posted
Sebastian walked into an electronics store and was greeted by eager staff. He took his time examining the best phone plans Earth had to offer, but had feeling in the back of his head he would be ripped off no matter what. He settled on a Susanoo 4000 with an average plan.
"Would you like any apps today?" The clerk asked.
Sebastian replied, "Yes, of course..."
The clerk asked, "Do you like Greedy Toads?"
"Sure, I might as well buy one," Sebastian agreed. He then held to his ground against any further purchases and walked out of the store contented. He was going to call someone they would be meeting with in Brazil, when a cart caught his eye. The scent coming from the cart was very familiar to him.
"How much for a pamonha?" He asked the vendor.
The vendor was a little confused, "These are tamales. What is a pamonha?"
"Ah," Sebastian realized. "Forgive me, that's the Portuguese word for that kind of dish."
The vendor understood, "I see, I see, now do you want to buy a tamale?"
Sebastian said, "Yes, I do." He paid the vendor and continued on his way.
-------------------- Go with the good and you'll be like them; go with the evil and you'll be worse than them.- Portuguese Proverb
From: Illinois | Registered: Jun 2010
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posted
IB stood with his back to the ocean, soaking up the sun's rays. He'd just come from a nice swim, and was drying off.
In the distance, he spied a young redhead carrying a dachshund. Her curvy figure was accentuated quite nicely by her bikini, and her hair was done up to make it look like it was floating.
With a whistle to himself, he made his approach.
Eyeing her out of the corner of his eye, he passed her, counted to five, then let out a whistle.
The dachshund took the bait, as he knew he would. His first pet had been one. It jumped out of its owners arms and ran towards him.
"Whoa, hey there big guy!" he bent down to ruffle its ears as it licked his face.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" red gasped as she came up to him.
IB turned to give her a cocky stare, and made sure to stand at an angle that showed off his abs. "Looks like he was pretty eager to get away from you. You were holding him too tight or something?"
She gave a small giggle at that. "No, maybe he just thought you smelled like beef."
Keeping his grin under control, IB said, "I can think of worse things to smell like, to a dog." He made a show of sniffing her. "Is that strawberry? Never met a dog who liked to lick strawberry before."
She smiled, holding out her hand. "I'm Zoe."
IB grinned. "Call me Paulo."
She raised an eyebrow. "You don't look Latino."
IB lowered his tone and used his best Mexican accent. "Long story, but I'm the illegitimate son of a Chinese prince. He had to give me up at birth - sent me to live with this couple from Mexico. I'm being followed by assassins sent by my half-brother, to prevent me from being a threat to his throne."
She giggled at that. "Nice try, except that was the worst Mexican accent I've ever heard. Still, it was a good story. Tell me more over a banana split?"
IB grinned. This was definitely going to be a good day.
posted
Sebastian found himself walking towards the downtown part of Fawcett City. The blend of architecture styles reminded him of cities on his homeworld. The more he saw the more he felt that it was not just the Sivana Mansion, but this entire city that was pulled in two opposing directions.
On one street he saw an impressive sky-scrapper that had to have been at least sixty stories high. He entered the lobby to see a chrome and white interior decorate by maps and items from other worlds. Most of the technology looked Venusian. The elevator looked as if it could lead the people using it to heaven itself. He noticed Emily Sivana being carried upwards--and it was at that moment that he realized he was in a building that belonged to the State Department. A staffer asked if he needed something, and he admitted to just coming in to take a look.
Sebastian walked a block up, but saw nothing but stores. He paused in front of the McKeon History Museum. The main exhibit was about the Tombs of Ur. As the display sign said 'Remnants of the Earliest Days of Human Civilization'.
These are the beginnings of civilization: the wheel, pottery, writing...weapons. He paused at a display case of bronze daggers. Sebastian. He continued towards the next display case which featured objects from a royal tomb.
The description said that these gold headdresses, rings, and semi-precious stones were found on a body of a queen.
"How much of that is actually gold?" A familiar voice asked.
Sebastian replied without looking up, "In ancient times gold was often used as a relief on wooden objects."
"So one would have to melt it off?" He asked.
"Yes, of course. Tomb-robbers often--" He finally looked up and noticed it was one of his travel companions. What was his name again?
"What are you doing here?" Sebastian asked.
"I was looking for you. The Sivanas are busy and Angdar and Invisible Brainiac travel to fast for my liking," He replied.
Sebastian asked, "How did you know I would be here?"
"Emily told me you would probably be here," He said. Sebastian had nothing to say to that because that seemed very possible.
-------------------- Go with the good and you'll be like them; go with the evil and you'll be worse than them.- Portuguese Proverb
From: Illinois | Registered: Jun 2010
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posted
IB whistled happily to himself. He'd spent a rather tiring afternoon on the beach with Zoe. His pulse was still pounding. The girl could move in the water.
He fingered his neck. That would leave a mark.
He'd dropped her off at home; she couldn't join him at the Floating Garden because she had a dinner date with her parents.
Just as well; he didn't want to rush things. This could turn into something more, or it could just be another good day to remember.
Either way, he would look back on this day very fondly.
He inputted her number into his omnicom, stuffed her handkerchief into his pocket, then took a running leap into the sky.
posted
"Yes boss, I will be there in a matter of hours," Flashend said into the phone.
"Hmm. Perhaps you will be useful after all. As small as Fawcett City is there is a game shop of interest--" His superior said before being interrupted.
"Why a game shop?" Flashend asked. This sounded ridiculous to him.
"There is a gold helmet in the game shop. The owner thinks it is just a trinket, but I believe it is the Golden Helmet Of Mambrino," His superior asserted. "The game shop is located just outside of the entrance of the Haunted Railway Tunnel," He ordered.
"Yes boss, of course. I will get to it at once!" Flashend said. That is after I get something to eat. Now where should I go? He glanced at the sign for the Floating Garden and smirked when he saw Hoshi Pyrotechnics. He remembered as a child, before he left Osaka for Legion World, the day he helped his cousin negotiate with Hoshi Pyrotechnics. It was all going so well when the company's Vice-President's daughter entered the room and began screaming.
Flashend walked around the city until he found a restaurant that suited his tastes, and settled in with the help of some beer.
-------------------- Go with the good and you'll be like them; go with the evil and you'll be worse than them.- Portuguese Proverb
From: Illinois | Registered: Jun 2010
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posted
The Floating Garden was a wonderland. IB had spent a couple of hours walking around and taking pictures, but he hadn't had enough of this place.
He was now in the Northern Temperate Forest zone, and reached down to pet a rabbit. It eyed him warily until he produced a couple of handfuls of hay. The light brown coat reminded him of his first pet bunny back when he was five.
Soon, he had a good half dozen bunnies clustered around him.
IB Green quickly posed with the bunnies while Blue took a photo - one on photo paper, and another digitally. He'd upload those pictures tonight, or perhaps tomorrow morning if he got home late.
The other five of his selves had split off and were wandering the garden too. There was just that much ground to cover.
"Your turn, Blue." Green said.
"Just a sec," said Blue. He bent down and picked up a little bunny that couldn't get at the hay he'd brought. "This little fella can't be more than a month old. Hey, it's okay, little guy. It's okay. I won't hurt you," Blue said, setting the light brown bunny on a park bench. "Here, have a nice lettuce leaf." Within moments, the bunny was munching happily.
Green shook his head, smiling. Blue had always been the best at connecting with people.
He looked down and stared. "Hey! Give that back!" he exclaimed at a bunny who was chewing on one of the photos he'd taken. The bold critter wouldn't have any of it - it turned and bolted, photo still in its mouth.
posted
Orange ran through the jungle area, enjoying the feel of pushing himself to the limit. It was a true jungle, humid and overgrown.
He wasn't even supposed to be here, but he was invisible anyway.
Dodging vines, fallen trunks and the occasional animal, he finally made it through to the other side.
Indigo waited patiently. "Did you really have to jog through there?"
Orange turned visible and took his shirt off, wiping his chest with it. "Never ran through a jungle before, except that time we were on Phlon. I missed the feeling."
"We could have ran it in the VR room, you know. Now you'll have to take a shower. I don't understand why you value the physical sensations so much - or why you needed to do it now. With our powers, we can go anywhere."
Orange wrinkled his nose. Now was not the time for argument. Grabbing their backpack, he started walking. "Look, with our powers we can also get ready in a few minutes and be back before anyone misses us, okay? We're technically on a fact-finding mission, but we're also on vacation. Let's just meet up in half an hour, alright?"
Indigo rolled his eyes, then nodded. "Alright. Sorry for being such a nag. You know I just love raising questions."
Orange nodded, then smiled. "And that's why you're not the part of us we send out if we need to get a date."
Indigo smiled. "Okay, I deserved that one."
The two parted ways, not noticing the eyes that were following them.
posted
Red stalked through the desert region. He didn't sweat because he'd stayed in his light form.
He still didn't really understand how each of his seven selves could turn to flesh and blood while separated, but he didn't question it anymore.
He liked the desert - not many people came here because of the heat. That was good because he disliked crowds.
It took him all of ten minutes to cross through. No point in wasting time. He went off to find the others.
As he exited the desert, he didn't notice the figure that was taking down notes.
*************************************************
"Come on, I need a wingman!" Yellow pleaded as Purple tried to take a picture.
"For the last time, I'm not in the mood now," Purple said. "I don't really feel like talking. Besides, didn't our afternoon with Zoe satisfy you?"
"Why stop at that, right?"
Purple shook his head. Yellow could be so excessive sometimes. His other self looked on forlornly as the brunette he'd been eyeing walked on with her five best friends. All six were wearing jogging outfits that left little to the imagination.
"Damn, she sure can fill out a pair of shorts. And you let THAT get away?" Yellow pouted.
"You could have talked to them yourself," Purple pointed out. "You know I hate talking to crowds... besides, you have confidence enough to banter with six women, don't you?"
"I was hoping we could use the twin ruse again. That would have been totally hot." Yellow shrugged, looking around. Then he paused, a glint in his eye.
Purple followed Yellow's line of sight, and saw why. A youngish man about 2, 3 years older than they was smiling at them. He was pretty fit and had on a sleeveless shirt, much like Yellow did. He was licking his lips too.
Yellow brightened and smiled back. Purple didn't - he knew where this was going, and would really rather spend the rest of the night looking around. Let Yellow have his ego boost, not that he really needed it. He knew how to take care of himself, anyway.
As the guy approached, Purple wandered off. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Yellow folding his arms to bring out his biceps and his chest. His new "friend" was drinking it all in, and had raised his shirt just enough for Yellow to see his flat belly. Yellow had caught another one.
Oh well. At least Purple would be able to concentrate now.
posted
"I love the nostalgic myself. I hope we never lose some of the things of the past"- Walt Disney
Emily had gotten the permits and proceeded down the elevator. The conversation with her father had been productive, if soaking with nostalgia. She found nothing wrong with nostalgia and thought of a famous quote as she glanced at the McKeon History Museum.
I should go inside and get the others. We have to go to the Floating Garden soon. She wandered inside the museum stopped inside the room filled with pieces from the medieval ages. Emily continued to wander until she found the gift shop. Sebastian was purchasing a key chain while Renly was looking over the jewelry replicas.
Emily walked up to Sebastian as he exited the line, "Hello, I got the permits. Do you want to head over to the Floating Garden?"
"Yes, it should be a good evening. Tell me do you know--" Sebastian was interrupted by Renly.
"I've decided not to purchase anything. The quality is not up to my standards," Renly said.
Sebastian commented, "Back home I have a new neighbor from Earth. Nice family that apparently sold all their jewelery to a merchant on Raltvee,"
Emily interjected, "My uncle always said if things get extraordinarily bad I will marry a Raltveech aristocrat--" She stopped herself mid-sentence and remembered why she came to the museum in the first place. Emily explained that they needed to go to the Floating Garden and the group of three preceded to walk vigorously to the location.
-------------------- Go with the good and you'll be like them; go with the evil and you'll be worse than them.- Portuguese Proverb
From: Illinois | Registered: Jun 2010
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posted
Angdar had been searching for his friends for a while now. He thought he had heard someone say something about meeting at the Floating Gardens, so he decided to give that place a try. Besides, itsounded nice.
He landed along the edge of a path and turned towards the north. He thought he had seen Invisible Brainiac somewhere along here as he had been flying in, but the trees were really blocking his view.
"Might as well walk a bit..." he saud to himself as he sat down and pukked some shoes out of his bag that he had been carrying around. He was lacing them up when he felt that there were people watching him.
He sighed. Maybe this whole thing had been a mistake. Maybe regular people were not ready for someone with wings again. He knew there had been members of the LMB with wings before, but, growing up as he had, he was self conscious about it.
He looke up ready to take off if there was an ugly mob waiting for him, but his eyes were instead greeted by six beautiful young ladies who were out for a jog in the gardens.
"Um...hello there," he said as he stood up.
"Are those real?" the blond with a pony tail asked looking at his wings.
He let his wings flutter a little and nidded yes, a grin vreeping onto his face.
"Are they soft?" she asked again, moving out from her friends and stepping closer to him the entire time.
"I think so. I have never felt the feathers of the birdshere on Earth, so I do not know how they would compare. Maybe you can let me know," he said, hating himself the moment the words came out of his mouth. There is no way she is going to fall for a line like that.
She grinned and walked up to him and gently touched his right wing. He had left them partially out and not brought them in full to his body yet, and was glad he hadn't.
His wing reacted a little involuntarily, and fluttered. The girl giggled a little and then placed her hand on his wing again. "They are really soft."
Her friends were talking amongst themselves, and finally told her that they would just meet up wiwth her a little later.
Angdar held back a blush. He had never had a female really show any interest in him, nor had he ever really allowed himself to think of ever having a girlfriend, let alone go on a date. The Wingmen would have taken even more of his time than the training had. Yet here he was, his heartbeat rising just a bit at the thought of a beautiful blond taking notice of him, and not being repulsed by his natural wings.
He took a deep breath and smiled at her. "My name is Angdar."
"Mine is Jillyian," she said, suddenly blushing a little. "I'm sorry if I was too forward in asking to...
"That;;s alright," Angdar said, "where I am from, most people would find them repulsive."
She got an incredibly weird look on her face. "Why? They're amazing...and you're so..."
"You want to go for a flight?"
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah," he said as he took his belt off.
"Woah there..."
"No! Please, just put this on. IT will help me carry you."
She loked at him suspiciously for a moment, but then realized that she was being passed by other visitors to the gardens every minute. Plus, the belt made her feel like she was satonding on her toes. That was when she realized that she wasn't even standing on her toes, but when he touched her hand, she was actually floating.
"How..." she gasped.
Nth metal. Alone you would feel light as a feather...but when touching the right someone, it will let you fly," he said as he let the wind lift them off the ground and into the air.
She gasped again, but felt pure excitement rush through her.
He smoiled annd flapped his wings just a little to get them moving, and let the air surrents do most of the work for him.
-----------------
A little hile later, he found her friends for her, and they headed in their direction. As he began his first circle before coming in for a gentle landing, she flipped herself into his arms and gave him a kiss.
He smiled and wrapped his arms around her and drew his wings around her as they landed.
He gently opened his wings and she finally let go of him and gave him his belt back. She grabbbed a brochure from the information stand and grabbed a pen and jotted her name and number down on it. "Call me."
"I will, but my friends and I may be leaving soon. I will call you soon though, as we will be on Earth for a while."
She nodded, and looked a little dejected.
"I want to call you he said, itwas very noce talking with you, and I want to see you again."
She smiled and giggled.
"Maybe you could come to Legion World someday."
"You're from Legion World," she said with her eyes going wide, "do you know any of the LMB?"
Angdar felt slightly odd saying this, but it was the truth, evenif he had only just been accepted on a probationary basis. "I'm in the LMB," he said with a wink and took off with a gust of wind that he had felt coming.
Angdar let a huge smile take over his face as he flew away. Now to find the others, I think I saw IB this way...
Registered: Sep 2011
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posted
Checking his watch, Green decided it was time to find the others.
He closed his eyes - not out of necessity, but it helped - and "sent" a message across the mindlink his seven selves shared.
He didn't understand it, but he knew they could mildly sense each other within a certain range. With it, they could find each other and have a vague idea of what was happening to each other.
Thankfully, the link didn't transmit the actual thoughts or sensations, not in a way that could be felt. For example, when Orange was running through the jungle, Green knew he was exerting himself, but he didn't feel the actual shortness of breath.
He also messaged those of his companions whose numbers he had. As of now, it was just Emily. "I should trade digits with Angdar, Renly and Sebastian," Green mused.
Looking up, he saw the sun begin to set. Almost time for the show to begin.
He "sent" again, and all seven of him rose up into the air to enjoy the view. As the sun fell, its soft glow caught the entire park.
"Needs a touch, though." Playing with the light, IB's selves cast seven glows around different sections of the park, much like an aurora.
posted
The group of three came to a fork in the road. They looked at the road, and then at each other. The group was evenly divided on which way they should travel. The signpost had collapsed from a storm a couple of days ago.
"Well, Emily, do you think we should go on the straight path?" Sebastian asked.
"The one that goes into mountainous terrain? No thank you, lad. We need to find Invisible Brainiac. From what I know of him, he would choose the path to the left," Renly commented.
Emily said, "I think we should take the path to the right. Hold on I got a message from Invisible Brainiac."
"He says he will come to guide us--" Emily began.
"Where did he say he is?" Sebastian asked, surprised. As he said that the aurora spread over them and he paused in awe. It is very pretty.
The lights then converged on the spot, so brilliant was the light that Sebastian and Emily needed to shield their eyes from the light. Renly just stood and watched as Invisible Brainiac reincorporated into one entity.
-------------------- Go with the good and you'll be like them; go with the evil and you'll be worse than them.- Portuguese Proverb
From: Illinois | Registered: Jun 2010
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posted
There's just something about a good day ending. When the sun goes to bed and the moon comes out to smile, you don't feel exhausted.
You may feel tired, but never exhausted. No, you go off to slumber with a smile on your face.
Of course, for some people, the night just brings with it a renewed zest to explore the world.
So it was that Invisible Brainiac faced his traveling companions - nay, his friends - excitedly.
"You guys good with the Floating Garden?" he asked. "Angdar and I both had awesome times," he added with a wink. Angdar winked back, the two young men sharing big grins, like schoolboys who'd just gotten away with something.
"I think we are now, after your impressive light show," said Renly.
"Yes, it was marevelous," Emily said. "I like how you cycled through the seven colors with such regularity."
"I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you caught that, Emily. You always were an astute one," IB grinned.
Sebastian walked up to IB. "Thank you for your invitation as well," he said with genuine gratitude. "This place is quite good for the soul."
"It is at that," Angdar said with a big smile. "And not just for the soul..."
Sebastian didn't seem to notice the hint of mischief and excitement in Angdar's voice. "No, for the mind and body as well. I feel relaxed just being here. Oh, by the way, I purchased a phone today. Would you like to trade numbers?"
IB suppressed a grin at Sebastian's reference to the Gardens being good for the body. "If only he knew," IB thought. "Sure, I'd been meaning to ask all of you for your digits, so we can get separated without getting lost."
As Emily inputted their numbers into her own phone, she frowned at the time. "The night is still early, although I fear we don't have more than an hour or two to spend in the Floating Garden," she said. "The fireworks should be starting soon."
"And what shall we do after those are over," Renly asked.
"Well, if you're up for ghost hunting, I know just the place," IB answered with a grin.
Sebastian's ears perked up at that. "Ghosts?"
IB lowered his voice, in what was meant to be a spooky whisper. "Yes, they say the old railway tunnel was once the home of..."
The five walked merrily along, trading ghost stories and making plans for their evening in Fawcett City.
posted
If there was one thing Renly Fox knew, it was how to read people. It had been extremely helpful during his long 'career', and it also made him very good at interacting with people. From the look shared between Angdar and Invisible Brainiac, he could guess what had happened in the Floating Gardens.
"There's nothing quite like young love, isn't there my young friends?" he began and from the discomfort felt by most of them (except for Invisible Brainaic just smiled and nodded), he found it too amusing not to continue. "Or really, young lust," he said devilishly. "Soft lips, that hot heat between two naked bodies...when you're a teenager, you feel it has to be love."
"And when you're your age?" said Sebastian.
"You're glad to feel it but only quickly. Because for every moment it feels good, usually there are several moments down the road where it feels quite the opposite."
"I thought we were talking about ghosts," said Emily, changing the subject.
"Ah, yes. I knew a ghost once and he was a great friend. Though if he could touch me, I'm sure I'd have been slain. Gharlack the Grave-Filler was his name."
"The pirate?" said Sebastian, curious. "Gharlack was a Khundish pirate that died about 20 years ago."
"22," said Renly, "and I should know. I did the dirty deed. But not because he was a pirate, of course--that would be quite hypocritcal. Rather, he pressed his luck a bit too far and went after one of his own. It's agaisnt the code, you see. Unfortunately, he felt the need to haunt me for a few years."
Invisible Brainiac still couldn't tell if Renly was telling an actual story or just messing around. "How did you get rid of him?" asked IB.
"My ship was blown apart and I had to get a new one. I think he had some connection to it. I wonder if a surviving piece of scrap-iron still houses his ghost? It would be rather amusing if it was lodged at the bottom of some forest in a planet and now the sentients there thought the whole forest was haunted."
Angdar smiled. He found Renly amusing even if he still had no clue why he was with them.
"So were you a lawman, then?" said Sebastian. "Hunting down pirates?" By now, Emily had guessed what Renly really was but hadn't told Sebastian.
"Sorry lad, but its quite the opposite. I'm afraid I was a bit more like Gharlack than any lawman. Though pirate is such a dreadful word. Buccanneer, however..."
Sebastian stopped walking for a moment. "You were a pirate."
Renly smiled that wicked, wolfish grin. "The Red Pirate they call me. Though these days, I'm on much friendlier terms with the science police. In the UP at least..." he laughed.
They started walking again and no one said anything.
"Tell me, Angdar and leave out no detail! Was she blonde? Brunette? Redhead? Green-haired? One of those spike headed Culzinthians?"
Invisible Brainiac laughed as the others groaned and they kept walking.
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