she still regrets missed opportunities, too.

She rounded a corner in a apartment complex and seen Violet skipping and humming down a sidewalk. Seemed innocent enough, but she noticed that front. She could almost read that girl like a open book.

"Heeey!" Mia sung, rolling down a window. "You're going nowhere fast. How bout I pick you up and take ya where you're going?"

Violet stopped and looked over, with untrusting, yet curious eyes.

"Hey, relax! You dont have anything to be afraid of. I wont bite unless ya want me too." Mia smiled a bit. "Come on!"

Violet, against her gut feeling, tentatively stepped inside the 4-door with Mia. They set off soon after.

"Soo...whats your name?" Mia questioned. Violet stared straight ahead, not saying a word.

Mia glanced over and noticed she was still pretty nervous, being in a strangers car and all. Her mom always told her the scary stories of doing so when she was young.

"Don't be scared to talk. Get out there and chat a bit. Live a little, ya know?"

Those last few words, along with's Dot's threat, resonated repeatedly in Violet's mind a while. "Violet...my name is Violet" she finally muttered.

"Hey..thats a start! I'm glad to meet ya, there Violet!" Mia rang. "So where are you off to? Surely you dont wanna be kooked up in a car with me much longer, huh?"

Again...the only noise is the engine humming.

"Nowhere in particular...really."

"Is that so?" Mia grinned a bit. Any bit of ease Violet had just went out the window in that instant.

"How bout this. How bout you and me hit the malls around Valparaiso Point? They'res a sale going on all this week, and theres a lot of cuties around. Its the spot around these parts. I know you'd like that."

Violet didnt have much choice in the matter though; all she could do was sit back and enjoy the ride. It wasnt a long one though as they werent too far from the malls to start with.

After the car was parked and they exited it, Mia handed Violet a nicely-sized roll of bills. It had to be nearly a grand. Possibly more.

"Dont spend it all in one place! she said. "And keep the change. She chuckled a bit and swished off into the mall.

"I'll meet ya back at the car, OK?"

Violet stood there, staring at the money. "Living a little" paid off after all. And quite literally.

[Wesforce]

'I, uh...'

Bolts gathered her wits about her.

Better not tell anyone about this. Better not let my part in it get out... just get away from here, it'll all blow over in the morning. Yeah, thats it...

She shook his hands off her shoulders, and pulled herself up. She towered over him. She realised who this guy was: Not her, ergo a lower lifeform. The shocked look was gone in an instant, and there was an edge to her voice.

'Huh, and why should I tell you, Mr fuxing Blue Jeans? Who are you? I've never seen you at the institute before.'

'Nor have I, and I have a lot of friends here.' The obviously mechanical-minded Cat said.

'Oh yeah? I bet they're all sad normo losers just like you!'

'This coming from a cat dressed like an extra from Metropolis?'

'Don't knock it.' She purred smoothly. 'Its the future.' She profferd a cog from around her neck. 'We're all cogs - small cogs - in the big machine of society. You can be that cog, like the ignorant fool you so obviously are, or you can make a stand, and run the system's face in its own arse where it belongs.'

'Very nice. What else did you read off the back of that JFK flakes packet?'

She hissed.

He growled.

You could have cut the tension with a chainsaw, preferably a rusty one.

His eyes went down her neckline to the rusted metal and chains that covered her black top.

'You like machines...?'

'I am one.'

'Oh... Oh GOD!'

And they flew into eachother's arms, and fell to the floor...

The terror of the machine, the sight of that poor sod's blood, the tension, the anger... All came to one in that moment of pure, unadulterated lust, there on the floor in the middle of the street.

[Nyerguds]

Josh felt the soft body under his... with some metallic parts uncomfortably sticking in his skin. Not that he really minded, considering the position he was in. They were just lying there now... tired, happy, satisfied.

"Hey..." he whispered.
"Mmh?" Bolts' lazy voice replied.
"I think we should get get up."
"Mmhh..." Bolts purred again. "Must we?"
"I think I hear a car coming."
"Oh." Bolts sighed. "Damn. Carry me?" Before he got the chance to reply she swung her arms around his neck, and held him tightly.
"Tssk." Josh smirked. "Taking advantage of a gentleman like that, eh?" He lifted her and carried her to the sidewalk, where he just sat down and held her tightly, right under the "Durgan City Technical Institute" sign.

Headlights appeared in the distance, and passed them by. Bolts giggled as the car passed, and kissed him.
"So... what's yer name, Tomcat?"
"Josh. Yours?"
"Bolts." she said, with a sly grin.

"We should get off the street." Josh said after a while.
"Spoiling my fun again, are you? Tssk... I gotta teach you not to do that." She playfully embedded a claw in his chest.
"Oooh... You're not as tired as you look, eh?" Josh said.
"Oh, you bet." Bolts replied.
"Great." Josh said, and got up.
Bolts protested. "Hey?! What are you..."
"That means we can go and take a look to whatever went on up there." Josh said, going into the building.

"No wait!" Bolts yelled after him, with a streak of panic in her voice. "You can't..."
She heard him go up the stairs.
"Ah, frag it!" she yelled, and went after him.

[Artificial Idiot]

Violet stood alone in the parking lot, gaping at the retreating back of the Bunny. She couldn't help but state at the cute little bob-tail swishing from side to side as she walked... it was almost hypnotic. But soon, she'd vanished into the realativly small crowd around the mall. Dot always said people had "better places to be" at night, she assumed she meant home.

She stared at the wad of money in her hands, her mouth went dry. This just wasn't right... not at all. Complete strangers didn't give you large amounts of money unless they wanted something.... Violet had a very bad feeling about this.

She needed a drink... and a sit down. yes, that'd do nicely.

She shuffled through a few loitering youths to a nearby cafe, she proceeded up to the counter and collapsed into a stool there. A cheerful, over weight pig in an apron walked over to her.

"What'll it be, miss?" He inquired. Violet didn't reply until he physically cleared his throat.

"...Tea would be nice..." She said weakly, her hair hanging over her face as she took a great interest in the counter.

"If you ask me, you look like you could use something stronger..." The pig said, with just a hint of slyness.

"No..." She went to say, then she remembered she was "living a little". Good greif, she hoped she never heard those words in her life ever again! "I'll take a coffee please... Those weird ones, with the cream and chocolate on top... always wanted to try those..."

"Coming right up miss..." The pig said, before shuffling off to another part of the counter.

Violet still felt like a bucket of bolts balencing on the edge of a revolving door. Everything seemed to be happening so fast... but then, there was a nagging little voice at the back of her mind constantly telling her to make the most of it.

That's when she noticed the radio. "The Great Pretender". Oooh, the irony hit her like an express train. A sheep in foxes clothing... pretending everything's fine when it isn't. Yeah, this was her theme... one she did not want to hear right now.

"You wouldn't mind... turning off the music, would you?" The owner looked set to argue, but the look on her face must have told him otherwise. He had that "aww, would you look at that poor thing" look on his face... Violet got that a lot. He obliged, and then brought her her coffee.

She sniffed it suspiciously, while there was indeed a lot of very strong coffe in this, and another smell of some sort of spice she couldn't place (probably put in to hide the offending smell), she could still smell something else in this. She bared her teeth at him, her face instantly contorted into one of anger.

"Whiskey." She growled.

"It's irish!" The owner protested, unease in his voice. A distinct, sweaty smell about him. "Come on, you looked depressed! That'll pick you right up, I promise! Just live a little, eh?"

She almost broke the handle off the coffee cup. Any other fox would have put those words in his obituary if they'd been through what she had tonight.

But being a civilised person, Violet soon cooled down. Anger just didn't really become her. She sighed, the cup was shaking in her hands, spilling cream all over her paws and saucer.

"Well, if it'll cool my nerves..." She sighed, taking a sip of it, and then coughing wildly. "What the...?"

"Good, isn't it? Family recipe. Should get used to it by the end of the cup."

Well, at least she had something more imediate to worry about instead of everything else... that was definatly progress!

[SW Freak]

Pat closed his book with a contented sigh. He picked up the whiskey bottle and swished it. He had drunk about half of the liquid inside. Quite enough for him. Standing up, he shoved the book into his pocket and strode over to the bar, where the polar bear who had come in earlier was sitting.

"Happy birthday," said Pat as he pressed the whiskey into his hands.

He was feeling strange today. Kinda cheerful. He had carried on a conversation, something he didn't usualy do with friends much less strangers. He stopped just outside the bar and stopped a passer-by.

"Have you got the time?"

"Yeah. It's half one."

"Thanks."

Hmm. It's too early to go home. I suppose I could always...yeah, I could get some new clothes. I've been meaning to, and I'll still have plenty put by too pay the rent and such...

He almost exclaimed "To the mall!" but stopped himself just in time. He didn't want to get too cheery. But he couldn't help feel somewhat happy as he caught a taxi. Maybe it was the booze in his system, but whatever it was, he was cheerful for the first time in a long while.

[ImageKlonoa]

((36 hours without a post...guess ill play God for a bit...)

Bolts scrambled up the stairs just quickly enough to see Josh dissapear through a doorway. The lights were still on, even some of the electric drills were still idling. Josh was seen looking over the projects with a smirk on his face.

"Heh." he chuckled. "I've seen some imports that was'nt as pieced together as this." Then he picked up a mass of scorched metal which vaguely resembled a sconce and studied it closely.

"And that's really not saying much."

He set it back down and kept looking over the incompleted projects,with Bolts still trying to coax him back downstairs and out the institute. Who knows where that "thing" is. And staying there didnt seems the brightest of ideas.

Just then all the lights clicked off and the melodic humm of the drills ceased. Then there was noises of steam hisses and servos. Small blue sparks were seen, moving closer. The 'thing' was here!

It sounded out a voice-like 'Go Away!' and lashed out at Josh. Although his eyesight was limited due to the dim lights, he managed to avoid that mechanical arm by miles. Quick and nimble though Josh was, he couldnt stay unscathed for too long. It had managed to scratch him on a arm.

Bolts had hid herself in a corner and crieda bit during the ordeal out of fear. Hearing Josh's scream made it worse. She started to just mutter "stop!" in between her sobs. Then she started saying it louder, to the point of shouting at the top of her lungs. Then the power was restored through the building as if nothing happened.

It seemed her voice was a fail-safe of sorts, as the humaniod stood in place in the middle of the workshop. Josh got off his stomach, clutching an arm. He was bleeding a bit, but not profusely. Bolts stood up herself, water-eyed, and ran to Josh.

Oh, are you OK?" she said, stuttering a bit. Josh made a circle with his free hand, then returned to holding his forearm again. That scratch was about half the length of his forearm, and it had ripped the fur out its entire length.

It was a while of staring at the shut-down humaniod, which stood about 4 feet tall itself. Finally, Josh spoke.

"Come on. Lets get out of here." and they left.

As Bolts gave the room a final look-over, she couldnt help but notice that the Guard, who was killed right in front of her, was now missing.

--

Patrick had gone to the mall, his first stop being The Stable, a store specializing in any and all leather products. He looked over the many kinds of long trenchcoats when he heard a pop and felt a sting on his butt. He snapped around instantly on the ball of his foot, his leading edge arm up and cocked back in a fist. But he never swung.

It was Mia, weilding this tiny red leather whip and cheesing hard. "Hey there, playboy!" she said, trying to hold back her laughter. Patrick still had a tense look on his face.
"Dont look at me like you didn't like it." she said, still smiling, but a mischevious one. Patrick couldnt help but laugh at himself at this point. He laughed out loud, unknowingly carrying a trenchcoat with him. The cashier just look stunned at him and picked up a telephone slowly.

"Ah, no..thats ok." Mia called, trotting to the front desk. "I'll pay for it."

She then looked out the store windows watching Patrick stumble down the walkway. "He's gonna return that favor though." she thought, grinning some. "Sometime REAL soon."

--

Ringo made it into the bar, slouching his way aimlessly across the floor. His date went horribly with Rose, to the point of breaking up with her. All of his stuff is probably out on the curb by now, seeing that Ringo was the one who moved in. Now, hes homeless.

Ringo moped around a bit, then noticed Ivan with a booze that he was only looking at. Seeing that he wasnt drinking any, Ringo took it for himself and kept moping.

"Ahh...thanks, man." he said before ingesting the contents of the bottle in seconds. He then collapsed at a nearby booth table, reclined back, then started staring at the ceiling.

--

Violet had walked back to Mia's car, the owner of which was having a "good ol' time" listening to a CD. She turned it down when she heard the knocking on the window.

"Didnt buy a thing?" Mia questioned, with a puzzled look on her face. Before Violet could respond, Mia handed her a rectangular box, wrapped in paper. "That's ok." Mia said, gleefully. "I got ya something."

A few minutes later, they were parked in front of Violet's apartment. She got out the car, pretty relieved that she may not have to deal with such "wild" girls anymore. Also the state of mind that she lived through the matter. She briskly walked to her front door.

"Heeey!" Mia called out. This startled Violet a bit, thinking she would have been long gone by now. "You forgot my wittle gift!" She said, making a mush-mouth face, and tossed it out the window. Violet caught it, albeit clumsily.
"My name's Mia!" she said "People call me Peaches though, now that I got this gig going. I dont know if I told you already. Well see ya!" Then she drove off, chirping the tires a bit.

Violet went to her room and dressed down for bed, all the while looking at that god-awful box on the dresser. Curiousily got the best of her, as with all vixens, and she unwrapped it sitting on the edge of her bed.

Inside the box was a smaller black felt box with a friendship ring inside.

[Master Chris]

Ivan didn't respond immediately to Ringo's acquisition of his drink, it didn't really matter. It was, however, a small price to pay for what Ivan saw as an interesting opportunity.

Ivan joined Ringo at the booth and followed his gaze to the ceiling:

"I am thinking that it is easier to see the heavens from outside, da?"

Ringo, with dramatic demeanour, rolled his head forward and locked eyes with the polar bear in front of him. For a few moments neither spoke, each weighing the other up. Face to face, a polar bear and a Labrador, both hulking brutes with massive shoulders and bulbous biceps. After a few moments, Ringo broke into a sly, toothy grin (perhaps even jagged):

"I 'spose you're right, my man, I'm Ringo, whatcha say you tell me your name and I'll get the next round."

With what passed as a satisfied grunt, the bear replied:

"Ivan, and I am drinking whatever you shall be."

[SW Freak]

Patrick cursed hismelf for being so hasty when taking to the bunny. He would have to pay her back, assuming he ever found her again. A girl like that, though, probably found you. Gaining something close to a reasured step, he marched forward. Darting out of the way of the crowd, he shook out the trench coat and, after brushing the wall off, lay it against it so that the opening faced him. This was a trick bats had to use to actually get into coats. Pressing his back against the wall so that the smalle of it pegged the coat to the wall, he began to slid down it, so that his wings were rolled up. Then, quickly, he shoved his arms down the sleeves and straighened up. It was a little awkward at first, but he got used to it.

"Right...now some new pants," he muttered.

His stomach rumbled noisly.

"Or maybe some food first."

He bought a snack bar at the booth nearby and munched idly on it while he finished his shopping.
_______________________________________________________________

He returned to the flat later on that night, shopping bags held under his arms. He had made a stop at the ATM to pick up the extra hundred he needed to pay the rent. He hand over the one hundred and fifty dollars awkwardly, considering he had a shopping bag under each arm.

"Hi..." said Naomi, surprised to see him looking so cheerful.

"Hey. You're up late."

"Oh. I couldn't sleep. Decided to watch cheesy horror movies instead. I thought you usualy worked later."

"They let me off early."

"Why?" Ní then noticed the cut on Pat's chest. "Oh my gosh! What happened?"

"I, uh, slipped at work and caught my chest on the edge of one of those metal desks. That's why I got off early."

"Are you alright?"

"Oh, I'm fine. I got an end of month bonus for the constant night shifts, so I dropped by the mall and bought some new clothes." He dropped the bags and stood back, letting Naomi have a look. "What do you think?"

"It suits you. Especially the trench coat. Are you still only wearing black?"

"Well...there's some grey in here as well...What? I like dark colours. They suit my eerie mind."

Ní giggled at the stupid face Patrick put on and moved over along the couch to let him sit down.

"So, why so talkative all of a sudden?"

Patrick looked down at the ground for a while.

"I've been quite for too long," he said finally.

And that was that. They sat side by side, her curled up with her head resting on his shoulder, him slouching back, smiling.

[Artificial Idiot]

Violet undid the small catch on the box with a claw, and then flipped it open.

"Aww..." She sighed, overwhelmed by one of those "warm fuzzy feelings". But she also felt a little guilty... It seemed Mia had done so much for her tonight, and she hadn't exactly been little miss sunshine. But she did have a sneaking suspicison that this wouldn't be the last she'd see of Mia...

"I'll make it up another time." She chirped happily, taking an old, gold chain necklace out of her chest of drawers and slipping the ring onto it. Violet wasn't really keen on having rings on her fingers, but she didn't mind necklaces too much.

With that done, she placed it near her work clothes and let out quite a long yawn. On reflection, living a little wasn't too bad... although, she'd have to make a note to avoid anything with "Irish" in it's name in the future. She guessed there was enough time for a quiet night in tomorrow.

With that reassuring thought, her curiousity finally satisifed, she turned off the lights, crawled into her bed and snuggled up with her teddy bear as she passed off into sleep.

[Wesforce]

Bolts was at home. She couldn't believe what she'd done with that guy... Whatever his name was. Heat of the moment thing. Bolts got like that occasionally. Dimly she wondered if her Mother knew what she was realy like - she hadn't spoken to either of her (seperated) parents for ages now: She had to convince herself she didn't really need them.

Bolts took a drag on a Napalm Filter cigarrette. The glowing red tip drew back letting ash crumble and fall to the floor. She dropped the cancer-stick into an ashtray made from a wheel-hub as it singed her finger-fur.

Weird. I never knew I smoked, she thought, looking at the pack.

NAPALM FILTER

Your own personal Jesus says:Smoking is good for you and makes you look cool in front of family and friends.

She crumpled it and let it fall to the floor, residing among random bits of metal junk on the metal plating.

What to do, what to do...

She was of course thinking about her project, and how to deal with the fallout from the mechanicalanimal. That it had killed that Dog guard was probably of little matter to anyone. He wouldn't be missed. Not by bolts anyway.

But already she had ideas on how to improve the thing... Give it four arms, make it a lot taller, etc.

She'd need to get some more parts though. Better parts than the discarded junk she normally used. Car parts, maybe.

And that guy had been a mechanic.

Dammit, did I give him my phone number? Thought Bolts. Hope he's not gonna get whiny and start calling me. That gets embarrassing...

Bolts shrugged and headed for town again. She could usea few drinks.

[SW Freak]

Blades awoke with a start. He hadn't realised he had been drifting to sleep, but appearently the horror movies hadn't been stimulating enough to keep him awake. He looked down at Naomi, who's head was still resting on his shoulder. He gently stood up, turned off the tv, picked up Ní and carried her into her bedroom. Then, stretching, he wandered back into the sitting room, picking his discarded jacket up from the floor on the way. He remembered his encounter with that girl at the bar last night. She had written a number on the cover of his book. He grabbed his book, intent on giving her a call to see if she had found out the location yet.

"Oh, what am I doing?" he said vehemently, closing the book suddenly. "Great. A little cheer, and suddenly I'm losing my mind. Wonderful."

[Artificial Idiot]

(I know this post adds NOTHING to the RPG, I'm just fed up of seeing it inactive! :p)

Violet tossed and turned, she'd been doing this for awhile now, but found that she just couldn't settle down to sleep. She didn't know if it was the small amount of alcahol in her system, but it was just too hot.. and her body was too itchy... and she actually felt a subdued feeling of excitement rising spreading through out her body.

She huffed, and hauled herself out of bed, flicking on her bedside lamp. She sat on the edge of the bed for awhile, then decided it was no use and headed towards the kitchen.

"Hmm..." She mumbled as she searched through the fridge. She grabbed herself a bottle of milk and a slice of ham (OOC: We do have meat in this, right? :freek: ). She pattered over to her counter, grabbing a glass, but changing her mind soon after and drinking it directly from the bottle.

She over to the window, throwing it open and taking in the smells of the night. Not as liberating as she'd hoped. She leaned on the window sill, letting the wind blow through her hair and fur, ham in one hand, a milk bottle in the other.

She knew it was late, she knew that if she didn't get to sleep soon she could be late for work... but somehow, the city at night seemed much more important.

[ImageKlonoa]

(The mood of this thing just got too dark for me. If I wanted Shadow Run with fur, that would've been at the top of the sister thread.
Therefore, I will be doing a bit of posting here. If you like how it goes, good. Maybe you can then post some and keep the ball going. If you don’t...well too bad. You are free to try to set things "right" though by adding to the story. By posting.
This is going to be a long one, seeing how I crammed a week's worth of posts into one.)

“Alright, cool!” Ringo said, standing up, heading to the counter.

He returns with two wine glasses filled with a crimson-colored liquid. Ian peers into it with a curious eye.

“They’re called Russian Roulettes.” Ringo explained, “I picked up on the accent, just thought it would be fitting.”

Just then a tigress made her way over to the bar seats were our muscle-clad duo are sitting. She was pure white though, and her short, leather dress made quite the contrast, even in the dim lights of the bar. She had dark, long locks of hair flowing down her back and resembled satin in sheer brilliance. She appeared to have two Christmas hams fighting inside her jacket as she jiggled over to them.

She finally sat down next to Ivan, and scooted very closely to him, forcing him to put an arm on the wooden back of the seats before she finally spoke.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “there’s just soo much testosterone over here, I had to come!”

Her voice got higher in pitch the longer she spoke. She didn’t do a very good job at holding back excitement and anticipation. She started hyperventilating a bit. She quickly snapped out the little fantasy going through her head and settled down.

“You two aren’t partners or anything, are you?” she said, doing a gesture where she bumps the tips of her index fingers together. One could think she could’ve been “traumatized” by the bartender as Mia was.

“Whatever that reference,” Ivan said, “We are no such thing…”

“Ooh..that’s great.” The tigress cut him off, and flopped over in Ivan’s lap with a contented sigh.

Ringo stood up again, stretching and letting out a mighty yawn.

“See? They just fall over you!” Ringo exclaimed with a sly smile. “Well, I’ll be heading out now.”

He turned his back to walk out then turned around again.

“Maybe I’ll get lucky like you. ‘Breeding season’ is year-round in this town.”

Ringo left the bar with that notion.

--

Patrick’s reading is cut-off with the noise of the phone ringing. He picked it up reluctantly, calls this late were usually urgent and far from good news. This one is only one of the two, however.

“Hey! Lizzie here! Listen up!” the voice on the other end said

“How’d you get this number?” Pat said. He doesn’t remember exchanging numbers with her, just getting one.

“It IS in the phone book, you know. Anyway, there is a fight tonight, and someone is calling you out. Don’t you be no wus now, and get yourself over here, pronto! We’re at the ‘crossroads’. Peanut Hill. You know the place.”

“Any good money?”

“Not exactly. This guy thinks he has major cojones, and is offering the pink slips to his car to anyone who can beat him. You can probably hear him boasting behind me.”

Pat nearly laughed at the stupidity of his would-be opponent.

“Alright,” he said finally, “I’ll be there in a little bit.”

He hangs the phone back up and sits there for a bit. Much like an alcoholic hearing police sirens, he regains his full mental awareness and stands up to leave once again. He puts on his shades in somewhat dramatic fashion and throws the trenchcoat over a shoulder. He takes flight right after closing the door behind him.

Durgan City was always a visual delight in the air, with the moonlight casting its glow on the building above the trees. Also one could soak in the lights and sparkles of the stores around Valparaiso Point all at once. Then, just like a bad dream, he remembered how that eye candy bit him when he first moved to the city. How he was jumped trying to get a feel for the new place. That ended up helped him focus for what’s ahead. The fighting, anyway.

When he arrives to the spot, he finds Mia leaned against a tree. She ushered him over to her, then pulls him close when he was within arm’s reach.

“No matter who ends up with the car, you will win something anyway.” Mia whispered into Blades’ ear.

After asking the obvious question, she responded with “me.” They stared at each other a little while before they exchanged words again.

“Aww, come on!” Mia laughs, running a finger down the middle of his chest, “You still owe me for that $300 dollar coat you walked out the store with!”

Then, with the sexiest way she could say it:

“What better way to get it back, mmm?”

Then she points over to the prancing wolf near the lake. He was a heaping mass of ripping muscles and knots. The tank top looked to rip away at anytime.

“That guy calls himself Cruz,” Mia said. “He’s been a royal ass, to say the least, thinking he can have his way with anyone. Just needs someone to shut him up, that’s all.

Mia smiled a bit. “I’m positive you can do it. Go over there and show him what’s what. I’ll be rooting for ya!”

She kissed him on a cheek then slapped him on his butt.

“Now get going!”

Blades emerged from the shadow and all went silent. Cruz broke the silence by snickering, then breaking out with boisterous laughter.

“Ha! This kid! What a joke! You scrawny piece of s**t, I should beat you right now!” He rushed at Blades, but some bull had stepped in and stopped him, blocking his shoulder rush and a well-aimed foot to the face from the other side.”

“Now hold on!” the bull said, “At least wait till the rules are announced! If you want to be unruly, I’ll take you both out! He swelled at Cruz, who backed off.

He brushed himself off then starts the announcements:

“This man has agreed to give up his pink slips to that sports car, if he loses the fight. He will only gain bragging rights if he wins. His opponent is the man on my left.

This is a no holds-barred street fight. However, there will be no weapons used in this fight. It will be enforced, so don’t try anything stupid!”

He turns around and calls the two fighters to the middle of the sandlot with him.

“You two knock fists, and lets get this started.” The bull ordered, and they did.

“Alright, GO!”

The fight was underway.

They didn’t starting throwing haymakers or anything right away, but rather they sized each other up.

“You broke my little bro’s muzzle with that little stunt of yours.” Cruz murmurs behind clenched teeth. “I know he’s a fighter too, things like that happen, but I’m still gonna beat you like you stole something.”

He grinned, then roared and charged at Blades, who vaulted over him and kicks Cruz in the back of his head with a heel. Cruz stumbled and fell, but quickly got up. He was truly pissed now and was now foaming at the mouth a bit.

After a few failed charging attacks, Cruz changed his approach a bit. Blades was just too fast to be run into the ground so easily. So he just resorted to walking over to him and dealing his punishment when he got there. He walked over, trash-talking as usual. They were face-to-face, chest-to-face rather, with Cruz towering over the bat. No way he could miss now. He tried to wrap his massive arms around Blades to crush him to submission. He ended up hugging himself, as Blades had jumped up with the aid of his wings, and grabbed Cruz’s head, forcing knee after knee into his face. Then, with a gross display of brute power, Cruz gets a hold of one of Blades’ piston-like legs, and swings him like a baseball bat towards the ground.

2 mighty thuds were heard. One being Blades smacking the ground with horrendous force, his breath knocked out of him in the process. Second being the semi-conscious Cruz who fell backwards. Both didn’t move for a while. The bull started a make-shift countdown.

“5!” Both moved a little, trying to get back on their feet.

“4!”

“3!”

“2!” Cruz managed to stand up, knock-kneed and head bowed. Blades was siting on the ground.

“1!” Cruz wobbled a bit. Blades was on all fours.

Before the final count, Cruz had flopped over once again and Blades was standing finally.

“The winner!” the crowd had burst into a frenzy of clapping and yelling. Most fights weren’t as dramatic has this. Lizzie had ran over to Blades, who hugged him. Mia trotted over.

“See? I told ya so!” Mia said, excitedly “And without a scratch!” She giggled. “Ah well. My turn to beat up on ya.”

Lizzie had stepped in and pushed Mia away, shouting “Give him a chance with a real woman, aye?”

This was her opportunity; she wasn’t going to get some tramp take it away. Before she got to speak her bit though, she felt someone pulling at her hair. It was Mia, with a good handful. She yanked down, pulling Lizzie backwards until they were eye to eye.

“Now, its OK if you like him, too, but you just ain’t gonna push me aside like that. I’m not your bitch.” Mia said, then let go of Lizzie’s hair, letting her fall.

She walked back to her car, talking a look at the ride Blades had scored. It was a exotic-looking car, with a Italian-esque flair to it. It had a long hood like those old Bentley, but everything was nice and round and contoured. She found out that it was a vintage Nuovo Inzio car, the kinds she seen and liked back in middle school. Blades would definitely have to take her in a ride in that thing. After Lizzie stops “trippin’” of course.

She drove away, somewhat mirfed, seeing how she ended up empty-handed. She was ready to lose her virginity that night. Oh well.

--

Daylight had once again returned to the city, which had returned to “conservative” mode. People were milling around again, living their daily lives, some not even recognizing those they had a wild night out with.

-- "Good Morning Durgan City! This is Eyewitness News at 7: Bringing You The News, Since That What We're Payed For --


Top Story this morning is that of Oscar Feltweld, 48, who was found dead early this morning at the north beach. Causes are unknown at this time; an investigation is going on now.
Also, 3 teenagers were arrested last night after 3 thousand dollars worth of catnip was found on their person. They are being held until parents can pick them up.
Let's go to Jim, with the weather."

"Thank you Elise. Well last night was a hot one, eh? *Jim winks at Elise. Camera pans over to her, who looks around nervously, cam then pans back to Jim* and tonight should be one too with the low temperature not too far from the high at 71. It will be foggy this morning, with partial clouds at around noon. Highs at 76. Back to you, miss THANG. Ooh, so sek-sy. rowr!"

*Televisions tuned to the channel shows multicolored bars with "Off Air" at the bottom*

[Master Chris]

This post is reserved for the resolution of the Ivan sexings. I had written up a long post but the DEN popped and it didn't go through, or something. Sucks to be me.

[Artificial Idiot]

Violet rolled over onto her back, she ached all over, and couldn't think for the life of her...

"Oh.." She groaned. Feeling the cold, damp kitchen tiles underneath her. A cool breeze blew in from the window... she must have nodded off in front of it. All she could do was thank God for plastic milk bottles.

She climbed to her feet, despite the raging protest from her muscles. She cursed herself for being so stupid, and then headed for the shower, dumping her pyjamas in the laundry basket. She realised she was late for work, probably horribly late. But she just had to stay calm. That was the trick. She emerged from the shower, grabbed a towel, and taking a deep breath, grabbed the nearest clock she could find.

"Argh! No! No! NO!" She hissed through gritted teeth, before collapsing backwards onto her bed. She was going to be strung up high for this... unless... Living a little applied to the daytime as well as the night. She pondered it for awhile, letting herself drip dry. If she called in sick.... maybe Dot would think she had this... massive hangover... "Well, just this once."

She grabbed the phone, dialed the number for work and lied through her teeth, basically. They seemed happy enough with it, so she placed the phone down and contemplated what she'd be doing the rest of the day. She didn't really want to spend all day indoors... but there wasn't all that much to do in Durgan City in the daytime. Although, she could always go see a movie. The cinemas would be pretty quiet after all, with all the adults in work and the kiddies at school.

She grabbed a some clothes at random, pulling on a black T-shirt she's 'aquired' a couple of years ago, that was probably a size too small, with great dificulty. She checked the weather as she opened the door, it was foggy out, and a bit nipy, so she sensibily grabbed a coat too. She grabbed her keys, left her appartment, poking her head out of the main building just to check that she didn't get a repeat performance of yesterday evening, and walked out into the town.

The cinema wasn't all that close from her appartment, near the mall she had been at last night, so she decided to walk it as opposed to taking the bus. After a brisk walk, she crossed a road, not really looking where she was going, walking straight into a black and silver tabby cat.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" Hissed the cat, as the random pieces of scrap metal fell from her arms and into the street.

"S-sorry..." Violet stuttered, rushing down to help the cat pick up the various nuts and bolts. Some were covered in oil, grease and other things she'd normalled never touch, but she owed it to the woman to at least be polite. "Would you... like some, some help? Maybe?"

She asked, a nervous grin plastered on her face. People often intimidated her, but this... creature was especially terrorifying. She was like a walking toolbox, and those big stompy boots looked like they could inflict quite a bit of damage...

[Wesforce]

Bolts thought about this. Yeah she could use some help- The parts were heavy. But did she really want someone else in on what she was up to?

At the end of the day practicality and comradeship won through - The newcomer was polite after all, and a Fox - not a Dog then.

'Well you could help me lug this stuff to- um'

She was about to say the Technical Institute, but Bolts had swung by there earlier, and the DCPD was all over the place. DCPD meant hassle, and hassle seemed to be on sale right now - Practically everyone seemed to be going around with bags of it.

'The... beach.'

'You want me to help you carry thse metal parts to... The Beach.'

'Yeah, I um, uh...' Bolts struggled to think. Actually having a conversation with someone was already taxing her enough. 'I student. Me make... sculpture... Thing.'

'Oh!' Said Violet, 'I've heard about that! That big new art exhibition at the beach. Art student huh? I thought you looked a bit... Um... "Alternative"'

The two either walked or stomped along. Several times Violet turned to bolts to speak, but was too intimidated. Likewise Bolts, except she was confused as to why someone was being so nice, paranoid and unbelieving, and wondering what she was going to do with the parts.

Until they reached the beach.

Dumping the parts in the sand not far from a platter of fat-bellied Seals waddling about, the two stood around, either expecting the other to do something.

Bolts looked at the parts. The parts she'd *aquired* from the garage that Josh guy worked at. She didn't think he'd been there when she made a dash and grab from their loose parts pile, but there was no way to be sure... Unless he'd been stalking her.

(Btw Nyer I don't think Josh actually told her, this is just a convenient link for you to hook onto :color1: Don't worry you can pay me later :shifty: )

'Bolts' Said Bolts.

'I see. Very nice um... Jewellery' Said Violet puzzled.

'And your name is?'

[SW Freak]

Naomi was just leaving for work when Patrick pulled up beside the flat in his new sports car. Ní turned as she heared it purring behind her and her jaw dropped. Pat jumped out of the car, grinning hugely.

"And to the victor go the spoils."

"Where in the hell did you get this? Did you steal it?" Naomi almost crept over to it. "Is this blood on the seat?"

"Relax, it's mine," replied Patrick, running a tissue over the back of his neck. "Wait, sorry, that came out wrong." He sighed. "Ní, there's something I have to tell you."

He sat on the hood of the car. Naomi checked her watch, decided that being on time for work wasn't as important as all that, and sat down beside him.

"What is it?"

"Well...you know how I always say that I work the night shift? That's not...strictly true." He sighed again. "Okay, cards on the table. I'm a street fighter."

"What?"

"You know. Street Fighter? Beats the living snot out of other people for money?"

"No...I mean, I know what that is, but...you can't be one..."

"Sorry, but I am. That's how I pay the rent."

Naomi stood up and began to pace to her car. Patrick heard her sniff.

"Look, since I'm being open and I don't want you to be sad about me buggering off, I figure I may as well end this friendship with you thinking I'm a freak..."

Patrick slowly removed his sunglasses as Naomi turned around. She recoiled in shock as she saw just white in his eyes.

"What...what happened?"

"Well, I'm from Ireland originally. You know how there's all the trouble in the North? Well, I lived up there. One of the IRA, the terrorists, obviously thought that I wasn't loyal to their cause, so he beat the ****e out of me and shoved my face into a photocopier. Best part of a half hour he held me there, until I went blind. Cops busted in just short of him kneecapping me."

"But...you never walk into things..."

"That's because of my ears. It's a usual trait of bats. We can essentially see with our ears. Echoes and all that. This car's quiet enough that I can actually drive it. Something I haven't done in a while, I might add."

"Your book...?"

"Braile. I learned to read it shortly after the incident."

They just stood there, she looking into the milky depths of his eyes. then she turned away.

"I...I have to go. I'm sorry."

Patrick nodded sadly and put on his sunglasses as Naomi's car drifted away. Then he shoved the keys to her flat through the letterbox and drove off himself, unsure of what to do.

[Artificial Idiot]

"Um... Violet. My names Violet." She looked at Bolts skeptically. "Bolts?"

"Yeah... My name." Bolts said bluntly. Violet made a noise halfway between a gulp and 'oh', extremely out of her depth and growing more embarrassed by the minute.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realise..." She sighed. Bowing her head and then looking her companion back in the eyes. She could have left now... she'd helped carry the various stangely shaped parts, surely there was nothing she could do to "help" now... but then, she had nothing better to do all day... and could use the company, even if it was only for a few minutes.

"So... um... do you come here often?" Violet inquired sheepishly, wondering if her companion would be using any of that scrap metal as 'decoration'.

"Not... often."

"Me niether..." Violet admitted. She looked wistfully out into the ocean, and engaged her mouth before her brain. "I used to go to a beach like this at home though... in the summer, as a child... Only there was.... this sort of... an amusement arcade thing there... you know?"

"Uh-huh... like a small casino?" Bolts asked, struggling to keep up with the rather one sided conversation.

"Yeah! And a very small set of rides... like a fun fair." Violet took off her coat, hanging it on a nearby wooden post. She picked out half an exhaust from the scrap pile, cut clean in half with the pipe still sticking out the top. She started to block up the hole in the top. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Um... no. I suppose not... just don't break it!" Bolts added quickly.

"I won't." Violet promised. She kelt down in the sand, and began to fill the exhaust with sand. Once filled, she flipped it over, patted the top and produced a nowhere near perfect sand castle, that fell to pieces almost as soon as the excess sand from that had slipped through her rather hasty pipe blocking fell on top of it.

"Oh well, it was worth a try..." She sighed. Sitting cross-legged in the sand. Bolts soon joined her, picking up her 'bucket' and examining it.

[Wesforce]

'If I... If we... Hmm...' Bolts thought, wishing she had a welding Torch. She got the exhaust and a flange wheel... Then she put them down, because she had enough tools on her to make a small spot-welder. She started joining the pieces.

Violet became intrigued, watching Bolts work. The Cat seemed to have an affinity for the metal, and though she put the pieces together in ways never thought of by their creators, everything just seemed to... Flow.

'Um, why don't you put the fan blades... There.'

'Here?' Asked Bolts.

'No, little to the left.'

Bolts moved the part over, and at Violet's nod, spot-welded it. The two pondered over what to do next, and swapped ideas. A kind of rapport was developing, somehow, because although the two had little in common, their ideas seemed to gel. Bolts with her fascination for the mechanical, Violet with her more naturalistic take on life. And she continued building sandcastles - With the metal as support. The sand built up around the base of the metallic parts, creating a kind of unified, half metal half sand fortress. Kind of thing.

A small crowd was gathering.

'What is it?' Asked a Pug, before taking a breath on his inhaler.

'Its... Spiky.' Said a floppy-haired Spaniel

'Its disturbing.' Said a Shrew.

'Its... Quite odd.' Said a Duckbilled Platypus 'And I suppose its good that they're all looking at it and not laughing at me.' And off he sulked.

'You know...' Said Bolts. 'I may be able to enter this as my piece after all.'

Just then a deep, bestial voice broke the tranquil beach scene.

'OI! WHAT THE FRIKKING HELL ARE YOU DOING? MY CAR PARTS!!!!'

[SW Freak]

Pat pulled up beside his favourite cafe. He liked sitting outside and simply listening to the sound of the waves on the shore.

"Soda, please," he replied when enquired what he wanted to drink.

He settled into the chair and pulled the book from his pocket once more. He raised his head slightly at some shouting and yelling from the beach before turning his head towards the book once more. He could watch what was going on, for a given value of watch, from where he was sitting. Someone, most probably male but hard to tell from this distance, seemed about to hit someone else. Usual seen in the city. He thanked the waitress as she brought his drink and payed her. The fight held no intrest to him, and he concentrated on his book.

"Hello, stranger," came a familiar voice.

"Lizzie. Nice to see you again." Old habits die really hard. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I can't just talk to you now? Alright, fine. The...appointment has been arranged. The sub-garage of Neotech LTD. Know the place?"

Know it? The bloody love of my life works there, was what Patrick wanted to say. He settled for "Yeah. I know it."

"Well, it's 1 o'clock tomorrow morning. Sharp. There's no one around at that time and these guys are early risers. And be careful. Everyone there is a pro, like you. You're not up against posers anymore."

"I've fought some of the best before. I'll be fine."

"Well, now that business is out of the way, what have you been doing with yourself?"

Once again Pat wanted to say something he knew he shouldn't. He wanted to tell Lizzie what had happened, spill his heart out just once. He wanted to shout that nothing was fair. The trouble was that when you do that, the universe meerly turns around and says with a sarcastic sneer "Oh, is it not? Sorry 'bout that." So he settled for: "Nothing much. Just hanging around. I decided to get a place of my own so I'm not crowding Naomi. That's the other girl."

"Oh. Cool. Good luck with that." The tabby glanced at her watch. "****nickers! I have to go. Talk to you later, hopefully."

"Bye."

And she was gone.

I wonder if there's one person in this city that leads a normal life. If there is, I've gotta' meet him someday...

[Nyerguds]

Bolts and Violet looked up at the rhino stampeding towards them. For a moment they feared he'd trample their newly created... ehm.. creation, but he stopped just before it, taking advantage of the fact the crowd split when they saw him coming.

"Don't you think I didn't see you running away, missy!" the rhino fumed. "What on earth is THIS?"

Bolts frantically looked around. Her first instinct was to run away, but she couldn't do that... not with Violet being there.

Then she heard a familiar voice.

"Rick! Hey Rick, what on earth are you doing? You can't just run off like that! I can't take care of the shop, you know I'm not certified to deal with idiots!"

The rhino turned around and sighed. "Josh? Why are you here? Hey, you did tell Borran-"
"Yes, I did, he's looking after the shop." Josh interrupted his boss. "Why the heck did you run off like that?"
Rick stepped aside, showing Josh the 'reinforced' sand castle.
"This little thief didn't only grab a bunch of stuff from the spare parts collection, she also managed to make them all completely unusable by welding them together! Can you believe that?!"

Josh looked at the two ladies, immediately recognising Bolts. "No way!" he said.

"Yeah! I mean, look at it!" Rick rambled on. "Some people really need to learn some respect for hard-working car repair men working their ass off to-"
"Uh, boss? Not that. I mean, I know her." Josh sighed.
"...oh." The rhino stopped talking for a while, not sure what to say. Then, of course, he remembered why he was there in the first place.
"But she still has to pay for those parts."

Josh saw Bolts swallow hard. She obviously didn't have any money on her.
He looked back at his boss, who seemed to have noticed the same thing. He didn't look happy at the realization either.

Bolts threw a pleading look at Josh, apparently not noticing the fact violet was trying to get her attention.

Josh sighed. "Uh, boss... I'll take care of this. As I said... I know her. Now, there's some really irritating customer back there... and you know I have no tact at all when it comes to people that try to replace their transmission box themselves and then come to a repair shop for damage control and to get the damn transmission box installed correctly."
"Ah, allright then!" the rhino grumbled. "But you better get me that money. Make no mistake, kitty - I'll keep it off your paycheck."

And with that, he walked away. Josh saw Bolts sigh in relief.
"But make no mistake... you will pay me back." Josh said. "...one way or another." he added with a wink.

[Artificial Idiot]

"What was that all about?" Violet asked, as both the tabby and the rhino walked off.

"Just some guy I know..." Bolts grunted. Turning her back to the retreating male cat, to add the few final touches to their sand-fortress.

"I think he likes you..." Violet said rather more coyly than she had meant too. Bolts grumbled something that even Violet only caught on the edge of her hearing.

"I'm sure he likes anybody who owes him that much money." She said finally.

"Listen... I could always..." Bolts ears picked up and she looked around at her curiously. "Well, see... I got given some... money, last night. And I don't really know what to do with it... I don't know if it's enough to cover the cost of the parts... but it'd be a start."

"No offence kid, but I think he wants me to pay him back in another way...."

"Another.... Ooooh." Blood rushed to violet's cheeks as she realised what exactly what they have both meant. She composed herself as well as she could and ploughed on anyway. "Listen, offers still open if you're interested though..."

"How much?" She asked idley.

"Well, I never counted it... but it's probably in the range of a thousand..."

Bolts' spot-weilder slipped from her fingers and fell into the sand. She became ridgid, paralyzed for a time, before finally managing to utter...

"Oh..."

[SW Freak]

"And what type of home did you say you'd be interested in?"

Patrick scratched an ear uncomfortably. He was still a stranger to this whole conversation thing, especially with people as unpleasent as this realtor. He winced at the embaressing memory of trying to get there. It had taken a half hour and several dozen stops to ask for directions.

"Someplace cheap, prefferably. And suitable to live in, I might add," he said sharply.

"Of course! We have just the place. It's a lovely little apartment block..."
__________________________________________________________________

"Delightful, isn't it?"

Pat covered his nose with a hand

"This whole building stinks of piss," he said grimly.

"Well...yes...but-" the realtor began, anxious not to be beaten.

Patrick rounded on him, turning away from the confusion that the room had turned out to be in his form of sight. The place was so filthy and littered with junk that the echoes became distorted and warped, and he began to get confused. It took him a moment to realise he was speaking to a point just left of the realtor.

"Listen. I just want a nice little apartment with breathable air. Is that so hard?"

His trench coat just happened to flap a little as he moved his arm, revealing the slightest of gleams as a knife caught the light.

"O-of course." The auctioneer grinned nervously, while his mind echoed to the sound of Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, I'M GONNA DIE! "Right this way..."
_______________________________________________________________

"Much better." Blades took a deep breath. "This'll do nicely."

He worked out the details quickly and gave the first payment. The realtor almsot ran from the room once it was all done. Then came the part Pat had been dreading. Getting his stuff back. A drive of about ten minutes got him back to his appartment. It was just chance that he got there at the same time as Naomi. There was an awkward silence as she unlocked the apartment and let him in. It didn't take long to retrieve his stuff. There wasn't much, just a box beneath the sofa with his spare clothes and a couple of books. As he straightened up, there was a thump as his book fell from his jacket pocket. He titched and bent to grab it. His hand brushed off Naomi's as she reached for it. He smiled slightly at her. She looked away stiffly and handed him the book.

"Thanks." He strode over to the door. "Well...bye."

"Bye."

The thumping of the door had an oddly chilling finality to it. Blades sighed and walked back to his care, not noticing that Ní watched from the window of the room.

[Wesforce]

Bolts finally recovered enough to pick the welder up and stop it making glass.

Woah She thought.

The Sand-Fortress was all but done by now... She stood very still, and slowly turned the welder off.

Woah... Money...

'What must I do to take this money from you...'

No thats not right...

'How can... Oh, you sound like a really good friend... I, uh... I know why don't we go out somewhere... Tonight... And have... A good... Time..?'

There... Finally said it... Kind of. Thought Bolts.

'Hmm well I dont have anything planned... And there is a party that looks kind of interesting. Tonight on the beach.'

'I'll go with you!' Bolts blurted, then thinking maybe she should dry-swallow those words. She hated the kind of people who went to these beach parties - Rich kids. Posers. Chavsters.

What the frick, it'll make a change.

But Violet even didn't look entirely sure she wanted to go.

'We will go to this party' Bolts said again. 'It will be good...'

[Artificial Idiot]

(Hope nobody minds me moving the time forward... it just seems that IK is dead... and there isn't much else to do... and I don't want this to die! :cry:

So if anybody has any problems with this post, let me know)

That night Bolts and Violet walked onto the beach togeather, arms linked. More out of sheer terror than anything else. Violet had chosen to try and go with the general surfer look and had chosen to wear shorts and sandals... she wished she hadn't. It was a cold night, and she was freezing to death.

"Say Bolts... Maybe we should go somewhere else..." She whispered.

She seemed to pause for a few seconds before actually talking.

"No. I said we will go, and I said it will be good. We're here now, and it doesn't look too bad..." The last words came out strained. In truth, it looked pretty much like the place niether of them wanted to be. Full of both men and women in varying levels of dress, most of them were respectable though... probably waiting for later on in the evening when the party would really kick off.

"If you say so..." Violet sighed. As a stray inflatable ball hit the ground in front of them. "So... um... what do you want to do?" She asked nervously.

"Move..." Bolts replied bluntly. "Move away from here."

"What? Why?" Asked Violet, but before she knew it she was being pulled away. She caught a glance of the tomcat that they had met on the beach earlier, although why they were running from him she didn't know.

"Bolts!" She cried in vain. "Bolts! This is silly! B-Look out!"

Bolts saw the figure up ahead and with all the grace expected from a feline come to a perfect stop. Violet on the other hand, wasn't so graceful. She lost her grip on Bolts and ended up being propelled across the sand to the figures feet. She looked up towards it and gave a half hearted smile.

"Um... hi." She said, weakly.

[SW Freak]

Pat smiled as he made a good guess at what had just happened. He reached out a hand to help Violet up, smiling at her embarresment.

"Hello." He gave a slight chuckle. "I just came down to see what all the commotion was. I only just moved in across the way, you see," he said, inclining his head towards the appartment building across the road.

He realised that he was still holding onto her hand, even though she was standing up fine. He let go quickly and gave an embarresed cough.

"Well, parties like this arn't really my thing so I suppose I'll just be going now..." He scratched an ear and half turned away before seemingly remembering something. "It was nice to meet you, by the way. I'm Patrick."

[Artificial Idiot]

Violet stood, mouth slightly agape staring like a deer on an operating table. She was also slightly trembling. Patrick must have seen this, as he cocked an eyebrow behind his sunglasses. Which, it struck her. was a strange thing to be wearing at this time of night.

"Cold?" He asked. It wouldn't have been out of the question considering what she was wearing, so Violet decided to just go with it.

"Yes..." She replied meakly.

"Here..." Patrick smiled. He took off his coat and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"Thank you..." She whispered, then almost suddenly something snapped into place in her mind. She blinked and opened her mouth without thinking about it. "Violet... I'm Violet..."

Violet saw him looking intently at Bolts, who was seemingly looking backwards and forwards uncomfortably. She must have been keeping an eye out for the tabby who she owed money to... Or she was just uneasy about being around so many people. Patrick then gave a half-hearted cough.

"Are.. you two ladies togeather?" He asked, rubbing his bare arm, supposedly to keep it warm.

"Yes. Well, um... yes. We're friends. Yes." Violet stumbled, trying to settle her words into a solid sentance and failing misrably. The bat's brow furrowed.

"Niether of you look very comfortable here..." He observed. Violet's ears picked up to see if she could catch a follow up to the statement, but none came.

"No..." She said slowly, taking a deep breath. "Well, not me... At least... I'm not sure about Bolts..."

The tabby turned her head swiftly at the sound of her name, and then gave a skeptical glance at the new comer. As if she was sizing him up, she didn't take very long... And by the self-statisfied look on her face, she'd decided that she was the superior of the two. She calmly walked closer to the pair, the scrap that adorned her body jangling gently to the beat of her footsteps.

"Trench coat and sun-glasses look? Well, you lost your identity watching the Matrix, I see. Lose your common sense like the rest of the hopeless losers too?"

"Bolts..." Violet sighed, perhaps almost pleaded. She started to rub her temples as the beginings of a headache crept into her mind.

[SW Freak]

A smile began to creep across Pat's features. Odd, he reflected. Not so long ago I'd have been insulted by this chick...

"Not until I'm outrageously drunk, madam. Judging by the company, however, I fear that won't happen here."

A surf bum stumbled towards Patrick, or, rather, where Patrick had been. The bat had sidestepped swiftly and the already drunken fool barreled past him, between Violet and Bolts and came dangerously close to falling into the fire. Another party-goer, obviously deeming happiness to be equal to the amount of beer one holds, trust a bottle into Blades' hands. He titched, but held onto the beer nonetheless.

"Look, there's a cafe just down the road that's open at this time of night, but quiet. I'm in need of some fresh air, away from these drunkards."

[ImageKlonoa]

And then, God smited all their furry asses.

The End

((Unsticky this so Army Men can take its place.))

[Desolator12]

((Except Deso's, because he never truely entered the RPG... besides, Everyone loves Deso!....hrm.... *goes to pitch the idea to a Hollywood studio* ))