Variant Earth 13 E Mail Game Archive Number 3

Subject: [v13] Ruckus at Club Invertebrate!
Date:    Thu, 31 Dec 1998 00:55:44 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Andy Hicks wrote:

>> "Riiiiight.  Let's go."

> Thinking to myself, "What the hell is goin' on around here?  I've seen 
> some crazy shit, but scaly lookin' freaks in trenchcoats talkin' 
> trash?  On a normal day I'd lay into that guy, or whatever that was.  
> But I think I've done enough to draw attention to myself today.  
> Still-- "

> Realizing I'd drifted off there for a moment, I tell Hazzard, "Yeah, 
> right behind you.  Just let me check on somethin' real quick."

> I finish off the rest of my beer, and head back to the bar to ask the
> bartender a few questions.
 
> "What kinda establishment are you runnin' around here?  The fella that 
> just went downstairs seemed like he had a problem with us, and we 
> didn't give him one bit of cause.  Now normally I'd have been on him 
> like white on rice the second he started in with me, but I've got no 
> problem with your restaurant here and I don't wanna cause you any 
> trouble, so I let it slide.  I hope there ain't anything goin' on down 
> there to make me change my mind.

> "But I wouldn't mind too much if you told me exactly what IS goin' on 
> down in," I turn around and look at the sign again, "'Club 
> Invertebrate'. Whaddya say, friend?"

The bartender, merely polishing off an empty glass, looks up at you when
you bombard him with attitude.  "Oh, so ya want to know the secrets of
Club Invertebrate, huh?  As if you could possibly understand.  We cater
to folks that are... outside of society."

"You know, that sort of thing.  Poor souls that are what you call
freaks.  Just because you're born without ears, or have bizarre skin
conditions, or maybe are just totally deformed, is no reason that you
shouldn't have a place to hang out."

"If our patrons have a problem, well, some of 'em are just... what you'd
call sensitive to being stared at.  And I saw you to punks staring poor
Eddie down, so don't deny it."  He puts the glass down and picks another
one up.  "That a problem for you, tough guy?"

The trick here, of course, is that you've heard of freaky skin
conditions, but scales aren't something you see very often.  Well, when
you're talking about humans, at any rate.  And you haven't seen too many
people wearing stove-top hats this century, either.

Meanwhile, Hazzard has finally gotten out of the booth, and puts his
glass up on the bar, starting towards the door.  He moves kinda slow,
waiting for you to get done with your little talk with the bartender. 
But he then stops halfway to the door.

You see him looking back at the entrance to the Club downstairs, looking
as if he'd seen something totally freaky.  He furrows his brow, and
looks harder, as if looking at something just on the edge of his sight.
But you don't see anything.  You hear it, though.

There's this sort of high-pitched squeal on the edge of hearing, and
it's getting louder.  Soon, glasses are shattering on the bar.  The
bartender isn't looking very happy, either, and you see him grab a bat
from under the counter, as if he expects trouble.

Then you see it.  A pinpoint of orange light, stationary at first, but
it begins to quickly rotate in a circle, then a sphere, about six feet
in diameter in front of the entrance to Club Invertebrate.  After ten
seconds of this, it's a glowing ball of light.

Hazzard's making for the door at this point, but as quickly as it
started, it stops.  The light is gone.  The sound is gone.  The only
evidence that it ever existed is what is standing in its place.  It's a
woman.  A beautiful woman with waist-long, fire-orange hair.

She's about five foot eight, and wearing almost nothing.  Well, if you
count the silver cut-off top, silver hot pants, and of course, the
silver disco boots that reflect light in a rainbow pattern as clothes,
then she's wearing some.

She's also wearing these silver, finger-less gloves, and a mirrored
visor.  She looks like some sort of disco refugee, but you can't recall
any sort of disco move that involved materializing into thin air via
orange spheres of light.

"Where am I?", she asks, when the bartender hops over the bar, putting a
big, fat finger in her face.  "I told you not to pull that garbage in
here any more, damnit!  You're scaring away the normals, and attracting
too much attention to this place!  I ain't moving again this quick!!"

You do, indeed, notice that everybody else with sense has run for it...

(NOW what?!?)

Subject: Re: [v13] Bad Things. Definitely Bad Things.
Date:    Thu, 31 Dec 1998 01:16:40 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Christopher W. Acers wrote:
 
> Firebomb wrote:

>> Christopher W. Acers wrote:

> (gah!)

>> He hisses again.  "I told you to leave, but you didn't listen!  Now, 
>> I'm going to have to kill you.  Rend your flesh from your bones, and 
>> consume it in an orgy of carnal pleasure!  Yes, YES, that's what I'm 
>> going to do to you!  Yesssssss......."

> "Oh, hello there! How are you sir? Ya know eatin' people ain't right.
> You look like you could do with some vegetables and maybe some dairy
> product. I might have a hunk of cheese somewhere in here. I don't
> suppose you'd like some. Besides I'm all stringy and Och here is a bit
> gamey I would Imagine. The lady just probably wouldn't like to be 
> eaten.  I got some socks too that might go with that wig of yers. Want 
> a pair? They're fresh!"

> Rolling 12 fer inti (10 + 2, for you numerically deficient ppl..like 
> my self) I use the "Bad Luck" Spell that came with my Mask at the 
> local K-mart. Rolling an 84 on remarkable, a yellow feat according to 
> my withering graph.

> (you got your Masque at K-mart?!?)

(Seriously, though.  You and Silhouette both scored a 12 for initiative,
so your actions will occur simultaneously (for simplicity's sake).  Och,
on the other hand, will go after the villain, given the chance.  At any
rate, here's what happens).

You activate the powers of your mysterious, Phantom of the Opera styled
Masque, which glows with an inner bluish light as you invoke its power
to curse others with bad luck.  The cannibalistic villain just sits
there, taking your magical assault.  You're not sure if it worked.

At approximately the same time, Silhouette activates her potent shadow
powers, enshrouding the man in a cocoon of darkness woven from his own
shadow, save for his head - so he can talk, of course.  A prison not
unlike the one she made for that lanky man she's holding hostage.

So, he sinks to the floor, and Och gets ready to split his skull open
all the while, when suddenly, the wannabe vampire looks all greenish in
the face.  That, of course, is because he HAS turned green - the man has
transformed into a billowy, noxious cloud of green vapors!

Gushing out of Silhouette's shadowy trap, the thing screams past you,
landing squarely upon Och, who screams and swings his axe at the thing.
Of course, with the thing being in a gaseous state, Och's magical axe
does little to it, as it can bend its form around the weapon easily.

Of course, it then grows talons out of its mass, striking Och in the
sides with them.  While he screams with rage, the mass of vapors forces
itself into Och's mouth, and you see it disappear completely within the
stout little man.

Och convulses for a couple of seconds, and then his eyes begin glowing
with an eerie green light.  When he speaks, the voice is a perverted
mixture of Och's naturally gruff tones and that villain's sibilant
sound. "You thought I would be easy to kill, didn't you?"

"'Oh, he's not a REAL vampire, so he's nothing'.  Aren't you suprisssed
now, since I actually am an accursed beast of darkness.  That blasssted
amulet has enslaved me after granting me what it believed I wanted most,
and now I am forced to consssume my fellow man... and I hunger."

"Oh, do I hunger...!"

"I shall feassst upon your essence, and raise you as my own slaves, even
as I am forced to do the bidding of this demonic charm around my neck."
Even now, you can see that the amulet he was wearing before has reformed
around Och's neck.  Well, what neck he had, at any rate.

"Not that you're the first that will suffer that fate, you fools. 
Behold - my minions awaken!!!"  As you look on with horror, you see that
several of the corpses are indeed getting up, and they also look hungry.
Real hungry.

Unfortunately for you guys, you're the only food in the room; well, you
and that fellow Silhouette's got in a shadowy case for later use.  "Hey,
Silhouette - if that's your name - let me out of here!  I can help you
fight these monsters!  I've dealt with them before!  You NEED me!!"

(The two of you ought to roll up your initiatives again, as it's now
Round 2!  Your vampiric foe has an initiative of 6, and his minions have
a mere initiative of 1.  So, at the very least, unless you roll poorly,
you'll go before them).

(Furthermore, go ahead and post what you want to do, and I'll go from
there... if you're invoking a power effect that is dodgable and don't
want to spend Karma, or your foe receives a resistance roll, feel free
to send in your action roll as well, i guess).

(If ya wanna spend Karma, we'll go from there, no?)

Subject: Re: [v13] Jinx's Great Escape!
Date:    Thu, 31 Dec 1998 01:34:43 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

William Lockwood wrote:
 
> Natasha didn't know a thing about anesthesia so she just put the 
> nitrous off to the side, opening up the first aid kit and perusing its 
> contents.

> "Hmmm...gonna need some tweasers and definitely the gauze..."

"'Ere, trust me, this is how you do it.  Not that I use the stuff for
recreational-like purposes or anything."  With that, the mohawked
Dreadnok puts the face-mask on Time Out and cranks the valve on the tank
wide open.

"If we give her too much, she'll tell us.  Trust me.  Besides, you don't
want her smackin' you around when yer cuttin her up, now, do you?  Her
her her!"  Time Out doesn't seem happy about this, but she relaxes after
a couple of seconds.

You get the impression that she doesn't want to be around when you cut
into her leg.  At least not mentally.
 
> After finding everything she thought she would need, she pulled off a
> belt and gave it to Time-Out.
 
> "Here, bite on this, we don't need your screaming attracting any of 
> the wrong kind of attention."

She puts the belt in her mouth, though she then holds the mask on over
her face so's that she can keep breathing the stuff in.  She really
doesn't like the idea of amateur surgery going on here.  Especially with
you at the wheel, knowing your rep as a bad luck mama.

> After that admonition, she started digging for the bits of metal and
> whatnot that were stuck in her patient's body.

> "You better be OK, or I'm going to give you a reason not to be, 
> damnit!"

Under the mask, you can hear Time Out screaming.  A whole lot.  "Hrrrr!
Hrr mr hr hhhhhr mhhrhmmrmhhm  hrrrrrRRRRR!"  She then abruptly passes
out, and the mohawk-man pulls the nitrous mask off her face.  "She won't
be needing that anymore.  Let Ripper here take it off her right quick."

He also walks off, and you hear the distinct sounds of deep breathing
coming from behind you there after a couple of seconds.  Didn't use the
stuff for fun, indeed.  You're starting to tell how these guys got into
this line of work - nobody else'd have 'em.
 
You finally find two bits of metal, and accidentally pull some sort
of... stringy bit out of Time Out's leg.  But you do it.  Then, you
stitch her leg up and bandage the hell out of the thing, but not before
you pour some more disinfectant on the wound.  It's gonna scar.

And how.

But at least she'll walk again.  Unless that stringy bit was really,
well, important.  But, that ugly, ugly mess is all done, and you make a
mental note to take REAL first aid classes in the future.  Primarily so
you don't wind up with any more stringy bits...

So, with Time Out unconscious, Bruno carries her off, and puts her in
the back seat of the Crown Victoria.  It's not like he's worrying about
her bleeding on the back seat, since you're pretty sure that even the
fabric in that car's invulnerable to anything humans can do.

Or leave behind.

That just leaves you and the last Dreadnok, Buzzer, as he chugs down
another six pack of grape soda.  "Well, I'll be heading off to bed, luv.
We gots us a couch you can sleep on, unless you want to sleep on my
nice, warm waterbed.  Of course, I'll be in it..."

(Bil?)

Subject: Re: [v13] Ruckus at Club Invertebrate!
Date:    Thu, 31 Dec 1998 01:44:09 -0600
From:    Andy Hicks <ahix@mail.utexas.edu>

>"If our patrons have a problem, well, some of 'em are just... what you'd
>call sensitive to being stared at.  And I saw you to punks staring poor
>Eddie down, so don't deny it."  He puts the glass down and picks another
>one up.  "That a problem for you, tough guy?"

>The trick here, of course, is that you've heard of freaky skin
>conditions, but scales aren't something you see very often.  Well, when
>you're talking about humans, at any rate.  And you haven't seen too many
>people wearing stove-top hats this century, either.

>Meanwhile, Hazzard has finally gotten out of the booth, and puts his
>glass up on the bar, starting towards the door.  He moves kinda slow,
>waiting for you to get done with your little talk with the bartender. 
>But he then stops halfway to the door.

>You see him looking back at the entrance to the Club downstairs, looking
>as if he'd seen something totally freaky.  He furrows his brow, and
>looks harder, as if looking at something just on the edge of his sight.
>But you don't see anything.  You hear it, though.

>There's this sort of high-pitched squeal on the edge of hearing, and
>it's getting louder.  Soon, glasses are shattering on the bar.  The
>bartender isn't looking very happy, either, and you see him grab a bat
>from under the counter, as if he expects trouble.

>Then you see it.  A pinpoint of orange light, stationary at first, but
>it begins to quickly rotate in a circle, then a sphere, about six feet
>in diameter in front of the entrance to Club Invertebrate.  After ten
>seconds of this, it's a glowing ball of light.

>Hazzard's making for the door at this point, but as quickly as it
>started, it stops.  The light is gone.  The sound is gone.  The only
>evidence that it ever existed is what is standing in its place.  It's a
>woman.  A beautiful woman with waist-long, fire-orange hair.

>She's about five foot eight, and wearing almost nothing.  Well, if you
>count the silver cut-off top, silver hot pants, and of course, the
>silver disco boots that reflect light in a rainbow pattern as clothes,
>then she's wearing some.

>She's also wearing these silver, finger-less gloves, and a mirrored
>visor.  She looks like some sort of disco refugee, but you can't recall
>any sort of disco move that involved materializing into thin air via
>orange spheres of light.

>"Where am I?", she asks, when the bartender hops over the bar, putting a
>big, fat finger in her face.  "I told you not to pull that garbage in
>here any more, damnit!  You're scaring away the normals, and attracting
>too much attention to this place!  I ain't moving again this quick!!"

>You do, indeed, notice that everybody else with sense has run for it...

Pulling my canes from my back, I shout to no one in particular, "What the
hell is goin' on around here goddammit!?!?" then mutter to myself, "I've
seen some fucked up shit in my day-- decapitations, flesh being eaten from
men's bones by chemical weapons, guys gettin' blown up from the inside
out-- but women appearing out of thin air, this takes the damn cake!"

Noticing everybody else is heading for the hills, I begin to backpedal
cautiously, addressing the bartender.

"Mister, I don't have any idea what just happened, but you seem to be
pretty well acquainted with your newest guest there.  Is there anything the
rest of us customers might need to know right about now?"

While I slowly back away from the Dancing Queen, I glance over my shoulder
to see what's going on with Hazzard at the moment...

Denny?

Subject: Re: [v13] Bad Things. Definitely Bad Things.
Date:    Thu, 31 Dec 1998 03:19:23 -0600
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

Firebomb wrote:
 
> Christopher W. Acers wrote:
 
>>> "I will consume your flesh, like I have so many others that have
>>> crossed my path."  Just when you're starting to think this guy might
>>> only have a few screws loose, he throws something at you.  Something
>>> organic.  In fact, it appears to be a... a leg!!
 
>>> It's got gnaw marks on it, too...
 
>> "Aughhhhhh....he's got bits in there...did you see that?
 
>> Masque motions frantically to the entrance to Doom.

>> Throwing up my eldritch shield and conjuring up my Hook of hoggoth...I
>> advance forward ..and then back.
 
>> "I apologize ma'am...but you can put him away again. Apparently this
>> is too much for him. I would hate to have change talking to me. filthy
>> stuff they say. Of course, its nice to have in certain situations
>> ..buys all the good stuff like cotton candy and shoelaces...
>> errr...sorry..shall we smite thine enemy ..or mine or somebodies at
>> the very least. Can't have evil throwin' around bits can we?"
 
> "No... don't put me back.  I can still hear them... in the shadows...
> If you put me back there, I'll only have the voices...  Don't do it..."
> Perhaps Silhouette's Psychic Screen is helping somewhat, but the lanky
> man can at least talk again... if it's strained.
 
>> Again Advancing, I cry the battle cry of the ages...
 
> Och pulls out his axe at that, sensing danger, and the thing sheds a
> whole lot of light, allowing you to see the stuff of horror laying
> before you.  In this abandoned little shop, you see bodies laying all
> over the place, all of which have been chewed upon somewhat.

"Egads man!....Nasty business."

> Over in the corner, you can see the man you initially spotted in your
> Astral form, wearing that golden amulet.  He's wearing a classical,
> nineteenth century suit, with the frilly collar and all, with a poofy
> white wig, and even black makeup ringing his eyes.

> He hisses again.  "I told you to leave, but you didn't listen!  Now, I'm
> going to have to kill you.  Rend your flesh from your bones, and consume
> it in an orgy of carnal pleasure!  Yes, YES, that's what I'm going to do
> to you!  Yesssssss......."
 
"Oh, hello there! How are you sir? Ya know eatin' people ain't right.
You look like you could do with some vegetables and maybe some dairy
product. I might have a hunk of cheese soemwhere in here. I don't
suppose you'd like some. Besides I'm all stringy and Och here is a bit
gamey I would Imagine. The lady just probably wouldn't like to be eaten.
I got some socks too that might go with that wig of yers. Want a pair?
They're fresh!"

Rolling 12 fer inish (10 + 2, for you numerically deficient ppl..like my
self) I use the "Bad Luck" Spell that came with my Mask at the local
K-mart. Rolling an 84 on remarkable, a yellow feat according to my
withering graph. 

<right on!>

Subject: Re: [v13] Ruckus at Club Invertebrate!
Date:    Thu, 31 Dec 1998 18:01:34 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Andy Hicks wrote:
 
> Pulling my canes from my back, I shout to no one in particular, "What 
> the hell is goin' on around here goddammit!?!?" then mutter to myself, 
> "I've seen some fucked up shit in my day-- decapitations, flesh being 
> eaten from men's bones by chemical weapons, guys gettin' blown up from 
> the inside out-- but women appearing out of thin air, this takes the 
> damn cake!"

> Noticing everybody else is heading for the hills, I begin to backpedal
> cautiously, addressing the bartender.
 
> "Mister, I don't have any idea what just happened, but you seem to be
> pretty well acquainted with your newest guest there.  Is there 
> anything the rest of us customers might need to know right about now?"

The bartender looks at you, and smiles.  "Nope, there ain't nothing you
need to know, tough guy."  With that, he bashes out the flourescent
light above the fire-haired vixen, and then pops her on the head with
that same instrument.  She falls to the floor, looking stunned.
 
> While I slowly back away from the Dancing Queen, I glance over my 
> shoulder to see what's going on with Hazzard at the moment...

He's standing by the entrance to the Steakhouse, motioning towards the
doorway with his head.  Just then, two cops come running into the joint,
one pulling a billyclub, the other asking "Okay!  What's going on,
here?"

The bartender just shrugs, saying "Well, one of the light fixtures just
blew up, officer.  I think we've got to call an electrician, is all. 
This poor girl here just got caught in the glass shower, though.  I'll
make sure she's all right."

The cops relax, looking at her, at you, at the bartender, and then back
at her again.  "Is this right, Miss?  Are you okay?"  She still looks a
bit loopy, there, but a baseball bat to the head'll do that.  "Uh, yeah,
I guess.  I'm fine."

The cops don't sound all that happy with that, but they shrug and head
out anyway.  "If you want to press charges, Ma'am, just give us a call.
We always get complaints about this weirdo Club."  They wait for her to
answer, which she fails to do, and then leave.

Which is odd.  It's as if these two cops really didn't want to be here
for some reason.  And usually, them cops go out of their way to help a
practically naked woman when she's down in a bar.  Usually, at any rate.
Apparently, they thought better of it, and split as fast as possible.

Even more confused about that, Hazzard just shrugs as well, looking at
you as if he was totally lost.  Since he's just as in the dark about
what's going on as you are, that's no big surprise.  He's just standing
there, waiting to see what happens next.

(And you...?)

Subject: Re: [v13] Jinx's Great Escape!
Date:    Thu, 31 Dec 1998 19:10:43 -0600
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Natasha finished off what little she had to eat and curled up on the
couch, keeping one gun under a cushion, and passed out. She slept
fitfully, tossing and turning throughout the night, images of falling
pianos, exploding robots, and the occasional long lost love pinwheeling
through her mind's eye.

In the morning she woke up groggily, rechecked her equipment, and
grabbed a can of grape soda to help juice up the morning. She then made
sure the chip was still where she had put it and started gathering her
things.

~One objective was met, but I still have to find our other operative.
What was his name anyway, oh Alan Davidson. Or something like that. I'm
going to have to snag a cab over to his place, but first I'm going to
have to change and make sure I'm ready to get the hell out of D-...er,
Pleasantville.~ she planned silently.

Subject: Re: [v13] Jinx's Great Escape!
Date:    Thu, 31 Dec 1998 20:40:35 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

William Lockwood wrote:
 
> Natasha finished off what little she had to eat and curled up on the
> couch, keeping one gun under a cushion, and passed out. She slept
> fitfully, tossing and turning throughout the night, images of falling
> pianos, exploding robots, and the occasional long lost love 
> pinwheeling through her mind's eye.

> In the morning she woke up groggily, rechecked her equipment, and
> grabbed a can of grape soda to help juice up the morning. She then 
> made sure the chip was still where she had put it and started 
> gathering her things.

> ~One objective was met, but I still have to find our other operative.
> What was his name anyway, oh Alan Davidson. Or something like that. 
> I'm going to have to snag a cab over to his place, but first I'm going 
> to have to change and make sure I'm ready to get the hell out of 
> D-...er, Pleasantville.~ she planned silently.

After you called a cab, you see Time Out wandering out of one of the
back rooms, looking rather... unclothed.  You can guess how she spent
her evening.  Apparently, somebody enjoyed that waterbed, after all. 
Even though she WAS in the Victoria last time you saw her.

At any rate, Time Out sees you getting ready to leave.  "Well, Jinx, I
can see that you're off, already.  We'll be hanging out here for a day
or so, since that car o' mine is HOT.  Unless you need us for the last
part of the mission..."

Seeing that look in your eyes, she pauses for a few seconds.  "Okay,
okay, I'll get dressed.  But Bruno's out of commish- he's totally out of
bullets and explosives... he's pretty useless without his toys."  She
goes into the back to get dressed and geared up real quick.

Ten minutes later, she's ready, and the cab's there.  She hops inside
with you, and within half an hour, you're back in Pleasantview, and you
notice that the national guard is still patrolling the entire city. 
Apparently, they expect you guys to come back - in force!

Luckily, you don't need to go anywhere near the Ariel-Shijitzu building,
just to a small house on the outskirts of town.  Using discretion, Time
Out has the driver take you about a quarter of a mile from the actual
house itself, and once she pays the man, she puts him to sleep.

"Easier than having him wait for us, you think?"  She then dinks with
his radio clock, setting it forward about three hours so the man'd think
he'd slept really late - at least long enough to throw off any sort of
investigation into what might happen next.

Walking the short distance necessary, you two arrive at 1234 Fifth
Avenue, the home address of Alan Davidson, one D.A.A. informant, and
possible security hazard.  You're there, Jinx, now what do you do?  Hm?
Hm?  Hm?

Subject: Re: [v13] Jinx's Great Escape!
Date:    Thu, 31 Dec 1998 20:31:31 -0600
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Natasha, not being the brightest star in the sky [Typical Reason!],
looks at Time-Out for some input.

"Hmmm...Should we just walk up and ring the doorbell? I mean if he
bolts, you knock him out or I shoot him and we drag his ass back to a
D.A.A. safehouse."

After thinking about this for a moment she goes on, "But then if he
doesn't bolt, you knock him out or I shoot him and we drag his ass back
to a D.A.A. safehouse, right?"


Subject: Re: [v13] Jinx's Great Escape!
Date:    Thu, 31 Dec 1998 20:56:33 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com

William Lockwood wrote:

> Natasha, not being the brightest star in the sky [Typical Reason!],
> looks at Time-Out for some input.
 
> "Hmmm...Should we just walk up and ring the doorbell? I mean if he
> bolts, you knock him out or I shoot him and we drag his ass back to a
> D.A.A. safehouse."
 
> After thinking about this for a moment she goes on, "But then if he
> doesn't bolt, you knock him out or I shoot him and we drag his ass 
> back to a D.A.A. safehouse, right?"

Time Out looks at you, just staring for a second, trying to follow just
what you said.  About three seconds later, she finally responds.  "Yeah,
that sounds reasonable.  You head around back, and you'll see if the guy
runs for it or not... trust me."

"If you beat me to it, blast him.  But don't KILL him if you can at all
avoid it, hey?"  With that, she waits for you to head 'round back, and
once you're there, you hear a fast-paced, rhythmic thumping sound
rapidly approaching the back door.

This sweaty old man (well, about forty six) with graying black hair
throws open the door, as if running from a really intense fire, and
almost plows on by when he sees you sitting there with your guns. 
You've got the drop on him, so what do you do?

Subject: Re: [v13] Jinx's Great Escape!
Date:    Thu, 31 Dec 1998 20:52:10 -0600
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx, stood there, guns drawn, using the tried and true method of aiming
one at the target's crotch and the other at his head.

"Right. Mr. Davidson. Please come with me peacefully and I will not be
forced to perforate you with high velocity projectiles. If you fail to
comply with this rather simple request, well..." she gestured with her
guns for inflection, grinning widely, "Well, we'll just avoid that, now
won't we?"

[Rolled 100 on my Presence to intimidate him!!!!!!! *dances around*]

Subject: Re: [v13] Jinx's Great Escape!
Date:    Thu, 31 Dec 1998 21:22:59 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

William Lockwood wrote:

> Jinx, stood there, guns drawn, using the tried and true method of 
> aiming one at the target's crotch and the other at his head.
 
> "Right. Mr. Davidson. Please come with me peacefully and I will not be
> forced to perforate you with high velocity projectiles. If you fail to
> comply with this rather simple request, well..." she gestured with her
> guns for inflection, grinning widely, "Well, we'll just avoid that, 
> now won't we?"

> [Rolled 100 on my Presence to intimidate him!!!!!!! *dances around*]

"Um, er, ah, uh."  The man seems to have totally run out of gas, and as
such, you win.  He does exactly what you say.  When Time Out shows up
behind him, he doesn't whine as you both lead him to the cab you guys
left a quarter mile back.

She makes sure the guy is still sleeping, and then pushes him over.  He
slumps lazily into the passenger seat while you and Mr. Davidson file
into the back seat.  "Shall we just truck this bag o' bones and the chip
up to New York City while we've got these wheels still, Jinx?"

(Well?)

Subject: Re: [v13] Jinx's Great Escape!
Date:    Thu, 31 Dec 1998 21:12:15 -0600
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Natasha smiles to herself as her "plan" appears to be working, oddly
enough. Once they get into the car and start driving she speaks, "Right,
I think the Big Apple sounds nice this time of year. You drive while I
have a lovely chat with Mr. Davidson."

She looked their captive right in the eyes and continued, "So, Mr.
Davidson, does New York sound good to you? Good. Now, what the hell is
going on with you and Ariel-Shijitzu?"

Subject: Re: [v13] Jinx's Great Escape!
Date:    Thu, 31 Dec 1998 21:41:01 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

William Lockwood wrote:
 
> Natasha smiles to herself as her "plan" appears to be working, oddly
> enough. Once they get into the car and start driving she speaks, 
> "Right, I think the Big Apple sounds nice this time of year. You drive 
> while I have a lovely chat with Mr. Davidson."

"Not a problem", says Time Out, who puts the cabbie's hat on, since he's
out cold anyway, and starts the old clunker up.  As it varooms to life,
the cab pulls you along, as Time Out sets a course for New York City. 
"Don't you lovebirds make a mess back there, now", she says.

> She looked their captive right in the eyes and continued, "So, Mr.
> Davidson, does New York sound good to you? Good. Now, what the hell is
> going on with you and Ariel-Shijitzu?"

He looks nervous, looking back and forth around the cab, but nothing
seems ready to save him here.  "I didn't do nothing.  I filed my reports
like I was supposed to!  I don't know why you bags are here, but I ain't
saying nothing to you, since you ain't in charge here!"

He sits back, resolute to saying nothing else, except for "If you want
me to talk about my mission, take me to the City, like you planned.  I
ain't got nothin' to say to you two, anyway.  Besides, you blew my
cover, so I ain't too happy with you guys.  This job was easy!"

(He don't seem ready to say anything else.  Jinx?)

Subject: Re: [v13] Jinx's Great Escape!
Date:    Thu, 31 Dec 1998 21:54:10 -0600
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Natasha looked at her captive frowning.

"Look fuck-o, I don't have a problem with making you bleed all over the
back of this cab," she went on, pulling out her knife and running it
along his face.

"Now, this knife says that I'm in charge right now and I think Time-Out
would agree with that right now and I certainly feel that I'm in charge.
So, majority vote wins.

"Talk, or prepare to invest in a good plastic surgeon."

Subject: Re: [v13] Jinx's Great Escape!
Date:    Fri, 01 Jan 1999 18:56:33 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

William Lockwood wrote:
 
> Natasha looked at her captive frowning.
 
> "Look fuck-o, I don't have a problem with making you bleed all over 
> the back of this cab," she went on, pulling out her knife and running 
> it along his face.

> "Now, this knife says that I'm in charge right now and I think 
> Time-Out would agree with that right now and I certainly feel that I'm 
> in charge. So, majority vote wins.

> "Talk, or prepare to invest in a good plastic surgeon."
 
The man looks at you, and looks like he's going to talk, since he's got
the stink of fear on him.  But then he stops abruptly, shakes for a
second, and then smiles.  "Ah ah ah, Natasha - not yet."  You don't know
what's up, but he's suddenly talking in someone else's voice.

Hey, Jinx.  Make a Psyche (will) FEAT roll.

Subject:  Re: [v13] Bad Things. Definitely Bad Things.
Date:     Fri, 1 Jan 1999 20:55:14 -0700
From:     "Lady Arakne" <araknesweb@darkspiral.com>

> Unfortunately for you guys, you're the only food in the room; well, you
> and that fellow Silhouette's got in a shadowy case for later use.  "Hey,
> Silhouette - if that's your name - let me out of here!  I can help you
> fight these monsters!  I've dealt with them before!  You NEED me!!"

Sil yanks him out of the shadows, <<Good, what do we do?>>

(resp)

(8+3=11 init)

Sil begins teleporting the "undead" thru the shadows, into a 
mauseleum she knows of: shut up tighter than an bank vault at 
night... as that's a good enough place for dead things....
(00 to do this (she can shift up to 10 tons at a time, I'd imagine))

> (The two of you ought to roll up your initiatives again, as it's now
> Round 2!  Your vampiric foe has an initiative of 6, and his minions have
> a mere initiative of 1.  So, at the very least, unless you roll poorly,
> you'll go before them).
 
> (Furthermore, go ahead and post what you want to do, and I'll go from
> there... if you're invoking a power effect that is dodgable and don't
> want to spend Karma, or your foe receives a resistance roll, feel free
> to send in your action roll as well, i guess).

Subject: Re: [v13] Jinx's Great Escape!
Date:    Sat, 02 Jan 1999 03:35:18 -0600
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Natasha blinks as Mr. Davidson takes on a new voice and lets her
instincts take over. She stabs him in the thigh.

"Damnit! He's co-oped! Pull over, now!" she screams as she attempts to
plunge the knife into their passenger.

[Rolled a 71 one my Psyche (will) and if that was good enough then I
rolled a 42 to stab him and 51 for damage if it's necessary.]

Subject: Re: [v13] Jinx's Great Escape!
Date:    Sat, 02 Jan 1999 16:34:14 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

William Lockwood wrote:
 
> Natasha blinks as Mr. Davidson takes on a new voice and lets her
> instincts take over. She stabs him in the thigh.
 
> "Damnit! He's co-oped! Pull over, now!" she screams as she attempts to
> plunge the knife into their passenger.

> [Rolled a 71 one my Psyche (will) and if that was good enough then I
> rolled a 42 to stab him and 51 for damage if it's necessary.]
 
Well, it wasn't enough.  You feel a sort of numbness overcome your
entire body, as whoever's riding around in Davidson's head takes control
of your will.  Then you hear Roy Shijitzu's voice in your head "Did you
really think I would let you steal both of my neuropathic processors?"

"Much less get away with it!  Ha ha ha!  Now that you are in my thrall,
you will be taking me to your Direct Action American headquarters in New
York City, where you will proceed to level the place, and then bring my
processor back to me."

"After that, you will go to your new friends' hideout in New Jersey,
retrieve the other processor, and kill everybody inside that place. 
This ... Zartan - so that's his name - ... will pay for interfering with
my plans for this earth."

"Then, after that, you will -"  Roy's telepathic wish list is suddenly
cut short, as the cab you're in takes a sharp right.  Of course, Time
Out was still moving at about eighty-five miles per hour on a wooded
highway between Pleasantview and N.Y.C.

The boat-like cab starts to roll as it tumbles off the road, rotating
counter-clockwise from top to bottom as it smashes into the thick grove
on the side of the road.  The thing hits hard, real hard, and all of you
inside take a harsh jarring.

A jarring worth Incredible (40) Blunt Attack damage, since those trees
refused to yield to your passage through them, despite your impressive
speed, and the build of this older cab.  It was made with real metal,
even.  That hurt you... a lot.

So, you'll want to make one of those checks versus a Stun effect, as
well, since that was quite a jostle you just suffered.  The intensity,
Jinx, will be equal to the amount of damage you took from the crash;
can't remember if you had your probability field contracted or not.

If you did, that was Excellent (20).  If not, it was Incredible (40). 
Either way, that's a red FEAT roll, at a -2 CS if you had the latter (as
it'd normally be an impossible FEAT roll, what with your Good (10)
Endurance...).  Mmm?

Subject: Re: [v13] Jinx's Great Escape!
Date:    Sat, 02 Jan 1999 16:19:48 -0600
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Natasha stopped in mid-stab, her body suddenly out of her control.

~Listen, fuck-o. The next time I see you, I will shoot you dead. Do you
understand that? Do you?! I don't care if you hold a child in front of
you to protect you, I will shoot through that lovely little brat to put
enough holes in you to strain spaghetti.~ she thought really hard, an
icy edge projected as best she could.

Then they crashed. Natasha, without her field, was subject to the full
brunt of the damage as well as feeling her old wounds reopen.

[I rolled an 88 on my Endurance, which I still don't think is a Red FEAT
at -2 CS.]

Subject: Re: [v13] Jinx's Great Escape!
Date:    Sat, 02 Jan 1999 17:04:19 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

William Lockwood wrote:
 
> Natasha stopped in mid-stab, her body suddenly out of her control.
 
> ~Listen, fuck-o. The next time I see you, I will shoot you dead. Do 
> you understand that? Do you?! I don't care if you hold a child in 
> front of you to protect you, I will shoot through that lovely little 
> brat to put enough holes in you to strain spaghetti.~ she thought 
> really hard, an icy edge projected as best she could.

> Then they crashed. Natasha, without her field, was subject to the full
> brunt of the damage as well as feeling her old wounds reopen.
 
> [I rolled an 88 on my Endurance, which I still don't think is a Red 
> FEAT at -2 CS.]

Heh.  You eventually pull it together, after passing out for some
indeterminate period of time, and notice that your friend didn't fare as
well as you did; he fell clean out of the cab on impact, slamming into a
tree outside the vehicle.  He looks positively broken, in fact.

Time Out, on the other hand, is totally unconscious.  She's looking
pretty bad, being slumped over the wheel of the cab.  She is breathing,
though, so it's not like she isn't going to make it... you think. 
You're not a doctor, after all.

However, Time Out's insane driving has had one good benefit - you're
mind is your own, again.  Now what?

Subject: Re: [v13] Jinx's Great Escape!
Date:    Sat, 02 Jan 1999 17:09:21 -0600
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Natasha takes a few deep breaths and makes sure nothing is broken, then
goes and digs in her bags for her guns. She calmly takes them out, makes
sure they are loaded and proceeds to the broken body of Mr. Davidson.
She spits on the body and sets her guns to full-auto, lacing the body
with both clips of magnetically accelerated shells.

"Right. Don't fuck with me, Mr. Fancy Pants." she curses at the pulped
body.

After that display of petty vengeance, she reloads her guns, holsters
them, and then goes to check on Time-Out. Deciding that she is beyond
her own ability to deal with the situation, she digs through her bags
for a cell-phone.

Finding it undamaged, she calls up a D.A.A. hotline, and in the
appropriate code, passes on the bad news: "Agent Jinx, injured, but
functioning. Agent Time-Out, unconscious, condition undetermineable.
Agent Davidson, pulp. Calling for immediate extraction. Location: Hiway
17, North of Pleasantville, NJ, enrout to NYC."

She then sits down and waits, cursing the whole time.

Subject: Re: [v13] Jinx's Great Escape!
Date:    Sat, 02 Jan 1999 18:20:58 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

William Lockwood wrote:
 
> Natasha takes a few deep breaths and makes sure nothing is broken, 
> then goes and digs in her bags for her guns. She calmly takes them 
> out, makes sure they are loaded and proceeds to the broken body of Mr. 
> Davidson.  She spits on the body and sets her guns to full-auto, 
> lacing the body with both clips of magnetically accelerated shells.

> "Right. Don't fuck with me, Mr. Fancy Pants." she curses at the pulped
> body.
 
> After that display of petty vengeance, she reloads her guns, holsters
> them, and then goes to check on Time-Out. Deciding that she is beyond
> her own ability to deal with the situation, she digs through her bags
> for a cell-phone.
 
> Finding it undamaged, she calls up a D.A.A. hotline, and in the
> appropriate code, passes on the bad news: "Agent Jinx, injured, but
> functioning. Agent Time-Out, unconscious, condition undetermineable.
> Agent Davidson, pulp. Calling for immediate extraction. Location: 
> Highway 17, North of Pleasantville, NJ, enrout to NYC."

> She then sits down and waits, cursing the whole time.
 
Within about ten minutes, a helicopter swoops in near the cab wreck. 
Once it's landed, several armed guys hop out, and from what you can see,
they're securing the landing site, fanning out to cover the immediate
perimeter. 

A dark-skinned, suited man then gets out of the helicopter, and flashes
you his D.A.A. membership badge, not that you need it; he's the guy that
recruited you into the group in the first place.  "I see that, as usual,
you couldn't get through a mission without wiping out your team, Jinx."

He smiles after that, letting you know that he's joking, or at the very
least, making an attempt to.  He then summons medic-type folks to come
check you out, and some others put Time Out on a stretcher and haul her
back to the D.A.A. base.

You see she's slightly awake at this point, as she looks at you and
laughs.  "Did I pull over enough, Jinx?", she says, wandering in and out
of awareness.  Her medics then haul her off as yours start poking and
prodding you, putting bandages all over your sore self.

At any rate, Colonel Jacobs (the tan man from before) then motions
towards the transport copter.  "Could I interest the lady in a ride?  Of
course, it'll be a short one, unless we need to break Bruno out of jail.
What happened to him, anyway?"

Subject: Re: [v13] Bad Things. Definitely Bad Things.
Date:    Sat, 02 Jan 1999 20:29:38 -0600
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

"Oh bother, you are going to make this hard aren't you?...harumphhh.."

Pushing up my sleeves I conjure up some of those wonderful bands that
make people so upset, Especially when they have those hard to reach
itches, and attempt to grab a hold of The possessed Och.

Rolling an 8 for init and roll an 85 on the grappling deal...a yellow
feat...so go fer it denny...

Subject: Re: [v13] Bad Things. Definitely Bad Things.
Date:    Sat, 02 Jan 1999 18:45:57 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Christopher W. Acers wrote:

> "Oh bother, you are going to make this hard aren't you?...harumphhh.."
 
> Pushing up my sleeves I conjure up some of those wonderful bands that
> make people so upset, Especially when they have those hard to reach
> itches, and attempt to grab a hold of The possessed Och.

> Rolling an 8 for init and roll an 85 on the grappling deal...a yellow
> feat...so go fer it denny...

Meanwhile, Lady Arakne wrote:

> Unfortunately for you guys, you're the only food in the room; well, 
> you and that fellow Silhouette's got in a shadowy case for later use. 
> "Hey, Silhouette - if that's your name - let me out of here!  I can 
> help you fight these monsters!  I've dealt with them before!  You NEED 
> me!!"

>Sil yanks him out of the shadows, <<Good, what do we do?>>

> (8+3=11 init)

> Sil begins teleporting the "undead" thru the shadows, into a mausoleum 
> she knows of: shut up tighter than an bank vault at night... as that's 
> a good enough place for dead things.... (00 to do this (she can shift 
> up to 10 tons at a time, I'd imagine))

The tall man looks at you and laughs.  "Well, beats me.  I was lying,
but it DID convince you to let me out of that walking meat locker.  I
guess we just do what they do in the movies."  He kicks apart a random
chair lying about, grabbing some sharp, pointy wood bits to use.

Meanwhile, Silhouette starts summoning the shadows from around the
various undead creatures, watching as they begin to writhe around and
consume the various creatures.  You manage to teleport four of the nine
beasts away to that locked mausoleum, but five still remain here.

(they managed to resist the effect... this time.)

Then, Masque casts his highly effective Bands spell, enwrapping the arms
and torso of poor, possessed Och in magical strands of energy that he
can't seem to break out of.  He strains and strains, but he can't break
the bands, or move enough to cut them with his magical axe.

Of course, then the creature controlling Och acts - by expelling his
gaseous essence from Och's body.  You see it start to emit from Och's
mouth, nose, and his very skin pores themselves, leaving him a coughing,
gagging wreck for the time being.

Free of their master, of course, Och is suddenly a rather scrumptious
target for their hunger, but that skinny fellow intervenes as two of
them rush his convulsing form.  He jumps them, impaling one of the
things directly in the heart with the remains of that chair he broke.

It falls over, the flesh corroding off of its bones within seconds,
leaving an acrid, burning human smell in the air.  Still numbering in at
four, the minions of your vampiric friend then come at you, and you can
see the intense hunger for your life reflected in their eyes...!

Two of them rush you, Masque, while one each comes after both Silhouette
and her former prisoner.  Now would be a good time to roll up your dodge
maneuvers (or whatever else you might want to pull), as they're coming
at you both biting and clawing with their filthy, undead weaponry...

Meanwhile, the leader of this troupe of death returns to his material
form in the face of this chaos.  You can see that the amulet that'd
manifested on Och's neck has now returned to his body, and that it's
pulsing with energy.

The vampire himself looks at you, laughing in a sort of manical rage. 
"Ha ha ha!  You will soon succumb to my servants' dread touch, and if
not, I shall enjoy consuming your life myself!  Ha ha ha!".  Then, as he
insanely laughs at the four of you, the amulet itself seems to speak.

Either that, or the vampire's one hell of a ventriloquist.

"Yes... destroy them.  Destroy them all!", it says with a disembodied
voice.  "They seek to interrupt my plan for dominion over the animates!
They must die!"  A beam of light then streaks out from the amulet,
strking the five remaining vampires.  Suddenly they look meaner...

(Anyone?)

Subject: Re: [v13] Ruckus at Club Invertebrate!
Date:    Sat, 02 Jan 1999 19:41:40 -0600
From:    Andy Hicks <ahix@mail.utexas.edu>

>He's standing by the entrance to the Steakhouse, motioning towards the
>doorway with his head.  Just then, two cops come running into the joint,
>one pulling a billyclub, the other asking "Okay!  What's going on,
>here?"

>The bartender just shrugs, saying "Well, one of the light fixtures just
>blew up, officer.  I think we've got to call an electrician, is all. 
>This poor girl here just got caught in the glass shower, though.  I'll
>make sure she's all right."

>The cops relax, looking at her, at you, at the bartender, and then back
>at her again.  "Is this right, Miss?  Are you okay?"  She still looks a
>bit loopy, there, but a baseball bat to the head'll do that.  "Uh, yeah,
>I guess.  I'm fine."

>The cops don't sound all that happy with that, but they shrug and head
>out anyway.  "If you want to press charges, Ma'am, just give us a call.
>We always get complaints about this weirdo Club."  They wait for her to
>answer, which she fails to do, and then leave.

>Which is odd.  It's as if these two cops really didn't want to be here
>for some reason.  And usually, them cops go out of their way to help a
>practically naked woman when she's down in a bar.  Usually, at any rate.
>Apparently, they thought better of it, and split as fast as possible.

>Even more confused about that, Hazzard just shrugs as well, looking at
>you as if he was totally lost.  Since he's just as in the dark about
>what's going on as you are, that's no big surprise.  He's just standing
>there, waiting to see what happens next.

Though relieved that the cops displayed such brilliant apathy in light of
the bizarre scene they encountered (knocked out babe, guy standing over her
with a baseball bat, two blood-soaked thugs, etc.), I'm more than a bit
agitated by what is happening here.

"Hazzard, if you wanna get outta here, I'm sure you'll find yer way out the
door.  But I'm about to find out what the hell this place is."

I turn to the bartender, pointing one of my canes directly at him.

"Buddy, those cops may be too scared to see what's goin' on in this freak
show yer runnin', but I sure as hell ain't.  I may have taken that crap
from you and yer pal Eddie before, but when you lay a baseball bat upside a
lady's head, you're crossin' the line!  I don't care if she DID appear
outta thin air!

"So ya better have a good explanation for all this, or I'm gonna make the
treatment you just gave her look like an affectionate pat on the head!"

I begin to approach the bartender and the fallen woman...  

(Here we go again.  Denny?)

Subject: Re: [v13] Bad Things. Definitely Bad Things.
Date:    Sat, 02 Jan 1999 22:29:00 -0600
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

I go invisible!

Subject: Re: [v13] Bad Things. Definitely Bad Things.
Date:    Sat, 02 Jan 1999 19:54:56 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Christopher W. Acers wrote:
 
> I go invisible!

Er, okay.  What you'll want to do, Acers, is roll me a spell FEAT roll,
as if it were a power dodge; you know, one of those quirky power moves
used as a super-human Dodge maneuvers.  He'll get a shot at you the
first time, but won't be able to see you afterwards...

Unless it can see in the dark...

Subject: Re: [v13] Jinx's Great Escape!
Date:    Sun, 03 Jan 1999 01:58:27 -0600
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Natasha got into the helicopter, wincing a bit as she moved.

"Right, Colonel. This time they didn't all die." she shot out to her
recruiter.

"Hey, Time-Out - you're an excellent driver. Really." she told Time-Out
as she is carried away.

Once she got into the helicopter, she continued, "Sir, why wasn't it
mentioned that Shijitzu is a psi? That was extremely inconvenient and
unexpected. Also, when you get a chance, please pass any files you have
on some sneaky fuck named Zartan. Another unaccounted for factor.

"Oh, and the mission was at least partially successful. We retrieved one
of the neuropathic processors. On the other hand, I had to pulp Mr.
Davidson. At least he's no longer co-oped." she shrugged, looking at the
clean-up crew going to work.

"Sir, can we get back to a safehouse so I can get a shower?"

Subject: Re: [v13] Jinx's Great Escape!
Date:    Sun, 03 Jan 1999 03:04:25 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

William Lockwood wrote:

> Natasha got into the helicopter, wincing a bit as she moved.
 
> "Right, Colonel. This time they didn't all die." she shot out to her
> recruiter.
 
> "Hey, Time-Out - you're an excellent driver. Really." she told 
> Time-Out as she is carried away.

> Once she got into the helicopter, she continued, "Sir, why wasn't it
> mentioned that Shijitzu is a psi? That was extremely inconvenient and
> unexpected. Also, when you get a chance, please pass any files you 
> have on some sneaky fuck named Zartan. Another unaccounted for factor.

> "Oh, and the mission was at least partially successful. We retrieved 
> one of the neuropathic processors. On the other hand, I had to pulp 
> Mr. Davidson. At least he's no longer co-oped." she shrugged, looking 
> at the clean-up crew going to work.

> "Sir, can we get back to a safehouse so I can get a shower?"

Your inductor into the D.A.A. and superior-type guy looks at you in
surprise.  "Well, the thing is, we didn't know that the man was a psi at
all, to tell you the truth.  Sometimes, these things just sort of come
out during an operation."

"I'm sure your report will detail the level of his abilities, and a
description of just what he can do."  The Colonel lights up a pipe,
taking a couple of long drags off of the thing before speaking again.
"I'm sure it'll be filled out as soon as you get a good shower."

"As far as Mr. Davidson is concerned, don't worry about that.  Since he
was co-opted, he needed to be dealt with anyway, and your way makes
things easier for the future.  Of course, now we'll have to slip another
body into Shijitzu's company to see what the devil's up to."

"Psionics.  Argh, they always give me a headache."  He pauses to again
take a long puff off his pipe.  "Now, of course, we'll need to find your
other partner on this job, Bruno.  Or, you could just give him a call
and have him drive Time Out's call back to base."

"He IS still alive, right?"

Subject: Re: [v13] Ruckus at Club Invertebrate!
Date:    Sun, 03 Jan 1999 03:12:13 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Andy Hicks wrote:
 
> Though relieved that the cops displayed such brilliant apathy in light 
> of the bizarre scene they encountered (knocked out babe, guy standing 
> over her with a baseball bat, two blood-soaked thugs, etc.), I'm more 
> than a bit agitated by what is happening here.

> "Hazzard, if you wanna get outta here, I'm sure you'll find yer way 
> out the door.  But I'm about to find out what the hell this place is."

Hazzard looks at you, paranoia and amusement simultaneously evident on
his face.  You don't know how he's pulling that with mere mortal facial
muscles, but he's doing it.  "Yeah, sure, why not?  I'm sure nothing
bad's going to come out of this..."
 
> I turn to the bartender, pointing one of my canes directly at him.
 
> "Buddy, those cops may be too scared to see what's goin' on in this 
> freak show yer runnin', but I sure as hell ain't.  I may have taken 
> that crap from you and yer pal Eddie before, but when you lay a 
> baseball bat upside a lady's head, you're crossin' the line!  I don't 
> care if she DID appear outta thin air!

> "So ya better have a good explanation for all this, or I'm gonna make 
> the treatment you just gave her look like an affectionate pat on the 
> head!"

> I begin to approach the bartender and the fallen woman...

He looks on as you menace him, and laughs.  "Of course I have an
explanation for why I hit her.  To get rid of the cops, you idiot! 
Broken light, lady sitting on the floor holding her head, just a touch
of blood leaking out.  'The light just blew up, officer'!"

"Besides, she knows the club rules:  no dimensional transit upstairs!" 
He looks down at the floor, and makes a sort of semicircle in the broken
glass around himself in front.  "Now, if you have a problem with me
protecting my business from nosey cops, too bad."

"She's alive, isn't she?!"
 
> (Here we go again.  Denny?)

Perhaps... of course, the Bartender isn't starting this.  They rarely
do... they typically let somebody else do that number.  That's your
call, man...  :)

Subject: Re: [v13] Ruckus at Club Invertebrate!
Date:    Sun, 03 Jan 1999 03:23:12 -0600
From:    Andy Hicks <ahix@mail.utexas.edu>

>He looks on as you menace him, and laughs.  "Of course I have an
>explanation for why I hit her.  To get rid of the cops, you idiot! 
>Broken light, lady sitting on the floor holding her head, just a touch
>of blood leaking out.  'The light just blew up, officer'!"

>"Besides, she knows the club rules:  no dimensional transit upstairs!" 
>He looks down at the floor, and makes a sort of semicircle in the broken
>glass around himself in front.  "Now, if you have a problem with me
>protecting my business from nosey cops, too bad."

>"She's alive, isn't she?!"
 
"That wasn't the good explanation I was lookin' for, bub.  You ain't doin'
anybody any favors, far as I can tell.  I've been out of the loop for a
while, but I don't remember when smacking a broad became a good way to get
the cops to leave ya alone."

I put my canes on my back again to try and ease the bartender's mind at
least a little bit as I make a move to the stairs leading down to 'Club
Invertebrate'.

"I don't know about this "international travel" bullshit, but there's
definitely some fucked up business goin' on downstairs in that club of
yours.  Now if ya don't mind, I think I'll go on down and check it out
myself.  Unless you discriminate against "normal" people like me.  But that
ain't gonna be a problem, is it?"

???

Subject: Re: [v13] Ruckus at Club Invertebrate!
Date:    Sun, 03 Jan 1999 14:59:56 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Andy Hicks wrote:
 
> "That wasn't the good explanation I was lookin' for, bub.  You ain't 
> doin' anybody any favors, far as I can tell.  I've been out of the 
> loop for a while, but I don't remember when smacking a broad became a 
> good way to get the cops to leave ya alone."

He just laughs at you.  "Well, you weren't payin' attention, then.  When
stupid people tell the cops they saw this huge flash of light in the
steakhouse, those two bozos'll tell 'em what's what.  Cops 'round here
really don't like coming inside this place..."

> I put my canes on my back again to try and ease the bartender's mind 
> at least a little bit as I make a move to the stairs leading down to 
> 'Club Invertebrate'.

> "I don't know about this "international travel" bullshit, but there's
> definitely some fucked up business goin' on downstairs in that club of
> yours.  Now if ya don't mind, I think I'll go on down and check it out
> myself.  Unless you discriminate against "normal" people like me.  But 
> that ain't gonna be a problem, is it?"

The Bartender puts one hand on his diaphram, and the other out towards
the stairwell, as if to bow.  "Be my guest, sir.  Anybody who wants to
can enjoy what Club Invertebrate has to offer.  Just be warned, if you
see something you don't like, it's not the Club's fault."

As you walk to the stairwell, you can see that Hazzard's coming with
you, but he makes a slight detour first.  "We better not get killed down
here, or we're gonna git real mad at you.  And give me another beer,
dangit."  After receiving his prize, he follows.

You wind down what seems like twenty feet of stairs, and when you get to
the bottom, you find a rather expansive Club down here.  It's as if the
owner knocked the basements out of the surrounding buildings in order to
make this place so bloody huge.

You see, there's four distinct areas in the club, from what you can
tell, three of which are splitting off from the main one you just
stepped into.  At the door, you see several coat and hat racks, full to
overflowing with trenchcoats, fidoras, stove-top hats, and berets.

In the main chamber you can see, there's about six folks inside, most
sitting at the bar, drinking.  However, there are two persons sitting at
a table all by themselves.  There are about thirty such tables spread
throughout the Club, and a big dance floor - with a disco ball on top!

You're not sure what exactly is in the other rooms, just yet, but this
is what you see so far.  Looking closer at the 'people' drinking, you
spot two amputees, one missing a leg and one missing an arm and an eye,
so noted by the eye patch.  Not TOO freaky, of course.

The third isn't quite so lucky, however, for instead of having hands,
she's been blessed with a large pair of red, crablike pincers... and
they look sharp.  The fourth man at the bar would seem to be poor
'Eddie', as he's only wearing a pair of boxers.

The man's skin is totally covered with scales, as if he were some sort
of reptile.  You do notice that there's a sort of portable heat lamp
sitting next to him on the bar, and he seems to be enjoying it's
emissions immensely.

At the table, being totally out of place, are two seemingly normal
looking humans.  One is a man, and one is a woman, and they look as if
they could be twins, their features are so similar.  The weird thing is
that they're not talking to each other at all - just drinking.

Hazzard catches up to you, taking in the scenery.  "Now, ain't THAT
something you don't see everyday.  I wonder how that bartender got down
here so darn fast?"  Once he says it, you realize that Marc's right;
that looks just like the guy you left upstairs in the Steakhouse.

So, what'cha gonna do?

Subject: Re: [v13] Ruckus at Club Invertebrate!
Date:    Sun, 03 Jan 1999 15:57:41 -0600
From:    Andy Hicks <ahix@mail.utexas.edu>

>The Bartender puts one hand on his diaphram, and the other out towards
>the stairwell, as if to bow.  "Be my guest, sir.  Anybody who wants to
>can enjoy what Club Invertebrate has to offer.  Just be warned, if you
>see something you don't like, it's not the Club's fault."

>As you walk to the stairwell, you can see that Hazzard's coming with
>you, but he makes a slight detour first.  "We better not get killed down
>here, or we're gonna git real mad at you.  And give me another beer,
>dangit."  After receiving his prize, he follows.

>You wind down what seems like twenty feet of stairs, and when you get to
>the bottom, you find a rather expansive Club down here.  It's as if the
>owner knocked the basements out of the surrounding buildings in order to
>make this place so bloody huge.

>You see, there's four distinct areas in the club, from what you can
>tell, three of which are splitting off from the main one you just
>stepped into.  At the door, you see several coat and hat racks, full to
>overflowing with trenchcoats, fidoras, stove-top hats, and berets.

>In the main chamber you can see, there's about six folks inside, most
>sitting at the bar, drinking.  However, there are two persons sitting at
>a table all by themselves.  There are about thirty such tables spread
>throughout the Club, and a big dance floor - with a disco ball on top!

>You're not sure what exactly is in the other rooms, just yet, but this
>is what you see so far.  Looking closer at the 'people' drinking, you
>spot two amputees, one missing a leg and one missing an arm and an eye,
>so noted by the eye patch.  Not TOO freaky, of course.

>The third isn't quite so lucky, however, for instead of having hands,
>she's been blessed with a large pair of red, crablike pincers... and
>they look sharp.  The fourth man at the bar would seem to be poor
>'Eddie', as he's only wearing a pair of boxers.

>The man's skin is totally covered with scales, as if he were some sort
>of reptile.  You do notice that there's a sort of portable heat lamp
>sitting next to him on the bar, and he seems to be enjoying it's
>emmissions immensely.

>At the table, being totally out of place, are two seemingly normal
>looking humans.  One is a man, and one is a woman, and they look as if
>they could be twins, their features are so similar.  The weird thing is
>that they're not talking to each other at all - just drinking.

>Hazzard catches up to you, taking in the scenery.  "Now, ain't THAT
>something you don't see everyday.  I wonder how that bartender got down
>here so darn fast?"  Once he says it, you realize that Marc's right;
>that looks just like the guy you left upstairs in the Steakhouse.

"I know I've seen a lot in my time, and I'm sure you've seen more than your
share of strange business, but I can promise you I ain't never seen any
place like this.  

"Of course I don't see anybody doin' anything but keepin' to themselves...
so I guess all there is to do is sit down, have a beer, and soak in the
atmosphere for a while.  But that scene with the girl up there is still
rubbin' me wrong.  There's somethin' else goin' down 'round here besides
just good conversation."

I head to the bar and approach the bartender again.

"Hey Mack, I don't know how you got down here so fast, but if you can grab
me another Bud that quick you'd be doin' me a big favor."

After I get my beer I sit down next to the snake-man they call Eddie, with
my back to the bar, scanning the club for any extra activity that I didn't
pick up at first glance, especially any of the entrance ways to the other
three sections of the club.  Meanwhile I try to strike up a conversation
with Eddie.

"How ya doin' Eddie.  I don't think we were properly introduced upstairs.
My name's Hardcore.  This other fella goes by the name of Hazzard.

"So what are you up to these days, besides hidin' out underground?"

...

Subject: Re: [v13] Ruckus at Club Invertebrate!
Date:    Sun, 03 Jan 1999 22:47:51 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Andy Hicks wrote:

> "I know I've seen a lot in my time, and I'm sure you've seen more than 
> your share of strange business, but I can promise you I ain't never 
> seen any place like this.

> "Of course I don't see anybody doin' anything but keepin' to 
> themselves... so I guess all there is to do is sit down, have a beer, 
> and soak in the atmosphere for a while.  But that scene with the girl 
> up there is still rubbin' me wrong.  There's somethin' else goin' down 
> 'round here besides just good conversation."

> I head to the bar and approach the bartender again.

The man looks at you, sipping his fresh beer.  "I guess.  Of course, I
still don't think anything good's gonna come from this."  Marc just
follows you to the bar, pulling up a stool and taking a long look at the
girl with the pincers, admiring her crimson hair and... spandex suit...

> "Hey Mack, I don't know how you got down here so fast, but if you can 
> grab me another Bud that quick you'd be doin' me a big favor."

The Bartender looks at the two of you, looks upwards for a second, and
then back at'cha.  "All right.  Comin' right up."  He proceeds to pour
you another one, handing it to you in an impeccably clean glass.  "There
you go.  Enjoy it, tough guy!"

> After I get my beer I sit down next to the snake-man they call Eddie, 
> with my back to the bar, scanning the club for any extra activity that 
> I didn't pick up at first glance, especially any of the entrance ways 
> to the other three sections of the club.  Meanwhile I try to strike up 
> a conversation with Eddie.

> "How ya doin' Eddie.  I don't think we were properly introduced 
> upstairs. My name's Hardcore.  This other fella goes by the name of 
> Hazzard.
 
> "So what are you up to these days, besides hidin' out underground?"

"Ehhhhh!"  Eddie sort of grunts in your general direction as you speak
to him.  "What do you want...?"  He doesn't seem inclined to answer your
question, really, so much as simply avoiding you.  He sort of scoots
himself, his drink, and his heat lamp over about three feet.

Meanwhile, that minimally clothed, fire-haired woman is making her way
downstairs, rubbing her head where she got clocked.  She's wandering
about, and once she gets to that dance floor, she hits the juke box. 
Suddenly she squeals out "Eeeeeeek!  I haven't heard this in years!"

"Not since President Travolta's Re-Election Party!"  She pops several
quarters into the juke box, and imminently, the sounds of "Disco
Inferno" are playing all over the club.  The disco ball starts spinning,
and she starts moving like there's no tomorrow.

Marc's laughing at this point, and almost shot beer out his nose, though
he abruptly stopped after the lady with the sharp-looking pincers gave
him an acid-like stare.  "Hmmph.", is pretty much all he says after
that, and he's just sort of keeping an eye on the disco queen.

"Don't trust this.  Too wierd for words."

(Andy?)

Subject: Re: [v13] Ruckus at Club Invertebrate!
Date:    Sun, 03 Jan 1999 23:54:39 -0600
From:    Andy Hicks <ahix@mail.utexas.edu>

>"Ehhhhh!"  Eddie sort of grunts in your general direction as you speak
>to him.  "What do you want...?"  He doesn't seem inclined to answer your
>question, really, so much as simply avoiding you.  He sort of scoots
>himself, his drink, and his heat lamp over about three feet.

Under my breath: "Nice talkin' to ya, ya scaly son of a bitch."

>Meanwhile, that minimally clothed, fire-haired woman is making her way
>downstairs, rubbing her head where she got clocked.  She's wandering
>about, and once she gets to that dance floor, she hits the juke box. 
>Suddenly she squeals out "Eeeeeeek!  I haven't heard this in years!"

>"Not since President Travolta's Re-Election Party!"  

"Wha--"

>She pops several
>quarters into the juke box, and imminently, the sounds of "Disco
>Inferno" are playing all over the club.  The disco ball starts spinning,
>and she starts moving like there's no tomorrow.

>Marc's laughing at this point, and almost shot beer out his nose, though
>he abruptly stopped after the lady with the sharp-looking pincers gave
>him an acid-like stare.  "Hmmph.", is pretty much all he says after
>that, and he's just sort of keeping an eye on the disco queen.

>"Don't trust this.  Too wierd for words."

"Hazzard, I'm inclined to agree with you.  I don't think anything good CAN
come of this BS.  I don't know what I was thinkin' comin' down here in the
first place.

"I mean, look at that girl... Just got clocked upside her head, and now
she's dancin' around like nothin' happened.  I sure hope for her sake that
somethin' got knocked loose in that pretty head of hers if she's gonna be
goin' on about "President Travolta" and some imaginary re-election party."

I take a guzzle out of my beer and continue...

"I tell you what, I'm gonna see if I can look around the rest of the club,
and assumin' I don't see anything too funny, I'm gonna get the hell out of
here and as far away as I can, as quick as I can."

I begin to make my way with beer in hand to one of the other sections of
the club, taking a route that will get me a better look at the other
patrons of the Invertebrate.

(Denny?)

Subject: Re: [v13] Jinx's Great Escape!
Date:    Mon, 04 Jan 1999 00:44:12 -0600
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

"Oh yeah, Bruno. That big lug should be on his way back to NYC in that
freaky Crown Victoria of his, but who the hell knows. I'll give him a
call."

With that, she pulled out the cell phone again and dialed Bruno's
number.

"Hey, big guy. This is Jinx. Time-Out's in bad shape. What? Oh, I think
she'll be OK. Hmmm? Yeah, I said 'I think'. Anyway, drive your ass up to
NYC. Bye." she informed Bruno.

"Anyway, where were we? Oh yeah, I'll write up the report once I get
cleaned up. But as long as we're going to be taking a while, I'm going
to be getting some shut-eye."

With that, she curled up around her guns and tried to get some sleep.

Subject: Re: [v13] Ruckus at Club Invertebrate!
Date:    Mon, 04 Jan 1999 02:45:38 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Andy Hicks wrote:
 
>>"Ehhhhh!"  Eddie sort of grunts in your general direction as you speak
>>to him.  "What do you want...?"  He doesn't seem inclined to answer 
>>your question, really, so much as simply avoiding you.  He sort of 
>>scoots himself, his drink, and his heat lamp over about three feet.
 
> Under my breath: "Nice talkin' to ya, ya scaly son of a bitch."

The Bartender looks at you with this annoyed gleam in his eye.  "You'll
have to forgive Eddie.  You see, he doesn't typically hang around humans
all that much... they tend to shun him... something about being born
with scales, I think."

>> (snippity snip snip)
 
>>Marc's laughing at this point, and almost shot beer out his nose, 
>>though he abruptly stopped after the lady with the sharp-looking 
>>pincers gave him an acid-like stare.  "Hmmph.", is pretty much all he 
>>says after that, and he's just sort of keeping an eye on the disco 
>>queen.

>>"Don't trust this.  Too weird for words."
 
> "Hazzard, I'm inclined to agree with you.  I don't think anything good 
> CAN come of this BS.  I don't know what I was thinkin' comin' down 
> here in the first place.

> "I mean, look at that girl... Just got clocked upside her head, and 
> now she's dancin' around like nothin' happened.  I sure hope for her 
> sake that somethin' got knocked loose in that pretty head of hers if 
> she's gonna be goin' on about "President Travolta" and some imaginary 
> re-election party."
 
> I take a guzzle out of my beer and continue...
 
> "I tell you what, I'm gonna see if I can look around the rest of the 
> club, and assumin' I don't see anything too funny, I'm gonna get the 
> hell out of here and as far away as I can, as quick as I can."

Similarly, he take a long sip out of his.  "All right.  You go ahead and
do that.  I'll keep an eye on Miss Disco, here.  If you need help or
anything, gimme a holler, and I'm there.  Not like I've got anything
better to do."

> I begin to make my way with beer in hand to one of the other sections 
> of the club, taking a route that will get me a better look at the 
> other patrons of the Invertebrate.

You walk past the bar, indeed getting a better take of the Club's many
patrons.  That pincered girl is indeed wearing a skin-tight crimson
spandex suit, and it suits her, so to speak.  She's also got crimson
colored hair, and other than the pincers, is rather attractive, really.

Those two amputees seem harmless enough.  They're just sitting here
having a fun talk about a fight they got in with something called a
'Bin'tri' a couple years back.  You don't know if that's an animal or
some sort of foreign national, but it apparently ate one of their legs.

Those two almost-twins at the table both look at you simultaneously as
you walk by, eyeing you in turn.  They both have black hair, and are
wearing mirrored outfits... one has a bandoiler running over his right
shoulder, and the other has it running up her left.

Kinda weird, but not as weird as when they talk.  The guy says, "What're
you looking at", and the woman finishes his sentence with a "Dick Head?"
She continues on, saying "Unless you see something you like", at which
point her counterpart finished "but it's too bad I ain't interested."

(Andy?)

Subject: Re: [v13] Jinx's Great Escape!
Date:    Mon, 04 Jan 1999 02:50:52 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

William Lockwood wrote:
 
> "Oh yeah, Bruno. That big lug should be on his way back to NYC in that
> freaky Crown Victoria of his, but who the hell knows. I'll give him a
> call."
 
> With that, she pulled out the cell phone again and dialed Bruno's
> number.
 
> "Hey, big guy. This is Jinx. Time-Out's in bad shape. What? Oh, I 
> think she'll be OK. Hmmm? Yeah, I said 'I think'. Anyway, drive your 
> ass up to NYC. Bye." she informed Bruno.

He pauses for a second on the cell phone, only replying "Uh, Okay."  You
get to hang up before him, however.  One of those little joys that come
with being absolutely rude...

> "Anyway, where were we? Oh yeah, I'll write up the report once I get
> cleaned up. But as long as we're going to be taking a while, I'm going
> to be getting some shut-eye."
 
> With that, she curled up around her guns and tried to get some sleep.

The Colonel looks down at you, curling up on the helicopter seat. 
"Well, okay.  But don't shoot me when I wake you up."  Which, of course,
he does after what feels like too short a time; in fact, your watch
indicates that it was only fifteen minutes.

"We're here, sweetie!", the evil man says in a cheery, wakeful voice. 
Come inside and take that nap, already.  Those chairs weren't built for
any sort of sleeping."  As you disembark, Time Out is carried off in her
stretcher, long since drugged into a happy unconsciousness.

Guess that leaves some boring paperwork, a shower, and a nap for you to
deal with, Jinx...

Subject: Re: [v13] Jinx's Great Escape!
Date:    Mon, 04 Jan 1999 14:27:09 -0600
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Natasha crawled out of the helicopter, bleary eyed and more irritable
than usual. She only had to point her guns at a few people before
everyone got the hint and let her stomp off to her quarters.

Once she got there she secrued her equipment and stripped. She ran the
bath at a nice steamy temp and got in, submersing herself. And dreamt.

She dreamt of black cats and ladders and broken mirrors. Children
taunting her, "Tash is a jinx! Tash is a jinx!" over and over again. A
shattered piano with a twitching hand sticking out from under it. Joe
getting knocked out of the way of shots fired from behind them, her
leaping in front of them, then a flash of grey.

She awoke with a start and just shook her head.

~Welcome to this wonderful life, Jinx.~ she thought to herself before
getting dressed and heading to do paperwork.

Subject: Re: [v13] Bad Things. Definitely Bad Things.
Date:    Mon, 4 Jan 1999 19:11:29 -0700
From:    "Lady Arakne" <araknesweb@darkspiral.com>

> Two of them rush you, Masque, while one each comes after both Silhouette
> and her former prisoner.  Now would be a good time to roll up your dodge
> maneuvers (or whatever else you might want to pull), as they're coming
> at you both biting and clawing with their filthy, undead weaponry...

(rolls a 98 to dodge)

> Meanwhile, the leader of this troupe of death returns to his material
> form in the face of this chaos.  You can see that the amulet that'd
> manifested on Och's neck has now returned to his body, and that it's
> pulsing with energy.
 
> The vampire himself looks at you, laughing in a sort of manical rage. 
> "Ha ha ha!  You will soon succumb to my servants' dread touch, and if
> not, I shall enjoy consuming your life myself!  Ha ha ha!".  Then, as he
> insanely laughs at the four of you, the amulet itself seems to speak.
 
> Either that, or the vampire's one hell of a ventriloquist.
 
> "Yes... destroy them.  Destroy them all!", it says with a disembodied
> voice.  "They seek to interrupt my plan for dominion over the animates!
> They must die!"  A beam of light then streaks out from the amulet,
> strking the five remaining vampires.  Suddenly they look meaner...
 
Sil's going to shadow teleport a nice pice of wood into the "head" 
vampire's heart... rolled an 88 to accomplish that nice little feat.

tbc..

Subject: Re: [v13] Bad Things. Definitely Bad Things.
Date:    Mon, 04 Jan 1999 21:04:16 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Lady Arakne wrote:
 
>> Two of them rush you, Masque, while one each comes after both 
>> Silhouette and her former prisoner.  Now would be a good time to roll 
>> up your dodge maneuvers (or whatever else you might want to pull), as 
>> they're coming at you both biting and clawing with their filthy, 
>> undead weaponry...

> (rolls a 98 to dodge)

Okay, you deftly move out of the way of those lunging claws and odorous
teeth, stepping around the creature as if it were a stature.  The thing
is still moving after you in the same direction, too, until it realizes
a good second later that you have, in fact, moved.

>> Meanwhile, the leader of this troupe of death returns to his material
>> form in the face of this chaos.  You can see that the amulet that'd
>> manifested on Och's neck has now returned to his body, and that it's
>> pulsing with energy.

>> The vampire himself looks at you, laughing in a sort of manical rage.
>> "Ha ha ha!  You will soon succumb to my servants' dread touch, and if
>> not, I shall enjoy consuming your life myself!  Ha ha ha!".  Then, as 
>> he insanely laughs at the four of you, the amulet itself seems to 
>> speak.

>> Either that, or the vampire's one hell of a ventriloquist.

>> "Yes... destroy them.  Destroy them all!", it says with a disembodied
>> voice.  "They seek to interrupt my plan for dominion over the 
>> animates!  They must die!"  A beam of light then streaks out from the 
>> amulet, strking the five remaining vampires.  Suddenly they look 
>> meaner...

> Sil's going to shadow teleport a nice pice of wood into the "head"
> vampire's heart... rolled an 88 to accomplish that nice little feat.
 
Okay... go ahead and roll an initiative roll versus your deadly opponent
once again.  He's got an eleven, so he MIGHT beat you to it, but of
course, it's not like he knows what'cher up to; in fact, he appears to
be going after Masque...

(Speaking of which... you ever make that roll, Chris-o?)

Subject: Re: [v13] Jinx's Great Escape!
Date:    Mon, 04 Jan 1999 22:01:15 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

William Lockwood wrote:
 
> Natasha crawled out of the helicopter, bleary eyed and more irritable
> than usual. She only had to point her guns at a few people before
> everyone got the hint and let her stomp off to her quarters.
 
> Once she got there she secured her equipment and stripped. She ran the
> bath at a nice steamy temp and got in, submersing herself. And dreamt.
 
> She dreamt of black cats and ladders and broken mirrors. Children
> taunting her, "Tash is a jinx! Tash is a jinx!" over and over again. A
> shattered piano with a twitching hand sticking out from under it. Joe
> getting knocked out of the way of shots fired from behind them, her
> leaping in front of them, then a flash of gray.
 
> She awoke with a start and just shook her head.
 
> ~Welcome to this wonderful life, Jinx.~ she thought to herself before
> getting dressed and heading to do paperwork.

You groggily wander down to the D.A.A. Operatives' Office, grabbing a
laptop and a cup of coffee, and then make your way to a sort of commons
room in order to relax and write your report.  It would seem that Bruno
has beat you there; he's drinking a six pack and watching television.

"Hey, Jinx.  What's up?"  He then downs another beer, laughing away at
nothing in general.  As you sit down on the plush couch provided by your
D.A.A. superiors to start writing your report, you see CNN coverage of
the 'terrorist attack' on the Ariel-Shijitzu building.

One of their ubiquitous CNN reporters talks about how a gang of
high-tech terrorists broke into the place, generally demolishing the
building, and stealing samples of experimental Shijitzu gear.  And then
the quirky reporter interviews Roy Shijitzu, you new pal.

"Yes... the savages terrorized my employees, inflicted untold damage to
the building, and even seriously wounded a score of my security agents.
Of course, I rest assured knowing that these cretins will soon be
brought to justice, as our security cameras recorded their likenesses."

After that, CNN broadcasts images of you, Time Out, Bruno, and those
pesky Dreadnoks causing all manner of mayhem throughout the A-S complex.
Some single-frame stills, some long strings of footage.  Oddly enough,
Zartan doesn't seem to have been filmed.  Typical.

Once that sequence is done, Roy is brought back on camera.  "Yes, and if
displaying their images across the world isn't enough, I am personally
offering a two and a half million dollar bounty for EACH one of these...
savages... brought into the authorities for me."

"Five million for the pretty lady with the two guns.  She's the one that
stole my technology and destroyed several other projects in progress.  I
want her to feel the full sting of Justice.  Thank you."  The reporter
looks at him kind of funny for a second, and then continues.

"Reporting for CNN, this is Lisa Smith, from Pleasantview, New Jersey."

About thirty seconds, you're still seeing red when Bruno shakes your
shoulder.  "Hey, Jinx.  Jinx!  Are you okay?"  He waits a few seconds
more, and then says "You know, you shouldn't grit your teeth like that,
Jinx.  You'll get cavities..."

                                 ***

Well, Jinx.  You managed to earn 175 Karma points for this particular
little adventure.  You would've gotten more, but the... questionable
nature of the job did subtract from that some.  Luckily, you didn't
actually KILL anybody, so at least you managed to get Karma at all...

:)

Subject: Re: [v13] Bad Things. Definitely Bad Things.
Date:    Tue, 05 Jan 1999 07:36:05 -0600
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

Alright...

i roll a 70 on my super powerful Good ranked inviso-power.. a yellow
feat minus 4 and all that good stuff...

and for the next round i roll an 11 for init.

Subject: Re: [v13] Bad Things. Definitely Bad Things.
Date:    Tue, 05 Jan 1999 12:41:29 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Christopher W. Acers wrote:
 
> Alright...
 
> i roll a 70 on my super powerful Good ranked inviso-power.. a yellow
> feat minus 4 and all that good stuff...
 
> and for the next round i roll an 11 for init.

Hokay... you cast your invisibility spell and step deftly to the side,
and the two things lunging at you, waving claws and snapping jaws, just
walk right past.  It was as if it took them a good second to realize
that you weren't, well, there anymore.

So, they go after that skinny guy with the broken chair bits, instead. 
Since he's protecting the still-convulsing and gagging Och, who can't
really defend himself.  At which point, of course, that magical amulet
juices them up some... unfortunately for the tall and skinny man...

Rolling up an eleven for initative, you managed to tie the big vampire,
though his minions still only have a 1 for initiative themselves...

(Go ahead and tell me what'cher want to do, Acers, but just so you know,
Silhouette's going after the big guy).

Subject: Re: [v13] Bad Things. Definitely Bad Things.
Date:    Tue, 05 Jan 1999 12:55:08 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

At any rate, Silhouette managed to score a twelve (12) for initative,
and has vowed to teleport a shaft of wood directly into the heart of
that magical amulet-wearing creature of darkness.  She beat him to the
punch (he was lurching towards Masque) and did her dirty work.

As soon as her trick is completed, the beast began howling out in agony.
"Arrgh!  Why you--" and his flesh exploded off of his bones in a fiery
blast of self-consumption.  That leaves only the thing's bones, hanging
there as if the thing was standing up still, with that amulet on.

Meanwhile, that lanky fellow takes another stab at one of the undead,
since he's now got three of the buggers coming his way.  He manages to
strike another, though he doesn't quite hit it on the mark, and it
continues on towards him and the coughing, wheezing Och.

(I guess that leaves you, Masque, to decide what'cha want to do, and
then do it.  Furthermore, Silhouette, you'll want to roll another Dodge
maneuver, as your beast is still with you, empowered by that blasted
magical amulet to greater power, and possibly sentience.)

(That, of course, because you can see a crafty sort of malignancy in its
eyes...)

Subject: Re: [v13] Bad Things. Definitely Bad Things.
Date:    Tue, 5 Jan 1999 16:36:28 -0700
From:    "Lady Arakne" <araknesweb@darkspiral.com>

94 dodge. for Sil

Subject: Re: [v13] Bad Things. Definitely Bad Things.
Date:    Wed, 06 Jan 1999 00:19:27 -0600
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

Pointing at the Head vampire guy....

" Boy, yer just a big meanie aren't you?!" Sending three of yer minions
at two of my friends...that's not fair."

Harummphing away I attempt to Banish the three cronies to the bright
side of the Moon...seriously.

I roll a 71 on excellent which is a yellow feat.....do they go away?

Subject: Re: [v13] Bad Things. Definitely Bad Things.
Date:    Wed, 06 Jan 1999 01:01:47 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>
 
Christopher W. Acers wrote:
 
> Pointing at the Head vampire guy....

> " Boy, yer just a big meanie aren't you?!" Sneding three of yer 
> minions at two of my friends...that's not fair."
 
> Harummphing away I attempt to Banish the three cronies to the bright
> side of the Moon...seriously.
 
> I roll a 71 on excellent which is a yellow feat.....do they go away?

Well, even though it's a bit more difficult to banish multiple folks at
once, you manage to actually get rid of all but one them buggers.  They
vanish with a pathetic little 'pop' noise, and you can only imagine just
what horror you've inflicted upon the undead thingies where you put 'em.

The last one, which was going for the tall lanky man, looks up with a
surprising amount of intelligence, considering just a second ago she was
a mindless drone, and poofs herself into one of those green, misty-like
forms, wafting her way out the window before you can pole-axe her.

Of course, that just leaves the two of you with the still-standing
skeleton of that head vampire, and of course, the amulet, which seems to
be holding the dessicated, burnt-out remains upright.  And it speaks. 
"You fools!  You're ruining my plans!  I will destroy you utterly!!!"

And then the thing falls to the ground, it's physical support finally
condensing into dust.  It just lies there on the ground, screaming at
you in futile anger; you get the impression that it just can't do very
much without a host.

Either that, or the blasted thing is faking.

(So now what're the two of you gonna do?  If it involves any physical
violence of any sort, feel free to roll up initiatives, otherwsie, just
say what you're planning and go with it, i guess.  Essentially, the
fight is over... unless that amulet's up to something...)

Subject: Re: [v13] Bad Things. Definitely Bad Things.
Date:    Wed, 06 Jan 1999 00:49:11 -0600
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

Masque Harummphs again and sends out some of those wondferful bands,
wrapping up the amulet tighter than a 15 year old choir boy in
singapore...well that was a bad example but i wrap it up anyhow.

Allowing it to dangle in front of my eyes, i laugh at it...

"Ha, Ha...thats what you get when yer a big meanie. You were being real
rude and that is not what we want in this world...I half a mind to
ground you buster...."

Walking up to Sil, Och and the scarecrow fellow, asking if they are
alright.

"Sorry about that little banding thing earlier but ya know...you were
evil for a second there..me pappy always said...

ummm...

well he said somethin', I think...well anywho you might wanta ask yer
friend over there why he was following ya before he decides he is ready
to go"

"you folks mind if I leave for a minute or two?"

Subject: Re: [v13] Ruckus at Club Invertebrate!
Date:    Wed, 06 Jan 1999 01:16:56 -0600
From:    Andy Hicks <ahix@mail.utexas.edu>

>You walk past the bar, indeed getting a better take of the Club's many
>patrons.  That pincered girl is indeed wearing a skin-tight crimson
>spandex suit, and it suits her, so to speak.  She's also got crimson
>colored hair, and other than the pincers, is rather attractive, really.

>Those two amputees seem harmless enough.  They're just sitting here
>having a fun talk about a fight they got in with something called a
>'Bin'tri' a couple years back.  You don't know if that's an animal or
>some sort of foreign national, but it apparently ate one of their legs.

>Those two almost-twins at the table both look at you simultaneously as
>you walk by, eyeing you in turn.  They both have black hair, and are
>wearing mirrored outfits... one has a bandoiler running over his right
>shoulder, and the other has it running up her left.

>Kinda weird, but not as weird as when they talk.  The guy says, "What're
>you looking at", and the woman finishes his sentence with a "Dick Head?"
>She continues on, saying "Unless you see something you like", at which
>point her counterpart finished "but it's too bad I ain't interested."

I pause in front of their table, saying, "You two seem pretty close,"
waiting for some kind of response.

"I go by the name Hardcore.  What are you two called?"

...

"You know, it's my first time down here, and the bartender's givin' me a
little trouble.  Is he always like that, or is it just me?  What's his
deal, anyway?"

...

"Either of you two know what's goin' on in those other parts of the club?
I figure you two could save me a trip to check' em out," I say, finishing
my interrogation, careful to see how they react (collectively, I assume) to
each of the questions.

???

Subject: Re: [v13] Ruckus at Club Invertebrate!
Date:    Wed, 06 Jan 1999 19:36:01 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Andy Hicks wrote:

>> Kinda weird, but not as weird as when they talk.  The guy says, 
>> "What're you looking at", and the woman finishes his sentence with a 
>> "Dick Head?"  She continues on, saying "Unless you see something you 
>> like", at which point her counterpart finished "but it's too bad I 
>> ain't interested."

> I pause in front of their table, saying, "You two seem pretty close,"
> waiting for some kind of response.
 
> "I go by the name Hardcore.  What are you two called?"
 
The two look at each other, and then back at you.  "We're Double
Trouble.  And we're not close; we're the same person."  They both take a
long drink of whatever it is they're drinking.  "How's it going", the
guy says, while she says "Tough guy."

> "You know, it's my first time down here, and the bartender's givin' me 
> a little trouble.  Is he always like that, or is it just me?  What's 
> his deal, anyway?"

They look at each other again.  At which point the woman says "It's just
that he doesn't know you, tough guy."  Her counterpart then retorts with
a "And you're normal.  Usually, 'normal' folks that wander in here just
cause trouble."
 
> "Either of you two know what's goin' on in those other parts of the 
> club?  I figure you two could save me a trip to check' em out," I say, 
> finishing my interrogation, careful to see how they react 
> (collectively, I assume) to each of the questions.

"Well", the man says, "the club's centered around this weird vortex
thing, from what I understand; it's in the next room".  She adds, with
that, "that's where all the things hang out... you can see 'em in the
next room.  Enjoy."

(?)

Subject: Re: [v13] Bad Things. Definitely Bad Things.
Date:    Wed, 06 Jan 1999 19:40:58 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Christopher W. Acers wrote:
 
> Masque Harummphs again and sends out some of those wondferful bands,
> wrapping up the amulet tighter than a 15 year old choir boy in
> singapore...well that was a bad example but i wrap it up anyhow.
 
> Allowing it to dnagle in front of my eyes, i laugh at it...
 
> "Ha, Ha...thats what you get when yer a big meanie. You were being 
> real rude and that is not what we want in this world...I half a mind 
> to ground you buster...."

The amulet looks at you.  You can't remember if it had eyes, per se, and
it IS wrapped up in your magical bands.  But it's looking at you.  "You
can't stop me", it says.  "I'll get you for this.  You and all your
weirdo friends.  You will Pay!!!"

> Walking up to Sil, Och and the scarecrow fellow, asking if they are
> alright.
 
> "Sorry about that little banding thing earlier but ya know...you were
> evil for a second there..me pappy always said...
> ummm...

> well he said somethin', I think...well anywho you might wanta ask yer
> friend over there why he was following ya before he decides he is 
> ready to go"

> "you folks mind if I leave for a minute or two?"
 
Och looks at you and says, rather coarsely, "Ah.  Right.  Go right
ahead, as far as I care.  I need to... talk... to mister bean pole
here."  The man looks a bit nervous at that, but he doesn't run away or
anything.  

Silhouette?

Subject: Re: [v13] Ruckus at Club Invertebrate!
Date:    Wed, 06 Jan 1999 21:10:33 -0600
From:    Andy Hicks <ahix@mail.utexas.edu>

At 07:36 PM 1/6/99 -0600, you wrote:

>The two look at each other, and then back at you.  "We're Double
>Trouble.  And we're not close; we're the same person."  They both take a
>long drink of whatever it is they're drinking.  "How's it going", the
>guy says, while she says "Tough guy."

"The same person?" I think to myself, "What a nightmare.  I can handle
bein' hunted down like an animal, or spendin' weeks at a time livin' outta
a van, but I think I'm about to lose it down here in this freak pit.  And
if one more person calls me "Tough Guy"...

>"Well", the man says, "the club's centered around this weird vortex
>thing, from what I understand; it's in the next room".  She adds, with
>that, "that's where all the things hang out... you can see 'em in the
>next room.  Enjoy."

"Yeah, thanks..." I reply as I continue on to the next room.

Once again I begin thinking to myself, "Guess I'll go check out this
"vortex" deal, and then get the hell outta here.  

"What in God's name is a "vortex" anyways?  Probably some sort of fancy
name these freaks got for a pillar or something like that... Maybe I should
be worried about who they said are hangin' out in there.  I'm not sure I
even wanna know what's bad enough that those weirdos have to call 'em
"things".

"Of course, I've come this far.  Might as well take the grand tour," I
conclude as I reach the entrance to the next room.  

"Here goes nothin'..."

 Subject: [v13] A beginning... (Ronin)
 Date:    Wed, 06 Jan 1999 23:24:11 -0600
 From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

You arrive in Omaha, Nebraska's Eppely Airport at precisely noon, the
plane descending into a light snow; apparently, the blizzard that closed
the O'Hare airport in Chicago was enough to make the pilots re-route
your plane.  Which isn't very good, since this is yet another delay.

You should've made it to New York City three days ago, but customs folks
really didn't like you bringing that sword of yours into the country
without filling out all sorts of paperwork.  And filing for permits, ad
infinitum.  So, by the time that was all sorted out, this weather hit.

Damned 'authorities'.

However, at least that was all sorted out, and you managed to bring your
sword with you without having to hurt anybody.  And they wanted to get
hurt.  Really badly.  Sure, they didn't say that, but anybody that petty
and particular is practically begging for punishment.

But no matter.  You're sitting there, watching airplanes land in the
powdery snow, and simply being patient about matters.  Sure, you
would've liked to have gotten that extra two day start towards locating
your parents, but what can one do about it?

No need to get unnecessarily angry over useless things.

However, some guy several seats down doesn't seem to see things your
way.  He's been ranting and raving about how the world's out to get him,
and how this whole snowstorm is simply a plot devised by Them to get him
stuck in podunkville so they can finally do him in.

"I just knew it!  Weather satellites manipulating global climate in
order to create this blizzard, I say!  I know!  I've seen the blueprints
for the damned thing.  I know it's in a high orbit, but not as high as
the mind control dishes the C.I.A. put in space there in the sixties."

He continues muttering on for a couple of minutes, when the sounds
around you are abruptly cut short by a scream.  Looking over, you see
that muttering man has jumped out of his seat, and is running down the
airport terminal towards an exit.

You're about to just get back to what it was you were doing (namely,
just peacefully passing the time), when you notice two folks get up from
seats surrounding where the man was sitting.  They proceed to follow the
loudmouthed paranoid man.

The two men are, indeed, something of an oddity, though.  They're both
about six foot tall, blonde, and are wearing black suits and sunglasses.
Considering that it's indoors, and almost dark, one has to wonder just
why they're wearing such devices.

So, do you investigate this quandary, or just let it lie?  It's not like
you have anything else to do until your plane can finally make its way
to Chicago (for the transfer to N.Y.C.), or until an alternate flight
directly there makes itself available.

Hm...?

Subject: [v13] Just ignore me...
Date:    Thu, 07 Jan 1999 00:27:51 -0600
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

> So, do you investigate this quandry, or just let it lie?  It's not like
> you have anything else to do until your plane can finally make its way
> to Chicago (for the transfer to N.Y.C.), or until an alternate flight
> directly there makes itself available.

Don't do it man, its a trap....

"jus playin' around"

Subject: [v13] A beginning... (Mr. Bailes)
Date:    Thu, 07 Jan 1999 00:58:18 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Today was something of a long and boring day.  The various cases that
you're working on haven't progressed any, and nobody else has come to
you yet with any new jobs.  You've basically just spent the afternoon
playing with your computer, mostly losing at solitaire.

And it's hard to lose at solitaire, especially when you devote four
hours to it.  You've almost decided to pack it in for the day, when
somebody comes into your office.  The she sort of somebody.  She's in a
long leather trenchcoat, leather boots, and a sweet fidora.

"Excuse me, but are you Mr. Bailes?  Mr. Richard Bailes?  Because if you
are, I've got something here that you've got to see, something that
you'll want to be looking into as soon as possible.  It involves your
grandfather, and his... unique... government work."

(i guezz insert response here or something)

She opens up a long envelope that she had tucked in somewhere in that
long coat, and pulls out a dagger.  Now, this isn't a dagger like any
you find in a knife store, on your typical street thug, or even in the
hands of discriminating collectors.

It is the calling card of a heinous villain.

As you recall, your grandfather battled several ruthless types during
his long employment with the government, such as German Nazis, Italian
fascists, and even North Korean communist bloc agents.  However, there
was one villain that stood above the rest in his base savagery.

He was a mass murderer that went by the name of Bones McCullan.  He got
his kicks by mugging people and disemboweling them with these trademark
knives, about nine inches long, having a skull and crossbones pattern
molded out of the bottom of the handle.

Furthermore, the knives could be rigged to dispense a lethal poison into
their targets, by pressing on the skull of the handle.  He'd leave a
knife in each of his targets to mark the kill as his.  Sure, the man
wasn't grandpa's nemesis, but he never did bring the madman to justice.

And now, somebody's up to his old tricks.

Your lady friend goes on to hand you several photographs, all of a man
that'd been slain with this knife - her late husband, you find out.  "I
don't know what your fee is, but I want you to find this madman.  The
police haven't been able to, and you're the only other person that can."

(well...?)

Subject: Re: [v13] Ruckus at Club Invertebrate!
Date:    Thu, 07 Jan 1999 01:37:15 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Andy Hicks wrote:

> "Yeah, thanks..." I reply as I continue on to the next room.
 
> Once again I begin thinking to myself, "Guess I'll go check out this
> "vortex" deal, and then get the hell outta here.
 
> "What in God's name is a "vortex" anyways?  Probably some sort of 
> fancy name these freaks got for a pillar or something like that... 
> Maybe I should be worried about who they said are hangin' out in 
> there.  I'm not sure I even wanna know what's bad enough that those 
> weirdos have to call 'em "things".

> "Of course, I've come this far.  Might as well take the grand tour," I
> conclude as I reach the entrance to the next room.
 
> "Here goes nothin'..."

You walk into the next room, only to find an area much like the one you
just left, with the exact same Bartender, well, tending bar.  However,
you do see something else where the disco area was at.  It's this big
metal, spherical cage hanging from the ceiling, with a glow inside.

The glow itself is sort of a spiral of light, swirling around itself
inside the steel cage.  There don't seem to be any customers here,
though.  This area of the Club is currently totally unoccupied, save for
the Bartender.  He's just polishing a glass.

You back up, look back, and see the Bartender in the main Club area,
doing the same thing, but back where you came from!  Looking back and
forth rapidly, you see that the man is currently in two places - at the
same time!!

(Andy?)

Subject: Re: [v13] Ruckus at Club Invertebrate!
Date:    Thu, 07 Jan 1999 01:14:37 -0600
From:    Andy Hicks <ahix@mail.utexas.edu>

>You back up, look back, and see the Bartender in the main Club area,
>doing the same thing, but back where you came from!  Looking back and
>forth rapidly, you see that the man is currently in two places - at the
>same time!!

"I don't know how much more of this I can stand," I mutter to myself, "This
place is gonna drive me outta my goddam head.  Now the only guy that seemed
normal is standin' in two places at once!

"And that light must be the "vortex" they were talkin' about back there.
Doesn't look like any light I've ever seen.  Maybe I should try an
experiment and see what that baby's made of."  

I approach the bar, and try to lead the bartender with a question, "So you
guys are like twins, right, tending bar?  What is that, some sort of gimmick?"

...

"Hmm.  Can I trouble you for a shot of Jack Daniels?"

When I get the shot, I immediately down it, then turn around and throw it
directly at the light spiral hanging from the ceiling.

"And what in the world is that piece o' work?"

(BTW, I rolled a 73 to hit the light spiral, just in case.)

???  

Subject: Re: [v13] A beginning... (Ronin)
Date:    Thu, 07 Jan 1999 09:34:43 EST
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

You're about to just get back to what it was you were doing 
(namely,just peacefully passing the time), when you notice two 
folks get up from seats surrounding where the man was sitting.  
They proceed to follow the loudmouthed paranoid man.

The two men are, indeed, something of an oddity, though.  
They're both about six foot tall, blonde, and are wearing black 
suits and sunglasses.  Considering that it's indoors, and almost 
dark, one has to wonder just why they're wearing such devices.

So, do you investigate this quandry, or just let it lie?  It's 
not like you have anything else to do until your plane can 
finally make its way to Chicago (for the transfer to N.Y.C.), 
or until an alternate flight directly there makes itself available.

Kenji glances from the paranoid loudmouth back to the 2 strange men
a few times. <<Hmmm....this is indeed odd. I should not interfere,
but sitting here bored puts me on edge...not a good thing. At least
it will kill time...>>

Quietly and gracefully, Kenji gets up, wrapping his 'trenchcoat' 
(actually a heavy komono) around him.  Thundercutter, snuggly hide 
in the folds of his robe (Highlander style), hums faintly, but only
he can hear it.  

Ronin walks in the same direction as the 3, far enough behind 
not to be immediately noticed but close enough to remain insight.

Subject: Re: [v13] Ruckus at Club Invertebrate!
Date:    Thu, 07 Jan 1999 22:44:08 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Andy Hicks wrote:

>> You back up, look back, and see the Bartender in the main Club area,
>> doing the same thing, but back where you came from!  Looking back and
>> forth rapidly, you see that the man is currently in two places - at 
>> the same time!!

> "I don't know how much more of this I can stand," I mutter to myself, 
> "This place is gonna drive me outta my goddam head.  Now the only guy 
> that seemed normal is standin' in two places at once!

> "And that light must be the "vortex" they were talkin' about back 
> there. Doesn't look like any light I've ever seen.  Maybe I should try 
> an experiment and see what that baby's made of."

> I approach the bar, and try to lead the bartender with a question, "So 
> you guys are like twins, right, tending bar?  What is that, some sort 
> of gimmick?"

The Bartender smiles, and continues polishing the glass he was holding.
"Not exactly.  You see, I have the rather unique ability to be in more
than one place at once.  Sometimes, it's hard to concentrate on all of
them, but it's really just like flipping between channels on a T.V."

"And you wondered why a 'normal' guy like me was bartending in a 'freak
show' like this, huh?" 

> "Hmm.  Can I trouble you for a shot of Jack Daniels?"

He looks back at the glass he was polishing, and then back at you. 
"Sure.  Comin' right up!"  He indeed goes ahead and pours the thing out
for you, and it does indeed taste good.  Of course, that could just be
all the beer you've already drank talking...
 
> When I get the shot, I immediately down it, then turn around and throw 
> it directly at the light spiral hanging from the ceiling.
 
> "And what in the world is that piece o' work?"
 
> (BTW, I rolled a 73 to hit the light spiral, just in case.)

Well, you throw the glass up, deftly avoiding shattering the thing
against the steel cage it's contained within, and it disappears with a
satisfying 'vip' sound.  No explosion or shattering sound, just a 'vip',
and it's gone.  Real gone.

"You shouldn't do that, friend.", the Bartender says, still polishing
that blasted glass.  "You might hit somebody trying to get in.  And then
they'll most likely get real mad.  And besides, that was my shot glass,
pal..."

(?)

Subject: Re: [v13] A beginning... (Ronin)
Date:    Thu, 07 Jan 1999 22:56:11 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Peter Chamers wrote:
 

>> So, do you investigate this quandary, or just let it lie?  It's
>> not like you have anything else to do until your plane can
>> finally make its way to Chicago (for the transfer to N.Y.C.),
>> or until an alternate flight directly there makes itself available.

> Kenji glances from the paranoid loudmouth back to the 2 strange men
> a few times. <<Hmmm....this is indeed odd. I should not interfere,
> but sitting here bored puts me on edge...not a good thing. At least
> it will kill time...>>
 
> Quietly and gracefully, Kenji gets up, wrapping his 'trench coat'
> (actually a heavy kimono) around him.  Thundercutter, snuggly hide
> in the folds of his robe (Highlander style), hums faintly, but only
> he can hear it.
 
> Ronin walks in the same direction as the 3, far enough behind not to 
> be immediately noticed but close enough to remain insight.
 
You follow them for quite a ways, practically across the entire airport,
in fact.  Of course, this particular airport isn't half as large as the
one you were headed to, so that's no big deal.  They head down an
escalator and past the baggage pickup, to a deserted service area.

Once the two men in black suits have cornered the man, he just starts
whimpering for them to leave him alone.  One of the men says "It's all
right, Doctor Davis, we're not going to hurt you.  We just want to take
you home so you can get the help you need."

The other one, sort of as an afterthought, says "Yeah, Davis.  Besides,
you've got to be out of medication by now."  With that, the apparent
Doctor looks through his pockets, and produces a couple of empty pill
bottles.  "I don't care!  You can't make me go back!"

"I've built enough toys for you shifty bastards already!!"  The man then
pulls, oddly enough, a wooden dagger out of his coat pocket, and lunges
at one of the suited men.  He actually stabs him in the arm, at which
point the second pulls out a gun and cold-cocks him in the head.

He slumps down to the ground, whining "But I don't wanna work for you
anymore..."  The gun-wielding man checks the other's arm out, and puts a
bandage on him once he pulls his suit jacket and undershirts off.  This
takes a couple of minutes.

While bandaging his friend, the second man in black starts gloating.  "I
knew the man would head for New York City.  He thought he could quit
working for us - us - after we got him all of that training with the
Electronicists League.  Some people."

They eventually finish their first aid, and then go to pick up the
unconscious man.  Ronin?

Subject: [v13] Jinx's Vacation
Date:    Thu, 07 Jan 1999 23:05:01 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

You've been hiding out at the Direct Action Americans New York base for
a few days, not feeling so well.  It's not the fact that you got all
pounded up on that last job, but it's just that you didn't want your
face plastered all over national television as a terrorist.

That bites.  Especially since you were relying on your probability field
to obscure your features enough to prevent that sort of thing.  That
bloody bastard Roy must've treated those photos somehow - maybe some
intense 3-D modelling - but this still has ruined your entire year.

The Colonel assured you that they would work to expose the pictures he
gave to the police, F.B.I., and C.N.N. as fakes.  That wouldn't help out
all that much for the near future, of course, but it's at least a
glimmer of hope.

Psionic bastard.

Anyhow, while you're sitting there with Bruno, watching television since
you have nothing else to do, the Colonel comes into the rec room.  "Hey,
Jinx!  How do you feel about a vacation?  I was thinking:  since someone
might come looking for you here, why not head to a safe house?"

"Only until this is all sorted out.  I've already made arrangements to
have Bruno and Time Out 'vacationed' as well, so I already went ahead
and got ready to have you shipped out to beautiful Omaha, Nebraska. 
We've got a rather nice house out there for you to... hang out in."

"What do you say?"

(?)

Subject: [v13] A beginning... (Stone Cold)
Date:    Thu, 07 Jan 1999 23:18:45 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

You're out taking a long walk in the snow.  Sure, it's 'unseasonably
cold' out, but for you, that doesn't matter any.  People seem to look at
you a bit funny, what with your wearing shorts and a t-shirt while it's
snowing out, but that doesn't matter.

Looks can't kill, after all.  Unless you're the guy that just walked
around the corner, of course.  Standing at about seven foot tall, the
guy is wearing a finely-tailored, pin-striped suit.  His hair has been
ponytailed and greased back.  His sunglasses even look mean.

"Excuse me, pal.  Aren't you Jeremy Irons?"  He stops, looking at a
picture in his big, meaty hands, as if he weren't sure.  "Yeah, that's
you, all right.  Even though you do look a little shorter than this
picture shows.  Heh heh heh."

You're not sure who this guy is, but he seems to know you.  Or, at the
very least, know WHO you are.  It's more likely that somebody else knows
something about you, and you can guess what.  Of course, you don't like
the idea of that.  No, not at all...

(?)

 (p.s.:  do you want to go by Stone Cold or Asphalt?  I wasn't sure...)

Subject: Re: [v13] Bad Things. Definitely Bad Things.
Date:    Fri, 08 Jan 1999 00:12:05 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Christopher Acers wrote:

>> "you folks mind if I leave for a minute or two?"
 
> Och looks at you and says, rather coarsely, "Ah.  Right.  Go right
> ahead, as far as I care.  I need to... talk... to mister bean pole
> here."  The man looks a bit nervous at that, but he doesn't run away 
> or anything.

While Masque is doing his 'thing' with that there amulet, Och steps up
to that skinny, as-of-yet unknown man, and throws down the gauntlet. 
"All right, you lanky bastard, who are you, and why in the world have
you been following me?"

The man looks around for a second, looks at Silhouette, and then
answers.  "Well, since your friend there's a telepath, I won't bother
lying to you.  My name's Senor Barnett, and I work for an investigative
firm called Agency 13.  We look into super human activities."

"And, from what happened here tonight, I've just run into a whole lot of
it."   He pauses to light up a cigarette, not caring if it bothers any
of you.  After all, he just got attacked by a bunch of dead things!  "I
was follwing you, Och, to determine whether or not you were a problem."

"I've been following you for the last couple of weeks, though I've been
having problems... problems with 'inanimate' objects.  Toasters, T.V.s,
computer, and all sorts of electical, mechanical, and tonight, plain
other things have been yelling at me in my head."

"I'm not sure, but I think it has something to do with that bizarre
church next door to this place.  I've got to investigate this, because
my 'problems' have been the worst whenever I've been within about a mile
of this place while following you..."

He then takes another puff off of his smoke.

"However, I can safely say that you, and possibly your friends here,
aren't any sort of threat to normal folks, as far as I can tell.  Unless
that wizard of yours finally loses his last marble.  My reports on you,
Och, and the rest of you here, will definitely reflect that."

"Sorry for the bother..."

(Anyone...?!?)

Subject: Re: [v13] Ruckus at Club Invertebrate!
Date:    Fri, 08 Jan 1999 00:55:41 -0600
From:    Andy Hicks <ahix@mail.utexas.edu>

>Well, you throw the glass up, deftly avoiding shattering the thing
>against the steel cage it's contained within, and it disappears with a
>satisfying 'vip' sound.  No explosion or shattering sound, just a 'vip',
>and it's gone.  Real gone.

>"You shouldn't do that, friend.", the Bartender says, still polishing
>that blasted glass.  "You might hit somebody trying to get in.  And then
>they'll most likely get real mad.  And besides, that was my shot glass,
>pal..."

I pull out a ten dollar bill and drop it on the bar.

"That should take care of the glass.  Sorry it got zapped.  I just had to
check somethin' out.  What is that thing anyways, some sort of super bug
lamp to take care of all of the "Mosquito Men" you got comin' through here?
 And whaddya mean, "somebody trying to get in"?

"Are you tryin' to tell me that that's some kinda entrance way?  And if so,
how come you got people like Eddie walkin' in from off the street?"

Shaking my head, I go on.

"I tell you what, I've seen it all in here.  Buncha freaks and weirdos...
no offense.  Jesus Christ himself could walk through the door, and that'd
be just about par for the course.  I don't know if I could take bein'
around when business picks up.  But you don't seem to be doin' anything to
bother anybody around here.

"Still, one thing keeps on botherin' me.  You-- or ONE of you-- clocked
that disco girl with a baseball bat upstairs, and not only did you not seem
to think much of it, she's out on the dance floor a couple of minutes later
actin' like nothin' ever happened.  Now either she's used to takin' a
beatin' from ya and won't stand up for herself, in which case you and I
have got a problem we need to talk about, or you people down here just have
a different way of dealin' with each other-- but why would you be immune
from the laws everybody else has to live by?

"So which is it?  Battered woman syndrome, or anything goes at Club
Invertebrate?" 

(D?) 

Subject: Re: [v13] Ruckus at Club Invertebrate!
Date:    Fri, 08 Jan 1999 01:17:29 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Andy Hicks wrote:
 
> I pull out a ten dollar bill and drop it on the bar.
 
> "That should take care of the glass.  Sorry it got zapped.  I just had 
> to check somethin' out.  What is that thing anyways, some sort of 
> super bug lamp to take care of all of the "Mosquito Men" you got 
> comin' through here?  And whaddya mean, "somebody trying to get in"?
 
> "Are you tryin' to tell me that that's some kinda entrance way?  And 
> if so, how come you got people like Eddie walkin' in from off the 
> street?"

> Shaking my head, I go on.
 
> "I tell you what, I've seen it all in here.  Buncha freaks and 
> weirdos... no offense.  Jesus Christ himself could walk through the 
> door, and that'd be just about par for the course.  I don't know if I 
> could take bein' around when business picks up.  But you don't seem to 
> be doin' anything to bother anybody around here.

The Bartender looks at you and laughs.  "No offense, huh?  Don't worry
about it.  That's the typical reaction people have when they come in
here.  At least you're not denying it's real, and babbling 'no no no no
no no' a lot."

He pours himself a drink and sips a bit of it.  "As far as the vortex up
there, it's a doorway between here and... other places.  A lot of 'em. 
Think of it as a sort of crossroads between, well, let's say worlds. 
And sometimes, things come through that can only be called... things."

"But everybody wants a drink now and then, so I set up the Club around
the vortex, so's that I could make a killing.  You'd be surprised what
the things that come through that hole in the universe pay with.  The
only problem is that it moves every once in a while."

"Which is why I've had to buy up the basements around the original bar.
And that's why I've divided it up into several 'lounges', if you will. 
One's a disco bar, which is enough to repulse most normals that walk in
off the street, unless they know what the place is."

"Like your friend Eddie there."

"The other lounges are just different types of bars for different types
of... people.  Or things, depending.  That answer all your questions,
buddy?"

> "Still, one thing keeps on botherin' me.  You-- or ONE of you-- 
> clocked that disco girl with a baseball bat upstairs, and not only did 
> you not seem to think much of it, she's out on the dance floor a 
> couple of minutes later actin' like nothin' ever happened.  Now either 
> she's used to takin' a beatin' from ya and won't stand up for herself, 
> in which case you and I have got a problem we need to talk about, or 
> you people down here just have a different way of dealin' with each 
> other-- but why would you be immune from the laws everybody else has 
> to live by?

> "So which is it?  Battered woman syndrome, or anything goes at Club
> Invertebrate?"

He laughs again.  "Neither.  You see, she knows the rules of the joint,
and she broke 'em.  I just had to hit her a bit to make sure my little
story was at least decent enough to keep the cops out.  If I had a
couple more seconds, I would've used ketchup."

He takes another drink, and his voice is a little less hoarse now.  "So
no, I don't make a rule of beating up on girls here, particularly that
one.  She just drops in once in a while to listen to the classics.  On
her world, apparently they only play new disco music."

"Long story."

(?)

Subject: Re: [v13] A beginning... (Ronin)
Date:    Fri, 08 Jan 1999 02:57:02 EST
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

Firebomb wrote:
 
>> He slumps down to the ground, whining "But I don't wanna work for
>> you anymore..."  The gun-wielding man checks the other's arm out,
>> and puts a bandage on him once he pulls his suit jacket and 
>> undershirts off.  This takes a couple of minutes.

>> While bandaging his friend, the second man in black starts 
>> gloating.  "I knew the man would head for New York City.  He 
>> thought he could quit working for us - us - after we got him all of 
>> that training with the Electronicists League.  Some people."

>> They eventually finish their first aid, and then go to pick up the
>> unconscious man.  Ronin?

Ronin steps into view, apparently from nowhere, in true gunslinger 
style.

"You should not be picking up such heavy weight with a hurt arm. 
Pemit me lessen your load."

Ronin steps forward.  "I shall take the man from you now."

Subject: Re: [v13] Ruckus at Club Invertebrate!
Date:    Fri, 08 Jan 1999 02:05:29 -0600
From:    Andy Hicks <ahix@mail.utexas.edu>

>He laughs again.  "Neither.  You see, she knows the rules of the joint,
>and she broke 'em.  I just had to hit her a bit to make sure my little
>story was at least decent enough to keep the cops out.  If I had a
>couple more seconds, I would've used ketchup."

>He takes another drink, and his voice is a little less hoarse now.  "So
>no, I don't make a rule of beating up on girls here, particularly that
>one.  She just drops in once in a while to listen to the classics.  On
>her world, apparently they only play new disco music."

>"Long story."

"I bet," I reply.

"I think I know a lot more than I ever wanted to find out about Club
Invertebrate," I think to myself, "There's definitely something not quite
right goin' on down here-- but I can't say they're doin' anything wrong,
either.  Still, maybe it's best I get a move on, even if I may not ever
find a better place to lay low for a while.  I'll have to keep it in
mind... as a last resort."

I extend a hand to the bartender, then realize that I'm still wearing my
special gloves, and take it back.  Of course, I don't think enough of the
guy to actually take the trouble to explain the snub before I go on...

"Thanks for the drinks, bub.  You run quite an establishment here.  Even
though I gotta say, all things bein' equal, I think Kwan's Steakhouse is
more my speed.

"But I'll keep the place in mind if I'm ever in Omaha again, and need a
beer, or an eyefull of some BIZARRE SHIT."

With that, I take my leave, heading out of the room, on my way across the
disco section and toward the main entrance way back up to Kwan's, shooting
a glance Hazzard's way.

And...  

Subject: Re: [v13] A beginning... (Stone Cold)
Date:    Fri, 08 Jan 1999 12:50:27 PST
From:    "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

I will go by Stone Cold (for now).  

Since I am not real sure how much the guy knows about me.  I take off at 
a brisk run just enough to get out of sight then I pour on the speed 
(roll 78).  And try to get into a place in which I can watch and follow 
him.  Seeing that I should know the area better than someone just coming 
here after me.

Stone Cold

Subject: Re: [v13] A beginning... (Stone Cold)
Date:    Fri, 08 Jan 1999 15:38:07 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Charlie Clay Jr. wrote:
 
> I will go by Stone Cold (for now).

(gotcha)
 
> Since I am not real sure how much the guy knows about me.  I take off 
> at a brisk run just enough to get out of sight then I pour on the 
> speed (roll 78).  And try to get into a place in which I can watch and 
> follow him.  Seeing that I should know the area better than someone 
> just coming here after me.

> Stone Cold

Definitely.  You dodge into a small park dotted with trees, and easily
lose the tall man following you, since he's got to keep ducking tree
branches while running after you.  That, and the man simply doesn't seem
able to keep the pace you are.  

He's possibly built more for beating people then running fast.

You reach a street that isn't yet covered in snow (it's all wet, still),
and duck behind a large truck.  You see the man eventually show up on
that street, look back and forth, and start cursing.  "Damnit!", the
tall man says in a big, booming voice.

You can hear him even this far away (about forty feet).

He then pulls a cellular phone out of a suit pocket, making a call to
presumably the person that sent him after you.  "Sir, it's Udell. 
*pause*  No, I didn't bring him with me, he ran off.  *pause, wince* 
Okay, I'm on my way back."

The big man turns around, heading back the way he came.  He kicks a
parked car on his way back, which seems to have ticked off the person
inside, though he doesn't say anything.  After all, that suited bruiser
IS seven feet tall.

Waiting a safe amount of time, you begin to follow him back to wherever
it was he came from, eventually making it back to that corner where the
man first imposed himself upon your presence.  Peeking around to the
other side, you see him talking to a man sitting in a limousine.

And the man isn't happy.  He's yelling and screaming at 'Udell', and
throws something at him.  It looks like a small address book.  The guy
then stomps off as the limo drives off, though you see it park just
around a corner two blocks later.

(?)

Subject: Re: [v13] A beginning... (Ronin)
Date:    Fri, 08 Jan 1999 15:44:05 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Peter Chamers wrote:

> Firebomb wrote:
 
>> He slumps down to the ground, whining "But I don't wanna work for 
>> you anymore..."  The gun-wielding man checks the other's arm out,
>> and puts a bandage on him once he pulls his suit jacket and
>> undershirts off.  This takes a couple of minutes.
 
>> While bandaging his friend, the second man in black starts
>> gloating.  "I knew the man would head for New York City.  He
>> thought he could quit working for us - us - after we got him all of
>> that training with the Electronicists League.  Some people."
 
>> They eventually finish their first aid, and then go to pick up the
>> unconscious man.  Ronin?
 
> Ronin steps into view, apparently from nowhere, in true gunslinger
> style.

> "You should not be picking up such heavy weight with a hurt arm.
> Pemit me lessen your load."
 
> Ronin steps forward.  "I shall take the man from you now."
 
The two men look at you for about three seconds, at each other, and then
back at you.  "Ha ha.  We got us a regular comedian, here, Mike."  This
was the one that got stabbed a minute ago.  The other one chuckles at
that, and pulls his gun out again.

"Thanks for the laugh, buddy, but you ain't taking the doctor anywhere.
We've been tracking him down for a couple of weeks, now, and we ain't
about to let him go.  Now, get out of the way or I'm gonna have to hurt
you.  And I don't like hurting people."

This, in turn, gets a laugh out of the wounded man.  Apparently, Mike's
lying... a lot.  He grins.  "So, what's it gonna be, pal?"

(?)

Subject: Re: [v13] Ruckus at Club Invertebrate!
Date:    Fri, 08 Jan 1999 15:57:59 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Andy Hicks wrote:

> "Thanks for the drinks, bub.  You run quite an establishment here.  
> Even though I gotta say, all things bein' equal, I think Kwan's 
> Steakhouse is more my speed.

> "But I'll keep the place in mind if I'm ever in Omaha again, and need 
> a beer, or an eyefull of some BIZARRE SHIT."

The Bartender's face wrinkles at that, though you're not sure it's
because of the handshake thing or because of that last comment.  At any
rate, he says "Thanks anyway, pal."  He then homes in on another
impeccably clean glass, and starts polishing it anyway.

> With that, I take my leave, heading out of the room, on my way across 
> the disco section and toward the main entrance way back up to Kwan's, 
> shooting a glance Hazzard's way.

You find Hazzard is now talking to the fire-haired disco queen; he's
apparently found something he liked in the weirdo, for they're both just
chatting away at the bar.  Before you can say anything to him, though,
three big, burly guys come down the stairs.

They're simply huge, being at least six foot tall each, and are wearing
nothing but jeans and tank tops.  Of course, this is letting you see all
the nasty tufts of hair on their arms and back sticking out all over the
place.  Furthemore, they're armed.

Each of the three thugs is carrying a weapon.  Two of 'em just have a
baseball bat, but the third has this weird, shiny chrome gun, and is
wearing a utility belt with all these weird, LED-laden devices on it. 
Upon seeing Hazzard and the girl, they storm over that way.

When they're within about three feet, the lead thug (the one with the
gun) grabs the girl's arm and says "You're coming with me, disco queen.
Ya shouldn't have stole the boss's new toys before you left."  Hazzard
smacks his hand away, of course, which immediately ticks the thugs off.

"Ger yer hands off of the lady, pal.  And, if you can't tell, I don't
see anything on her, much less anything stolen, so back off."  In her
own defense, the disco bunny says "Yeah - what he said."  You can tell
it's definitely going to be one of THOSE days.

(?)

Subject: Re: [v13] A beginning... (Ronin)
Date:    Fri, 08 Jan 1999 17:24:21 EST
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

> This, in turn, gets a laugh out of the wounded man.  Apparently,
> Mike's lying... a lot.  He grins.  "So, what's it gonna be, pal?"

Ronin frowns, not liking the man's tone even though he doesn't 
catch alot of the sarcasm.

"I must insist.  The 'doctor' as you call him, obviously does not 
wish to go with you.  Honour demands that I prevent you from 
taking him against his will."

Ronin takes a step closer.  "And seeing as you do not enjoy hurting
people, I shall then refrain from hurting you."  Ronin eyes both men 
with a cold stone (no pun) gaze.  "Leave now, in peace. Or...."  The 
phrase hangs with a definite tone of menace.

Subject: Re: [v13] A beginning... (Ronin)
Date:    Sat, 09 Jan 1999 03:31:07 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Peter Chamers wrote:

> Ronin takes a step closer.  "And seeing as you do not enjoy hurting
> people, I shall then refrain from hurting you."  Ronin eyes both men
> with a cold stone (no pun) gaze.  "Leave now, in peace. Or...."  The
> phrase hangs with a definite tone of menace.

"Let's put it this way, Chump.", the suit called Mike says, "The doc's
coming with us.  He really wants to, he just doesn't know it yet."  As a
counterpoint to your 'or...', he waves his gun at you, saying "And you
don't know what's best for you.  Buzz off or get offed, get it?"

The wounded man looks at you, and then at his partner, and simply drops
his half of that being the 'doctor'.  He also pulls a gun on you, but
you can see that he's not likely going to be able to use it right; he's
all shaky at this point... probably from blood loss, you think.

"Well?", Mike asks you.  "You want some!?"

(?)

Subject: Re: [v13] A beginning... (Ronin)
Date:    Sat, 09 Jan 1999 09:02:17 EST
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

> "Let's put it this way, Chump.", the suit called Mike says, 
> "The doc's coming with us.  He really wants to, he just doesn't 
> know it yet."  As a counterpoint to your 'or...', he waves his 
> gun at you, saying "And you don't know what's best for you.  
> Buzz off or get offed, get it?"

Ronin raises an eyebrow at this one.  <<Buzz off or get offed?!?>>

> The wounded man looks at you, and then at his partner, and simply
> drops his half of that being the 'doctor'.  He also pulls a gun on
> you, but you can see that he's not likely going to be able to use 
> it right; he's all shaky at this point... probably from blood 
> loss, you think.

> "Well?", Mike asks you.  "You want some!?"

Ronin's tactical mind kicks in immediately.  He quickly scans the 
fighting area, noting all features of his terrain.  He faces 2 
opponents, both wielding with firearms.  One is encumbered, as he 
also holds the doctor (correct me if I'm wrong in this FB). The 
other, while unencumbered, is weakened from loss of blood.  He is 
weak and shaking.

Ronin will try to take them down before they really have time to 
properly react to him.  Using his ability of the 'fast-draw', he 
do a feint as he whips out Thunder Cutter.  He will attempt to 
disarm Mike with a flat blade strike (BA damage, not EA) to Mike's hand.  
At the same time, he will strike the weakened guy with a side kick.

Rolls: 8+3 for initiative; 83 for the dual fighting move; 67 for 
the first attack and 59 for the second; 72 for the feint (which is 
really a dodge move).

Subject: Re: [v13] Jinx's Vacation
Date:    Sat, 09 Jan 1999 14:41:09 -0600
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Natasha took a long, hard look at the Colonel, then shrugged.

"Um. Sure. Nebraska? What the hell is in Nebraska?" she spouted, but
thought for a moment.

"Oooooh. Absolutely nothing. Riiiiiight. Sounds fine, Colonel. When do
we leave?" she questioned, already planning a completely boring next few
weeks.

After getting his response, she made sure there was nothing else and
headed back to her room.

~Maybe Nebraska might be boring enough to resist my bad luck...Yeah,
right. Well, it has a damn good chance I suppose...~ Natasha mused to
herself as she headed to her room to prepare her things.

Subject: Re: [v13] A beginning... (Ronin)
Date:    Sat, 09 Jan 1999 15:03:14 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Peter Chamers wrote:

> Ronin's tactical mind kicks in immediately.  He quickly scans the
> fighting area, noting all features of his terrain.  He faces 2
> opponents, both wielding with firearms.  One is encumbered, as he
> also holds the doctor (correct me if I'm wrong in this FB). The
> other, while unencumbered, is weakened from loss of blood.  He is
> weak and shaking.

You are correct.  The weird thing is that Mike, the non-wounded suit, is
holding the duo's captive up with apparently no difficulty on one arm;
the sudden lack of support from his bleeding pal doesn't seem to have
hindered him, or the gun he's waving at you, at all.
 
> Ronin will try to take them down before they really have time to
> properly react to him.  Using his ability of the 'fast-draw', he
> do a feint as he whips out Thunder Cutter.  He will attempt to
> disarm Mike with a flat blade strike (BA damage, not EA) to Mike's 
> hand.

> At the same time, he will strike the weakened guy with a side kick.
 
> Rolls: 8+3 for initiative; 83 for the dual fighting move; 67 for
> the first attack and 59 for the second; 72 for the feint (which is
> really a dodge move).

Okay.  You whip out the Cutter and knock that pistol out of Mike's hand
before he knows what hit him, sending it sliding across the service area
you're in, and under a series of lockers.  Meanwhile, your surprise kick
fells the other man, who's already in bad shape to begin with.

He slumps to the ground, looking rather unhealthy all of a sudden. 
(roll for yer damage, i guess).  Mike, on the other hand, simply takes
all this in stride.  "So, who're you working for?  Arashikage syndicate?
Oh, well... no biggie.  I've wiped out ninjas before..."

With that, Mike (or more correctly, his arms) start making these clicky
noises, and protruding from his suit jacket, you see these apparent gun
barrels - three, in fact, protruding from his arm, each 120 degrees
apart from each other.  "Now, like I said, buzz off, pal!!"

"Or do I have to get NASTY...?"

(?)

Subject: Re: [v13] A beginning... (Stone Cold)
Date:    Sat, 09 Jan 1999 14:28:52 PST
From:    "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

I follow the parked car, and wait for someone to get out (10 mins).no 
one gets out.  I go over to the car and tap on the window.  "What do you 
want with me?"  Paying close attention to my surroundings.

Stone Cold

Subject: [v13] A beginning... (Mr. Bailes) - A repost.
Date:    Sat, 09 Jan 1999 21:06:55 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Today was something of a long and boring day.  The various cases that
you're working on haven't progressed any, and nobody else has come to
you yet with any new jobs.  You've basically just spent the afternoon
playing with your computer, mostly losing at solitaire.

And it's hard to lose at solitaire, especially when you devote four
hours to it.  You've almost decided to pack it in for the day, when
somebody comes into your office.  The she sort of somebody.  She's in a
long leather trenchcoat, leather boots, and a sweet fidora.

"Excuse me, but are you Mr. Bailes?  Mr. Richard Bailes?  Because if you
are, I've got something here that you've got to see, something that
you'll want to be looking into as soon as possible.  It involves your
grandfather, and his... unique... government work."

(i guezz insert response here or something)

She opens up a long envelope that she had tucked in somewhere in that
long coat, and pulls out a dagger.  Now, this isn't a dagger like any
you find in a knife store, on your typical street thug, or even in the
hands of discriminating collectors.

It is the calling card of a heinous villain.

As you recall, your grandfather battled several ruthless types during
his long employment with the government, such as German Nazis, Italian
fascists, and even North Korean communist bloc agents.  However, there
was one villain that stood above the rest in his base savagery.

He was a mass murderer that went by the name of Bones McCullan.  He got
his kicks by mugging people and disemboweling them with these trademark
knives, about nine inches long, having a skull and crossbones pattern
molded out of the bottom of the handle.

Furthermore, the knives could be rigged to dispense a lethal poison into
their targets, by pressing on the skull of the handle.  He'd leave a
knife in each of his targets to mark the kill as his.  Sure, the man
wasn't grandpa's nemesis, but he never did bring the madman to justice.

And now, somebody's up to his old tricks.

Your lady friend goes on to hand you several photographs, all of a man
that'd been slain with this knife - her late husband, you find out.  "I
don't know what your fee is, but I want you to find this madman.  The
police haven't been able to, and you're the only other person that can."

(well...?)

Subject: Re: [v13] A beginning... (Ronin)
Date:    Sat, 09 Jan 1999 22:53:31 EST
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

> He slumps to the ground, looking rather unhealthy all of a sudden.
> (roll for yer damage, i guess).  Mike, on the other hand, simply

(43 for damage)

> takes all this in stride.  "So, who're you working for?  
> Arashikage syndicate?  Oh, well... no biggie.  I've wiped out 
> ninjas before..."

> With that, Mike (or more correctly, his arms) start making 
> these clicky noises, and protruding from his suit jacket, you 
> see these apparent gun barrels - three, in fact, protruding from 
> his arm, each 120 degrees apart from each other.  "Now, like I 
> said, buzz off, pal!!"

> "Or do I have to get NASTY...?"

Ronin raises an eyebrow at this surprising turn of events.  
<<What?!? Not only does he appear to possesses greater than human
strength, but he also is not...human?!?>>

Ronin holds Thunder Cutter on a reverse downward slant. He watches Mike 
carefully.  

"Who...what are you?" he demands.

Ronin quickly scans around to see if there is some cover should Mike 
open fire upon him.

OOC - Note to self: Never bring a sword to a gun fight....

Subject: Re: [v13] A beginning... (Ronin)
Date:    Sun, 10 Jan 1999 00:13:38 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Peter Chamers wrote:
 
> OOC - Note to self: Never bring a sword to a gun fight....
 
"Heh heh heh", Mike chuckles in your general direction.  "That's what
they always say.  And, just to show you that these things aren't only
for show..."  Mike points his left arm, the one with the gun barrels on
it, in the general vicinity of your feet, and opens fire.

You see each of the three barrels fire in a definite sequence, clockwise
around his arm, as if to minimize heat generated by their rapid firing.
The shells the guns fire don't manage to hit you, of course, but they do
tear up a good section of the concrete floor.

He chuckles again at that, noting that you haven't moved an inch.  "Oh,
a real tough-guy, eh?  Well, let's see how tough you are when these
things do a real number on you, huh?"  He raises his arm at you, as if
daring you to make a move.  "Well?!"

(At this point, I guess it'd be a good thing for you to roll up another
round of initiative; your opponent has scored an eight.  If you beat
him, and don't intend on spending Karma, feel free to send in your 'to
hit' roll, as well.  If so, go ahead and wait till he dodges).

(Or, if you lose, go ahead and roll your dodge maneuver, and describe
just how you're trying to avoid getting all shot up.  Groovy?).

Subject: Re: [v13] A beginning... (Stone Cold)
Date:    Sun, 10 Jan 1999 00:24:35 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Charlie Clay Jr. wrote:

> I follow the parked car, and wait for someone to get out (10 mins).no
> one gets out.  I go over to the car and tap on the window.  "What do 
> you want with me?"  Paying close attention to my surroundings.

The electric window rolls down, and you can see a rather large (but not
very built, however) man sitting inside, also wearing a pin-stripe suit,
drinking a martini and smoking a cigar.  "Ahh... Mr. Irons."  He pauses
to take a long, leisurely sip off of the martini.

"So good of you to come to me.  I won't have to remove any of Udell's
fingers, after all."  He pauses again, this time to take a long, slow,
and deliberate puff off of the cigar.  "I am a man with specialized
business needs.  I need help of the... exceptional kind."

"You see, a certain member of my organization knows that you, or someone
you know, has access to some... truly unique capabilities.  Don't bother
denying it - my operative has seen this person in action."  He takes
another puff off of his cigar, as if to puncutate his words.

"What I need, Mr. Irons, is protection from a truly dangerous person...
a person who is using her own, shall we say unique abilities, to wreak
havoc with my business.  Of course, I'd rather not discuss any more of
this in public, so if you are at all interested..."

With that, the rotund, balding man opens the door to the limo, and
beckons you inside.  Do you take him up on this offer, or ditch him
cold?

Subject: [v13] back to the homestead
Date:    Sun, 10 Jan 1999 00:33:34 -0600
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

Masque notes that nothin' important seems to be happening, he waves his
hands and steps through the mists on over to Old faceless' abode.

Stepping inside i call..

"Hello....anybody home? I got the amulet...its not very nice though.
Downright nasty even. But with the nice people I met were quite
helpful...hello....."

Subject: Re: [v13] back to the homestead
Date:    Sun, 10 Jan 1999 00:34:45 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Christopher W. Acers wrote:
 
> Masque notes that nothin' important seems to be happening, he waves 
> his hands and steps through the mists on over to Old faceless' abode.

> Stepping inside i call..
 
> "Hello....anybody home? I got the amulet...its not very nice though.
> Downright nasty even. But with the nice people I met were quite
> helpful...hello....."

You don't hear anything for about thirty seconds, and then, as if out of
nowhere, the Old Faceless one simply sort of... materializes out of a
stack of books and such to your left.  "Ah... yes, I see.  You have done
well, my student.  I thank you for being so timely with your success."

"Unlike some of my disciples, you've actually managed to succeed in the
endeavors that I have set before you.  As a reward for this, my young
student, I will allow you to actually choose which magical spell I will
be teaching you next."

"However, take some time for yourself, first.  Have fun, hang out with
your newfound friends, see a movie.  Whatever you youngsters do these
days."  Of course, Old Faceless, the worn bag of age spots that he is,
knows full well that you're almost thirty now.  At least.

So, now that you've been cut loose for a little while, now what're you
gonna do, Masque?
