My LEGO Nexus Organization

The old man lived a simple life. Every day he went outside, plowed his fields, and went to bed. Elsewhere, the world was changing. The Other had been destroyed. The Remnant and the new government had made peace. The government was stabilizing. But the old man didn't care. He plowed his crops, and lived a simple life. And he was happy. This is his story. The story of a simple man, and his simple quest for-
BORING!
W-what?
I said, that's BORING. We need to liven this story up!
B-but-
I'll handle this story from now on! Your services are no longer needed! TAKE HIM AWAY!
You got it, boss! Deh-heh-heh
hey-let go of me! HELP!
BWA HA HA. That's better. Now, let's make this story INTERESTING! MWAHAHAHAHA!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rose Hamilton woke up early that morning. Even though the fighting had been over for more than a year, she still awoke every morning expecting to be called to battle. She sighed, and got dressed. Maybe Lloyd would call today...she hadn't seen him in a week, not since he was sent to take down a group of bandits.

She opened her door, and found herself face to face with a corpse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The old man plowed his field. That was his life. That would always be his life. he stuck his hoe into the soil. "OW!"
The old man jumped back in surprise. Cautiously, he brushed away the soil. There, under the soil, was a girl. She was small, with blonde hair, and mismatched eyes. her body was covered with bruises (and dirt), but -
NO NO NO! This is still BORING! I want explosions! Death! AWKWARD SOCIAL INTERACTIONS!
...And then a meteor landed in the middle of the field, and robots swarmed out and attacked. The old man grabbed the girl and dragged her  into his farmhouse, then dashed to his holocommunicator to call for help.

Ow...anyway...you can reuse any characters you want from the prior RPG, or make new ones. This happens a year and a half after the end of S.H.I.R.A. Squad, beginning in the week of Flei, in June of 29-RY.

The story may seem loose at first, but that's just until all the characters get back together.

PM me with your character profile to join.

===RULES===
No killing another player's character without permission.
Obey all MLNO forum rules.

NOTE ON GOD-MODING: the rule on god-moding is very loose. Feel free to kill hundreds of unnamed enemy NPCs in a single post, blow up a thousand enemy mechas in a single post, and so on.



Sample character sheet (Provided by Blade):

 Character Section -
Username: (Your username)
Character Name:
Gender:
Age:
Bio: (Just a short Bio on your character's backstory and such)
Faction:
Character Appearance: (Either describe what your character looks like, or post a reference picture. Include accessories in description, if your character has any)

Mecha Section -
Mecha Model: (What the mecha's called)
Mecha Weapons: (What is this Mech outfitted with?)
Mecha Appearance: (Describe your Mecha, or provide a reference picture)


====================NPCS=========================

Character Name: Jared Fisk
Gender: Male
Age: 21
Bio: The former leader of S.H.I.R.A. Squad, Jared retired after the defeat of the Other. Rumour has it he owns a farm in the mountains.
Faction: Unaligned.


Character Name: Leo
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Bio: Leo disappeared shortly after the defeat of the Other, following something from his newly-recovered memories. His whereabouts are unknown.
Faction: Unaligned


Character Name: Rose Hamilton
Gender: Female
Age: 19
Bio: Rose retired from S.H.I.R.A. Squad with her fiance Lloyd after the defeat of the Other. She serves part-time as a defender of the peace, using her mech and skills with firearms to eliminate troublemakers.
Faction: Freelancer
Appearance: Rose resembles a brunette version of Yoko from Gurren Lagann.

Character Name: Luna Tome (Real name Catherine Chargas)
Gender: Female
Age: 19
Bio: The daughter of former emperor Chargas, Luna has become Head of Commerce in the new government.
Faction: Planetary Government

Character Name: Kora Rev
Gender: Female
Age: 15
Bio: Kora has put her computer skills to good use, as head of RevOlution Systems, the world's foremost electronics company.
Appearance: Short purple hair, green eyes. Average height for her age, but much too thin.
Faction: Unaligned

Character Name: Leila Shil
Gender: Female
Age: 25
Bio: Leila leads R.E.Z. Task Force, the successor to S.H.I.R.A. Squad.
Faction: Planetary Government

Character Name: Shiza Tnnana
Gender: Female
Age: 16
Bio: Shiza is....Shiza.  She is known to burst into song during stealth missions, tell long, rambling stories that have no relevance to what's going on, have arguments with herself, talk to imaginary zombie ponies, and speak in gibberish.
However, when the need arises, she is a excellent hand-to-hand fighter, and understands machines almost as well as Kora. She is also an incredible cook.
Faction: Rebels
Appearance: Shiza has what is known as "boat light eyes", that is, her left eye is red and her right eye is green. She has short blonde hair in a messy ponytail, is rather short (5 feet exactly), and thin. Her clothes are always several sizes too big, and she is always smiling. (The smile often looks rather disturbing, especially since she rarely blinks).
Likes: Spicy food, chainsaws, Rose Hamilton.
Dislikes: Nothing, really.
Faction: PONIES!

Name: Captain Sally Silth
Age: Late 20s.
Gender: Female.
Appearance: Average height, with long blonde hair and icy blue eyes.
Bio: Captain Silth was arrested along with her crew after the destruction of the Kel-Terrakron, but was released on good behaviour. She now works at a grocery store, and has a morbid fear of heights.
Faction: Bob's Discount Food

Name: William Chargas
Age: Nearly 300.
Gender: Male
Bio: The former Emperor Chargas is now happily retired and living with his daughter. He still assists the government as an advisor on occasion.
Faction: Retired Government Official


Name: Devourer of the Beyond
Appearance: Said to be the face of pure terror. This monstrosity could swallow the Milky Way in a single gulp.
Bio: A monster from beyond the universe. This beast roams the multiverse, consuming entire universes. And humanity's Soul Energy has attracted its notice...

===PLAYER CHARACTERS===
Player: Blade
Character Name: Lloyd Cardigan
Gender: Male
Age: 21
Bio: After the defeat of the Other, all Lloyd wanted was to just have some peace. And yeah, keep the peace by helping take down outlaws. But, a routine mission that lasted a little too long changed things up, and it looks like Lloyd will have no time for any sort of rest any time soon.
Faction: Freelancer
Character Appearance: Lloyd has darker brown hair, and grey eyes. He's tended to wear a black shirt with a grey vest recently, along with blue jeans and black sneakers. He has pinned the SHIRA insignia to his vest, however, as a reminder of his past, and how things might go in the future.

Username: Blade
Character Name: Owen Smith
Gender: Male
Age: 28
Bio: After the Other was defeated, Owen went back to a normal life; however, he became bored of that after a while, and started to wish to help out with the world, and so became a freelancer with his mech. He has the oddest feeling, however, that someone he saw in the Empire looked familiar.
Faction: Freelancers
Character Appearance: Owen has black messy hair that he never bothers to fix. He has blue eyes, and tends to wear green shirts and blue jeans. His pilot's uniform is black and red, though it has limegreen stripes down the sides of the uniform and so. Owen is approximately 6 feet tall.

Username: Blade
Character Name: Carrie Metran
Gender: Female
Age: 22
Bio: Ever since the war ended, Carrie went into work building and repairing robots for people, along with vehicles and other mechanical objects. She never once expected that she would have to be called back to the fight, however.
Faction: Mechanic Shop/FreeLancers
Character Appearance: Carrie has shoulder-length blond hair and bluish green eyes. Carrie tends to wear white shirts with blue jeans, however, the fact that she's a mechanic can be easily seen, as Carrie tends to have oil stains on her shirt from fixing up mechs or vehicles. Carrie usually keeps a wrench handy along with a backpack, so that she can fix up stuff on the fly. Carrie is approximately 5 foot 9.

Username: Blade
Character Name: Trey
Gender: Male
Age: 16
Bio: Trey has been learning the intricacies of computer operating from a very young age, and while he's not necessarily on the scale Kora is, in terms of IQ, he does know how to rapidly program things that could help out in fights.
Recently, he has been helping Kora with things, and although he had been sent out on a call right before she went to visit the base, he went on his way after that.
Faction: Unaligned
Character Appearance: Trey has greyish brown hair, and shining blue eyes. He typically wears a black bomber jacket with a green t-shirt under said jacket, and blue jeans.


===MECHS===

Mecha Model: Shinigami MX-2
Bio: Leo's new mecha.
Appearance: Pitch black, but covered with small sparkly gems to resemble stars. It blends in well in space.
Weapons: Homing missiles, lasers, shield generator.

Mecha Model: Star Striker Queen
Bio: Luna's personal mecha.
Appearance: Golden, with spikes on the shoulders. Has visor instead of eyes.
Mecha Weapons: Giant electrified throwing stars, lasers.

Mecha Model: New Horizon
Bio: Jared's personal mecha. With the war over, he has overhauled it to help with farming.
Mecha Weapons: lasers, rocket launcher, plow.
Appearance: Painted to resemble a sunset.

Mecha Model: Quasar Cannon EMT
Bio: Rose's personal mecha.
Mecha Weapons: Rockets, missiles, lasers, flamethrower.
Appearance: A rather generic looking mecha. She hasn't even painted it, preferring to spend her time modifying its weapons.

Mecha Model: Aura Engine X-4
Bio: Leila's personal mecha.
Mecha Weapons: Lasers, missiles.
Appearance: A generic mecha, painted glittery gold.

Mecha Model: Piercer RTH
Bio: Prototype Mecha.
Mecha Weapons: ???

Mecha Model: TRINITY-5LMS
Bio: Prototype Mecha
Mecha Weapons: Rockets, missiles, lasers, flamethrower.

Mecha Model: M37-30R
Bio: Dropship-Class Mecha
Mecha Weapons: ??
Appearance: Looks like a meteor?

Mecha Model: Silencer RBN-003
Mecha Weapons: Twin beam sabers, twin laser guns, twin shoulder mounted rocket launchers(Holds x15 Rockets each)
Mecha Appearance: The mech's appearance was based heavily off the original Outlook, however, the differences that the Silencer has can be seen; as it looks kinda like it's been streamlined, aside from the helmet, which has seven spikes that point back toward the back of the mech.

Mecha Model: SRN-003 Break
Mecha Weapons: Twin Beam Sabers, two shoulder mounted Laser Cannons. It can combine the handles of the two swords at the side to form a two-handed beam-axe.
Mecha Appearance: The Mech looks like the standard humanoid models, however, it has been streamlined for quicker movement. It has a backpack that could be used as a booster, but also has other purposes that are still being experimented on. It's mouth guard has a limegreen glow, along with three rectangular gaps, where the glow originates from. The mech itself is black and red, with some hints of limegreen colouring.

Mecha Model: CRN-000
Mecha Weapons: The mech has an oversized wrench that is used as a makeshift hammer or staff. This is it's only weapon, but is used very effectively.
Mecha Appearance: This Mech is based off the standard humanoid model, however, it is slightly shorter, as Carrie wanted to conserve metal for weapons or other mechs. However, this helps to allow it to maneuver better than if she had created the mech different. The eyes of the mechs that Carrie created glow, and also has a 'jewel' in the centre of the heads of the mech, which act as a backup power source of sorts. The glow for Carrie's mech is purple, which matches the purple and white colour scheme that her Mech has.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"This is seriously taking way too long..." Lloyd said, getting annoyed at being dragged all the way out to places unknown by the stupid bandits.
"I'm just gonna finish this; I just don't care anymore." Lloyd muttered, as he activated the jet engines on his mech to speed forward. The Bandits seemed surprised, as he had never used that function previously, however, their surprise turned to horror, as Lloyd sliced through each of their mechs in a row faster than they could follow, leaving each intact, but unable to function.
"Now then. Be good bandits, and stop resisting." Lloyd stated, as he picked up the five mechs as best as he could with his own mech, and began to head back.

His communicator beeped. "Lloyd? You might want to come back home, fast." The voice was somewhat familiar. A new member of the R.E.Z. Task Force.
What was his name? Tim? Tom? Humphrey?

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd frowned, but nodded.
What could be so important? Lloyd wondered, but headed back in the direction he had originally come from, using the jet boosters to get back faster.

Tim/Tom/Humphrey was waiting for him. "Rose is...well...she's been injured, and won't tell anyone why. And a meteor landed in a farm and a bunch of killer robots came out."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"What!?" Lloyd was in shock, as he froze in mid jump.
"Where's Rose, and what farm is this?" Lloyd asked, wondering why he hadn't been told about this before.

"Rose is in medbay. Not wounded badly, but...she refuses to go back to her room. The farm is about ten miles from here, all mechs will have the coordinates uploaded."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd frowned, and continued his hop out of his mech.
"Alright, you do that, I'm heading to see Rose." Lloyd said, as he dashed off to where the med-bay was.

Rose looked up from her chair. "Lloyd! You're back!"

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Of course I am." Lloyd said with a smile, as he slightly chuckled.
"Those bandits really got on my nerves; they set up a transmission blocking field around their mechs, and at one point kept leading me in circles, taking the effort to stay just out of my mech's range..." Lloyd said, and sighed, as he slightly frowned.
"What about you? Tim, err, Tom, err, whatever his name is, told me you'd been hurt..." Lloyd said, slightly worried.

"I'm pretty sure his name's Fred." She said. "Anyway, it was...n-nothing that bad. I'm not seriously hurt, just resting."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Oh?" Lloyd asked, curious now, but he also kinda frowned.
"He also kinda might've said that you weren't really telling anyone what happened..." Lloyd said, hoping it wasn't serious and she was just trying to hide it to not worry him.

Rose paled. "It...was...uh..." She shuddered. "I was attacked. B-but...it wasn't alive."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd frowned, as he walked over to Rose and wrapped his arms around her, trying to console her.
"Wasn't alive? And you weren't hurt?" Lloyd asked, double checking just because he was in fact worried about her. In fact, if it was her intention to not worry him, not outright explaining did the opposite.

"It...it was...l-literally a rotting corpse."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Whoa." Lloyd said, as he slightly paled.
"What happened to it?" Lloyd asked, feeling ready to re-kill a re-dead.

"I shot its head off, then shoved a grenade down its throat."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Atta girl." Lloyd said with an amused smile on his face.
"But no, seriously, good going there; was mentally preparing myself to kill a few zombies." Lloyd said, though frowned.
"You said it attacked you, though?" lloyd said, going back to the whole 'Rose might be injured' point.

OOC: =P

"Yeah. It tried to bite me. But...um...the actual reason I was injured was the whole close-range grenade thing."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Ahh..." Lloyd said with a nod, understanding.
"No worries there. I've been injured because of sillier things I caused before, remember?" Lloyd said, trying to brighten the mood.
"Are you fine, though? Just the force of the blast, or any actual injuries?" Lloyd asked, still concerned about her health.

"Just some cuts. I was more scared by the whole dead guy attacking me thing. And since then, I've been having nightmares about Adrian's corpse."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Adrian's corpse?" Lloyd asked, his eye very, very subtly flinching for a second; though he hugged Rose more to let her know it was a good thing that she was fine other than the cuts and dreams and the whole scary part.

"Yeah. Shiza's too, but..."
Tim/Tom/Humphrey/WHATEVER stuck his head in. "Uh, the robots from the meteor blew up the mechs we sent to stop them. Do the two of you mind helping?"

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd gave Bill a 'seriously?' look, but nodded.
"Yeah, we'll be right there." Lloyd said, and then looked back to Rose.
"That seems odd... I wonder what that's all about." Lloyd wondered out loud, though he got a subtle hint about what Rose meant by the but; and wasn't entirely certain it was a good hint, but it didn't really matter, right...?

~~~TIME....SKIIIIP!~~~
Rose fired a shot at the robots, watching a group of them explode. "Like old times, huh?"

~~~~Inside the farmhouse~~~~
(Old Farmer): "Hm? Something wrong, young lady?"
(??): "...That robot...familiar...."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"That's for sure." Lloyd said with a chuckle, as he disarmed one robot, and fired off a shot from his beam rifle at the other.

The meteor in the center of the field began to glow, and lifted into the air.
(Rose): "That thing's a mech?!"

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Well then. It's just like old times, then." Lloyd said, as he fired off a shot or two at the Meteor as it was still lifting into the air.

The Meteor's hull deflected the  shot. It flew at Lloyd with intent to ram.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd dodged out of the way, as he frowned.
I haven't even tried Overdrive since the last big fight... Will I even be able to use it after nearly totally exhausting my Soul Energy back then? Lloyd wondered with an unsure look on his face, trying to think of a plan.

A blast of light came from the direction of the farmhouse, vaporizing the robots and sending the meteor spinning. It righted itself and launched a spread of missiles in all directions.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"What the..." Lloyd mumbled, as that seemed odd, but fired off laser shots at the missiles, as he attempted to activate Overdrive, his pupils slightly fading out as he did so to show his enhanced state, as he dashed forward, and attempted to slash out at the Meteor mech.

Explosions rippled across the meteor. it fell to the ground.

The farmer exited the farmhouse, bringing with him a dirt-covered girl with short, messy blonde hair and mismatched eyes.
(Farmer): "My poor potatoes..."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd was midway through jumping out of his mech, when he noticed the girl and froze, losing his grip on the handle, and falling to the ground.
That... That's not possible...

She walked up to him and stared into his eyes.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"You... You're not possible..." Lloyd said, pale as a ghost, which he believed he was looking at right then.

"Hi." she said, extending her leg. "Shiza's name is Shiza Tnanna."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

If Lloyd could have gone paler, he would have, as he stood up, as looked at Shiza with unbelieving eyes.
"How... How are you possible..." Lloyd said, not sure what was going on.

She blinked. "Have we met?"

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd frowned, and nodded.
"it's me, Lloyd, from the rebels?" Lloyd wondered what was going on, as there was no way that this was a coincidence; she looked the same, her name was the same... This was Shiza. But how...?

She sniffed him. "You do smell familiar...like omelets."
Rose hopped down and walked over to Shiza. "Shiza? You...are you, right?"
Shiza glanced at her. "Wow. Definite melons."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Well, I'd say that answers that question." Lloyd said, but things just seemed weird still...
And if Shiza's alive...

Shiza blinked at him, then stuck her tongue in his ear.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"You really are like a puppy." Lloyd said with a sigh, having admittedly missed Shiza's crazy antics.

Shiza hugged him, then batted at his nose.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Yep. It's Shiza alright." Lloyd said with a sigh, as he picked the girl up.
"Let's take her back to base, maybe they'll have an idea what happened."

"Whee!" She licked him.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Yep. Definitely Shiza." Lloyd said, as he reached his mech again, having an odd flashback of something like this happening before.

(Farmer): "My potatoes...."

~~~~~~Back at base~~~~~
(Whatever the heck his name is): "Thanks for coming out on short notice, Ms. Rev."
(Kora): "No problem. I'm looking forward to examining the remains of this 'meteor'. Too bad Trey was too busy...maybe he'll show up later."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Perfect timing, then." Lloyd said, as he hopped out of his mech, which dropped the remains of the meteor, though he paused on his way down.
"Actually, one sec, I have a surprise, Kora." Lloyd said, heading back up the ladder, as he picked up Shiza, and made his way out of his mech again.
"Surprise." Lloyd said, placing the apparently alive girl down.

"Hi Shiza."  Kora froze, the did a double take. "S-Shiza?!"
"Your hair is purple." Shiza informed her.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Yeah." Lloyd said with a nod.
"Surprise." Lloyd repeated, and shrugged, showing that he had no clue any more than she did.

Shiza climbed on top of Kora and began chewing on her arm.
(Rose): "So...what exactly do we do now?"

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Something strange is going on here. We should try and find the old gang, and try to investigate this stuff..." Lloyd said, and paused, as he looked over at Kora.
"If you don't mind, that is."

"You're welcome to try, if you think you can find Leo and Jared."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"No word from them either, huh?" Lloyd asked with a frown.

"Nope."
Shiza jumped off Kora, picked up a wrench, and started chasing whatshisname with it.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"If we could figure out where they went, that'd be great. But until then, we might have to do without them..." Lloyd said with a sigh.

A large black limo pulled up, and out stepped Chargas and Luna.
(Luna): "I heard about the-SHIZA?!'

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Surprise." Lloyd said for the third time in about as many minutes, shrugging as well.

(Chargas): "interesting. Shiza, what is the first thing you remember?"
(Shiza): "Big ouchy. Then spinny."
(Chargas): "As expected. She was launched forward in time from then to now when the blast hit her."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd was confused, as he looked at Shiza.
"But, how is that possible? If not time travel itself, but then the fact that that one particular blast sent her here... What purpose would that serve?"

Chargas shrugged. "I doubt it was intentional. When the Other shot her, she may have instinctively tried to raise a shield of Soul Energy. The two hitting each other sent her forward in time."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"That would make sense." Lloyd said with a nod.

Shiza walked over and pinched his earlobe. "You smell like purple."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"That's... interesting." Lloyd said, never having been told that before, even by Shiza.

She poked his cheek. "Why do you have ears?"

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Because everyone has ears." Lloyd said, as he grabbed Shiza's ears to prove it.

"Ow." She licked his nose.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Yes, that's a nose." Lloyd said with a sigh, not sure if he actually had missed Shiza or not.

"Shiza missed you." She hugged him.
"Interesting." Chargas said. "Her memories appear to be returning."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"I think we missed you more." Lloyd said with a slight chuckle.

"Yaay!" She let go of him and hugged Rose. "Melons missed Shiza!"

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd chuckled, and nodded.
"Yep, memory's definitely returning."

OOC: Trey ETA?
IC: Shiza giggled and pulled a chainsaw from her pocket. "Where's Pancakes?"

OOC: Soon enough. =P

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd blinked, as a bead of sweat ran down the back of his head, as he took a moment to figure out who Pancakes was.
"Haven't seen Carrie in a while... I hope those things haven't done anything to her or the others" Lloyd said, having not even recalled her until Shiza mentioned her, and then he frowned as he realized there were a bunch of people they hadn't seen in a while.

Shiza hurled the chainsaw at whatshisname and sat next to Kora. "Whatchya doin?"
Kora sighed. "Trying to figure out where this mech came from."

"Hm.." Kora muttered. "I don't recognize the design at all..."

OOC: I was waiting to make Trey's profile.

OOC: SHIRA and Phoenix will die before you finish the profiles.

OOC: It'll be before the end of the weekend, how's that? =P

OOC: UNFORGIVABLE.

OOC: I have other things to worry about right now. =P

OOC: If you say so. :P

-==IC: ??==-

"Looks like it came from outer space, to me." A male voice called out from behind Kora with a chuckle.

OOC: Funny thing is that he's trying to make a joke, but he's probably right. =P

"Trey-Trey!" Kora jumped up and covered his face with kisses.

(Rose): "Well...SHE'S certainly grown up."

-==IC: Trey==-

Trey laughed; not minding the shows of affection at all.
"Good to see you too, Kora; sorry I'm late." Trey said with a smile, as he didn't even really notice Rose, leaving Lloyd to simply nod, also sorta astonished by the fact that Kora actually seemed to like someone.

Kora grabbed Trey and pulled him to the remains of the meteor. "Now. Do geek stuff."

-==IC: Trey==-

Trey chuckled, and nodded.
"Alright; though I would've thought you'd have a head start by now." Trey said with a mischievous grin, as he examined the meteor with a frown.
"I've never seen something like this... And it just fell from the sky, and started to move? Hmm..." Trey said, intrigued about it.
"I was joking earlier about the space thing, but this definitely doesn't look like something from earth..."

Kora nodded. "But here...and here...those are normal letters. From earth. Not that I have any idea what ACE-128 means."

-==IC: Trey==-

Trey frowned, and then nodded.
"Could it maybe have been modified? Or have some other explanation, though?"

"No...it looks like something from earth...a modified troop transport or something..."

-==IC: Trey==-

"That's weird... But I see what you mean now..." Trey said, confused now.
"Why would someone modify it to look like a meteor, though..."

"Maybe for stealth-no, that's stupid."

-==IC: Trey==-

"Stupid?" Trey asked, as he raised an eyebrow.
"No, a stealth tactic would make sense... The real question is why someone would go to the trouble of this, after the stuff that happened during the war."

"Um...maybe they..um...No idea."

-==IC: Trey==-

Trey frowned, as he thought a moment.
"There couldn't be a group trying to start another war, could there...?" Trey suggested, a grim look on his face.

"Maybe...but who?"

-==IC: Trey==-

"That's the question..." Trey said with a frown, as he had no idea.

-==IC: ??==-

Meanwhile, a lone person stood outside a grocery store, however, his intentions weren't simply to get food. But rather to find an old acquaintance.

Sally Silth groaned inwardly. "No ma'am." she said to the elderly woman in front of her. "That coupon is from a car dealer. It can't be used for cheese."

-==IC: ??==-

The man seemed to be surprised that she was there, however, frowned, and looked away, as he began to grocery shop after all.
Geez, I come all this way, and I can't even say hello properly... Where is this awkwardness even coming from, I walk up, say hi, and I should be fine; but why am I making it so hard for myself? The man wondered, as he grabbed a few items he didn't necessarily need, and made his way to the check-out, getting in line where Sally was the cashier.

Sally groaned again. The short, pudgy man before her had made a two thousand dollar purchase...in pennies.

-==IC: ??==-

The man who was still stumbling over words in his head noticed what was happening, and simply watched, dumbfounded that anyone would use such outdated currency.

"Okay..." Sally muttered. "At current inflation...one penny is...1/50th of a dollar."

-==IC: ??==-

"I'll save you the trouble, guy, 100,000 pennies." The man said to Penny Man, though wished he hadn't, as he figured that this would take all day instead.

Sally blinked as Penny Man walked off...without his purchase. "Wait...that voice..."

-==IC: ??==-

The other man kinda froze up, unsure what exactly to say, as he walked up, next in line.
"T-these items, please." The man said, and mentally berated himself for being so nervous, yet not even having a reason to.
She seems familiar; and that's all, so why am I even getting nervous...?

"Okaay....That will be...one box of tissues...two bags of cat food...three bottles of hot sauce...and birth control pills."

-==IC: ??==-

The man blinked, and then looked down, and turned red as he realized that had been one of the random things he had picked out.
"No, no, those aren't mine; they must've been in the cart already." The man said with a frown, as he shook his head to say that it was not so.

"Right..well, your total is..I'm sorry, your voice sounds really familiar."

-==IC: ??==-

The man nodded, as he looked up, intrigued as he examined Sally's face a little closer.
"Yeah... It's kinda odd, yours is, too..." The man had said; despite having been allies before, he had never once actually been in her company, so he had never actually heard her voice, which made it all the more surprising he seemed to recognize it.

"I'm Sally Silth...former commander of the Kel-Terrakron Mobile Fortress."

-==IC: ??==-

The man nodded.
"You seem familiar even other than that, though..." The man said, and wondered why things just seemed so familiar.
"My name is Owen Smith."

"Owen...why to I know that name?"

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen looked slightly startled, but frowned.
"I'm not sure..." Owen said, and then paused awkwardly.
"You see, you kinda seemed familiar to me, even aside from the fact that you commanded that one battleship... Just, I can't seem to explain it. It's almost like I've met you before; and yet we never actually spoke back when we were in the Remnant and such..." Owen said, obviously sorta confused about that.

"Hm...well..."

(Woman): "WOULD YOU HURRY UP?!"

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen paused awkwardly again, and then simply paid cash, and took the items, making sure to leave the pills behind, as he didn't want to inconvenience her.
"Bye..." Owen said, not really having much confidence right then to say anything else, as the woman yelling had brought back the nervousness that he still had no idea on the origin of.

"Hm..."

The lady placed a fire extinguisher on the conveyor belt.
"Um, Ma'am, that's...no for sale."
"IT WAS IN THE STORE, SO IT'S FOR SALE!"
I hate my life...

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen stopped in his tracks, as he heard what the woman said, and his eyebrow twitched.
"You do realize that's only present here because of Fire laws, right? It's not for sale, and I could go get the manager for you if you don't agree with what Sally here says." Owen said, wondering why he had even stopped, why he had gotten involved.

"YES! GET THE MANAGER! I'LL HAVE YOU ALL FIRED!"
"He...doesn't work-"
"SHUT UP! THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT HANDED!"

-==IC: Owen==-

"..." Owen simply shook his head, and went off to get the manager anyway, though backtracked after a couple seconds.
"Err, which way?" Owen asked Sally, an apologetic look on his face.

"Directly behind you." She said, gesturing to the extremely large, muscular man behind Owen.

-==IC: Owen==-

"Ah." Owen said, as he turned around, and nearly bumped into him.
"Was just about to go look for you."

"IZ DERE A PROBLEM VITH MY CASHEER?!" He demanded.

-==IC: Owen==-

"No." Owen said, and explained the situation calmly.

The manager picked up the woman and carried her out of the store.
Sally sighed. "Five hours until I can go home..."

-==IC: Owen==-

"Is work always this... interesting?" Owen asked, as he didn't know if anyone should go through things like this without at least someone to talk to, as Owen paused, an idea slowly forming in his head.

"Actually, today's been pretty boring."

-==IC: Owen==-

"This... is boring?" Owen asked, seeming surprised, but then paused, as he nodded.
"Hmm..." Owen contemplated his plan a bit more, but then nodded again.
"Would you want me too help you out if things happened like just now?" Owen asked, curious about that.

"Oh...uh...sure."

(Old Man): "Do you sell chainsaws?"

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen looked over at the old man with a skeptical look.
"Sir, this is a grocery store."

"Oh. Then do you have flamethrowers?"

-==IC: Owen==-

"Have you tried the cooking aisle?" Owen asked, doubting it would actually be there, but who knew.

The man wandered off.

"He comes here every singe day." Sally sighed. "And in about ten minutes, a large elderly woman will come in here with a beehive to show everyone how nicely her very angry bees are doing."

-==IC: Owen==-

"... can we lock the doors?" Owen asked, as he blinked, eying the door nervously.

"Not unless you want me to get fired..."
A banana flew overhead.
"Some people never supervise their kids..."

-==IC: Owen==-

"Hmm, true..." Owen said with a sigh.
"Do you even... Like it here?" Owen asked, though more whispered the last part, since he didn't want her to get fired if she liked it there or anything.

"Yes, I love having an obese ninety year old pepper spray me once a week for not selling her assault rifles."

-==IC: Owen==-

"Sarcasm duly noted." Owen said, as he frowned.
"This will probably seem like an odd question, but... Why do you stay here?" Owen asked, curious about that.

"I need a job, and not many people will hire someone with an arrest record."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen nodded, but still had a frown on his face.
"That makes sense... I kinda wish there was something I could do to help, though." Owen said, not sure how to handle that.

"Well, I suppose-"

A large elderly woman charged in, followed by a swarm of hornets. "LOOK AT MY BABIES!"

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen paled.
"B-b-bees." Owen stated, not doing anything that would be odd, but still not liking the look of those hornets.

"FEED, MY PRETTIES!"
The woman shrieked.
Sally sighed and picked up the phone. "Security."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen just watched carefully, wary of the bees, as he wanted to make sure that they didn't go anywhere near the two of them.

Security escorted the woman out.

(Sally): "Every....freaking...day."

-==IC: Owen==-

"Do they ever sting you? And do you, well, mind them at all...?" Owen asked, though he meant if she was afraid of bees.

"Every. Freaking. Day." She repeated.

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen winced, as he nodded slowly.
"That's horrible." Owen said, a frown on his face, as no-one should have to go through that.

She sighed. "Better than my old job. I never want to be more than five feet aboveground again."

-==IC: Owen==-

"Yeah, I heard about that... Sounds like you got lucky there." Owen said with a frown.

"Yeah...that was one sturdy tank."

-==IC: Owen==-

"Good thing, too." Owen said with a nod.

"Yeah...this will bug me all day! Why do I know you?"

(Woman): "I want this cheese, but I don't want to pay for it."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen turned to the other woman.
"Sadly, you must pay for everything in the store, unless it's otherwise marked free, which is to say, not much." Owen casually explained, and then turned back to Sally.
"I'm... Not sure of it myself." Owen said, as obviously the same question was bugging him too. There was one answer, but he doubted it to be true, as there had never been any reasoning for it.

"Well...I supp-"
*gunshot*

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen tackled Sally to the ground to help protect her, as he transitioned to a crouch, and began to look around for where the gunshot came from.

"AHAHHHEHEHHEHEHHAHHAHAHAHHEHE HE!"  A.G.'s laughter echoed from the loudspeakers.

-==IC: Owen==-

"That laugh..." Owen said with a growl.
"I remember it." Owen said, a grim look on his face, as he looked to make sure Sally was alright.

"Just a warning, little Owen...not everyone who remembers you is a friend. EHHHAHAHAHHAHAHAAH!" Thee speakers cut out.

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen narrowed his eyes at the speakers, but again looked to make sure Sally was alright.

Sally sighed. "Honestly, I actually prefer this to my normal day."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen chuckled a slight bit at that, but frowned.
"Sad thing, that. Now, the question is if there's a mad gunman out there, or if it's safe to get out, because in more ways than one, I don't think this place is safe at all."

She groaned. "This is why I got out of the military in the first place."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen sighed, and nodded.
"Yeah, tell me about it."

"You know what? Screw my job. Wanna get lunch?"

-==IC: Owen==-

"Sounds like it might be a good idea right now; so sure." Owen said with a nod, as he chuckled.

~~~~

Kora sighed. "As far as I can tell, this is just a generic transport mecha someone outfitted to look like a meteor. But there's no clue as to how-"

A scratching sound came from the door.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd frowned, as he pulled out his beam saber, and slowly walked toward the door.

A rotted corpse burst through, charging at him.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd jumped back, and then attempted to slash the corpse down the middle.

The corpse exploded, covering the room with...ew.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"... I will admit, not my finest decision." Lloyd said with a blink, as he wiped some of the stuff off him.

"Weird..." Shiza said. "Shiza could feel his Soul Energy going bye-bye."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"You could feel it?" Lloyd asked, confused about that.

"Interesting." Chargas said. "Explain, Shiza."
"Shiza could feel it. It was like something was pulling his Soul Energy out of him. He wasn't really moving, he was more...being pulled."
Shiza paused a moment, then started sucking on Trey's ear.

-==IC: TRey==-

"Yep. Just like a puppy." Trey muttered, as he sighed. Lloyd frowned, though.
"That's odd, though... I wonder what that means..." LLoyd mumbled, as he thought about the consequences of that.

Shiza looked up. "It means the aura of the third sphere has extended to the kittens. Shiza wants  to play with Pancakes."

-==IC: ??==-

"You called?" A female voice called out, as a blonde haired girl just smirked nearby.
"I must say, I was surprised when I got filled in about our guest at the door. They seemed surprised that I got here too, but I figured it'd been a while since I visited, so I might as well visit."

"YYYYYAAAAAAAAYYYYY!" Shiza pulled out her chainsaw and ran at Carrie.

-==IC: Carrie==-

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, watch the chainsaw!" Carrie said, as she ducked behind Rose for protection, as Lloyd simply grinned in a 'now I  have blackmail material' sorta way.

Shiza jumped over Rose and tackled Carrie to the ground. "You need syrup."

-==IC: Carrie==-

"Oh...?" Carrie asked, scared to even know what that meant.

OOC: =P

"Yeah. Pancakes taste better with syrup."

-==IC: Carrie==-

"... Should I even ask?" Carrie asked, as she blinked, not really able to move.

Shiza pinched Carrie's nose and started playing with Carrie's hair.

-==IC: Carrie==-

"Okay, apparently someone missed me." Carrie said, breathing through her mouth instead for obvious reasons.

Shiza licked Carrie's forehead, then kneed her in the stomach. "Did Pancakes miss Shiza?"

-==IC: Carrie==-

"Ooof!" Carrie said, wincing at the knee.
"Some parts, yes, not precisely the kneeing, though."

OOC: ANy Steam power tonight? =P

OOC: After dinner.

IC: "YAY!"  Shiza pulled out a new chainsaw.

OOC: Ah. =P

-==IC: Carrie==-

"Err..." Carrie said, blinking, as she couldn't exactly object this time.

Shiza revved the chainsaw and charged at Trey.

-==IC: Trey==-

"Whoa, why me!?" Trey asked, as he dodged out of the way quickly.

"SHIZA WANTS TO PLAY!!!"

-==IC: Trey==-

"You call this playing!?" Trey asked, incredulously.

Shiza swung the chainsaw at his head.

-==IC: Trey==-

Trey barely ducked, and attempted to trip Shiza to the floor instinctively.

Shiza jumped backward, nearly beheading Bob/John/Tim/Tom/who the heck cares.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Shiza, could we just not try killing everyone here for once?"

"Shiza's just playing."
Ernesto the Penguin walked past, saluting everyone as he did.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Yes, well, your playing might hurt someone, so what about a toy chainsaw?" Lloyd asked, pulling a toy chainsaw out of storage that he had gotten before Shiza had bit the dust before.

Shiza bit the chainsaw. "Taftes wik ggfbmrel."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"I'm just gonna nod at this and pretend I have any idea what's happening."

Rose sighed. "Back to the topic of zombies and robotic meteors..."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd nodded, as that was a better subject to talk about.

"Shiza said something was...draining the Soul Energy from the corpse?"

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Yeah, then went insane, as usual."

Shiza pulled some Ghost Pepper Pudding from her pocket and attempted to feed it to Carrie.

-==IC: Carrie==-

Carrie, in response, dashed away from Shiza very quickly.

Shiza laughed happily and climbed in Trey's lap.

-==IC: Trey==-

"... But, that's, not..." Trey said with a frown, as he blinked, and looked at Kora for help.

Kora was too busy laughing to help.

-==IC: Trey==-

Trey gave her a 'really' sorta look, and sighed.
"Shiza, I guess you missed me, but, really?" Trey asked, just not sure why he was chosen, of all people.

Shiza licked him.


(Chargas): "I feel like something drastic is soon to happen..perhaps we should endeavor to reassemble SHIRA Squad."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Yeah, we were actually talking about where Leo and Adrian were, not that long ago. Problem is, we have no clue."

"I thought General Tyrr was dead."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd blinked in confusion, and then slapped his face.
"I meant Jared."

OOC: =P

"Ah."

Luna nodded thoughtfully. "Well, I know where Leo is, but Jared..."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Hmm... I don't even remember what he said he was planning on doing, anyway." Lloyd said and shrugged.
"Either way, our mission is to find him, now."

(Intern): "Someone's trying to blow up a grocery store."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"... Really? Why would they do that?"

"No idea."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Let's go find out." Lloyd said with a shrug.

(A.G.): "Dance, my pretties! AHAHAHHEHEHEHEHHEHE!" His mecha fired more shots at the shoppers.

(Sally): "THIS IS WHY I LEFT THE ARMY!"

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen sighed, as he nodded, hiding the two of them behind cover.
"I hear you there, that's for sure." Owen said, as he tried to think of what to do.

"Don't suppose you carry an assault rifle with you?"

-==IC: Owen==-

"Sadly, no, didn't think that'd be good for this trip." Owen said, and paused.
"If I had've known there'd be a crazed lunatic, maybe I would've."

A.G. fired a missile through the door, obliterating the produce section.

-==IC: Owen==-

"... Well that's not good. At least the snack thing is still intact."

A grenade blew up the snack section.

-==IC: Owen==-

"... Well, there's still the meat section."

A.G.'s  mech smashed through the wall, obliterating the meat section.

-==IC: Owen==-

"... Anything else works too."

The mech fired at him.

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen opened his mouth to be annoyed, however, a mech stepped in front to block, destroying more of the store.
"... What just happened." Owen bluntly asked with a blink.

A.G. fired at the newcomer.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd blocked, with a frown.
"Odd, I distinctly remember saying that mechs should not attack grocery stores." Lloyd commented, as he dashed toward the other mech, and attempted to throw it away from the store.

A.G. cackled and dodged his attacks.
"There you are!"

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"And there you are. I'm sorry, I seem to recall you running away last time."

(Rose): "No...not...possible. Y-you're dead!"
(A.G.): "EHEHEHHEHHEEEEE! It takes more than a falling gunship to kill me, little Rosie."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Well I'm gonna finish the job, right now!" Lloyd yelled out, as he activated his booster jets, and attempted to stab through A.G's mech quickly, to finish the fight in one quick move.

A.G. leaped out of the mech, firing his pistol at the joints holding Lloyd's together.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

The knee on Lloyd's mech buckled, however, the fist shot out quickly, and attempted to grab A.G. before he could deal any more damage.

A.G. jumped over the fist and shot  the bolts holding it onto the mech.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

As A.G. was in the air, however, one of the shoulder rockets 'accidentally' shot out at him.

OOC: Lloyd's not just gonna waste an opportunity to 'accidentally' take out the guy who shot his fiance a few years earlier. =P Or did he shoot Kora. I think it's Rose, though.

OOC: Both.
IC: A.G. flipped over in midair, landed on the rocket, and jumped off.

OOC: Well, I mean when Lloyd was present. =P A.G. has a grudge against one of them. =P

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd took that opportunity to get out, and launch himself at A.G. with a savage growl.

OOC: Rose.

IC: A.G. flipped away, shooting at Lloyd as he did so.

OOC: Exactly. =P

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd twisted in midair, barely dodging the bullets, as he attempted to slash out at A.G. with the beam saber he always had.

A.G. grabbed the beam saber and pulled it away.

OOC: Custom mechanical hand. :P

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd used that instant, however, to punch A.G. in the face, and then kick him away.

OOC: You know how. =P

A.G. landed on his feed and jumped up in the air, punching Lloyd hard in the chin.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd winced at the punch, however, gripped AG's arm, and attempted to swing the attacker into his Mech's Beam Saber in response.

OOC: I'm just trying to think of attacks the guy won't just shrug off. =P

A.G. pulled free and kicked Lloyd towards said saber.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd, however, used OverDrive to move the saber out of the way, and quickly slash toward A.G. instead.

A.G. leaped over, jumped off Lloyd's head, and fired at Rose's mech.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd, as he was falling, pulled out a gun, and aimed at A.G, firing off shots at where he should be, and one where he currently was to get him to the other spots.

A.G. activated a shield in his mechanical hand and blocked the bolt.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd simply continued firing, partially to give Rose a chance to fire as well.

Rose remained frozen, however.
A.G. kicked the weapon out of Lloyd's hands. it landed near Owen.

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen, took that opportunity, picked it up, and fired off a few shots at A.G. quickly.

A.G. kicked Lloyd into a wall, pulled out his pistol, and fired three shots. One blasted the weapon out of Owen's hand. The second struck the fire alarm.
The third hit Sally's leg.

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen narrowed his eyes at what happened, as he put his hands up in mock surrender.
"So, let me as you... Did you order pancakes?" Owen asked, obviously familiar with who was helping rescue them.

"No. My employer specifically requested Melons."

-==IC: Owen==-

"Oh, well that's too bad. Because pancakes and bacon were served. Along with a side order of Justice." Owen said, as another two mechs showed up, one of them attempting to step on A.G. as they landed.
"... HOW DO YOU FLY THIS THING!?" A panicked male voice said in the other one.

OOC: Yes, Trey is piloting a mech. Yes, it's not going well. =P

A.G. giggled. "Well, I've done my job. Ta-ta." He dropped a piece of paper on the ground, tipped his hat, and vanished in a puff of smoke.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd groaned, as he stood up with a frown, wondering what happened, as he staggered toward the piece of paper, even as Owen checked Sally, to make sure she  was okay other than the bullet wound.

OOC: What is with that guy, anyway? ._.

OOC: He's my way of moving the plot along. :P

IC: Sally sighed. "Again. This is why I left the army."

(Old man): "Finally! Can you help me find the milk now?"
(Writing on paper): This is our revenge. You have doomed us all.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"What...?" Lloyd muttered, as he read the note with a shake of his head, and looked around to make sure everyone was okay.

-==IC: Owen==-

"I don't blame you..." Owen said with a sigh.
"Kinda wish there was a slightly more peaceful alternative for you, though."

Rose shuddered. "A.G..."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"We'll get him one day." Lloyd said with a frown.
"I still don't know what his deal is, but it's nothing good..."

(Sally): "Wait...SHIRA Squad?!"

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Eh, not quite." Lloyd said, giving a hi sorta wave motion to Sally.
"Mostly freelancers right now, though things have gotten weird again. Just when I was hoping to have some peace and quiet, too..." Lloyd said with a sigh.

"Weirder than this?"

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Shiza's back, zombies are rising up from the dead, Shiza's back, and there are things disguised as meteors. Oh, and Shiza's back."

(Rose): "Oh, and robots came out of the meteors. And Shiza's bac-oh, wait, you said that."


(Sally): "Who is Shiza?"

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"An insane girl who apparently died but instead time traveled. That should explain things enough right there." Lloyd said with a sigh.

"...I'm gonna shoot myself, kay?" Sally sighed.

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen sighed with a frown, as he looked away.
"I don't think you should just give up on yourself like that." Owen said, and Lloyd raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

"Yeah yeah..."

-==IC: Owen==-

"I'm serious here. Don't let weirdness get you down; I should know that the hard way."

Shiza chose that minute to charge in with her chainsaw. "MELONS!"

-==IC: Owen==-

"... I stand corrected. I'm guessing that's Shiza?" Owen asked, and Lloyd simply nodded, not even able to respond.

Shiza walked over to Owen and yanked on his hair. "Ding-Dong!"

-==IC: Owen==-

"I..." Owen said, and Lloyd just shrugged.
"Did I mention the insane thing?"

Shiza pulled off Owen's shoes and tickled his feet. "Shiza's gonna call you Pickleface."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen looked to Lloyd for help, but Lloyd simply shrugged.

Shiza pulled out her chainsaw. "Shiza wants to play."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen looked over at Sally, hoping she had some ideas, as Lloyd sighed.
"Shiza, down."

Shiza kissed Owen, then clapped his ears.

-==IC: Owen==-

"I..." Owen frowned, as he pushed Shiza away slightly, as Lloyd sighed.
"Hey, Shiza, there's a treat over here!" Lloyd called out.

"TREET!" Shiza hurled her chainsaw off to the side, nearly beheading Sally's manager, and ran at Lloyd.

-==IC: Owen==-

"Sorry Mr. Brawn!" Owen called out, as he looked at Sally apologetically, as Lloyd handed Shiza a treat.
"... She's like a lost puppy or something." Owen muttered, as he sighed, and shook his head.
"Yeah, this is weirder." Owen mused.

Shiza took the treat, then walked over and curled up at Mr. Braun's feet, sound asleep.

OOC: xD

-==IC: Owen==-

"Maybe it'd be best to just leave here for now, and yeah..." Owen said, not sure what else to do otherwise.

(Shiza): *While asleep* "I'm gonna kill Owen."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen paled at that, as Lloyd blinked.

(Shiza): "Eat his intestines..."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Maybe I should bring SHiza back." Lloyd said, looking around with a slight frown.

Shiza rolled over and stuck her arms in the air.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"... She really is like a puppy."

"I almost want to rub her tummy." Sally said.

An old lady walked over. "There's a spill in the cheese aisle! I could have been hurt! I'm going to sue!"

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd shrugged.
"Knowing Shiza, she'd like that." Lloyd said, not sure how that would work.

A meteor landed right in front of the old lady. "THAT'S IT, I'M SUING!"

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd hopped back into his mech, and then groaned, as he could barely move, due to A.G.'s interference. Trey frowned, as he headed back to his mech, and that just ended with his mech upside down.
"... Geez, you boys make this seem so hard." Carrie said, as she rolled her eyes.

Rose hopped back into her mech as the meteor released its robots, then flew into the air and began shooting.

-==IC: Carrie==-

Carrie followed, smashed up the robots with her wrench weapon.

Rose fired a missile at the meteor. It moved to the side, dodging.

-==IC: Carrie==-

Carrie dashed forward, and attempted to at least distract the meteor.

The meteor dropped on her.

-==IC: Carrie==-

Carrie quickly dodged out of the way with a frown; not quite certain how it's reflexes were that good.

It fired a rocket at her.

-==IC: Carrie==-

Carrie dodged again, and attempted to hit it back with her mech's wrench.

The meteor flew at her mech.
(Rose): "Too...fast! I can't get a lock!"

-==IC: Carrie==-

Carrie bit her lip, as she attempted to hold the Meteor in place.

The meteor fired rockets at her.

-==IC: Carrie==-

Carrie's mech endured them barely, as she kept a hold on the Meteor, hoping that someone would attack soon.

Rose fired a missile at the meteor, vaporizing it.

(Shiza): *wakes up* "Muffins."

OOC: How about we timeskip to a place where all the characters can be together?

OOC: Yes. =P

Kora poked the remains of the second meteor. "This one has letters on it too...XSF-023D."
(Leo): "I can explain that."

(Rose): "LEO!"

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd looked over in surprise as Leo suddenly appeared, but nodded.
"Alright, what's your explanation? Did the moon send some random messenger because we did things wrong?"

"Not exactly. Suffice to say, my recovered memories shed a good deal of light...on a number of things."
He slowly walked forward and knelt by the meteor. "Those numbers correspond to an old model of stealth space mechas...mechs designed to fight against the Other. A huge number of them were created and then discarded. It is likely that they were found by some would-be warlord. Frankly, I imagine we have a much worse problem than that."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"A worse problem?" Lloyd asked with a frown, not liking the sound of that.

"Yes. it might sound strange, but I imagine before long, we may find ourselves dealing with, to put it in layman's terms, zombies."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Oh, so, like what we've already dealt with, you mean." Lloyd said, a look of skepticism on his face.

Leo stared at him. "Oh...****. Well, that makes things....worse."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Worse how exactly?" Lloyd asked, a sudden frown appearing on his face.

Leo sighed. "It's a bit of a long story, so I'll give you the cliffs notes. Something is feeding on the Soul Energy of the recently deceased, which has the side effect of temporarily reanimating the corpse as its residual Soul Energy is drained. This something has only just noticed Earth, most likely due to the massive amounts of Soul Energy expended in the battle against the Other."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Did we ever figure out what Soul Energy even was?" Lloyd asked, curious about that.

"Ah-That's-not something I feel like I'm ready to discuss."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd seemed puzzled about that, but shrugged.
"What do we do, then? Obviously we can't let this continue."

"Well, ideally we'd find a way to block this...entity...from absorbing Soul Energy."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Alright; then what's the entity, and how would we do that? Surround them in an energy shield?"

"Well...if you wanted to completely surround...it...the energy field would need to be...hm...approximately 423.7 times the size of the universe."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Okay, then that idea's out." Lloyd said, and paused.
"What if we combined? Would we be able to stop it then?"

OOC: SOmeone's been watching too much gurren Lagann in his time not driving bandits away. =P

"Can you combine into a mecha vastly larger than the universe containing said mecha? No? Then it's an idiotic idea." Leo suddenly paled and fainted.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Well we could try..." Lloyd muttered, looking away, right before Leo fainted.
"What happened?" Lloyd asked, as he kneeled down to try and understand what had caused Leo to faint.

"It's been happening ever since his memories returned." Luna said.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"That seems odd..." Lloyd said with a frown, wondering what could cause something like that.

Shiza walked over, stuck her hand in Lloyd's mouth, and yanked on his tongue.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Whuh thuh heck duh yuh think auh am!?" Lloyd sputtered, trying to figure out how to handle this.

OOC: For lack of fight scenes. =P

"What's this?" Shiza asked, moving his tongue around.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd simply looked over at Rose, to see if he could do anything crazy.

Shiza looked at Rose as well, then punched Lloyd in the nose and tackle-hugged Rose.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd tumbled away, and just laid there for a moment, his leg twitching.

Shiza flopped on the floor next to  him.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd simply shook his head at her.

She held his eyes open and stared at him.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd then attempted to push Shiza away.

Shiza passed out.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Well that was odd."

Shiza coughed up blood.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Okay, that's not good." Lloyd said, that not seeming right.

"I wouldn't worry yet." Chargas said. "It is likely that her body has not yet adjusted to being flung into the future."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Hopefully." lloyd said with a frown.

"If it gets worse we may need to take measures, but I wouldn't worry about her right now."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

lloyd nodded, and wondered about that being again.
"What can we do about this thing that's trying to make everyone zombies?"

"That is not it's goal. It is absorbing the soul energy, zombification is just a side effect."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"I was trying to be polite about it." Lloyd said with a chuckle; but then sighed.
"Alright then, what do we do about this thing that's going around absorbing everyone's Soul Energy; that better?"

"I have no idea. Even the Other feared this creature."

(Rose): "So...making a REALLY REALLY big mech isn't gonna work?"

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Yeha, can't we just combine the whole universe into a mech somehow?" Lloyd chimed in, backing up quickly.

"If you want to KILL EVERYTHING in it."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Why would we need to kill everything in the universe?" Lloyd asked, skeptically raising his eyebrow.

"Do you honestly believe it is possible to rearrange to contents of the universe without causing catastrophe? Put a sun in the wrong place, and planets either burn or freeze. Put a solar system in the wrong place and the whole thing gets sucked into a supermassive black hole."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"What if they were like... sealed so that wasn't possible?" Lloyd asked, though knew he was grasping at straws there.

OOC: LEt-me-GO! A-
HEY! Keep author-boy here quiet. He writes the story I want, and that's that!
IC: Shiza woke up and punched Lloyd in a sensitive area.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd, however, side-stepped quickly, which would have the unfortunate accident of Shiza crashing to the ground. And/or hitting Leo in the process.

Shiza pulled out her chainsaw and ran at Carrie.

OOC: Assuming most of the cast is here, save Jared and the supermarket people.

-==IC: Carrie==-

Carrie jumped over Shiza and the chainsaw quickly.

Shiza reached up and removed Carrie's shoes and socks. She then shoved the sock's down Rose's top and began chewing on one of the shoes.


(Leo): "Remind me why we missed her?"

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Probably the same reason we missed you." Lloyd commented, walking off before Leo could realize what he meant. Meanwhile, all Carrie could do was blink.

Rose sighed. "I assume you don't want your socks back now. I'm going to go change."

Shiza started chewing on Carrie's head.

-==IC: Carrie==-

Carrie dived out of the way, and dashed after Rose, not caring about anything but getting away from Shiza.

Shiza got bored and started playing with Lloyd's eyebrows.

(Rose): "Carrie? Is there a reason you're in the bathroom with me?"

(Bathroom Door): "Automatic security system engaged. Locking mechanisms active."

(Rose): "Wonderful."

-==IC: Carrie==-

Carrie blinked, as she just looked at the door.
"I just wanted away from her..." Carrie said with a sigh.

Shiza was waiting outside with a chainsaw, lasagna, and live panda when they finally escaped the bathroom.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd suddenly frowned and went pale.
"RUN."

Shiza jumped on Carrie. "PANCAKES!"

-==IC: Carrie==-

Carrie barely managed to duck out of the way.

Shiza grabbed Carrie and pulled her down. "You smell like Melons."

(Rose): *Idly eating the lasagna* *To Lloyd* "Want a bite?"

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Sure." Lloyd said with a nod. Meanwhile, Carrie nervously laughed, and tried to wriggle free of Shiza's grip.

Shiza licked Carrie's ear. "You taste like Melons too."

The panda sat down.

-==IC: Carrie==-

Carrie simply continued to try to wriggle out of Shiza's grip.

Shiza grabbed Carrie's ears and pulled.

-==IC: Carrie==-

"Hey wait, what are you do- OW OW OW OW OW!!" Carrie yelled out, as her ears pulled in ways that they definitely should not be.

Shiza began braiding Carrie's hair while singing under her breath.
"gut Carrie, bake Carrie, tie'er intestines in a knot..."

-==IC: Carrie==-

Carrie then paled, not sure what to do.

Rose looked at Lloyd. "Shall we leave Shiza to her fun?"

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd nodded, as he stood up, with an amused smile.

Shiza continued singing about removing and eating Carrie's heart and eyeballs as Rose and Lloyd left.

~~~~~~~~~Six Hours and forty three minutes later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"ALL PERSONNEL, REPORT TO THE MECH BAY. ALL PERSONNEL, REPORT TO THEFB--SORRY, HAIR IN MY MOUTH. REPORT TO THE MECH BAY."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Why do I have a bad feeling." Lloyd mumbled, as he hopped around, and then dashed off toward the mech bay.

(A.G.): "Eheheheeheheehe he he...Now, then...WHO WANTS TO DIE FIRST?!"

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"I vote you." Lloyd said, utterly tired of his antics, as he attempted to shoot his gun at wherever A.G. was.

A.G.'s newest mech (which resembled Jack Skellington crossed with the Joker) dodged the blast and fired a missile at Lloyd.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd quickly dodged out of the way, hopping into his mech as he did so.
"RIGHT THEN! No escape this time." Lloyd said, as his mech dashed toward A.G.'s.

The mech punched out as Lloyd came for it.

-===IC: Llloyd==-

"RAH RAH RAH RAH!" Lloyd yelled out, dodging the blow, and stabbingout multiple times with his new dual edged beam sword.

A spread of missiles emerged from A.G.s mech.
(Rose): "...Shiza....there are hamsters in my cockpit."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd leaped back and fired off a spread of lasers to intercept the missiles.

A second wave of missiles flew through the smoke cloud caused by the first wave's detonation.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd shot those down as well, using the smokescreen to attempt to spear A.G.'s mech, knowing his allies were luckily nowhere near.

A.G.'s mech was not where he expected it to be. A giant electronet flew at Lloyd's mech from somewhere to the side.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd jumped up, hearing the suddenrush of wind that signaled it, and tried to findwhere A.G.'s mech was.

A.G.'s laugh echoed all around.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Llloyd, instead, tapped into his Soul Energy, and attempted to use that to help him find A.G.'s mech.

Instantly, he felt trillions of nightmarish things squirming inside his skull.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd recoiled, the connection being cutoff, as he grimaced.
"What the heck...?" Lloyd asked, confused at what happened.

A.G.'s mech flew at him, a large drill emerging from its fist.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"No-one's got time for that!" Lloyd called out, as he spun past the drill, and attempted to stab A.G. again.

Spines flew out of A.G.'s mech as it leaped backwards.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Oh, so it's Lazengann." Lloyd stated, as he roared out, focusing his will power to try and slice through everything and become the victor.

Once again his head felt as though it were filled with squirming tendrils.
While he was distracted, A.G.'s drill smashed into the center of his mech.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"... Who the hell... do you think I am." Lloyd said, his left arm badly injured by the attack, along with his shoulder and a bit of his face.
"OMEGA BLADE BREAKER!!" Lloyd yelled out, as he attempted to retaliate at least.

A.G.'s mech stumbled back. Rose's mech jumped in front of Lloyd's as Leo and Luna's attack A.G. from the sides.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd panted, as he gripped his head with his right hand, finally having a chance to focus on what happened.
What... was that...?

Shiza appeared in the mech next to him. "Did the nasty wormy-squirmies try to eat Lloyd?"

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"You've felt or seen them too...?" Lloyd asked with a frown, having a bad feeling.

"Yeah. They're poking around in Shiza's skull. They'll probably kill Shiza within a month. Lloyd won't last more than a year."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"... Well. That explains earlier." Lloyd said with a frown.
"How do we stop it?"

"Dunno." Shiza pulled a wooden rabbit out of her pocket and started sucking on the ears.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"there's gotta be a way to stop this..." Lloyd mumbled, trying to think.

Shiza shrugged. "Shiza doesn't wanna die. Not now. If you die while the worms are in your brain, you don't really die. You get sucked inside It."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"is that so..." Lloyd mumbled, as he thought for a few moments.

"Yeah. You don't get to die. You'll just be part of it. Writhing, squirming inside it for incomprehensible lengths of time as your base essence is slowly obliterated."

OOC: And she's lucid!

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Ah." Lloyd said, not quite so quick to sacrifice himself for that.
"I guess that doesn't help anything at all, then."

"It seems like the more we win, the worse our dangers get." She said mournfully. "I can feel them, Lloyd. They're eating the inside of my mind."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"I believe you." LLoyd said, a scowl on his face, as he was helpless to do anything now, and it frustrated him.
"We have to win this biggest fight... for everyone."

"Lloyd...please...help me. I can't stand it. this feeling...it's tortures me even in my insane state. If...if it gets any worse..."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd stayed silent for about 30 seconds.
"I'll destroy this thing with my bare hands if I have to." Lloyd growled, a sudden surge in his will suddenly, as he had his mech slowly stand up.

A.G.'s mech was still intact, but damaged and retreating.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Not on my watch." Lloyd said with a growl, as his mech seemed to begin to repair itself, as he dashed forward, and attempted to slice the legs off of A.G.'s mech.

The squirming force attempted to penetrate his brain again.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd roared out, attempting to use his sheer will to force the being away and stop it from having that sensation, even as he stayed in control of his body this time.

The tendrils retreated from his mind. His mech seemed to glow, surrounded by a whirling spiral of power.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd yelled out,as his beam saber, much to his amusement, turned into a large drill, which he attempted to stab A.G.'s mech with.

The mech exploded into bits.
(Shiza): "You...You...were able to..." blood spurted from her nose and she fainted.
~~~Several Minutes Later~~~
(Rose): "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THERE'S NO BODY?"
(Leo): "Yelling won't help. This mech was run by an A.I, and that's that."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd frowned, as he looked over what happened to Shiza with a frown, and looked over at what rose and Leo were talking about solemnly.
Who is A.G. anyway... Lloyd wondered, though he then smiled, as he suddenly stood up.
"EVERYONE, LISTEN UP!" Lloyd called out, and then smiled, as he grabbed a <=> shaped visor from his mech, and then seemed impressed.
"We can beat this devourer thing. It is possible."

(Rose): "Sweetie, your glasses look ridiculous. And what the heck is a devourer?"

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Ridiculous? I think they look cool." Lloyd said, blinking with a shrug.
"Devourer... It's a name I gave that thing. After all, it's eating Soul Energy, and sounds like a fitting name, especially since the worm-like sensation I'm assuming it is causing." Lloyd said, recalling the thingy that Shiza and him had been talking about.

"Worm like?"

(Shiza, unconscious): "Hurts..."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd then proceeded to describe the sensation in more detail.

(Rose): "...I hope that's not contagious."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd then explained what happened when he went to kill a.G.

"Ugh, freaky...is Shiza alright?"

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd frowned, and walked over to shiza, feeling her forehead.

Shiza's forehead was freezing cold.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd frowned, and picked the girl up.
"Where's the warmest room here?" Lloyd asked, as really, Shiza was the closest he truly had to a sister.

(Rose): "...Probably our bedroom."
(Leo): "..."
(Rose): "I keep the heat up! I get chilly!"

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"I can attest to that, actually, good thinking." Lloyd said, as he ran there, carrying Shiza.

Shiza woke up an hour later with a severe fever.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"... Maybe we overdid it. Coolest place that's not utterly freezing?" Lloyd asked, though he had a secondary idea.

(Shiza): "Where're the puppyfish?"

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"... I can't tell if she's normal or not."

(Rose): "I think her fever just broke."
(Shiza): *licks Rose's elbow*

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"That looks about right, yeah."

Shiza stared at Lloyd. "I can see them squirming behind your eyeballs."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd blinked, confused.

"You only bought time." Her voice changed.  "We are within you. We will consume."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Yeah, I don't buy that at all. You're scared. That's why you're resorting to petty things like this." Lloyd said with a growl.

"You will be the first. You repel our tendrils, but we will feed."

(Chargas): "Interesting. You expect us to believe you are this Devourer? I don't  buy it."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"She's probably being possessed." Lloyd guessed, as he paused,and slapped his forehead.
"Well, that's not a good thing." Lloyd mumbled, but shook his head.
"Regardless, you say that as if it's definite. I don't believe that; if it can be repelled, it can have more stuff happen. I'm going to make sure you, Devourer, are destroyed." Lloyd said with another growl.

"That is not the devourer." Chargas said. "And I would imagine there is a chip somewhere in Ms. Tnanna's brain, likely implanted sometime between her passing out, and waking back up."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Wait, you know more about this?" Lloyd asked, confused.

"You could say that. The same man that hired A.G. likely told him to shoot Shiza with that chip after he made his escape, or else has an agent on the inside."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Hired A.G.? He was acting on someone's command?" Lloyd asked with a frown, not liking the soundof that.

"He's a mercenary. Psychotic, but skilled. He used to be in the employ of the Empire. It shames me that I was involved in ordering him to kill Miss Hamilton's parents."


OOC: Rose Hamilton, remember. :P

-==IC: Lloyd==-

LLoyd paused for a moment, but slowly nodded, uneasily glancing over at Rose to see if she heard that, but then frowned.
"Who could have hired him this time, though...?" Lloyd wondered, though frowned, as the biggest missing piece would be the one who oddly knew a lot more about this new threat than would normally be possible...

(Chargas, to medic): "Try to get that chip out of her skull. I'm off. Come, 'Leo'."

-==IC; lloyd==-

Lloyd narrowed his eyes, as the tone Chargas used confirmed his suspicions about who could've implanted the chip, and he moved to follow Chargas.

Luna extended her hand and blocked Lloyd. "Let them be."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd frowned, but nodded slowly. He still had the odd feeling, but let them be anyway.

"Thank you." Luna muttered. "He kept my secret, so I will ensure that I keep his."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"I just hope it doesn't place us in danger by doing so." Lloyd mumbled, but then sighed.
"You're right though... We'll have to give him the benefit of the doubt for now. Still curious about the tone used, though..."

"Leo isn't our enemy. He just...has a lot to deal with. Some things would have been better off unremembered."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Then we still have the unresolved question of who the person who implanted the chip is..." Lloyd said with a frown.

"Doubtless the same person that sent the robots."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Yep; though the who is the question there even with that theory..."

"Yeah...my daddy probably knows."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Oh?" Lloyd asked, confused.

"He was emperor, after all."

-==IC: lloyd==-

"True... But, what if the person was converted recently or something?"

"Then I suppose our best lead would be capturing A.G."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Which means we'd have to find him..." Lloyd said, sighing, as that took them back to square one.

Shiza sat bolt upright. "Hamsters are fluffy wuffy little vampires and I wanna eat their eyeballs."
She then fell back asleep.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Does that mean she's back to normal??" Lloyd asked with a blink.

"...normal?"

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Not 'possessed'."

"I see."
Luna began to walk away. "Oh, and Lloyd...we might need to find Jared, as well."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Weren't we about to anyway, before all this happened?" Lloyd asked, recalling that.

"Good point. Do you have any plans?"

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd shook his head.

OOC: Lloyd and Yuusuke are in the exact same position right now, it seems. =P

"Hm...well, we need to get coordinated. Go out on patrol or something while Shiza's having the chip removed."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd nodded, but was unsure where to go.

"Why not check out that grocery store that A.G. attacked?"

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"hmm, true enough." lloyd said with a nod, as he hoped that had some hints.

(Sally Silth): "Welcome to Bob's Discount Foods, where almost all of our products are edible. probably."

-==IC: lloyd==-

"Hi." Lloyd said, noticing Owen chilling on a nearby bench and raised an eyebrow at him.

Sally walked over with two sodas and handed one to Owen. "I wanted to thank you for helping earlier." She looked at Lloyd. "Please don't arrest me, I swear I'm not working with the Remnant any more."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd raised an eyebrow.
"I'm not really in an 'arresting' position." Lloyd said with a chuckle, as Owen smiled and nodded, accepting the drink.
"I wanted to ask about what happened yesterday?" Lloyd asked, curiously.

"What's to say? Nutjob A.G. tried to blow us up."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Yeah; figured; I don't really have any leads, though."

OOC: Did I not give you enough to respond to in the others?
Also, about Alone, I'll warn you if you're at risk of missing anything.

IC: "Just bait him. Stand around and be noticeable. He'll attack."

OOC: No clue what to do for Engima. =P Phoenix I just need to think about what's happening, since it didn't really go as expected. =P

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Okay, I guess that works; though last time I fought him he was fighting remotely."

OOC: Choose an exhibit to search.

IC: "I doubt he was too far off. A. G. likes to see his carnage."

-==IC: lloyd==-

Lloyd chuckled.
"Well, that certainly was something he wasn't expecting, then, I destroyed his mech in the process." lloyd said with a chuckle.

"He has more."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"Oh, I figured, just saying."

"...If it's OK with you, I'd like to talk with him" *points to Owen* "for a bit."

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd nodded, and waited outside.

Sally sat next to Owen. "So..."

-==IC: Owen==-

"Hi." Owen said, moving slightly to give Sally some room to sit, since he had accidentally taken up pretty much the entire bench.

"I've been trying to remember how I know you."

-==IC: Owen==-

"Oh yeah?" Owen asked curiously, looking at her and wondering if she had actually recalled anything.

She twirled her hair around her finger. "I just...Nah, I'm just imagining it, I have to be." She unconsciously rubbed her wrist.

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen sat up, confused by what she meant.
"Imagining what?" Owen asked, curious now.

"You look so familiar, but..." She tightened her grip on her wrist.

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen stayed quiet, still confused, but didn't want to seem annoying, as he waited for her to hopefully explain.

She remained silent, gripping her wrist tightly.

OOC: Hint, this is your character development time.

OOC: Hm? What do you mean?

OOC: Owen seemed to know Sally.

OOC: I can't remember exactly what I had planned for how he knew her. >>'''

-==IC: Owen==-

"Well, if it's any consolation, you seem pretty familiar to me too..." Owen said, though wasn't sure what she meant by the 'but' part.

"...I wonder why..."

-==IC: Owen==-

"I'm not sure..." Owen said, but paused.
"While we may not know... Maybe getting to know each other might help with figuring it out?" Owen suggested, as he honestly had no other ideas.

"Um...I...I guess...though I'm not exactly proud of my past."
She began rubbing her wrist again.

-==IC: Owen==-

"The whole Remnant thing, or...?" Owen asked, to double check, though he didn't really seem to care for some reason.

"Well, yeah. These days, being the commander of the Kel-Terrakron isn't exactly something to be proud of. And getting promoted to that position...I did a lot of bad things in my time as a soldier."

-==IC: Owen==-

"I think people deserve second chances, myself."

"Yeah..I suppose that's what I told myself too. It's the only way I can make sense of surviving the Terrakron's crash."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen nodded, though wasn't entirely sure what to say, as he wanted to say something, to try and make sense of why he felt like he'd known her for a long while, but couldn't think of anything.

Leila looked at Owen, wondering what connection he had to her. Unconsciously, she tightened her grip on her wrist, until the tips of her fingers turned purple.

OOC: Sally. =P

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen placed his hand on Sally's, frowning slightly.
"You okay? You might wanna loosen up a bit..." Owen said, worried about the hand thing.

OOC: *points at character sheet* Nope, Leila.

IC: "!" She quickly loosened her grip and began rubbing her wrist again. "I-I'm fine."

OOC:
Sally. =P

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen nodded, but withdrew his hand, since she seemed almost like she didn't appreciate that or so.

OOC: I see...I was looking at the wrong profile. Serves me right for skimming it. :P

IC: She flushed slightly, still rubbing her wrist. "I'm fine. Really."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen nodded, but paused.
"What do you do when not working, anyway?"

"...sleep. It's all I have time for."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen looked in surprise, and frowned slightly.
"You don't get weekends off or so??"

"Well, on weekends I'll go to the movies, I guess."

-==IC: Owen==-

"That's a pretty cool thing; anyone you go to it with?"

"No. I don't have any friends."

-==IC: Owen==-

"Huh, well that makes two of us; unless you want that to be changed." Owen said, as he shrugged slightly.

"Um."

-==IC: Owen==-

"Um...?" Owen asked, wondering if he'd gone too far or so.

"I just...well...I'm not sure I'd  know what to do with a friend."

-==IC: Owen==-

"Why don't we learn together what could be done with a friend, then?" Owen asked with a slight smile.

"Well...I...That could be nice, I guess..." She squeezed her wrist again.

-==IC: Owen==-

"Are you... afraid...?" Owen asked, confused slightly, because he couldn't really understand Sally all too much at the moment.

"it's just...In the Empire, you didn't have friends. You had underlings, superiors, and rivals."

-==IC: Owen==-

"We probably could both use to relearn it, then." Owen said, with a slightly reassuring smile.

"Yeah...What did you do in the Empire, anyway?" Her fingertips were turning purple again.

-==IC: Owen==-

"Sally, hands." Owen point out with a slight frown, as he shrugged.
"I was a pilot, not too much else to say there... I only wish i had've had an exciting job thing." Owen said, but paused slightly.
"Do you want to hold my hands instead of grabbing your wrist? It mustn't do your hand's circulation good, after all..."

"Hands? Oh! U-Um, I'm fine."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen's confidence seemed to falter for a second, as he looked away awkwardly.
"... D-do I.. Make you nervous...?"

"No, no, it's just..." She gripped her wrist again.

-==IC: Owen==-

"Hands." Owen said as he looked back, though he was confused.
"... Is it the memory thing...?"

"Kinda, I guess.."

-==IC: Owen==-

"... Do I make you too uncomfortable...?" Owen asked, as he decided to take on observing the ground.

"No! No, it's not...it's just..."

-==IC: Owen==-

"... Do you feel confused?" Owen asked, unsure quite what she was getting at.

"Um...it's...just...I'm not used to being open with other people..."

-==IC: Owen==-

"Ohh..." Owen nodded at that, and sighed.
"Honestly, I don't know how I'm being this way right now either."

"I just..." Sally collapsed.

-==IC: Owen==-

"Sally?!" Owen said, as he quickly scrambled to his feet and made his way to the girl who collapsed in surprise.

(Sally): "Zzz..."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen sighed in relief slightly, as it seemed she had simply fallen asleep.
She wasn't kidding... Owen thought with a slight smile, as he looked over to see where the manager was.

The door to the supermarket opened and a hooded figure entered.

(Manager): "We're closed. Get outta here, stupid hobo."

The hooded figure brushed past the manager.

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen frowned, and looked back over to Sally for a moment, as he stayed near her side, suspicious of the hooded figure.

The hooded figure approached them.

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen stayed wary, wondering why the figure was approaching them, as he mentally made sure of his position, realizing that his hand actually was close to one of his weapons, just in case.

The hooded figure walked over to Sally and looked down at her. "It seems..you're down one already. Only sleeping, perhaps...or perhaps...even now, her mind is...being eaten."

-==IC: Owen==-

"Who are you, what do you want, and what are you talking about?" Owen asked, his heartrate going up slightly as he was confused and unsure, but something was telling him that this hooded figure was not a good thing.

"And you...once of the Empire...both once dogs of the Empire, now trying for a fresh start...if the world will let you."

-==IC: Owen==-

"You didn't answer my question, who are you?" Owen asked, very uncertain of this person, and the phrasing didn't help.

"Who am I? A powerful question. Do you even know who you truly are?"

-==IC: Owen==-

"I don't really care for games like this." Owen said with a frown.
"Would you explain what you're talking about, already?"Owen asked, growing more and more suspicious every second.

"I think I'm being clear enough. Perhaps you need to listen to more than just my words."

-==IC: Owen==-

"What else am I supposed to be listening to, then?" Owen asked skeptically, as he raised an eyebrow.

"I see...you have much to learn...do you know who you are? Or you just a mindless dog, newly off its leash?"
The figure glanced down at Sally. "This one has traded one leash for another."

-==IC: Owen==-

"My name is Owen Green. I've always followed how I feel things should happen, though I've made mistakes in the past." Owen said, not sure what the person was talking about, still.

"Are you. You are more confident than you should be. You know nothing. You have no purpose. You...this woman...you are worthless."

-==IC: Owen==-

"Do I really know nothing? If so, then why not fill me in on what I don't know... Because I don't agree with being useless... And if Sally's in danger like you're cryptically saying... I want to help her." Owen said, as he slowly stood up.
"No matter what it takes."

"You are both blind. Both preoccupied with your useless little matters. She may die. You may die. Your thoughts, petty though they are, will be nothing...but a meal."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen began breathing heavier, as he glared at the mysterious figure.
"Then open my eyes if I'm so blind!" Owen said, as he gripped his fists, not liking the crypticness of this guy.

"Foolishness. You expect others to show you what you should know already."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen growled, as he stepped forward, and aimed to sock the person in the face.
"Not everyone has the ability to see easily what you apparently can; nor decrypt cryptic comments by someone who has the nerve to cover themselves in a cryptic cloak. So, sorry if I've had enough of your crazy little comments."

The figure dodged. "When faced with your shortcomings, you respond with anger...you deny yourself."

-==IC: Owen==-

"I'm not responding because of my 'shortcomings'. I'm responding because you won't say anything that doesn't need a thousand puzzles to solve!" Owen said, as he attempted to quickly grab the figure by the cloak and pull that off.

(Jared Fisk): "Or maybe I just wanted to see how you would react."

-==IC: Owen==-

"..." Owen looked at Jared skeptically, as he placed his hand on his forehead.
"... So, all this. Was to get a reaction."

"It wasn't pointless, if that's what you mean."

-==IC: Owen==-

"Then what exactly was the point?" Owen asked, as he raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"What point, exactly, did you have to not getting to the point?"

"I wanted to see what kind of person you were."

-==IC: Owen==-

"..." Owen sighed.
"Well, fine, you've got a point there, since I would've been pretty biased otherwise..."

Jared smirked. "If it's any consolation, you passed."

-==IC: Owen==-

"Were you just being all cryptic and mysterious, or is there really something wrong with her other than her just being exhausted from working apparently like 24/7?" Owen asked, as he looked over at Sally worriedly.

"Sadly, anyone with a human brain is indeed in danger."

-==IC: owen==-

Owen frowned, not sure how to take that news.
"How... do we fix it then...?"

"fix it? I doubt we can. Every time we try to make things better...we just make everything worse."

-==IC: Owen==-

"I won't accept that." Owen said, as he turned to sally, and picked her up, not sure what else to do.
"I won't accept that we have to just sit around waiting for things that might not ever happen, not while people are being affected." Owen said, a scowl on his face.

"I don't want to accept it..but what's the point in fighting? We fought the Empire, and all that did was attract the Other...we fought the Other, and now it turns out they were protecting us from...this."

-==IC: Owen==-

"Then whatever happens, we stand up and fight. I never was a part of it because I never realized until after... But that squad you led. It didn't just stand for whatever you guys gave it as an acronym. It wasn't just the name of the most efficient part of the rebellion. It stands for rebellion. For the courage to stand up and fight, when all hope seems to be lost. I'm not going to just let you forget that... If you refuse to fight, I'll fight in your place, standing up for all of humanity, and rebelling against the destiny that's been set out for us right now." Owen stated, as he shook his head.
"I was wrong before. I thought that you were in the wrong. But it turns out that I was the one who was blind initially. I made a mistake, and I don't care to make another. If you're right, and there's another grave threat, I won't just lie down and let it stop us. And if you think about it, I doubt you will either."

OOC: ...Good speech. +10 exp for roleplaying. :P

IC: Jared smiled. "...You're right. Maybe trying to fight does cause more trouble...but it's better than lying down. I was right in my assessment of you. Which leads me to my main point. Would you like to join my new team?"

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen nodded.
"I'm in." Owen said with a smile, glad there actually was a point in the end.

OOC: Gurren Lagann amusingly inspired me. =P

Jared smirked. "Great. When she wakes back up, make the offer to your friend there too. I'll contact you with more details with this." He handed Owen a small metal sphere, put on his cloak, and walked off.

-==IC: Owen==-

"..." Owen simply looked at the retreating man, and sighed.
Well, I guess if it was to help prompt me to react, he succeeded. Owen thought, as he held the sphere in his hand while still holding Sally in his arms, unsure what exactly was going home, and began to pause.
"Manager? Where, uh, does Sally live?"

(Manager): "It's in my brain! Get it out! Worms...WoRmS..EEEAAGGGG!"

-==IC: Owen==-

"..." Owen sighed, as he had no clue how to fix that, since Jared kindly had not mentioned it.

Jared walked back in and bonked the manager on the head with a stick. "They usually recover once they wake up."

-==IC: Owen==-

"So, it's kinda like the bodies rebooting?" Owen asked, musing about that, as he nodded, but paused.
"... Though, I have no clue where Sally lives..." Owen said, as he hadn't actually gotten to asking that.

(Sally): "Lalalala...kitties.."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen chuckled a bit, as he looked down at Sally with an amused smile.
She definitely does seem pretty cute, especially when she's dreaming seemingly about kittens.

"Don't eat the kittens."

~~~~~SHIRA HQ~~~~
(Shiza): *to Lloyd* "Don't eat the kittens. They're stale."

OOC: Uh-oh.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"...? Kittens?" Lloyd asked with a confused look on his face.

OOC: just a case of Strange Minds Think Alike (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StrangeMindsThinkAlike).

IC: Shiza bit Lloyd's ear.

OOC: So Sally's strange? =P

-==IC: Lloyd==-

"... Shiza..."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen chuckled at the comment, and smirked slightly, as he sighed and then sat down, having absolutely no clue what to do.

Sally muttered something about goldfish.

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen sighed, and sat next to her for the moment, starting to almost doze off.

OOC: Did I ever reveal much about the meteors?

OOC: Not sure.

OOC: Any character of yours you'd like to focus on?

OOC: Dunno. =P

OOC: Reread the topic entirely. I remember exactly what I was planning. let's timeskip ahead, say...four hours.


IC: Sally woke up. "Muh...Ugh. I dreamed there was a colony of worms in my ears...is colony the right word for a group of worms?"

-==IC: Owen==-

"Not sure, but that does seem right, so..." Owen said with a shrug.

OOC: So I got you to post in THIS one. :P

IC: "So...did anything happen while I was out?"

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen thought for a moment, but shook his head.
"Don't think so." Owen said, as he didn't question that stuff nearby.

"I have this hazy memory of a guy in a robe....but that might have been a dream, 'cause I also remember my great grandma challenging me to a "boogie brawl"...whatever that is."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen chuckled.
"That guy was a little while ago; you must've like woken up and then fallen back to sleep without recalling it."

"I guess so...but the granny thing was a dream, right?"

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen nodded with a chuckle.

Sally sighed with relief.

"So...what should we do now? What did the cloak guy want?"

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen began to explain what Jared had said about what was going on with the universe, and how Jared was creating a new team to fight back against the thing. "It's ultimately your choice what to do. I know you probably had more than enough fighting when everything happened last time, but..."

"...Yeah, what the heck. I'm in."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen smiled, as he nodded. "Right." He paused slightly, as he scratched his head. "Sorry, I brought you here because you were out cold, I didn't know what else to do..."

"It's alright. I'm kinda used to having stuff go badly wrong for me."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen went quiet after that, not sure how to respond to that, since they were in her apartment.

OOC: Um...still can't remember what i had planned for this. :P

IC: Suddenly something outside exploded.

OOC: gg. =P

-==IC: Owen==-

"... Should we really go check on that, or try to enjoy the brief moment of peace we nearly had there?"

"I think we shoul-"

*Second explosion*

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen sighed, but nodded, as he went to go and investigate.

Outside, a mecha in a miniskirt was shooting rockets at random buildings.

-==IC: Owen==-

"... Why." Owen sighed, and shook his head, as he tried to think of a good way to help sort this out.

(Voice): "AAHHAHAHAHAAHA! BRING ME ALL THE PUPPIES, OR TASTE DEATH! WEHEHEHEHEEEEEEEEE*cough*"

-==IC: Owen==-

"... Is this person insane?"

"CLOWNS! THEY'RE EVERYWHERE! BRING ME THOSE PUPPIES!"

-==IC: Owen==-

"... I have no clue what to say or do here."

(Sally):*climbs out her bedroom window, holding a rocket launcher*

-==IC: Owen==-

"... That works." He mumbled, as he followed her.

A missile hit the side of the building, knocking Sally off the side.

OOC: Catch her or she dies. :P

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen's eyes widened, and he quickly tried to catch Sally before she could fall.

Sally landed on Owen, knocking them both to the ground. The rocket launcher fired wildly, annihilating the Puppy Orphanage and Children's Hospital.

(Sally): "..oh well. Always thought that was a terrible name for a laundromat anyway."

-==IC: Owen==-

"It really is." He agreed, and glanced at Sally. "You alright?"

"Yeah. Let's blow up that robot."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen nodded, as he went to grab a weapon that might help.

(Sally): "Get the rocket launcher!"


(Random Mecha Maniac): "I TASTE SUNSHINE!"

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen nodded, and ran to grab it, and then aimed and fired a rocket at the mech quickly.

The mech exploded.

(Sally): "That was....anticlimactic."

-==IC: Owen==-

"Very. Think we'll actually have -some- peace and quiet?"

"Not a chance."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen sighed. "Was kinda afraid of that... Umm... I kinda forget, though, if we could, would you wanna, like, uh, spend that time with me?"

"I...Yeah, sure."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen blushed subtly, but thought. "... Should we even bother trying to go back inside?"

"I-"

*Ernesto the penguin walks over and salutes them*

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen waited for her response, ignoring the penguin like the contract said to.

"What's with the-?"

She pointed at the penguin.

-==IC: Owen==-

"Best not to question it." Owen gave a knowing nod, however, as well as a look that showed that he was thinking the same thing.

"I see. Well, I guess we should go back inside.."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen nodded, as he walked back over to sally, and a bit awkwardly held out his hand to her.

She took his hand, stood shakily...and passed out.

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen seemed surprised, and caught her, and frowned with a sigh, as he tried to pick the now-unconscious girl up again. He wondered if it had anything to do with what had happened before, and wondered how to fix that if so.

His vision began to go black as well...

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen grit his teeth, as he tried to at least stay awake long enough to get the two of them off the streets.

It felt like worms were forcing their way into his skull.

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen grit his teeth, as he continued to try and fight against the feeling until he got the two of them inside at least.

His vision went completely dark. His legs felt like they were moving through cement.

-==IC: Owen==-

Just... a little... further... Owen promptly collapsed, accidentally ending up laying on top of Sally.

it felt like something was inside his skull. Chittering, crunching noises, wet, slimy movement, and worse sensations that lack words of description.

-==IC: Owen==-

Out out out out out outoutoutoutoutoutoutoutoutou toutoutout!!

"²̴̵͔͙̤͙̹̮̋͊́̍̅ͤ̑̈́͒̾̈ͫ͗͒̅͊̄͆̕¢̴̧͇̣͙͖̩͎̤̅ͦ̀ͨ͡¤̵̵̭̩͚̳̺̙̥͕̤̫̺̰͗̆̂̓͆̀̉ͨ̀͞͡ǒ̴̦̤̱̥̜̺̘͓̰ͧͯ͒͗͐͒ͪ͗͜͟͞͡ͅȩ̀̌͒̓̈́̍ͭͮͬ̓̆́̚͏̪͍͕̟æ̖͚͇̗̲̤̝̭͙̝͔̺͉̩̯͇͑̆̊͆̽̕͜°̨̳̺͍̼̮̬̩̼̠͎͎̘͕̱ͤ̅̒̄̽̂̀ͭ̑͆̉̾ͫ͂̋͠ͅʁ̢̼̜̺̙̯̼̟̺̺̩̒̏͒̋ͫ̑ͫͬ͑͛ͭͦ̏̿̚͜͜͡ɮ̶̛̘̻̘̖̤͚̺͙̤͗͆̋̑ͦ̓ͯ̋͑͛͌͛̀͠ɮ̷̶̛͙̟̼̘̞̋͊̇͑ͯ̎ͪ̈̽ͬͤ̀ͨ̒ͫ́̆ͣ́̀"

-==IC: Owen==-

OUT. Owen grit his teeth, as he strained to push the presence out any way he could.

̵̮̤̺͖̱͇̦̩̝̘̣̞̜̝͈̮͎͙̒͊̈̒̓͛̿̀͘͠͞ ͉͚̥̖̝̦͓̒̾ͯ͌̃͘͝ ̴̵̢̰̭̭̳͍̳̻̜͙̣͙̦̖̙̥̪̈ͬ̑ͥ̾̒̏ͦͭ̏͒̍̌̓̌̿ͫ̔ ̸̴͎̫͖͚̼̟̰̟̫͚̈́̉ͪ̄̿̽́́̀͠ ̧͖̰̹͈͆̓͋̓ͮͬ̽ͪ ̸̞͖͓͕̼͇̫̱̖̼͖̩̗͊̒̀̽̂ͦ͒̈͗̅̐͜͟͠ ̧̛̳̠̱̠̗̣̺̠͓̪͔̝̦̗͊̄̆̊ͦͩ͋̄̈ͯͮ̈ͯ͑ͦ̄ͪ͒̚̕ͅ ̵̶̢͈͎͓̫̟̰͌̈̿͌͋ͯͦ́ͫ̒̚ ̴̡̮̠͚͉̞̤͕͚̣͎̜̲̱̹͐̀ͮ̿͗̏͂ͨ̅ͭͩͫ͂ͦ̀̕̕ ͦ̔̇͋ͬ̃̕҉̨̱̞̤͔̹͝͡ ̶̢̬̭̲͚͈̖̰͍̞̞̞̇͐̀̄̑̓͗̔́̕ ̷̧̨̗̮̹̠̺͓̖͍̭̝̗̲̬̯̮ͤͮ́ͨ̒ͥ͛̅̃͆ͪͯ̾̈́ͩ͜ ̨̠̺̟̱̻̪̯͉̟̙̲̭̱̦̟̤̯̞̠ͯ̒ͮ̓̔ͬ̔ͬ͊̋́̽̎̽ͫ͠ ̵̨̲͓̼̮̦̭̳̪̟̹̈̀ͤ̅̚͝ͅ ͚̘̩̩̹͔͚̺̼̦͚͕ͮ͋͆́͌̏̑̔ͦ͗͗̇ͬ̔̈̽ͤ̀̚͝͡ͅͅ ̸̡͚͍̱̤̤͔̲̱̺̳͎̳̠̪̱͎ͪ͑̇ͪͣ̑͐̓́͡͡ ̡̡̩̣̭͎̻̦̰͍̺̠͈̿͐ͥ̈ͨ̏ͭͥ͌ͩ̉͢͠ ̶̵͉̣̻̖͍̝̘͉̻̝̝ͧ͑ͬ̅ͮ̈̔ͯ̀̂̈́ͨ̾̄̔ͯ̓̽͆̀̕͢ ̴̨̪̘͖̼̤̯̺̟̞̞͙͎̣ͣ̅̾͛͌͊͋̐͊̈ͥ̇̋ͥ̑͛͘͢ ̶̵̧̛͇̫̖̯͕͎̪̘̑̄̈̚͠ ̨͍͚̻͙͙͇̬̼̯̟͚̀̀̽ͬ͆ͭͪͮ̀̀͌̈̈ͭͮ̇ͮ̚ ̴̨͚͈͈̹͕̬̠͖̤̝͓̫͍̘ͨ̐̇̌͠ ̴̶̨̛̰̗̥̼̟͙͕̳͚̯̯̗̉̾͆̒̇ͫ͊͝ ̝͓͎͙̯͇͖̝ͯͩͪͮͪ̅͋̏͒̃̽ͭͦͪ̑̾̚͘͠͡ ̷̘̮̬̲̈́ͦ̈́̄͋ͭ͟͠ ̶̬̭̞̤̤̳͔̮̱̱̼̥̣̅ͣ̊̔̇̏̍ͧͪ̍̍͗̕͘͠ͅ ̴̯͔̳̺̝͚̱̥̩̥̺̫̲̘̲̻ͪͯ̎̒̈́͌͘͜͠ ̴̢̠͓͈̜̠͚͎̤̙̜̥̪͚̫̮͕͆͆̄̇̆ͨ̓ͪ͋͌͠ ̵̛͉̲̣̥̰̭̯̬̂̇̄̐ͫ͛ͧ̈̌̂ͮ̒̎́͞͡ ̷̰̱͉̳̜̘͓̱̹͊̎͐̄̿ͮ̎ͨ͌̐ͬ͗͌ͩ̉ͨͬ̕͜͞ͅͅ ͗̂̒͌̄̐ͣ͗̄ͫ̓̇̏̆̾ͯ̕͞͏̸̙̤̟̬̪̱̖͕̩͓̲̗̫̞̕ ̷̷̬̙̯̲̳͉̲̳͗̾ͩ̏̎ͬ͟͟ͅ ̧̧̤̻̣̰̩̟͖̻͆͌̿ͭͭ͌̑̕ ̴̴̶͓̞̮͎̘̯͉͇͍͙͍̗͚̱͙̙͚̞̽ͫͨ̃̑͋ͣͩ̔͘ ̨̪̖̪̪͙͙̯̗̼̙̗̦͈̼̞̦͑̽͗͛͐ͣ̀͒̑ͦ̏̕͟͠͞ ̵̷̠͓̘̻͉͙̤͈͇̤̤̠̠͕̥͔͛͗ͯ̽̃̎ͭ͒̄͗ͮ͑ͨ͟ ͛͑̉̽ͦͥ͌͏҉̷̗̬̤͙̞̖͡ ̢̰̟̪̥̠̞̰̓̍̾͆̐̑͘̕ ̵̞̱̫̹͇͕̬̹̱̪͔͖̪̲̰͇͑̊ͩͭ̎̄̂̒́ͪ̾ͥ͗͋̌͋ͦ̀ͦͅ ̬̭͇͇̦̯̣͙͚͈̤̻͔̜́̔̾͌̌̌͑͟͢ ̗̯̞̣̟͍̺̜̹̼͇̲̮̠͈̙͍̀̇ͧ̎͊͐̆͛̂͋͑̕͝ ̵̫̖̭͓̣̳̪͎̰͚̘͓̜̬̻̮̤̺͖̱͇̦̩̝̘̣̞̜̝͈̮͎͙͋ͣ̈͊̑̈́͂͆̿ͯͫ̑̐ͫ̒͊̈̒̓͛̿̀͘͘͞͠͞ͅͅ ͉͚̥̖̝̦͓̒̾ͯ͌̃͘͝ ̴̵̢̰̭̭̳͍̳̻̜͙̣͙̦̖̙̥̪̈ͬ̑ͥ̾̒̏ͦͭ̏͒̍̌̓̌̿ͫ̔ ̸̴͎̫͖͚̼̟̰̟̫͚̈́̉ͪ̄̿̽́́̀͠ ̧͖̰̹͈͆̓͋̓ͮͬ̽ͪ ̸̞͖͓͕̼͇̫̱̖̼͖̩̗͊̒̀̽̂ͦ͒̈͗̅̐͜͟͠ ̧̛̳̠̱̠̗̣̺̠͓̪͔̝̦̗͊̄̆̊ͦͩ͋̄̈ͯͮ̈ͯ͑ͦ̄ͪ͒̚̕ͅ ̵̶̢͈͎͓̫̟̰͌̈̿͌͋ͯͦ́ͫ̒̚ ̴̡̮̠͚͉̞̤͕͚̣͎̜̲̱̹͐̀ͮ̿͗̏͂ͨ̅ͭͩͫ͂ͦ̀̕̕ ͦ̔̇͋ͬ̃̕҉̨̱̞̤͔̹͝͡ ̶̢̬̭̲͚͈̖̰͍̞̞̞̇͐̀̄̑̓͗̔́̕ ̷̧̨̗̮̹̠̺͓̖͍̭̝̗̲̬̯̮ͤͮ́ͨ̒ͥ͛̅̃͆ͪͯ̾̈́ͩ͜ ̨̠̺̟̱̻̪̯͉̟̙̲̭̱̦̟̤̯̞̠ͯ̒ͮ̓̔ͬ̔ͬ͊̋́̽̎̽ͫ͠ ̵̨̲͓̼̮̦̭̳̪̟̹̈̀ͤ̅̚͝ͅ ͚̘̩̩̹͔͚̺̼̦͚͕ͮ͋͆́͌̏̑̔ͦ͗͗̇ͬ̔̈̽ͤ̀̚͝͡ͅͅ ̸̡͚͍̱̤̤͔̲̱̺̳͎̳̠̪̱͎ͪ͑̇ͪͣ̑͐̓́͡͡ ̡̡̩̣̭͎̻̦̰͍̺̠͈̿͐ͥ̈ͨ̏ͭͥ͌ͩ̉͢͠ ̶̵͉̣̻̖͍̝̘͉̻̝̝ͧ͑ͬ̅ͮ̈̔ͯ̀̂̈́ͨ̾̄̔ͯ̓̽͆̀̕͢ ̴̨̪̘͖̼̤̯̺̟̞̞͙͎̣ͣ̅̾͛͌͊͋̐͊̈ͥ̇̋ͥ̑͛͘͢ ̶̵̧̛͇̫̖̯͕͎̪̘̑̄̈̚͠ ̨͍͚̻͙͙͇̬̼̯̟͚̀̀̽ͬ͆ͭͪͮ̀̀͌̈̈ͭͮ̇ͮ̚ ̴̨͚͈͈̹͕̬̠͖̤̝͓̫͍̘ͨ̐̇̌͠ ̴̶̨̛̰̗̥̼̟͙͕̳͚̯̯̗̉̾͆̒̇ͫ͊͝ ̝͓͎͙̯͇͖̝ͯͩͪͮͪ̅͋̏͒̃̽ͭͦͪ̑̾̚͘͠͡ ̷̘̮̬̲̈́ͦ̈́̄͋ͭ͟͠ ̶̬̭̞̤̤̳͔̮̱̱̼̥̣̅ͣ̊̔̇̏̍ͧͪ̍̍͗̕͘͠ͅ ̴̯͔̳̺̝͚̱̥̩̥̺̫̲̘̲̻ͪͯ̎̒̈́͌͘͜͠ ̴̢̠͓͈̜̠͚͎̤̙̜̥̪͚̫̮͕͆͆̄̇̆ͨ̓ͪ͋͌͠ ̵̛͉̲̣̥̰̭̯̬̂̇̄̐ͫ͛ͧ̈̌̂ͮ̒̎́͞͡ ̷̰̱͉̳̜̘͓̱̹͊̎͐̄̿ͮ̎ͨ͌̐ͬ͗͌ͩ̉ͨͬ̕͜͞ͅͅ ͗̂̒͌̄̐ͣ͗̄ͫ̓̇̏̆̾ͯ̕͞͏̸̙̤̟̬̪̱̖͕̩͓̲̗̫̞̕ ̷̷̬̙̯̲̳͉̲̳͗̾ͩ̏̎ͬ͟͟ͅ ̧̧̤̻̣̰̩̟͖̻͆͌̿ͭͭ͌̑̕ ̴̴̶͓̞̮͎̘̯͉͇͍͙͍̗͚̱͙̙͚̞̽ͫͨ̃̑͋ͣͩ̔͘ ̨̪̖̪̪͙͙̯̗̼̙̗̦͈̼̞̦͑̽͗͛͐ͣ̀͒̑ͦ̏̕͟͠͞ ̵̷̠͓̘̻͉͙̤͈͇̤̤̠̠͕̥͔͛͗ͯ̽̃̎ͭ͒̄͗ͮ͑ͨ͟ ͛͑̉̽ͦͥ͌͏҉̷̗̬̤͙̞̖͡ ̢̰̟̪̥̠̞̰̓̍̾͆̐̑͘̕ ̵̞̱̫̹͇͕̬̹̱̪͔͖̪̲̰͇͑̊ͩͭ̎̄̂̒́ͪ̾ͥ͗͋̌͋ͦ̀ͦͅ ̬̭͇͇̦̯̣͙͚͈̤̻͔̜́̔̾͌̌̌͑͟͢ ̗̯̞̣̟͍̺̜̹̼͇̲̮̠͈̙͍̀̇ͧ̎͊͐̆͛̂͋͑̕͝ ̵̫̖̭͓̣̳̪͎̰͚̘͓̜̬̻̮̤̺͖̱͇̦̩̝̘̣̞̜̝͈̮͎͙͋ͣ̈͊̑̈́͂͆̿ͯͫ̑̐ͫ̒͊̈̒̓͛̿̀͘͘͞͠͞ͅͅ ͉͚̥̖̝̦͓̒̾ͯ͌̃͘͝ ̴̵̢̰̭̭̳͍̳̻̜͙̣͙̦̖̙̥̪̈ͬ̑ͥ̾̒̏ͦͭ̏͒̍̌̓̌̿ͫ̔ ̸̴͎̫͖͚̼̟̰̟̫͚̈́̉ͪ̄̿̽́́̀͠ ̧͖̰̹͈͆̓͋̓ͮͬ̽ͪ ̸̞͖͓͕̼͇̫̱̖̼͖̩̗͊̒̀̽̂ͦ͒̈͗̅̐͜͟͠ ̧̛̳̠̱̠̗̣̺̠͓̪͔̝̦̗͊̄̆̊ͦͩ͋̄̈ͯͮ̈ͯ͑ͦ̄ͪ͒̚̕ͅ ̵̶̢͈͎͓̫̟̰͌̈̿͌͋ͯͦ́ͫ̒̚ ̴̡̮̠͚͉̞̤͕͚̣͎̜̲̱̹͐̀ͮ̿͗̏͂ͨ̅ͭͩͫ͂ͦ̀̕̕ ͦ̔̇͋ͬ̃̕҉̨̱̞̤͔̹͝͡ ̶̢̬̭̲͚͈̖̰͍̞̞̞̇͐̀̄̑̓͗̔́̕ ̷̧̨̗̮̹̠̺͓̖͍̭̝̗̲̬̯̮ͤͮ́ͨ̒ͥ͛̅̃͆ͪͯ̾̈́ͩ͜ ̨̠̺̟̱̻̪̯͉̟̙̲̭̱̦̟̤̯̞̠ͯ̒ͮ̓̔ͬ̔ͬ͊̋́̽̎̽ͫ͠ ̵̨̲͓̼̮̦̭̳̪̟̹̈̀ͤ̅̚͝ͅ ͚̘̩̩̹͔͚̺̼̦͚͕ͮ͋͆́͌̏̑̔ͦ͗͗̇ͬ̔̈̽ͤ̀̚͝͡ͅͅ ̸̡͚͍̱̤̤͔̲̱̺̳͎̳̠̪̱͎ͪ͑̇ͪͣ̑͐̓́͡͡ ̡̡̩̣̭͎̻̦̰͍̺̠͈̿͐ͥ̈ͨ̏ͭͥ͌ͩ̉͢͠ ̶̵͉̣̻̖͍̝̘͉̻̝̝ͧ͑ͬ̅ͮ̈̔ͯ̀̂̈́ͨ̾̄̔ͯ̓̽͆̀̕͢ ̴̨̪̘͖̼̤̯̺̟̞̞͙͎̣ͣ̅̾͛͌͊͋̐͊̈ͥ̇̋ͥ̑͛͘͢ ̶̵̧̛͇̫̖̯͕͎̪̘̑̄̈̚͠ ̨͍͚̻͙͙͇̬̼̯̟͚̀̀̽ͬ͆ͭͪͮ̀̀͌̈̈ͭͮ̇ͮ̚ ̴̨͚͈͈̹͕̬̠͖̤̝͓̫͍̘ͨ̐̇̌͠ ̴̶̨̛̰̗̥̼̟͙͕̳͚̯̯̗̉̾͆̒̇ͫ͊͝ ̝͓͎͙̯͇͖̝ͯͩͪͮͪ̅͋̏͒̃̽ͭͦͪ̑̾̚͘͠͡ ̷̘̮̬̲̈́ͦ̈́̄͋ͭ͟͠ ̶̬̭̞̤̤̳͔̮̱̱̼̥̣̅ͣ̊̔̇̏̍ͧͪ̍̍͗̕͘͠ͅ ̴̯͔̳̺̝͚̱̥̩̥̺̫̲̘̲̻ͪͯ̎̒̈́͌͘͜͠ ̴̢̠͓͈̜̠͚͎̤̙̜̥̪͚̫̮͕͆͆̄̇̆ͨ̓ͪ͋͌͠ ̵̛͉̲̣̥̰̭̯̬̂̇̄̐ͫ͛ͧ̈̌̂ͮ̒̎́͞͡ ̷̰̱͉̳̜̘͓̱̹͊̎͐̄̿ͮ̎ͨ͌̐ͬ͗͌ͩ̉ͨͬ̕͜͞ͅͅ ͗̂̒͌̄̐ͣ͗̄ͫ̓̇̏̆̾ͯ̕͞͏̸̙̤̟̬̪̱̖͕̩͓̲̗̫̞̕ ̷̷̬̙̯̲̳͉̲̳͗̾ͩ̏̎ͬ͟͟ͅ ̧̧̤̻̣̰̩̟͖̻͆͌̿ͭͭ͌̑̕ ̴̴̶͓̞̮͎̘̯͉͇͍͙͍̗͚̱͙̙͚̞̽ͫͨ̃̑͋ͣͩ̔͘ ̨̪̖̪̪͙͙̯̗̼̙̗̦͈̼̞̦͑̽͗͛͐ͣ̀͒̑ͦ̏̕͟͠͞ ̵̷̠͓̘̻͉͙̤͈͇̤̤̠̠͕̥͔͛͗ͯ̽̃̎ͭ͒̄͗ͮ͑ͨ͟ ͛͑̉̽ͦͥ͌͏҉̷̗̬̤͙̞̖͡


 ̢̰̟̪̥̠̞̰̓̍̾͆̐̑͘̕ ̵̞̱̫̹͇͕̬̹̱̪͔͖̪̲̰͇͑̊ͩͭ̎̄̂̒́ͪ̾ͥ͗͋̌͋ͦ̀ͦͅ ̬̭͇͇̦̯̣͙͚͈̤̻͔̜́̔̾͌̌̌͑͟͢ ̗̯̞̣̟͍̺̜̹̼͇̲̮̠͈̙͍̀̇ͧ̎͊͐̆͛̂͋͑̕͝ ̵̫̖̭͓̣̳̪͎̰͚̘͓̜̬̻̮̤̺͖̱͇̦̩̝̘̣̞̜̝͈̮͎͙͋ͣ̈͊̑̈́͂͆̿ͯͫ̑̐ͫ̒͊̈̒̓͛̿̀͘͘͞͠͞ͅͅ ͉͚̥̖̝̦͓̒̾ͯ͌̃͘͝ ̴̵̢̰̭̭̳͍̳̻̜͙̣͙̦̖̙̥̪̈ͬ̑ͥ̾̒̏ͦͭ̏͒̍̌̓̌̿ͫ̔ ̸̴͎̫͖͚̼̟̰̟̫͚̈́̉ͪ̄̿̽́́̀͠ ̧͖̰̹͈͆̓͋̓ͮͬ̽ͪ ̸̞͖͓͕̼͇̫̱̖̼͖̩̗͊̒̀̽̂ͦ͒̈͗̅̐͜͟͠ ̧̛̳̠̱̠̗̣̺̠͓̪͔̝̦̗͊̄̆̊ͦͩ͋̄̈ͯͮ̈ͯ͑ͦ̄ͪ͒̚̕ͅ ̵̶̢͈͎͓̫̟̰͌̈̿͌͋ͯͦ́ͫ̒̚ ̴̡̮̠͚͉̞̤͕͚̣͎̜̲̱̹͐̀ͮ̿͗̏͂ͨ̅ͭͩͫ͂ͦ̀̕̕ ͦ̔̇͋ͬ̃̕҉̨̱̞̤͔̹͝͡ ̶̢̬̭̲͚͈̖̰͍̞̞̞̇͐̀̄̑̓͗̔́̕ ̷̧̨̗̮̹̠̺͓̖͍̭̝̗̲̬̯̮ͤͮ́ͨ̒ͥ͛̅̃͆ͪͯ̾̈́ͩ͜ ̨̠̺̟̱̻̪̯͉̟̙̲̭̱̦̟̤̯̞̠ͯ̒ͮ̓̔ͬ̔ͬ͊̋́̽̎̽ͫ͠ ̵̨̲͓̼̮̦̭̳̪̟̹̈̀ͤ̅̚͝ͅ ͚̘̩̩̹͔͚̺̼̦͚͕ͮ͋͆́͌̏̑̔ͦ͗͗̇ͬ̔̈̽ͤ̀̚͝͡ͅͅ ̸̡͚͍̱̤̤͔̲̱̺̳͎̳̠̪̱͎ͪ͑̇ͪͣ̑͐̓́͡͡ ̡̡̩̣̭͎̻̦̰͍̺̠͈̿͐ͥ̈ͨ̏ͭͥ͌ͩ̉͢͠ ̶̵͉̣̻̖͍̝̘͉̻̝̝ͧ͑ͬ̅ͮ̈̔ͯ̀̂̈́ͨ̾̄̔ͯ̓̽͆̀̕͢ ̴̨̪̘͖̼̤̯̺̟̞̞͙͎̣ͣ̅̾͛͌͊͋̐͊̈ͥ̇̋ͥ̑͛͘͢ ̶̵̧̛͇̫̖̯͕͎̪̘̑̄̈̚͠ ̨͍͚̻͙͙͇̬̼̯̟͚̀̀̽ͬ͆ͭͪͮ̀̀͌̈̈ͭͮ̇ͮ̚ ̴̨͚͈͈̹͕̬̠͖̤̝͓̫͍̘ͨ̐̇̌͠ ̴̶̨̛̰̗̥̼̟͙͕̳͚̯̯̗̉̾͆̒̇ͫ͊͝ ̝͓͎͙̯͇͖̝ͯͩͪͮͪ̅͋̏͒̃̽ͭͦͪ̑̾̚͘͠͡ ̷̘̮̬̲̈́ͦ̈́̄͋ͭ͟͠ ̶̬̭̞̤̤̳͔̮̱̱̼̥̣̅ͣ̊̔̇̏̍ͧͪ̍̍͗̕͘͠ͅ ̴̯͔̳̺̝͚̱̥̩̥̺̫̲̘̲̻ͪͯ̎̒̈́͌͘͜͠ ̴̢̠͓͈̜̠͚͎̤̙̜̥̪͚̫̮͕͆͆̄̇̆ͨ̓ͪ͋͌͠ ̵̛͉̲̣̥̰̭̯̬̂̇̄̐ͫ͛ͧ̈̌̂ͮ̒̎́͞͡ ̷̰̱͉̳̜̘͓̱̹͊̎͐̄̿ͮ̎ͨ͌̐ͬ͗͌ͩ̉ͨͬ̕͜͞ͅͅ ͗̂̒͌̄̐ͣ͗̄ͫ̓̇̏̆̾ͯ̕͞͏̸̙̤̟̬̪̱̖͕̩͓̲̗̫̞̕ ̷̷̬̙̯̲̳͉̲̳͗̾ͩ̏̎ͬ͟͟ͅ ̧̧̤̻̣̰̩̟͖̻͆͌̿ͭͭ͌̑̕ ̴̴̶͓̞̮͎̘̯͉͇͍͙͍̗͚̱͙̙͚̞̽ͫͨ̃̑͋ͣͩ̔͘ ̨̪̖̪̪͙͙̯̗̼̙̗̦͈̼̞̦͑̽͗͛͐ͣ̀͒̑ͦ̏̕͟͠͞ ̵̷̠͓̘̻͉͙̤͈͇̤̤̠̠͕̥͔͛͗ͯ̽̃̎ͭ͒̄͗ͮ͑ͨ͟ ͛͑̉̽ͦͥ͌͏҉̷̗̬̤͙̞̖͡ ̢̰̟̪̥̠̞̰̓̍̾͆̐̑͘̕ ̵̞̱̫̹͇͕̬̹̱̪͔͖̪̲̰͇͑̊ͩͭ̎̄̂̒́ͪ̾ͥ͗͋̌͋ͦ̀ͦͅ ̬̭͇͇̦̯̣͙͚͈̤̻͔̜́̔̾͌̌̌͑͟͢ ̗̯̞̣̟͍̺̜̹̼͇̲̮̠͈̙͍̀̇ͧ̎͊͐̆͛̂͋͑̕͝ ̵̫̖̭͓̣̳̪͎̰͚̘͓̜̬̻̮̤̺͖̱͇̦̩̝̘̣̞̜̝͈̮͎͙͋ͣ̈͊̑̈́͂͆̿ͯͫ̑̐ͫ̒͊̈̒̓͛̿̀͘͘͞͠͞ͅͅ ͉͚̥̖̝̦͓̒̾ͯ͌̃͘͝ ̴̵̢̰̭̭̳͍̳̻̜͙̣͙̦̖̙̥̪̈ͬ̑ͥ̾̒̏ͦͭ̏͒̍̌̓̌̿ͫ̔ ̸̴͎̫͖͚̼̟̰̟̫͚̈́̉ͪ̄̿̽́́̀͠ ̧͖̰̹͈͆̓͋̓ͮͬ̽ͪ ̸̞͖͓͕̼͇̫̱̖̼͖̩̗͊̒̀̽̂ͦ͒̈͗̅̐͜͟͠ ̧̛̳̠̱̠̗̣̺̠͓̪͔̝̦̗͊̄̆̊ͦͩ͋̄̈ͯͮ̈ͯ͑ͦ̄ͪ͒̚̕ͅ ̵̶̢͈͎͓̫̟̰͌̈̿͌͋ͯͦ́ͫ̒̚ ̴̡̮̠͚͉̞̤͕͚̣͎̜̲̱̹͐̀ͮ̿͗̏͂ͨ̅ͭͩͫ͂ͦ̀̕̕ ͦ̔̇͋ͬ̃̕҉̨̱̞̤͔̹͝͡ ̶̢̬̭̲͚͈̖̰͍̞̞̞̇͐̀̄̑̓͗̔́̕ ̷̧̨̗̮̹̠̺͓̖͍̭̝̗̲̬̯̮ͤͮ́ͨ̒ͥ͛̅̃͆ͪͯ̾̈́ͩ͜ ̨̠̺̟̱̻̪̯͉̟̙̲̭̱̦̟̤̯̞̠ͯ̒ͮ̓̔ͬ̔ͬ͊̋́̽̎̽ͫ͠ ̵̨̲͓̼̮̦̭̳̪̟̹̈̀ͤ̅̚͝ͅ ͚̘̩̩̹͔͚̺̼̦͚͕ͮ͋͆́͌̏̑̔ͦ͗͗̇ͬ̔̈̽ͤ̀̚͝͡ͅͅ ̸̡͚͍̱̤̤͔̲̱̺̳͎̳̠̪̱͎ͪ͑̇ͪͣ̑͐̓́͡͡ ̡̡̩̣̭͎̻̦̰͍̺̠͈̿͐ͥ̈ͨ̏ͭͥ͌ͩ̉͢͠ ̶̵͉̣̻̖͍̝̘͉̻̝̝ͧ͑ͬ̅ͮ̈̔ͯ̀̂̈́ͨ̾̄̔ͯ̓̽͆̀̕͢ ̴̨̪̘͖̼̤̯̺̟̞̞͙͎̣ͣ̅̾͛͌͊͋̐͊̈ͥ̇̋ͥ̑͛͘͢ ̶̵̧̛͇̫̖̯͕͎̪̘̑̄̈̚͠ ̨͍͚̻͙͙͇̬̼̯̟͚̀̀̽ͬ͆ͭͪͮ̀̀͌̈̈ͭͮ̇ͮ̚ ̴̨͚͈͈̹͕̬̠͖̤̝͓̫͍̘ͨ̐̇̌͠ ̴̶̨̛̰̗̥̼̟͙͕̳͚̯̯̗̉̾͆̒̇ͫ͊͝ ̝͓͎͙̯͇͖̝ͯͩͪͮͪ̅͋̏͒̃̽ͭͦͪ̑̾̚͘͠͡ ̷̘̮̬̲̈́ͦ̈́̄͋ͭ͟͠ ̶̬̭̞̤̤̳͔̮̱̱̼̥̣̅ͣ̊̔̇̏̍ͧͪ̍̍͗̕͘͠ͅ ̴̯͔̳̺̝͚̱̥̩̥̺̫̲̘̲̻ͪͯ̎̒̈́͌͘͜͠ ̴̢̠͓͈̜̠͚͎̤̙̜̥̪͚̫̮͕͆͆̄̇̆ͨ̓ͪ͋͌͠ ̵̛͉̲̣̥̰̭̯̬̂̇̄̐ͫ͛ͧ̈̌̂ͮ̒̎́͞͡ ̷̰̱͉̳̜̘͓̱̹͊̎͐̄̿ͮ̎ͨ͌̐ͬ͗͌ͩ̉ͨͬ̕͜͞ͅͅ ͗̂̒͌̄̐ͣ͗̄ͫ̓̇̏̆̾ͯ̕͞͏̸̙̤̟̬̪̱̖͕̩͓̲̗̫̞̕ ̷̷̬̙̯̲̳͉̲̳͗̾ͩ̏̎ͬ͟͟ͅ ̧̧̤̻̣̰̩̟͖̻͆͌̿ͭͭ͌̑̕ ̴̴̶͓̞̮͎̘̯͉͇͍͙͍̗͚̱͙̙͚̞̽ͫͨ̃̑͋ͣͩ̔͘ ̨̪̖̪̪͙͙̯̗̼̙̗̦͈̼̞̦͑̽͗͛͐ͣ̀͒̑ͦ̏̕͟͠͞ ̵̷̠͓̘̻͉͙̤͈͇̤̤̠̠͕̥͔͛͗ͯ̽̃̎ͭ͒̄͗ͮ͑ͨ͟ ͛͑̉̽ͦͥ͌͏҉̷̗̬̤͙̞̖͡ ̢̰̟̪̥̠̞̰̓̍̾͆̐̑͘̕ ̵̞̱̫̹͇͕̬̹̱̪͔͖̪̲̰͇͑̊ͩͭ̎̄̂̒́ͪ̾ͥ͗͋̌͋ͦ̀ͦͅ ̬̭͇͇̦̯̣͙͚͈̤̻͔̜́̔̾͌̌̌͑͟͢ ̗̯̞̣̟͍̺̜̹̼͇̲̮̠͈̙͍̀̇ͧ̎͊͐̆͛̂͋͑̕͝ ̫̖̭͓̣̳̪͎̰͚̘͓̜̬̻͋ͣ̈͊̑̈́͂͆̿ͯͫ̑̐ͫ͘͞ͅͅ

-==IC: Owen==-

"I refuse..."

The noise in his skull grew louder. Impossible colors filled his eyes.

-==IC: Owen==-

I refuse...

A little old lady ran up to him and challenged him to a Boogie Battle.


His vision and hearing returned. Sally was sleeping on the street beside him.

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen groaned slightly, but didn't make a move to move, partly because it felt nice there, and partly because he had absolutely no strength to move.

(Sally): "Gramma? Izzat you?"

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen didn't even feel enough strength to reply right then.

His vision was suddenly filled with a pair of mismatched, slightly insane eyes.

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen yelped in surprise, not moving, but totally confused at what was going on.

(Shiza): "Are you the Easter Bunny?"

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen blinked, unable to comprehend just what insanity this was.

Shiza stared at him, unblinking.

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen stared back, not wanting to break contact, lest she attack.

Shiza poked his nose.

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen managed to not flinch somehow.

Shiza poked his eye.

-==IC: Owen==-

That got him to blink, before she could actually touch anything other than the eyelid.

"Where are your eyeball-whiskers?"

-==IC: Owen==-

"... What?"

Shiza pinched his ears in response.

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen was lost for words.

Shiza pulled out her chainsaw.

-==IC: Owen==-

"... please not the face."

"What's a face?"

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen looked at her incredulously.

She revved up the chainsaw. She hadn't blinked the entire time.

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen was scared for him and Sally.

(Shiza): "SHOES!"
She charged at Owen.

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen braced himself, still not able to properly move yet.

Shiza began cutting Owen's shirt into penguin shapes.

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen was now utterly confused.

"PENGUINS~"

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen thought for a moment. "Why just me?"

Shiza seemed to notice Sally for the first time. "Apples!"

*revs chainsaw*

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen had a bad feeling, but still couldn't move.

Sally chose this moment to wake up and scream.

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen really wanted to help her, but couldn't move still, and looked over apologetically.

Shiza looked back at Owen. "Who are you?"

-==IC: Owen==-

"Owen." Owen.

"What's an Owen?"

-==IC: Owen==-

"Me."

"Me?"

-==IC: Owen==-

"No, me."

"Yeah, me!"

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen sighed.

Shiza imitated him.

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen found he still couldn't move his body. I hate exhaustion.

"You're weird."

-==IC: Owen==-

"... No, I think you are."

"I'm not weird, silly!"

-==IC: Owen==-

"You kinda are."

She booped his nose.

-==IC: Owen==-

"weird."

"Beep."

-==IC: Owen==-

"... What are you doing?"

"Beeping you."

-==IC: OWen==-

"... WHy?"

"You're beepable."

-==IC: Owen==-

"..."

"Shiza's hungry."

-==iC: Owen==-

"How nice."

She poked him. "Food."

-==IC: Owen==-

"... I am most definitely not food."

"Why not?"

-==IC: Owen==-

"Because I'm not edible."

Shiza licked him. "Taste edibibile."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen shook his head. "Nope, not at all."

Shiza sneezed.

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen was unimpressed.

Sally stood up shakily. "What's going on?"

(Shiza): "he's being weird."

-==IC: Owen==-

"I... have no idea..." Owen groaned, as he shakily tried to sit up, and gave Shiza a look of pure unamusement. "You're the weird one here."

"Nuh uh. You're the one with oysters for ears."

-==IC: Owen==-

"... What?" Owen paused. "You know, I haven't enough of a headache for a while. Why don't you explain what you mean?"

"Well, when a lot of turkeys get together and hire a clown, the trees start dancing with umbrellas."

-==IC: Owen==-

"What." Owen looked at Shiza as if she had two heads.

"What's that look for? Shiza can see the grapevines in your eyes."

-==IC: Owen==-

"That's so stupid I can't even see straight anymore!"

"That's probably just the grapevines blocking your view."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen just had no words to reply to Shiza at that precise moment.

Shiza smiled at him, then slapped him.

-==IC: Owen==-

"And what was that for?"

"What was what for?"

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen simply stared at Shiva in sheer bewilderment, and tried to stand up.

"Shiza's name is Shiza, not Shiva!"

OOC: because she can read typos in narration. :P

OOC: XD

-==IC: Owen==-

"Okay, um, 'Shiza'..." Owen blinked, as he wondered if she was just weird.

"Shiza. Not 'Shiza'!"

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen decided that was a good time to ignore her, and looked over to see how Sally was doing.

Sally had been watching the proceedings with a look that made it clear she wasn't sure if she should be laughing or running away.

-==IC: Owen==-

Meanwhile, Owen didn't know whether to be amused or annoyed as he realized just how hilarious this probably looked to onlookers. He decided to give Shiva a chance for once, and go with amused.

"Alright, so... what are you even doing here?" Owen asked, as he looked down at Shiza.

"SHIZA. Not Shiva! And Shiza's here to find squid! Or cheese. Shiza can't remember 'cause Shiza ate the shopping list."

-==IC: Owen==-

"... Squid?" Owen's face furrowed. "What do you mean, squid?"

"Like, the furry things."

-==IC: Owen==-

"... Squids aren't furry..."

"Sure they are! Furry squids on trees!"

-==IC: Owen==-

"... I don't even know what you're referring to..."

Sally laughed. "I think she means squirrels."
Shiza nodded. "Yeah! Tree squid!"

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen opened and closed his mouth as if that made no sense, but simply sighed and laughed, as that was definitely one of the more unique ways to say that.

"Yes, yes! Laugh, my children! Laugh! LAUGH! LIFE IS ENDING, AND ALL WE CAN DO IS LAUGH!"
It was a man's voice.

-==IC: Owen==-

"... What?" Owen turned his attention to the man's voice, wondering what that was all about.

A man in cultist robes was standing across from him. "THE GREAT DESTROYER COMES! LAUGH, CHILDREN, LAUGH! LAUGH AT THE FUTILITY OF OUR LIVES!"

-==IC: Owen==-

"Well he sounds a bit over-the-top."

Shiza nodded solemnly. "He needs more vitamins."

-==IC: Owen==-

"I have a feeling he needs a lot more than that."

"Yeah...He could use some tree squid too."
She blinked.
"Bloody cultists...why are they trying to bring him closer?"

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen looked over in surprise, as the girl seemed to randomly be talking differently. "... Huh?"

"I guess it's just human nature. When there's no real way for them to cope, they resort to madness."

-==IC: Owen==-

"... Really now." Owen looked at Shiza skeptically, considering she was pretty much the living example of that.

"What? Oh, right. You're not used to this, are you." She held out her hand. "Shiza Tnanna. Nice to meet you."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen blinked, dumbfounded at the sudden turn in the girl's personality. He tentatively took the girl's hand and shook it, wary still about the possibility of her randomly pulling out a chainsaw for no reason. "Um... my name's Owen."

"Yeah, I know. And she's Sally, and that guy over there is some nutty cultist who wants everyone to die."

-==IC: Owen==-

"... I'll agree with that." Owen nodded slowly, and glanced at Shiza oddly. "... was... just now just an... act? Or...?"

She sighed sadly. "No...no, that's the real me. This...this is just a rare moment of lucidity."

-==IC: Owen==-

"Fun." Owen wasn't looking forward to any future interactions with non-lucid Shiza. "Why does that happen, though?"

"It just happens every now and then. Not often enough, sadly..."

-==IC: Owen==-

"That's honestly too bad." He sighed slightly, and glanced around, having not actually looked to see where they were.

OOC: I have no idea where they are. What happened? ^^;

OOC: I don't know. xD I -think- they were outside SAlly's apartment when mechs attacked and the whatever-it-is decided to worm its way into their minds, but...

OOC: Hm. Ok, they're in the middle of the road then.

IC: The cultist grabbed Owen by the shirt. "EMBRACE HIS TOUCH! LET HIM FEAST UPON YOUR THOUGHTS!"

-==IC: Owen==-

"..." Owen grabbed the man's hand, and tried to make him let go. "I think you might be a bit out there, pops."

"And you should be as well! His nightmarish majesty is coming to devour us all!"

-==IC: Owen==-

"I'm not sure what you're talking about, but I'm pretty sure I don't want that." Owen grit his teeth, as he was half tempted to just push the guy.

Shiza pulled Owen aside, walked over to the cultist, and punched him in the gut.
"Pedal your nonsense elsewhere."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen, for once in the time he knew Shiza, gave her a thumbs up and meant it.

The cultist scurried away.
"Ugh...I bet normally I'd have tried to lick him or something." She sighed. "Sometimes I wish I'd stayed dead."

-==IC: Owen==-

Owen paused for a moment, as he looked over curiously. "Stayed dead?"

"Long story. Got blasted by some laser that sent me into the future. For all intents and purposes I was dead for a few years."

-==IC: Owen==-

"Ouch." Owen winced slightly. "Well, I can definitely agree that you and licking don't really go well together."

"I'm amazed anyone puts up with Shiza at all, really." She winced. "Ah god. Shiza just did the third person thing...that's always a sign that Shiza's about to lose it again."