Comics by Shaenon II

~the kittygirls~

Claire and Laitu still weren't happy about what was going on between Chic and Jane and Eustace. In fact, they were starting to go slightly poofy from fretting about dignity and servitude and stuff...


~Jennfer~

Aim gun. Shoot Claire in the head. Shoot Laitu in the head. Problem solved.

Wait, now some of Claire's friends were attacking her again. Darn it. "Hey, Michael, how good are you at protecting people from angry jaegers when you're all hypermental?"

There was no way she could take one jaeger in a fight, let alone three...


~Kittygirls again!~

"Buh?"

"Buh?"

Claire blinked at Laitu. "That feels weird..."

Laitu nodded. "And I thought I was just starting to get the hang of it, too..."

"Of what?"

"I dunno..."

The kittygirls blinked, looking at each other, then looked at Eustace, Chic, and Jane again.

Laitu grinned. "Hi Mister Lord Heterodyne! Have you met me? I'm new! I'm Laitu!"

"She's my younger sister! Are you gonna go do karaoke, Lord Heterodyne? You totally should!" At that point, a jaeger tumbled into Claire. "Taras! I didn't know you were here!"

"...hyu ok?"

"Yeah! The Heterodyne's gonna do karaoke! I think..."

-Drezebel-

Suddenly Jennifer felt someone patting her back. "Nice one! I like your style, kiddo!" She saw Drezebel grinning at her, apparently back from wherever she'd went. "Of course, I would have done the same sort of mind trick, except with less rays and more shirtless people, but there's no reason why we can't change things up according to our tastes." She smirked. "That's it! I'm decided! I'm taking you on as my pupil! Starting today, you are a Stalker!" She grinned. "Oh geeze, there's a ton I'll have to show you! But first I gotta go steal some sorta-cool guy's pants, ok?" She started to walk off.

She had to get into position to snatch the Heterodyne's pants once he got on stage with Jane and Chic! Any minute now....

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-David-

...was having a nice time, making small talk, holding hands with a certain someone under the table, and occasionally smacking someone with a chair. We'll let him have his moment.

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-Michael-

His eye was twitching spazmodically. Why was it doing that? He'd have to study it later. When he didn't have so much energy. He looked around. "Protecting people from jaegers? I'm good at that! I think I'm good at anything!" He jittered. "Anyone up for five laps around this building? I think I could do ten..." Suddenly, there was a crackling of a beam of some sort whizzing straight past his face, just a few degrees away from his head. He gasped. "Why, I do believe that I think someone is trying to kill me! How invigorating! Everything is invigorating!" He hit the ground as another shot narrowly missed him. He reached into his pocket and pulled BBC out, setting him on the bar. "BBC, stay here and play. Daddy needs to go eradicate a nemesis. I'm sure you'll be perfectly fine on a strange bar with unidentifiable substances nearby. Who knows, you may even meet a friend!"

This is why Michael shouldn't be trusted with children until he's a few years older. And not on Splot.

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-Michael's unseen Aggressor-

Dang dang dang! This was whack! He ducked under a table and started changing his position. He had to mix back in with the crowd and wait until he got his next chance...

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-Robin Toboz in the depths of Claire's Mind-

She had been amusing herself by messing with Claire's perception to make scribblies in thin air and draw fake mustaches on people that only Claire could see when she felt an eye tracking her.

Was that a Cephlopod sitting on that woman's shoulder? Watching her? Darn it, how was it even able to see her? She only existed as an idea in someone else's head.

She had only herself to blame. She'd never been very good at hiding herself from Cephlopods. She scowled and made funny faces at Mimic from afar just in case it could see her, so that it's day would be that much more confusing.

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-Elleb-

She'd been riding on Mr. Kenny's head for quite some time, going on an Interviewing rampage! Eee! It had been really fun, and she'd held a microphone and helped and it was so nice!

Elleb turned and pointed at Mama Gitkas. "Eee! Let's go there! Let's go there and interview thingies! Pwease?" She pointed at the bar with a metal spoon she'd acquired....somewhere... it was about as long as she was tall.

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-Michael Again-

"Hm, it's awfully inconvenient that Demo is busy just as someone tries to kill me." He said, running through the bar. "He should really finish up with those jaegers, it's not like he couldn't take them all on his own. I'm sure he could!" His hands were shaking nearly uncontrollably. It was something they'd been doing on and off for the past few minutes. "I really need some manner of disguise... something I can use to sneak up on my aggressor..."

...all of a sudden he realized he'd run off all on his own, and he couldn't see anyone else nearby he recognized.

And then a raygun was pointed at his head and he saw someone he recognized. Holding the raygun.

It was himself. A bit longer hair, perhaps, and a bit less thin and more burly, and wearing different clothes, but definitely still him. With a raygun pointed at his head. Did he mention that his double had a raygun pointed at his head yet?

"Aite, yo! Nuthin' personal, dude, but'chu gonna bleed ta'day, k?"

Michael's right eye twitched.

Foigran

Foigran strode down a back ally of some abandoned city, not really caring where he went. He was just wandering without purpose, on purpose. It was his most effective method for eluding The Steve. When he did things with the intent of disrupting existence, it tended to get the Outsider's attention so just wandering without purpose took away that method of tracking. So here he was, trying his best to ignore that obnoxious voice explaining what he was doing for anyone the ability to look.

~Jennifer~

She looked around. The jaegers seemed to have stopped bothering her. That was odd. Sure, they hadn't been able to hit her, but that was just because they were being really obvious about telegraphing their moves. She felt like it shouldn't be that easy to get them to hit each other. They were probably plotting something, although that didn't make any sense, either. Grar. She started scrawling down a generalized behavior algorithm, although it was hard to hold still. Grumble...


~Claire and Laitu~

"This is Laitu! She's new but she remembers stuff and people sometimes because she was trying to be my doppelganger for a while but she isn't anymore, so now she's just my little sister."

Laitu beams and shakes hands with several jaegers. "Hi!" She and Claire had been completely distracted from Eustace.


~Isaac~

Was hunting down Ashely. Which was difficult, because he wasn't sure Ashely existed at the moment. It was worth a try, though. It wasn't like he was doing anything else.

For simplicity, he'd just enhanced his sense of smell and was following him based on that... maybe he could get a bit more information that way, at least. Although a teleporter had probably been used at some point-

Bah. Maybe once he found that he could read up on how to trace teleporters.

Eustace

Eustace blinked, having just been about to brace himself for the awkward feeling of having Claire be all... stiff, and respectful. It never felt all that good- he had known her
when he was little... or at least, he thought it was her. he couldn't see how it;d be anyone else. ... but, then, the Cat People were riddled through mechanicsburg history. Usually described as the same girl, smoothly fitting into the Jager army, bringing cheer and chaos in their (her?) wake. Recorded by a dozen of his ancestors...

Well, he hadn't known all that when he was five or so... he just knew she arrived now and then and was fun, and tall, and fluffy. Then, growing up, and meeting her again... and having it all be Lord and such. Well.... heck, maybe Andy had done something! This was wonderful. he;d have to thank him... or whoever it was!

He grinned, and gave first Claire, and then the new girl a hug each.

"Laitu, is it? Wonderful! So glad to meet me. I think I *will* go up on stage, actually... it sounds like fun~" he ruffled Claire's hair, grinning.

"I hear you've been working for little Eta, right? And you... you must be Andromedias daughter, then. Andy-pans filled me in a little... stay out here, alright? I want to hear all about it once I'm back, alright?" he turned back to chic, and bowed.

"Lead on. Might I pick the song, though~? No trick, honest..." he said, happily walking up to the stage- passing by the bar just as Gitka turned away from her conversation for a moment- whistling sharply.

"Sorry, dahlink, haff to do somethink- old favor been doink for year... oy! BORIS! New leeeeeetter~!" she called out, holding up the envelope that had appeared in the drawer nder the bar.

Andrew
...Is enjoying a *very* nice moment with David, and is in no mood to broke interruptions from the narration, thank you. Five minutes, alright?

Fredric
He ginned, sliding up behind Jennifer.
"Need some heeeeel.... whot th?" e paused, glancing over at... a second Micheal point a gun at regular Micheal?

"...S' strong tea..." he muttered, picking Jennifer up and putting her on his shoulder. "Is there two micheals, or m' I hallucinadin?"

Rando
... got around easily in mechanicsburg, he found. Here and Xylon, people didn't give him a second glance. he hadn't ever felt so at home in a city since the san deigo comic con swung around~

He had fixed Teal a little bed- a pocket of his shirt, all cushioned with quilts and fluff... her in her PJ's for comfort, and a little ladder for her to peek out with. he walked up to the bar, his coat ruffling out dramatically.

"Hiya! Can I get a cranberry cocktail? And... a milk, right? Or maybe juice?" he asked, watching teal peek out.

Adelbert grinned, looking down at the tiny, fluffy head.

"Hey, hullos dere leedle vun... hy bet shed like a leedle sweet milk, hyah? Hy got sometink..."

As he fixed up their drinks, BBC hopped along the bar- exploring shyly. It was all noise and smells and the bar tasted like juice! He was a little scared... but he would be brave for Dadee! And... and...

...huh? THere was a little... person. He hopped up to rando, with wide eyes- spotting Teal.

"...chu?"

-Nemo, 10 minutes ago-

"Awwwwww..... hello, litle missy! She's female, right? She seems a bit larger then a build would suggest for a male... say! You must work with cethalapods... I hear they;re showing some of the heterodyne Ancient Fossils at Gitkas. Apparently someone lost a hand of cards at some point, so Mama got them? Odd politics around here." he explained, looking around.

~Claire and Laitu~

Laitu beams, purring slightly at the hugs, then turning to me. "Lord Eustace likes me! Yay!"

"Yay! And he's not mad at me!"

"Why would he be mad at you?"

"I... I dunno... I just thought that when I ran into him and he was older, he was cross with me... but..." I'm all confused now. "I dunno. I'm glad he's not, though." I'm still confused.

"...maybe he gets mad at you later?"

"Awwww..." My ears droop. "Maybe I can skip it, when he does..."

"Ooooh... that's a good idea!"

We both turn toward the stage to cheer on Lord Eustace. This is gonna be awesome!


~Jennifer~

"Hmm? Yeah, there are. It's one of Michael's extra clones that he thawed out for some irrelevant plan or other or something (THAT'S a weird number...) so now they have to fight to the death and all." She frowned, turning the piece of paper sideways. "You know, if you plug the numbers in, you get some REALLY weird personality compatibilities relation-ship wise? And if you do a least-squared fit on Mads, you end up needing FOUR variables, instead of TWO to get optimal residual? Weird, huh?"

Scribble scribble scribble... numbers were fun!~


~Teal~

Ooooh... lots of Someone Elses! But these Someone Elses were fun colors! Like Mamee and Dadee! Yay! She looked up at the Someone Else Dadee was talking to. "Peep?"

She heard a 'chu' noise from off to one side, and turned. There was a little Something! And it was blue! And her size! "Peep?" She looked up at Dadee, pointing at the Something. "Peep! Peep!"

Chic grins at Eustace. "Sure, you can pick the song." Considering what Drezabel has planned, it's the least she can do. Chic's part is just getting him on stage...
"Hey. Lord Heterodyne?"
"Please, Dr. Lopez-Viktor. It's Eustace."
Chic nods. "And it's Chic. Listen, this isn't the best time, but..." She leans forward, as the tall Heterodyne flips though the book. "I want to visit Mechanicsburg, frequently. Now that I'm a big sister and all. And you know I haven't sworn the oath-are we going to have problems?" Honesty compels her to add, "well, not like it'd keep me out. So, what song are we doing, Eustace?"

Boris makes a beeline for Gitka, ignoring Stephan's nudge, and Heinrich's grin. After all this time, all these years, his heart is still in his throat. So many, many years....

Jess sips her beer, contented to sit back with Xerox and watch the mayhem. Such as it is. She has no doubts that the evening will pick up soon enough.

Penny is with Sir Honor. And she can't quit blushing. This is silly! Not like it's anything to be ashamed off.
"All right, I hung the 'do not disturb' sign. Now, are you sure?"
"Yes. I want to do this." He smiles at her, and her heart leaps in her throat.
"All right. Get comfortable. Quail? Have you ever done anything like this before?"
Now he's blushing. "No....I, no, Penny. I haven't."
"All right. Don't worry, it's not like I'm new at this. Now, take off that mail shirt."
Penny opens a small black case, and removes a small vial, filled with what looks like oil.
"Okay, then! I'm going to inject you where the wings will be attached. You'll barely feed it. Now, this way, they'll grow, be more a part of you than something whipped up in a lab and grafted on. You'll need lots of protein and calcium. As a matter of fact, the more you eat, the faster they'll grow. But no even attempting flight until they'll finished developing! All right?" She carefully measure, marks, and injects the serum.
"There! That's done it! Okay, let's get back to seeing the sights. And we need to get you dinner!"

Farnsworth quaffs some October ale, and leans back, smiling. He's enjoying himself more than he expected.

Eustace raised an eyebrow, flicking through the songs list. Too corny, too loud, too dramatic- would it be corny to do something from Anastasia? Terrible movie, great music... ugh, nothing from the Wulfenbachen Operas. What could he sing with a chorus backup, or a duet? Oh! There... that would work...

'Let the Anvils Ring.' Perfect!

"...I don;t mind at all. After all, you;re the inheriting heir of the linage of Sturmovause, which does trace back directly to the Storm King... if anyone has the right to remain unoathed, it is you, surely." he said mellowly, showing her the song.

"How about this one? Good to wind the crowd up, ey?" he suggested, smiling amiably- the light shining off of the little Wulfenbach/Heterodyne symbol at his neck.

Gitka smiles a little, holding the letter out.

"Fifth vun dese month so far, hon. He gettn' bettah at lankink dem in ime, huh?" she asked, a little sympathetic... Boris was a real trouper. A little tragic, but... well. he was a good man. Who... *had* a good man, as well. They;d been together for a long time, after all.... just.. long distance.

She also calmly thumped Stephan as he opened his mouth, letting Boris tear open the envelope, the Jager Generaless smiling as he read.

'Dearest Boris...
I think I found a way to get back. In times before, I have felt close.. but didn't want to dash your hopes as mine were. But I really have it! I can't tell you how glad I am that I have been able to keep in touch all this time right now. I couldn't have been sadder then to be without you, but know that it;s always kept me going... you know how I get when it's rough. Guess his is why I never made sergant, huh boss? '

...there was more. But it is most certainly, and delicately, private.

Sir Honor rotates a shoulder, flexing his back muscles as he grasped his chain mail.

"Feels a little tingly... dinner? Oh! I know a great place in town Dr. Richard and Doctor Richard told me about... would you like to go with me? it;s. Um. Kind of... fancy. But with you... I think it culd be really fun." he blushed a little as he put on his shirt, smiling shyly at her.

Gitka turns back to Farnsworth, smiling at him.
"Now where we...~"

Fredric blinked, an ear twitching.

"....R ya sure about tha? He dun look loik a backup... he smells differen." he said, splot addled and fuzzy... before deciding th ebest course of action was to stp forward, and pick up Micheal as well, setting him on his shoulder.

"Ay, wossgoinon?"

BBC concentrated, and teleported up next to teal- shyly waving a tiny arm.

"p... uh... peeeep?" he asked, curious. He proffered a grape he had found, as Rando blinked and looked down at the tiny, cute display.

-Elsewhere....-

Something Stalked Foigran. Something ethereal... something spiteful. Something that had been denied lives anew...

The biological electrical impulse of a mind followed Foigran today. A ghost, as it were... the ghost... of the Mind Murderer.

"Please understand... I am a fan of your work, good sir. But I shall drink of your immortality!"

Foigran

Foigran simply looked at the ghost and shrugged. "Well then little fly come on in. We'll see how you fare." He could see all that the mind murderer had been and all he would be, and while he was certainly a terror to the ones constrained to this world... Foigran was something far different, far older than anything the Mind Murderer had likely seen. Without even the slightest attempt to prevent it, Foigran let him in.

Inside was a vast darkness, the first thing to occur to the Mind Murderer. The second would be the stifling silence. The third would be the overwhelming cacophony of screams and wails of terror and pain and despair. This would naturally lead to the fourth observation, Silence and noise could coexist perfectly here, despite the lack of logic, the effect very disturbing. All the isolation of silence, and all the awareness of what waited in the dark that came from the screams.

The darkness slid away from a scene of a remembered event, the shadows pulling away like so many insects fleeing from the light. Behind them was revealed a scene with a younger looking Demothesis, dressed in a lab coat and much less muscled. He was sitting against a wall sobbing, the remains of his house and family scattered around him. Then as soon as it had been revealed it was covered up again and Foigran's voice echoed in the dark. "Well, Mind Murderer. Do you have what it takes to handle what you claim to want? Let us see."

Penny smiles at Sir Honor. "That sounds lovely. Do you mind stepping out and giving me a minute to change? I won't take long."
She suits action to words, slipping on a midnight blue dress, and rejoining him.

Chic nods at Eustace. "I have my reasons. If you want to hear them later, you can. If it helps, I can swear I don't have any designs on you country or position, 'kay? Besides," her grin turns positively wicked, "someone has to keep you honest. Oooh, now that's a fun song! Okay, Eustace. Let's rock the house!"

Boris sits still for a moment, silent amid all the rowdiness surrounding him. Then, he carefully folds the letter back in it's envelope, and tucks it in an inside pocket. He smirks, as Stephan rubs his head. "Hey, dot's de leedle jaegerfrau from Xyon on stage mit de Heterodyne! Dis should be goot." He leans back in his chair, grinning.
Life is good.
"Um...Boris? Who's de odder gurl mit dem? De scary vun?" Heinrich is puzzled.
"Ah? Dot's Jane Narbon, LOV. Hmm...ve'd bedder keep our eyes open, ya?" His voice is lazy, but his eyes are alert.

Rex has completely lost track of Penny and Sir Honor. Grr....that pesky knight slipped away from him in the crowd. Sighing, he trots under a table at Gitka's, and gnaws a bone. Everybody comes to Gitka's, he's heard. Besides, there's always tomorrow.

=Kenny Banks=

Kenny gave a small chuckle. "That was the plan from the start little Elleb Dudette." He walked up to the front door and paused to think a moment. He remembered how rough it could get with the jeagers inside. He was no match by any stretch of the imagination against a jeager. He gave a shrug. No risk, no gain. He pushed opened the door and took in the sight. "Ah, a open table!" He sat himself down when He noticed the group of people on stage.

Sir honor had his armor shift- smoothing out into a simple, soft grey suit. Well, it was meant to be all soft grey. The armor often had ideas of it;s own, and whenever he did fancier clothing, it liked to add highlights of black, blue, and red. Luckily it looked good on him... but really.

It also formed a soft, opera version of his usual mask- which he considered for a moment, before taking it off and setting it in his pocket. He smiled at Penny and held out his arm, blushing a little.

"You look lovely...." he said, a little shy still.

Eustace laughed, grinning. "Hah! Yeah, you;re Andy;s cousin allright. Only he gets a perverse enjoyment out of being loyal... glad to hear someone will just honestly give me a little trouble when I need it. Trubble is vot keeps tinks fun, hey?" he jumped uponto a table and neatly leapt onto the stage with her, gettign a resounding cheer from the crowd. he grabbed the mike, suddenly straightening hsi posture, squaring his shoulders, and tossing hsi head to move his hair from his eyes.

The effect, if you weren't practiced at seeing it, was enough to almost make it seem like he had suddenly grown taller- more... charismatic, even.

"Let us introduce ourselves, O people of this land..." he sang, managing to resonante the notes- grinning as Jane and chic started in.

"We are the warner brothers, with sister close at hand!" they chorused together, the show warming up...

In the crowd, a pale haired man grinned lazily, and looked at his watch.

Usually it would be traditional for something like this to start off with a bang... or a clock striking. But this time, just for the fun of it, he decided it;d be appropriate to cue it by the end of this song... perfect~

Let the Anvils ring~

The white haired man was a little startled when Ariel accidentaly- or, really, was it accidentaly- bumped into him. He smiled- a honest, warm sort of kindly smile- and offered her his hand.

"Hello, little girl. Are you lost?"

Adlebert slid over two juice drinks for the little cute peeping things, grinning and glancing at rex.

"Need a drink, keed?"

~Claire and Laitu~

Are enjoying Eustace's song and cheering him on.


~Teal~

She poked the purple thing that the blue Something was offering. "Peep?" She was confused...

Oh! Nyam juice! She climbed out of Dadee's pocket a bit, careful to still keep hold of it, and had some. Yay! Juice!

"Peep! Peep!"


~Jennifer~

"I dunno. We could ask. Hey, Michael, did you make a clone of yourself and forget to upload the memories of it?"

She continued scribbling. Four wasn't nearly enough... maybe six or seven, split it into two and then some would turn out to be zeroes. That would probably work.

-Dr. Beard, 10 minutes later-
(which is to say, right now)

"-and then she turned into a radio! I mean, obviously she didn't turn into a radio, but the mimicry was perfect! I was so proud!"
Nemo may or may not have made a mistake by admiring Mimic. Dr. Beard had started chatting gleefully about Mimic's creation and childhood with all the usual excitement of a proud mother just after they agreed to head towards Mama's and see the small fossil collection there.
Normally she wouldn't be talking quite this fast. But normally she wasn't quite this nervous. Because if she found what she was looking for in that fossil collection...

then Dr. Geneve Beard was going to steal Heterodyne property right out from under the noses of a barful of Jaegers, or die trying. ...Probably the latter.

Mimic, blissfully unaware of her mom's semi-suicidal plans and less blissfully aware of her endless supply of embarrassing childhood stories, looked for something else to entertain herself with. Penny was a lot more fun.

Oh. Huh. The Thing In The Catgirl's Head was out again. She waved at it.

Mimic didn't talk about the Thing In The Catgirl's Head because she was afraid even Mom and her friends would think that was crazy. But it was there anyway.

Ariel looked up at the man, her glance studying every facet of his appearance. Who was he? He didn't appear in any of her databases— and even Robin Toboz was in them, albeit as a very dubious and fuzzy entry. Best, perhaps, to play along.

"A-a little," she said, looking up at him, uncertainty in her eyes. "I got lost, and I got here, and there's all these nice fangy gentlemen," her voice distorted in a lisp as she tried to pronounce the word properly, "and there's going to be a brawl later, and I've never seen a brawl, and who are you, Mister?"

-Drezebel-

Backstage, she watched the Heterodyne sing...

...actually, he was rather decent at it. Made it a shame that she was about to try and ruin it.

Drezebel had learned long ago not to try and sneak up on Eustace Heterodyne. Granted, she'd got a LOT of practice in sneaking. It was practically part of her skill set. Yet Eustace Heterodyne always seemed to have a knack for knowing when SHE, at least, was about to show up and attempt to declothe him.

So she wasn't even going to try. The stealthy way was out. She'd made other plans.

Instead, she'd been busy appropriating something which would serve both as a means of clothing removal as well as a means for her inevitably dramatic escape: She had somehow, in the middle of Xyon City, purloined a jetpack from one of the locals. Her plan was to rocket out on stage past the Heterodyne, snag the hem of his pants and literally tear them from his person as she passed, using the momentum as a means of clothing removal.

...the reader should be reminded at this point that Lady Drezebel IS in fact Mad, and that this plan made perfect sense to her as she was putting it together.

She aimed herself, started the jetpack's rocket engine, and blasted towards the Heterodyne, at top speed, her hand reaching out for his aforementioned article of clothing...

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-Michael and the Other Michael of Doooooooom!!! (Dooooom copyrighted by Kinestro! Used here without permission under fair use laws-

"He's not a clone of mine, all the spare ones got trashed when someone destroyed my lab. Isn't it obvious what he is?" Michael glared at his counterpart, a gun pointed at his head. "Really Jennifer... how do you know me without being able to guess this?"

As Frederic began to come pick him up, the Other Michael smirked... and fired.

There was a flash of bright light. And then, standing where Michael had been... was was a girl.

Michael- er, Michelle, blinked. "..the F<censored for content!>?!?" He looked at his counterpart, who was just as astonished as he was. "You had a shot at killing me, a real SHOT, and you wasted it with a clothing changing ray? Or... wait..." He cupped his hands around his chest. "These are real. Did you HONESTLY turn me into some weird green-haired lolicon girl thingy? Really? I mean, seriously, I'd have expected better from you. This just embarasses us both."

The Other Micahel frowned. "H-hey! I brought, like, 3 rays, ya'know? An' the death beam ran outta juice so I grabbed on'a the ohter ones, and I jess grabbed the wrong one, kay? 'sit happens! Nah worries, tho. You still gonna die, foo." He reached into his pocket and grabbed ANOTHER raygun, firing it at Frederic.

It was a kinetic ray. And it sent Frederic flying backwards into the bar, narrowly missing BBC and Teal, who continued having their cute moment. The other Michael turned and began running into the crowd to evade pursuit as people watched what had happened to Frederic in astonishment... he'd hide and make another plan, but first...

"Michelle" scowled. "Can I request that anyone who feels some odd need to go after him doesn't kill him or seriously injure him? I call dibs." He she frowned. "I need to change into something a bit more frumpy. And also hopefully reaffirm my masculanity somehow. Mint anyone?"

-The Strange Man-

"Why, nobody at all. Or, not yet, at least... I'm hoping to change that, soon. Tell me, little girl... would you like to see something change in the world?" he asked, the sheer blank mildness of his expression barely shifting even an inch.

It wasn't that he was necessarily inhuman. it was just that something... didn't add up right.

-Fredric-

He blinked, and brushed off some of the rubble. Adlabert helped him up, steadying the lagomorph on his feet.

"Hyu hokay?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeh- m' okay." he grumbled, looking to make sure BBC was okay. That blue haired kid... wasn;t he in Das class once? He was probably okay, then. He reached over and patted BBC gently.

"Scuse me- Veelan, roight?"

"THats me. Random T. Veelan."

"Cna you look after me liddle one fer a sec? His names BBC. Adlabert, you too, okay?"

"A' course." said Adlabert amiably, setting BBC on top of a little stool so he could reach his juice, and peep shyly at Teal. He broke the grape in half, showing her that it had juice in it.

Nemo walked in with Dr. Beard, blinking a little at all the ruckus. "Heavens. I think i can see the fossils... over there, by the stage? Reminds me of ancient Rome a little in here. Say, who is Mimic waving to?"

On stage, Eustace was just warming up. As Drezebel charged forward, he seemed to glance in her direction before nimbly shifting to one side.

"I bet you all are wondering
Who is this young unknown?
And why am I inheriting
The Anvilanian throne?" he sang, grinning as the chorus came back from the girls.

"Yes, why? Yes, why? Oh, please, please tell us why."

He took a deep breath, just As Drezebell charged past him... seemingly. In fact, she grabbed his pants on the back side, making him startle, and quickly try to twist to shake her off.

"The bottom of the family tree
Starts with Yakko; that is me.
I'm the cousin to the sister
Of son's niece's brother
Of the uncle's daughter's father
Of the nephew's sister's mother
And my grandpa's only cousin
Was the King's daughter's sibling,
But they're all gone...."

~Jennifer~

"Awww... you aren't gonna stay a girl? But it's funny... and I wouldn't guess wrong about your clones if you wouldn't clone extra copies of yourself and then memory-wipe yourself to forget about it. And it wouldn't be a RECENT clone- Fredric said he smelled different. Sheeesh... I'm brilliant, give me at least a LITTLE bit of credit. And at least I didn't get defeated by my wussy alt WHILE all twitchy from splot." At least Fredric would be ok. Vorpal rabbit and all. The bar might be a bit injured, but that wasn't a big deal around here.

She fuzzled Michael's green hair. "And you need to change outfits. I think you should go kill your alt now~" Sure, she had mints in her pocket, but this was more fun.

~Teal~

"Peep?" More juice! She took half the grape and monched on it a bit. Ooooh... yummy! "Peep! Peep!" She liked the blue Something! But she didn't have anything to give it...

Ariel looked up at the man. Strange, unknown person entity, talking about changing the world? This would certainly be interesting. She was certainly recording all this, if nothing else.

With care, the little robot girl looked up at the man, giving him her best anime-eyes expression. "Change in the world? Sure, mister! What'cha going to change?"

Chic stumbles, slightly, as the heterodyne suddenly twists to try to shake off Drezabel's grasp of his trousers. Nudging him ever so slightly back into Drezabel's path. Not her fault at all Eustace moved so suddenly. That's Chic's story, and who are we to doubt her?

Jess leans back and enjoys the show. She slips an arm around Xerox's shoulders. "So, tell me. Did Gitka add a pudding pit?" She grins as he chokes slightly on his drink. A chair comes flying towards them, and she bats it away with her free hand.

Penny feels like she's floating on air. Wait, they're in a hover gondola. Regardless, whenever she thinks of Mechanicsburg in the future, it will be as a, no the, romantic city. Paris? Pfft.

An old man has stumbled into Gitka's. Oblivious to the cheerful mayhem surrounding him, he makes his way through the bar. He picks up an unattended drink, and leaps upon a table off to the side. With a regal nod at the crowd, he takes a sip, clears his throat, and begins to sing.
Softly enough that it doesn't interfere with the show on stage, clearly enough for those at the surrounding tables to hear him.
"An...vi-laa-aa-aaa-niaaa....." He draws out each syllable with excrutiating slowness.
People begin to blink, their eyelids heavy. "Annnvila-a-ania....."

Xerox snorted, glancing upstage as Eustace whooped and jumped up in the air- landing in a perfect cossack kick to jump over, and then dodge attempts at hooking the rocket to hsi pants. It had the crowd whooping and banging things on tables, to the rhythm of the song.

"You would have to mention it... that's down the street, actually. They're calling it 'Xyclon style Jazz' here, apparently." he said dryly, catching a bottle and idly tossing it back, behind him, at the thrower- who yelped.

Sir Honor was struck, as the gondola gently floated along the Dyne waters, by the sensation that, for once, he was somehow outside of the danger zone... or perhaps that something silly was happening, and for once he didn't have to be tangled up into it.

He would probably still have to deal with the aftermath... but that would be the aftermath. Right now, he was sitting next to a beautiful intelligent, and kind girl who's hand was in his, and everything was... perfect~

The Mysterious Figure laughed a little, reaching into his pocket, and dropping a little glass marble, clear as sky, into Ariels hands.

"Why, there is ever so much to change! From the birth of the ocean, to the core of madness, to the tragedy of the dark days of our forefathers- or the endless chain of birth and loss. Allow me to explain my plan to you, in perfect and concise... de... tail..." he trailed off, as the older man began to sing... the dulcet tones of the Anvilanian anthem. His yes closed, and he drifted off- slumping onto his table.

Rando looked around. Funny, he could have sworn hsi boss would be coming to give him instructions... but, awwwww.... Teal had a grape! And a friend! He picked the little blue fellow up, remembering that he;d been asked to mind him, and tucked them both into his pocket.

BBC peeped a little, startled- but calmed. Papa had said this person was okay! And there was another small thing here. He peeked out, experimenting with the peep noises a Rando held their juice straws up close.

Fredric glanced over- making sure BBC was okay. He wasn't too worried, in the manner of someone who's child is clearly having fun meeting someone new, hard to injure, and capable of teleporting to them at will. And, also, in the manner of a parent capable of bending any threats to a kid into a decorative christmas wreath.

-Drezebel-

Riding a jetpack while clutching a pair of surprisingly durable pants is NOT the best of plans.

Mostly because unless you let go, it's going to change your direction. Which would likely cause the person you're holding onto to stumble, changing your direction even more.

The end result was that a fast moving Drezebel, unable or unwilling to let go of Eustace's pants, began flying in circles around him, spinning him around with her. "WHAAAAAAA!" She screamed, as the two of them spun, faster and faster, exhaust fumes trailing behind them, the stagelights making the fumes appear in various colors.

The audience watched as Chic and Jane accompanied Eustace in singing. If they didn't know any better, they'd have sworn this was part of the show...

Meanwhile, Drezebel was reaching up slowly in an attempt to depants the Heterodyne. If she could JUST reach the upper lip of the pants...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Michael, er, "Michelle"-

Still dressed as Miku, "Michelle" chased after his/her doppleganger, out into the backrooms of Mama Gitkas, and through an open door into an alleyway behind it. "Michelle" looked around, hearing movement but not sure where it came from. "I thought we could talk this out rationally, before we tried to kill each other." His/her arm was twitching. The sip of Splot he'd drank was starting to wear off a bit.

"I ain't talkin' wit chu, dude! Yew gotta die!"

A beam shot out from behind a few trash cans. "Michelle" didn't see it in time and wasn't able to dodge it...

...fortunately it was the transmogrifier ray again. "Lady Luck" glared out at the trash cans with Michael's most aggravated glare. "Look, this is really just making you look worse. Your one good attack is drained of power and I already knew that." "Lady Luck" walked forward, towards the trash cans. "You could at least PUNCH me or something..."

His/her doppleganger scowled as "Lady Luck" looked down at him. "Ah had more stuff, yo, but I kinda left it at the hotel. Didn't 'spect you to show up so soon, dude."

"Lady Luck" sighed. "Look, I understand why you're upset. And this is uncharacteristically diplomatic of me, but I'd rather settle this amicably, if we could. I know if I was on your side of the situation I'd want your blood too. But I'm not on your side of the situation, I'm on MY side of the situation, and I'd really rather we both walk away from this alive and more or less whole." He thought, and then added as an afterthought. "...for some reason. I blame being turned into a girl, as sexist as that sounds."

"Lady Luck" sat down next to the other Michael and looked at him sternly. "So... tell me about our parents."

Ariel looked at the sleeping man. Then, at the marble in her hands. With care, she folded her hands closed around it.

When she opened her hands, the marble had vanished. One of the advantages of being a robot girl, as opposed to a real one, was that you could discreetly absorb small objects you were holding, for safe-keeping. It would give her a chance to study the thing, anyway.

Perhaps... when the man awoke. she would tell him she had dropped it, and watch his reaction.
Smiling sweetly, Ariel watched the man as he slept, and the song continued.

Boris's head swivels, as his keen hearing picks up the unnatural silence coming from one corner of the room. Silent except for the snores, and it's a bit early in the evening for drunken stupors.
He groans, upon seeing the dapper old man singing on a tabletop. "Gott in himmell! Him again?
Vell, ve'll see about dot." He picks up his drink and tosses it back, then hefts the stein, taking careful aim. And throws.
The stein gracefully arcs through the air, over the crowd, and pegs the crooner on the temple, hitting with precisely the correct amount of force.
The oldster's eyes cross, and he slowly folds up, collapsing.
Boris gives a satisfied nod, and returns his attention to the spectacle on stage.
Stephan leans back in his chair, and remarks lazily, "A leedle too much spin on dot, Boris. Hyu getting sloppy."
"Bah, und vat vould hyu know? It hit de target chust right." Boris huffs. "Hyu chust jealous."
"Ya, dot must be it. Vhen de last time hyu beat me at darts?" Stephan grins.
"Vas a month ago. Hyu remember, Stephan, de pritty gurl hyu vas flirting mit, she threw her glass at hyu? Und hyu vas distracted, so Boris vun dot game? Und she called hyu a-" Heinrich is interrupted, by Boris and Stephan, speaking simultaneously.
"Shuddop, Heinrich!"
Boris cuffs both of them, and gets back to watching the stage. Looks like Eustace is having fun. No need to intervene. He wouldn't thank them for it anyway.

Chic and Jane have stepped back from the whirlwind that is Eustace and Drezabel. Amazingly enough, Eustace hasn't missed a note. The two women link arms, and continue the chorus.
"And that is why....."
Eustace continues. "I am now your king!"
"He is now our king!" Heh. As if. But Chic's decided she rather likes this smartass of a Heterodyne.
"Yes, I am now your king! Repeat what I just said!" The spinning is getting faster.
"Repeat what I just said!" He's got a sense of humor, give him that. Although whether he'll still be so sanguine if Drezabel leaves him in his skivvies is yet to be determined. Chic spots Wally and Rad in the crowd, and smiles, but forebears waving. Drez wanted them to cover her escape. Wouldn't do to draw attention to them.
Fortunately, her great grandmother seems too distracted by her conversation with Farnsworth to pay them any mind. That won't last forever, but she'll take any respite they get!

Farnsworth smiles at the towering example of beauty and fearsomeness in front of him. What a woman! He quite enjoys talking with her, he's found. She's sly, shameless, intelligent, and knows how-and more importantly when-to use an ax. And has managed to keep kind hearted instead of jaded. He wonders if he would have fared as well over as many years.
"I'd offer to buy you a drink, but you own the bar." He grins, teasing.
"Dot so? Then does dot mean hyu'll heff to buy me vun somewhere else?" Her eyebrow lifts.
"Heh. I certainly wouldn't object. Now-"
Farnsworth finds himself interrupted.
"Gitka, vot hyu vasting hyu time for? Look at de seesy mit his suit und monocle." An olive green jaeger smirks, and casually knocks over Farnsworth's drink.
Farnsworth stands, and removes his dark gray suit jacket, revealing the breastplate beneath. The Roman armor is well maintained, but has the look of well used equipment, not parade issue. There's muscles underneath, the kind you get from a lifetime of fighting, not working out in a gym.
He hands his coat to Gitka, with a slight smile. Turning back to his challenger, in a casual voice-"Let's see if your fighting is any better than your wit, microcephalic moron. Visne partem mei capere? Comminus agamus!"
(To save folks hitting the online translator, that's 'You want a part of me? Bring it on!")
The other jaeger roars, and swings a fist. Farnsworth swiftly throws up a hand, and catches it. Fangs gleaming in a smile, he extends his other arm, grabs his opponent, ducking slightly to flip him over his back, to slam on the bar. Farnsworth spins around to face him, but the other has already leapt to his feet, snarling.
Farnsworth grin grows wider, if possible. Finally, challenging brawling partners! Splendid.

Rex flies upward, easily dodging a thrown bottle, and perches on a boar's head hung on the wall behind he bar. Better than being underfoot, and he has a good view of the room. It'll do. But before he settles, might as well get a snack. He flaps over to the other end of the bar, landing in front of a jaeger bartender. "Would you have a bone or a sausage or something?"

~Claire and Laitu~

I giggle, nudging Laitu. "Do you remember going to Anvilainia?"

"Noooo... was it fun?"

"It was pretty neat. The anvils hurt when they fall on you, though. I liked it, though! Maybe we can get Grandpa to take us again sometime."

"Yay!"


~Teal~

"Peep!" She nyammed on the grape and had the juice, enjoying the company of the blue Something. He was nice! And small, like her! And Dadee liked him! Yay! "Peep! Peep!"


~Jennifer~

Michael was off doing doppelganger things, Fredric was busy... She'd taken out her phone and started a text message conversation with Anson. That should kill time until something interesting happened...

-Drezebel-

There was a loud riiiiiiiiiiiiippping sound, as the pants tore...

and Drezebel went flying off towards the ceiling with them, cackling evilly...

The problem with time is the manner in which it refuses to arrange it;s self out in tidy, neat lines. It appears to, if viewed from one perspective... but all things considered, the the flaws of the medula's considered, and the collective joke upon creation that is Physics taken into account, even that gets a little bit wonky, if examined too closely.

The most consist way to demonstrate is to present what occurred at Mama Gitkas, on the evening of the Viktor Triplets (Wilhelm, Calisto, and Elana) birth, from the perspective of the bar in general- as gathered from relabellings of the incident afterward. What they knew... was that Eustace was singing, and everyone was having a good time.

A select few were close enough to realize that, before Eustace stopped singing, Boris took out a obnoxious sleep-causing crooner with a decent shot. But debate was uncertain if this, or the songs end cued the event.

What they do know was that his pants were ripped clean off, but he stuck through to the last chorus with a grin- good man, you know? Destined for a lot of good, great with the clockwork- and then...

He vanished. Him and the girls upstage. Crashes of glass, and a single paper floating to the ground signaled the vanishing of others- *important* others. Well *known* others- in the very middle of the city. Most of them were honored guests, if not Family... and the Heterodyne... and had been surrounded by loyal townsfolk and Jagers.

Without putting too fine a point on it, what happened *exactly* after this was pure pandemonium, incarnate. Enough so that it took quite a little while before anyone found the note, which went as follows.

'Something is about to happen. I am afraid that I'm not sure what, exactly- if I had to take a random stab, I would say it has something to do with the pale gentleman of indiscriminate appearance who (had been, perhaps?) is sitting in the corner.

Please try not to panic too badly. This isn't the first time something strange and or big has happened to more or less this group of people. I, and my friends- new and old alike- can probably handle it. Try not to panic, if it isn;t too much troubles.

Yours, Loyaly-
Doctor Andrew Kaboom Omega Particle Prince Risk-Tinker, MD, Private in Good Graces of the Heterodyne Army

P.S: Dear universe, you owe me one pleasant drink to myself at some point during this-'
And here he note ended with a splat of ink.

Now, let us review what happened from the viewpoints of those who vanished.

The pants were ripped off of Eustace- who nearly dropped the songs cadence, before he laughed and waved to the musicians.

"AND let the avils riiiiiing!" he cried out, holding the mic back to the girls- setting his feet astride the stage in his polka dot boxers.

"Old King wakkos Mania! Was for Anvilania!" they chorused, as he took a deep breath...

In the corner, the Mysterious figure rubbed his eyes a little, waking up drowsily.

And at a little table, Andrew looked up suddenly- which took some doing, seeing as he was snuggled up against David- and cursed, quietly. If he was asked why he seemed to be reading the air up above him, he would look a trifle uncomfortable and mutter something about horizontal scrolling and quantum.

He took out a piece of paper and a pen, and began to write, quickly- working on what little he could Read before...

"So good citizens I pledge to you! I'll do the best that I can do!" Eustace's voice rang out, as the pale figure stood- and clicked a small device in his pocket. It reacted, almost immediately, with the devices that had been planted in a few peoples pockets- humming and whirring in silent tandem.

"For Honor country and the kiiiiiiiing!"

Rando, it should be noted, was supposed to click his own device. Rando was distracted by a full double handful of tiny fuzzy bouncy peepies, who were adorable and needed some foodies! Yes! And they would have to have a playtime later~

It's probably because of this, that as the fabrics of time and space shifted and moved, *e* was caught up in it, as well. Not that he could have noticed... really, the only person who could was a ocean away. Although Nemo, as he peered down at the fossils with Dr. Beard, could have sworn he felt something strange... something like the old days, in Gaul, somehow.

"Let the anvils ring! Let the anvils ring! Let the anvils ring! Let! The! Anvils! RIIIIIIIIIIING!"

The world, for those being tugged outwards through time and space, flashed colors.

And then, without any fanfaire or warning- well, aside from smart alecked english professors- they were standing somewhere dark, and strange. The sky was filled with things that could have been stars... and a single street lamp lit a wooden sort of walkway, that lead to a little square of cobblestones and grass, under an elderly tree that could have been an oak, reaching up into the sky under a moon that sparkled and glowed strangely.

Somewhere, water was running. And a figure, in a battered Jager Army uniform, sat on the corner of the cobblestones.

There was a stack of letters next to him, gathered carefully and stacked in a wooden box, as they worked on a little device- singing quiet little marching songs to himself.

"Oh the kestle, hes far avaaayyy... und here ve is not to stay- three four- but de boys in blue vill march mit hyu, the soldiers uff the Het-er-ro-dyne vayyy.... vun two..."

All right, so these fossils are protected by glass, a complex catch-and-needle mechanism that will stab and poison me if I trigger it, and a barful of Jaegers. I'm going to need about 30 Atlantic oyster drills, some hagfish slime, a bright red rubber ball, some twine, a paperclip and-

Dr. Beard's line of thought was abruptly cut short when she found herself not in front of the fossils anymore.

Instead she was outside, on the road, by a tree, a single singing Jaeger, and a number of other people from the bar.

...What...
Mimic!

She looked frantically for the bucket she had set down for just a moment- it was there, beside her still. She knelt by it and stroked Mimic's arms, reassuring herself that the little construct was safe. With a spare hand she felt around in her bag for "augmentations", hands closing around a few she might take if she needed to defend herself in a hurry. Or, you know, just because it was a new environment and they needed testing anyway. But mostly it was the defense part. Really.

Mimic peered out at the new scenery curiously, slowly shifting colors.

<Where are we Mom?>

Teal was playing with the blue Something and Dadee was giving her food and it was fun and-

?

A Something Happened... She was all confused. And stuff was all...

"Peep? Peep! Peep! Peep!" She pointed at everything, looking up at Dadee. "PEEP!"


I look around. Oooooooh... shiny! Wheee! Mechanicsburg is the best! I go over to the jaeger person and poke him. "Hi!"


Laitu looked around, then rubbed her eyes, then looked around. Then rubbed her eyes again. Wow... "Mommy, it's all bright!"


Jennifer observed the behavior of the catgirls, then looked at her travel companions. Oh no... No no no no no...

She sat down right where she was. Maybe she could just not take part in whatever was going to happen...

Chic looks around, astonished. On stage one second, and the next..here. Wherever 'here' is. And with a small group of folks she knows. "Eustace," she murmurs. "Tell me this is just some wacky part of a mad kareoke machine. Some side effect of all the booze in the atmosphere. No? I was afraid of that."
She walks over to where the jaeger is sitting, following Claire.

Jess glances around sharply, alert. Does a quick check of who's here. Shifts enough to enhance her senses, but doesn't bulk up. She slips an arm around Xerox's shoulders, briefly, and gives a quick squeeze. "Yep. Toto, I don't think we're in Mechanicsburg anymore."