HLFIC-L Gathering Wednesday (Part 2 of 3) =========================================================================== Date: Wed, 20 Mar 1996 22:41:29 From: Carol Ann Liddiard Subject: WAR: I want to break free Date: 3/20/96 Time: 9:30 a.m. Place: North Carolina Leighann sat at one of the school computers looking at her messages. She was 5'4" in height, 175 pounds(still a little pudgy), blue eyes, had glasses with multicolored frames, and wearing all black. *I look like a character right out of "Forever Knight"* she mused. Leighann loved Joe Dawson, Methos (Adam Pierson), Connor MacLeod, and Duncan MacLeod. She liked Richie Ryan too. She was a flagwaver for Joe, Connor, Duncan, and Adam. But when it came down to choosing a faction, she chose the Methos faction. So far, some of the Methos faction was already in Seacouver, and Lizbet was out of danger, for now. She needed to be there. But. . . *I have two tests this week and also I have to help the Methos faction? Plus, I've never done anything like this before.* "Jolly good fun." Leighann muttered under her breath. She thought about it a bit and decided to go help the Methos faction and keep her grades up too. She was always good under pressure. *You only live once* she thought *Besides, I crave adventure right now.* She made a email message to Carol Ann, Jen, and Deb that she was heading over to Seacouver. Only one thing left to do. She called up Carol Ann's sister, Jeri, for a airplane ticket. "Delta Airlines. How may I help you?" "Is this Jeri, Carol Ann's sister?" said Leighann in a gruff voice. "Yes, who is this?" "Leighann or klcombs. Leighann heard muffled on Jeri's end "Carol Ann sent you." "Yeah. Look, I just need a airplane ticket." "It'll cost you $950," said Jeri. "Only if you want the pictures of you and the wombats posted on my home page. Over 200 hits a day!" "Pick up your ticket at the counter," grumbled Jeri. Leighann said goodbye and promptly hung up the phone. "HehHehHeh." laughed Leighann, a laugh almost identical to the one of Connor MacLeod Leighann packed her large suitcase and her bookbag full of knicknacks. *I feel like Ace* she thought, referring to the 7th Doctor's companion, Ace, from the scifi show "Doctor Who" *Or MacGyver.* "Well, off to the airport" said Leighann grabbing her stuff and getting a cab. ************* Leighann got to the airport by cab, and found her ticket waiting. She had to go through customs and other things so she could board the flight. Finally, she got on her flight, buckeled in, and brought out of her purse, a Inspector Thomas & Charlotte Pitt novel called "Resurrection Row" *Oh, Boy! You sure do pick some good books.* she thought sarcasticly(sp) *Resurrection. Immortals. Adam. . .no. . Methos. Connor MacLeod. Duncan. Richie. Joe. K-immies.* Muttering softly so no one could hear her, Leighann said "The *Game* is afoot, my dear Adam. The GAME is afoot!" Carol Ann grinnyp@aros.net | grinnyp@xmission.com | GrinnyP@aol.com Co-Chief Flagwaver, Methos Publisher, "Richie Forever" and "The Methos Chronicles" * HeLLLion Extraordinaire * PSEB * List-Goddess, PWFC * http://www.aros.net/~grinnyp =========================================================================== Date: Thu, 21 Mar 1996 01:09:22 From: Doc Anvil Subject: WAR: We're everywhere Title: We're everywhere Author: Randy Ferrance When: Just after I want to be free Where: Seacouver The Delta airlines reservation clerk sat back. "I need a Pepsi. YOu want anything?" she asked the woman at the next computer. "No thanks." She'd been in a weird mood all night. But then, trying to find plausible excuses to hand out so many free airline tickets would take its toll on just about anyone. The first clerk headed for the break room, and her locker. She opened it, and took out the Pepsi can inside. The room was empty, so she turned it to look at its top, and gave her report..... ********** The small brown fuzzy thing ran in and handed Anvil the flash note. It was late at night, and since things were a little quieter at the moment, his renal syllabus was open on his lap. Carbonic Anhydrase diuretics do *what* to Calcium excretion? He looked at the and uttered a quick, "Damn." "What, sir?" Doreen asked. "The Methos faction is getting another. Don't those people have enough already?" If he worried about such things, he have reflected longer on the fact that the Amanda contingent only had six. And that was if they counted him. Which they did. But then, size wasn't important. Not as long as you used that tongue correctly... "Leighann," he said. "Damn. I was hoping she'd change her mind. I tried to keep her too busy to join in." "What?" "We're working on a piece of fanfic together, RPG'ing it on my startrek game to get the rough draft, then we'll edit it." "Oh." He crumpled the flash and then tossed it, with the others, onto the floor. The ferrets would be along eventually to clean up... just in case you though WE WEREN'T WATCHING!!!!! HEHEHEHHEHE think again. anvil =========================================================================== Date: Wed, 27 Mar 1996 16:08:00 From: Virginia Foster Subject: WAR: Adventures in New York, Part 2 Title: Adventures in New York, Part 2 When: Wesnesday 3/20, approx 2:00pm (after Adventures in New York, Part 1) By: Virginia Foster and Laura Michaels Virginia looked at her watch and did some time conversions. "If it's 2:00pm here, then it should be about 11:00am in Seacouver. Right?" Connor nodded as he continued reading the police report on the break-in. At the same time he was muttering comments about new security systems. "Yikes!" Virginia yelped. "I forgot about Mary's christening today. Now what time was that? What if I call and accidently get Laura in the middle of the service? I suppose I could go look up the time, but my laptop is still in the car." At Virginia's yelp, Connor had looked up and sat watching her pace back and forth across the floor of his office. Finally he stood up and intercepted her in the middle of the room. "Virginia, please calm down. You are not going to be able to reach anyone until later today. While I don't know the mother, I can't imagine she would appreciate your friend's cell phone beeping in the middle of the service. I can assure you that Duncan wouldn't like it. Let's find some dinner, I'll show you around New York, and you can call her later. Besides, didn't you mention sending someone else an email?" "Darci. You're right, I do need to get in touch with her, but what about this other stuff?" Virginia started to protest that he seemed to be taking this war too lightly, when he bent and kissed her on the forehead to quiet her. It worked, it usually did. When she had calmed down, she headed out to the car to get her laptop computer. "Darn him" she muttered. "I hate it when he's right." She had to wait to call Laura, but at least she could email Darci. Back in Connor's apartment, in the trophy room, she hooked up the laptop and brought up the email software. ------------------------------------------------------- From: VFoster042@aol.com To: pandora@nehalem.rain.com Subject: War in Seacouver Hey Darci! How'ya doing? How's the job going? I'm on an extended vacation right now and loving it. Well almost. Remember last week when I mentioned being stuck in Atlanta with a friend? And some problems in Seacouver? Well, Connor and I are currently in New York and will be flying to Seacouver Thursday. Why don't you drive up and meet us there? We can certainly use the help. Polly, another friend, will be flying in on Thursday morning. When you arrive in Seacouver, go to the Lambert Inn. There will be rooms reserved under the name C MacLeod. Ask at the desk for any messages. Laura Michaels has been helping us and I'll have her leave a message for you with the flight information. That is if you don't mind meting Connor and myself at the airport. :-) Gotta go. Connor promised to show me some of New York and we have to find some dinner. Later, Virginia VFoster042@aol.com ----------------------------------- She reread the message and hit the send key. "That will give us four people." she thought "I just hope we don't get run over by the larger factions." ********** When: Later that evening. approx 10:00pm Where: Connor's apartment (above Nash Antiques) As Connor and Virginia entered the apartment, Virginia was laughing at a story Connor had been telling. "Did you really call her a bloated warthog?" she gasped. Connor had a faraway look, like he was having a flashback. But it didn't last long, and then he answered her question. "I seem to remember calling her that. Lord, the woman was as ugly and to make it worse was all over me all evening. It seemed to be a way to get away. heh, heh, heh. Remember I was also drunk at the time. I don't usually go around calling women 'bloated warthogs'." Virginia sighed, "Well, I need to call Laura and gave her the flight information so Darci can pick us up tomorrow. Are you sure you want to do this?" "What? Back out now and have you badger me about it for the next century? (author note: no I am *not* immortal here, it's just an expression) I don't think so. Besides, it will give me a chance to visit Duncan." "By the way, Connor, do you happen to have the area code for Seacouver? Laura didn't leave it. I guess she figured I could look it up, but tonight I'm too tired." Connor was sitting on the sofa in the middle of the room and was not about to get up. He motioned towards the table where the phone sat. "Look in the address book there under Duncan's name. The area code should be there." Virginia found the book and the area code. She picked up the phone dialed the number. After several rings, Laura answered. Laura: "Hello?" Virginia: "Hi Laura,it's Virginia." Laura: "Virginia! Where have you been? Why are you and Connor in New York? I was getting worried." Virginia: "Connor had to come back here for a while. There was a break-in at the store. We had to be sure there was nothing really vital missing." Laura: "Well?" Virginia: "We're in luck. More or less. Of the items missing, nothing that's related to the situation. I'm glad. I was really worried that Horton had finally tracked down Connor. Odd though, there was a sword listed as missing, but Connor says it is not one of the more valuable pieces." Laura: "So are the two of you coming? We could use all the help we can get." Virginia: "I think I've got 'Ole Lancelot' talked into it" At that Connor shot her a look. "We are leaving in the morning, We should arrive in Seacouver at Noon. It's Delta flight number 042. Darci is supposed to meet us. I sent her email earlier today." Laura: "Wait up. Darci? Who is that?" Virginia: "I'm sorry. Didn't I mentioned her earlier? Darci is a Programmer Consultant friend of mine. Last week I told her about the problems and she offered to drive up from her place in Portland. I emailed her today. Hopefully she'll get the mail tonight and meet us tomorrow." Laura: "Polly is arriving on an earlier flight. I'll pick her up and we can all meet at the Lambert Inn. I reserved us a room." Virginia: "That sounds great, but you may want to make that several rooms. Several rooms and a suite. Oh and when you make the reservations, please leave a message with the our flight info for Darci Chapman. She will be expecting it when she checks in" Laura: "Okay, but I hope Connor is going to cover the bill." Virginia: "Don't worry about it. He will, whether he knows it or not! We'll see you tomorrow. G'Night." Laura: "I'll come by the Inn to see you. Night." Virginia hung up the phone and looked at Connor. "That's all setup. I don't know about you, but I am exhausted and I never sleep on planes. Point me to the guest room so I can collapse until time to leave in the morning." (Author note: what did you expect? this is a PG war afterall ) ---------------------------------------------------- Virginia Foster Co-Chief for Connor for the HL Gathering. vfoster@mindspring.com Flag Waver for Connor MacLeod / Christopher Lambert "Same clan, different vintage" / "Dare to Dream" http://www.mindspring.com/~vfoster/va.html =========================================================================== Date: Tue, 26 Mar 1996 16:27:04 From: Lizbet Ann Subject: WAR: Charge of the MFW Brigade--Part Deux War: Charge of the MFW Brigade (Part 2) Wendesday, March 20 About noon Sactuary After Blazing Saddles "Come on," Wombat Kathleen lead Lizbet to a small room. She pointed to a chair. "Sit there and I'll tie up your ankles and hands." Lizbet put said hands behind her back. "Uh, why?" Patiently, Kathleen explained, "Because, you have to look kidnapped then. Remember, that weird Hunter in The Darkness tied Tessa up. It's how things are done in this universe." "Well, OK." Lizbet sat down on the chair and let herself be tied up. (Blast it! Am I ever going to sit on a chair where my feet actually have contact with the floor?!?!?) ******** Meanwhile... "The note said that you had to be alone," Charlyne reminded Methos. "We'll wait here for you, with the horses and beagles," Heidi added. "Go on, go get Lizbet." Methos approached the large house with a certain amount of trepitation. Why, exactly, was he doing this again? The last coherent thought he had had was to get completely wasted in Athens. From that point on he had been dragged onto airplanes, off of airplanes, into hotels, out of hotels, up and down the outside *walls* of hotels, for no other reason he could see than a bunch of short women (with an occasional taller one). Right. This one knew where *the* missing Methos Chronicle was. And he had to rescue her. Sword drawn, he prowled through the house, alert for the faintest sound. It took him an hour to realize that the house was almost completely empty. It wasn't until he reached a small back room that he found a young girl with long hair tied to a chair. ~It has to be her. She's short.~ Stowing his sword in his katana space, Methos knelt behind her and started untieing her hands. Lizbet twisted around in her chair. "Methos!" she cried. "In the flesh. Ooo, bad idea," he scolded himself when he saw the lacivious look in her eyes. "How do I get into these things? Saving people, being dragged over two continents. It was better when I was just a grad student." In another moment, however, he began to rethink his position. Freed, Lizbet flung her arms around his neck and kissed him. On the lips. For a long, long time. "Well." Lizbet grinned at him. "Five thousand years old, and that's all you can think to say?" Grinning back, Methos bowed. "Shall we try... let's get our butts in gear before your kidnappers come back?" "Sounds good to me." Methos drew his sword again. Wrapping his arm around her body, he told her, "Stay behind me." Quietly, they crept through the halls of Sanctuary. Lizbet was increadibly quiet, an excellent sneaking partner. Or so Methos thought until he turned around and saw that she wasn't there. ******** "Wait! Wait! What are you doing?" Lizbet shrieked. Hands tied behind her back, feet tied to the legs of the chair again, Lizbet was completely helpless to stop them when they picked her up--chair and all--and loaded her into the back of a van. "Wait, I've just got rescued! You can't--mmhphfosik." A gag was stuffed into her mouth, cutting off all speech. ~Great. Just my luck. I'm kidnapped again!~ ******** A small, shadow-like furry figure snuck into the back of the van with the thrice-kidnapped MFW. ~A wombat's work is never done...~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lizbetann@aol.com, Warmistress and perpetual victim =========================================================================== Date: Wed, 20 Mar 1996 12:45:00 From: Tay & CA Nelson Subject: WAR: Between the Covers, Under the Shelf Wednesday March 20 Seacouver 12.32pm by Taylor Nelson I had spent a good deal of the night helping Benny's friend Mikey set up the trap he had planned for Kenny. I had to admit it looked like something Wile E. Coyote would have thought up. I guess there is something to be said for those good old cartoons! After that it was close to one am and so I made my way back to the hotel and got some shut eye. And, like the weirdo I am, I was up again by seven am. I had a quick bite and a shower and then headed off for a good VW pick-n-pull I heard about. The place was real cool, I even found an old Hazet brand tool kit that fits in the spare tire. A bit of paint and some hunting for the tools and it'll look great on the Bug!! Anyway, I was now sitting in the backroom of 'The Plain Brown Wrapper' waiting for Kenny to come in at twelve forty-five. Great, another twenty minutes or so and I can go back to being a normal science fiction author in Sunnyvale, California. Ed and Bob entered 'The Plain Brown Wrapper' and immedately began browsing. "Hey, Bob, take a look at this one. Blonde hair, kazongas out to Poughkeepsie....man, what I wouldn't give for a night with her!" said Ed. "Yeah, check out this little cutie." "Mmhmm!" "Hey, what time is it?" "Uh," Ed looked at his watch, "about twelve forty." "Okay." I looked down at my watch. Twelve forty-two. The butterflies in my stomach were the least of my worries, it was the birds eating the butterflies that I was worried about! Almost there. I looked through the small peep hole, hey what porn shop *didn't* have one, and saw only two other guys in the store. Part of me willed them away and another part of me knew that it was all rigged to look like an accident and so if they were there, big deal! I tried to take a deep breath and go back to the sandwich I was eating. Bob and Ed moved over to the rack near the small, and ever so messy, viewing rooms. They both picked up a magazine and flipped through them. Mikey was in the back accepting a new shipment while Taylor continued with his sandwich, he didn't really want to watch when this happened. Outside, a small blue Nissan Sentra pulled up next to the Honda Prelude belonging to Ed. Carol Ann Raines checked the item inside her purse. This was it. She was going to confront them both at once and finally get all her anger out. She opened the door and heard the most terrible crash come from inside 'The Plain Brown Wrapper.' She ran around her car and into the store. What she saw was nothing like she expected. I ran out of the small room I was in. Mikey came out of the back room in a rush. We looked down at the bookcase and saw two pairs of hands from underneath. I looked up and saw a rather attractive woman, about five-four, short brownish-red hair, beautiful soft skin, with an abject look of horror on her face. "Oh my god, I got the wrong people," I said under my breath. The woman looked up and made eye contact with me. "You," she said. I turned and began running for the back door. I found myself in an alleyway. I looked to the left and saw the woman. I began running for my car. "No, wait," she called, but I was in too much fear to stop. Kenny came walking around the corner, calm on the outside, but a tad nervous on the inside. Eh, he could take care of this Benny, no problem! He got closer to 'The Plain Brown Wrapper' and swore he could hear sirens. He turned around to see an ambulance and fire truck tearing up the street. 'What the hell is going on?' he wondered. When he saw that they stopped in front of his destination, he made a smart decision and turned the other way. What would they think of someone who looked like he was ten but was really 800, carrying a sword, going into a porno shop? As he began walking the other way he saw a woman standing at the end of an alley holding a pistol at someone, he guessed, further in the alley. He slowed, making sure not to get too close to this lady, and heard a set of tires screeching to a halt. This was it! 'Jeez, is the whole world coming apart?' he thought and ran past the lady. If Benny wanted him that bad, he'd find him. I sat there in my car staring at this woman at the end of the alley. She was holding a gun on me. Oh shit, what if she was an undercover cop sent here by Benny or Mikey or someone else! My day had just gone terribly wrong!! I put the car in park and stepped out slowly. "Really, I can explain. It wasn't them I was going after." She walked forward and put her gun down, "It's okay. I wanted to thank you." "Thank me?!?" I was more than a bit shocked to say the least. "Yes, from saving me from years in prison. Those two guys were my ex-husband and ex-boyfriend who screwed me over so bad that I was about to go in there and kill them myself." "Oh." The sounds of more sirens filled the air. "Come on, get in. I don't think we should just be hanging around here." A few blocks away I found a park to stop at. "I think we're okay now. My name's Taylor." "Hi, I'm Carol Ann." "Hi. Oh, that was not at all like I expected." "What exactly did you expect?" I explained to her as best I could the past couple days. "Oh my." "Yeah, that's what I said." I reached into the back to get my cassette case. I turned around when just my hand couldn't find it. "What?!" The tapes were spilled all over the floor. "What?" "Someone broke into my car and took the rare Foo Fighters CD I picked up at a used CD store Monday. I saw this cover that looked like some sort of weird tatoo. It was some styled 'W' inside a pair of circles. I just thought it looked cool, so I got it. But who would break into my car just to get that?" =========================================================================== Date: Mon, 25 Mar 1996 16:52:23 From: LC Krakowka Subject: WAR: Back to the Barn--Off to the Church Title: Back to the Barn--off to the Church Author: Lisa Krakowka Time: Afternoon--1pm or so. Place: Outside of where Lizbet was being held [this comes after lizbet's rescue scene--as i presently understand things, she is not with Adam...for some mysterious reason] Heidi and Lisa were reclining against a tree sipping the last of their beers when the horses looked up suddenly. In the distance, they could see Adam walking toward them...alone. Heidi jumped to her feet while Lisa stashed the empties in her saddle bag. No sense in alerting him to their transgression. "Charlyne, do you have a cell phone?" Heidi asked. The blonde nodded, tossing her bottle to Lisa and wiping the last dregs of beer from her chin. "Call a cab." Heidi whooped and slapped Adam's horse on the rear with the flat of her hand. The large bay bolted off, galloping straight past Adam. Lisa suppressed a chuckle as she watched him make an attempt to stop the horse and wind up on his back for the trouble. Charlyne dialed the phone. "Yes, I'd like a cab at the corner of Ocean and 143rd street please." It took a few minutes for Adam to arrive under the tree and during that time Lisa and Heidi checked girths and made ready to ride. "My horse just went running for the roses," Adam moaned. Lisa nodded, knitting a grave frown to cover her amusement. "Something spooked her." The cab pulled up and Charlyne hustled inside, waving as it pulled away. "Great! Now how am I supposed to get back?" Adam threw up his hands. "You'll have to catch a ride with Heidi," Lisa swung up into the saddle. "Where's Lizbet, by the way?" "Long story," he shrugged. "Can't you just whistle me up another horse?" "Sorry...I only get to use the whistle clause in emergencies," she smiled down at him. Adam turned to Heidi. "Okay, I'll drive then." "No, I don't think you will," Heidi swung up and offered him a hand, not about to miss this opportunity. Adam muttered something about just who was the military leader in the bunch and clambered up behind her. "Are we going to yell Candygram again?" He asked. "That's the battle cry," Lisa said. "When we sound retreat we say 'god forbid'." "Of course." He rolled his eyes. "Have you ever jumped a parked car?" Heidi asked. "God forbid." She flashed a wild grin Lisa's way, who simply gave a mock bow to acquiesce the leadership role. "Hold on!" Heidi kicked her horse into a canter and steered for a nearby VW. Adam wrapped one arm around her waist tightly and used the other to cover his eyes. The ride back to the hotel wasn't nearly as harrowing as the gallop to save Lizbet. In fact, once Heidi had her fun, it became quite leisurely, though she made sure to keep things wild enough to require Adam's tight grip on her waist. They arrived to find Carol Ann herding the PSGs out the front door and into a series of waiting cabs. "We'll meet you at the church?" she asked. Lisa nodded and slid to the ground. She slapped the horse affectionately on the neck and he and Heidi's black retreated to wait for their next call to arms. "We'll make sure we get there before the festivities," Lisa said. "Did Charlyne make it back okay? What about Lizbet? Any news?" Carol Ann nodded vaguely and climbed into the last cab, leaving them standing on the curb. "I have to go buy some appropriate clothes," Lisa said. "I'll meet you guys back here in a few minutes." Adam stood, shaking his head slowly as she walked of toward the nearby shopping district. These young women were forever going shopping. "Come on," Heidi looped her arm though his. "We have to get changed." "Are we bringing the dogs along?" Heidi nodded. "They'll stay where I tell them to." About twenty minutes later, they held a cab while Lisa dashed up the street wearing a newly purchased sleeveless dress and carrying her boots. She ducked under Adam's arm and jumped in, stashing the boots in the corner. "Now you smell like a horse and a perfume counter," he said, taking a seat next to her. "Don't start that again," she groaned. On the jump seat, Deb chuckled. "Is that the present for Mary?" Heidi asked, after settling the dogs in at their feet and passing a slip of paper with the address on it to the driver. Deb nodded. "What did we get the little lass?" Adam asked. Deb pulled the top off the box and showed them a colorful wall hanging with the image of a woman wearing a moon around her neck on it. Adam pulled it out and held it up, whistling appreciatively. "Who's the lady?" Heidi asked. "Ishtar," Deb said. "She was the Babylonian goddess of the moon, storms, love, and uh....sexual union." Adam smiled an folded it back into the box. "I'm impressed." "I was looking for something that would capture your personality," Deb flush= ed. "And you did a wonderful job," he took her hand and kissed it. "Silver rattles are clich, *this* is a real gift. Later, we'll have to get together and discuss the various aspects of Ishtar, she was a fascinating lady." Deb flushed again, but grinned. "I'm particularly interested in how a moon goddess becomes associated with sexual union." "Now *that's* a good story," he winked at her. Across the cab, Lisa smirked and wagged her eyebrows at Deb from behind the book she was reading. "And what are you reading, my Lady of the Mysterious Whistle?" Adam turned to her, having caught the exchange. Lisa held up the book, a leather bound copy of L'Morte D' Arthur. "I found it in a shop on my way back to the hotel, that's why I was late." Adam took it and thumbed through a few pages. "You're into the Romances?" She nodded. "When I'm not charging off to rescue people I'm an Arthurian hobbyist." "Really? Remind me to tell you the *real* story sometime," he handed the book back with a smile. "And I suppose you were there? Which one were you, Lancelot?" Adam snorted. "Hardly!" -- LC Krakowka/hck1@cornell.edu "I came for the food." -Duncan MacLeod MFW Cavalry: We're tougher than we look =========================================================================== Date: Wed, 20 Mar 1996 16:04:31 From: Sean A.Simpson Subject: WAR: A FW Comes' a-knockin... Title: A FW Comes a-knockin... Author: Sean A. Simpson Time: Early Afternoon, Wednesday Place: The loft "Ok, we have our plans settled for the Christening party, right?" Duncan asked the faction, who, as a group, responded in the affirmative, with the exception of Sean, who was on the phone. After a brief interlude of silence, the sound of the receiver being cradled echoed through the loft, or so it sounded to Sean. "That was Sue. She said she heard from something brown and furry that we might need her help up here in Seacouver, so she called here to see what we had to say." "And?" several members of the faction asked. "Well, she'll be getting in tonight, after the Christening. I told her to bring lots of Pepsi and to make sure that she had something stored in her katana space. In the meantime, anyone up for Chinese for lunch?" After the pizza at Joe's the previous day, most of the faction was ready for a change of pace. In the background, a brown, furry, tailless creature scrambled off to report to Sanctuary. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Sean A. Simpson -- Trekkie, X-Phile, Highlander, etc. stsas02@moravian.edu http://www.moravian.edu/people/students/stsas02 Rogue FW for Duncan and Methos Head DFW for the first Highlander Gathering bearing a @}-`--,--- and a /| O====[]=====================-- \| "rathlaHebj wa' neH" (There can be only one -- Klingon) "We're Starfleet officers. 'Weird' is part of the job." --- Capt. Janeway =========================================================================== Date: Sat, 23 Mar 1996 10:29:45 From: Tay & CA Nelson Subject: WAR: Beware of Geeks Bearing Gifts Wednesday March 20th Seacouver 1.12pm by Taylor Nelson Benny Carbassa sat in front of his computer idly flipping through the main web page of his favorite TV show distributed by Rysher Entertainment. 'Where is that guy?' he thought. Surely by now Kenny was a slowly healing mess of flesh and bone and Jimmy had plenty of time to get the third copy of the Watchers CD-ROM out of Taylor's car. Jimmy brought the Cadillac to a stop outside Benny's place. As he got out he paused as a man and woman in trenchcoats walked by. "Mulder, are you sure we're in the right place?" "Of course I am, Scully. I saw it with my own eyes, swords and lightning and..." Scully patted him on the shoulder, "Sure, Mulder. I'm sure that Darren Peter Oswald just moved out here and took up fencing." "Cut!" a voice called from behind him. Jimmy turned around to see a whole production crew led by some guy who looked like a forty year old surfer. 'My godfather told me there'd be days like this,' he thought as he ran up the steps and into the building. "Here you go, boss," Jimmy said huffing and puffing as he handed Benny the CD-ROM. "Finnally! What took you so long?" Jimmy paused for a moment. Would he *really* believe what happened outside? "Nevermind. Now I have everything the Watchers know about us. Ha-ha, now I have the upper hand!!" he said as he put it into the drive. His expression crashed like an Intel-based PC when a screen came up showing the Foo Fighters live in London doing a rendition of their hit "I'll Stick Around." Benny screamed. "Dammit, that author's sneakier than I thought!" "But boss, maybe he didn't know it was supposed to be the Watchers CD-ROM." Wednesday March 20th Connerville, Oklahoma A young girl sat transfixed to her parent's Macintosh. She had purchased what she thought was the new Foo Fighters interactive CD-ROM, but quite apparently it wasn't. Now what was she going to do with some CD-ROM about Immortals and this Quickening thing? Well, she figured, it *would* make a nice window hanging. Taylor Nelson trustno1@wco.com K'Immie Brigadeer =========================================================================== Date: Sat, 23 Mar 1996 06:11:56 From: Karen Droms Subject: WAR: Get me to the church on time! Get me to the church on time! Date: Wednesday, March 20 When: Just before 2:00 p.m. (PST) Where: In a cab on the way to the church Karen leaned back in the taxi seat and sighed. Just *how* had she come to this point? She was going to the christening of a child whose parents she had never met, and at the risk of seeing a man she once wished never to lay eyes on again. Yet here she was jumping back into the frying pan. No word from Joe in the better part of a year, and now Jimmy was asking her to help him. And she fell for it. She used her vacation time, left the cat with a neighbor, emptied out the fridge, packed, arranged to use the college's newest laptop, booked her flight, made hotel reservations, and got on the plane, all in about 18 hours. Now she was wondering if she had done the right thing, but Jimmy's message the other day was so..... .....It had been a long day at work. Karen had been volunteered for another committee ("Plagiarism?! What the hell do I know about plagiarism? I'm an instructional technologist, not a writer..."), and she had just uncovered yet another bug in the Kiosk program that the intern who had been forced on her had made. ("Gone for 3 months and I'm still cleaning up her mess. I would have been better off doing the whole thing on my own.") And still more snow was predicted for later in the week, even though spring was just around the corner. She hung up her coat, scratched the cat on her head, and saw the note from the apartment's maintenance men. They were still repairing her ceiling from when it collapsed two months ago because all the snow had caused the roof to leak. She had had a 40-square-foot hole in her bedroom ceiling for two weeks before they patched it, and now they're finally getting around to finishing the rest up. The note said they were going to paint tomorrow. "Great," she said aloud, "you couldn't have done it last week when the weather was warm enough to open windows and let the paint smell out. No, you have to wait until it starts freezing again..." Then she saw the message light on her answering machine. "Now what," she thought. After the day she had had, it just couldn't be good news. *beep* "Karen, it's Jimmy...remember me? I can't really explain much on the phone, but I think...can you come out here? To Seacouver that's is...I'm here, not in... There's something going on, something...well, bad, if you know what I mean....damn, I don't even know what I mean.... I met Joe...your Joe...at least I think he is...and he could be in trouble...I know, Joe being in trouble is why you left...I don't know why I'm calling you, what can you do? ...I just thought you should know... I wouldn't feel right if... Look, I'll be at St. Darius church in Seacouver Wednesday afternoon for a christening for...for Anne's baby, Anne's and... Meet me there...if you decide to come...but if you don't, well, I'll understand....and so will Joe. Really....he doesn't even know I'm calling you. Bring a christening gift...if you come, that is. Oh, it's a girl." *beep* Karen just stood there for a minute, trying to take it all in. Joe was in trouble and *Jimmy* thought she would help. Jimmy? He, of all people, knew what that meant to Karen. The last time she had tried to help Joe... Well, she didn't end up on the other side of the continent for nothing. She just couldn't go. She couldn't afford to anyway, a full-price ticket to Seacouver and back would cost at least $1,000. She had some money now that she was working, but four years of grad school had put a really crimp in her savings. Then she remembered that frequent flyer coupon she had. She had racked up quite a few miles when she was consulting for a firm in Chicago, and cashed them in a couple of months ago when she thought she might do a little traveling during the college's Christmas break. She never used it; the coupon must still be in her desk. She went in to her study and rifled through her desk drawer. Sure enough, there it was, and it was till good. But what were the chances of her getting a flight out of Wilkes-Barre so soon. Oh well, it couldn't hurt to check... So she fired up her AOL account, and logged on to the airline ticket program. Sure enough, there was an available flight, but it didn't leave until tomorrow afternoon. That would give her time to get everything ready she thought. *No*! She wasn't going to Seacouver and that was it. She logged off of AOL, put the coupon away and turned off the computer. Joe would just have to fend for himself this time. She swore to herself she wasn't going to be dragged into it again.... .....And yet here she was, at the church where she would most likely see Joe again. Was she ready? It didn't matter. The cab had stopped, and it was decision time. Either she got out now or asked the driver to take her back to the hotel. "That'll be $15.75 ma'am." "What? Oh, here...keep it." Karen handed the cabdriver a $20 bill and reached for the door handle. She could still change her mind and just have him take her back to the hotel. But then she heard a few notes as a guitarist warmed up, and she knew she would never forgive herself if she turned back without at least seeing Joe after getting this far. So Karen picked up the small wrapped gift box, got out of the cab, and headed up the walkway to the church. She was apparently a little early. There were several people there, but she didn't see anyone she knew...which was a good thing. She went into the church looking for Jimmy and found a couple of women, one holding a baby, in the vestibule greeting guests. Karen figured one of them must be Anne, and she'd know where Jimmy was. But the woman holding the baby didn't fit Jimmy's description of the great Dr. Lindsay, so Karen turned to the woman on her right and said, "You must be Anne. I'm Karen, a friend of Jimmy's from back east. And before you ask, know I'm not *that* Karen. I knew Jimmy when I lived in Seacouver. It seems we also have another mutual friend, Joe Dawson." Before Anne could reply, a cry went up from the woman holding the baby. "Mary, not again!" They looked at the baby and saw green stains spreading down the front of the white christening gown. "Marie! What ever possessed you to feed strained peas to her this morning? Why couldn't you have giving her oatmeal or cream of wheat or any other normal *white* breakfast food that wouldn't *stain* as much!? Her dress is ruined! What are we going to do now?!?" Karen chuckled softly and thought, for once, timing was on her side. She handed her gift to Anne, and said, "Maybe this will help." Anne opened the small box and pulled out a small baby's dress, made of soft antique linen and hand-crocheted lace edging, with tiny yellow rosebuds embroidered around the neck. "Jimmy told me to bring a christening gift," Karen said. "I had made this for a friend who isn't due for a couple of months. I'll have plenty of time to make another." "It's beautiful!" Anne took the baby from Marie's arms and laid her gently on the pew where Mary's blanket had been put. She eased Mary out of the stained gown, and pulled on the new dress. "And it fits perfectly!" she exclaimed. "How can I ever thank you?" "I'm glad you like it. You can tell me where Jimmy is. I have a few things to talk to him about. Oh, and you might lay a clean cloth down her front--I get the feeling she isn' doen with those peas yet...." ======================================================================= Karen Droms KDroms@luzerne.edu PSEB PRO, HeLLLion http://www.luzerne.edu ======================================================================= Syndi-Con WebWeaver http://www.luzerne.edu/highland/syndicon/syndicon.html =========================================================================== Date: Fri, 22 Mar 1996 21:14:07 From: Joanne Curme Subject: WAR: Never Trust a Wombat Never Trust a Wombat Wednesday, 2:30 pm Seacouver by Joanne Curme Kenny jumped back but still got splashed by the Rolls Royce as it left Anne's house and sped toward St. Darius Church. <*($%#@$)> he thought as he looked down at his clothes. So far this week he'd been stabbed, hit by several cars, threatened by a weasel, nipped by wombats, covered in garlic, drowned, electrocuted, *thwapped*, sprinkled with holy water, shipped halfway across the US, crushed in a garbage truck, refrigerated, and had had all the fuzzy lint shaken out of his navel. But he managed a grim smile as he thought of his plans for the afternoon. It wasn't long until the christening, and boy, did he have plans for that smug Dr. Anne today. The house was empty again. All the caterers were either unloading the truck or setting up the tent in the back yard. By this time, Kenny knew the layout of the house completely. He knew the basement window was too small for him, but as he went past it he noticed some tiny tracks and hairs in the dirt. , he thought to himself as he jimmied open the back door and slipped inside. He made his way through the living room, kicking aside little Muppet Baby dolls and cloth books. There were already some presents waiting for the reception later that day; Kenny stared at a Kung Fu Barbie and Samurai Ken set, with matching fold-out 2-story dojo and working elevator, then carefully slit open the package, pulled off their heads, and put them in his pocket. Resealing the package he went upstairs. Up in Anne's room, he looked through her closets. , he thought as he shoved aside a bunch of skimpy rags labelled "Season 3." The first decent clothes he found were a pair of burgundy sweatpants that almost fit when he rolled up the cuffs, and a lavender Flashdance-type short sleeved shirt. After finishing up with a pair of Anne's white hospital sneakers (), Kenny went over to her dressing table and started looking through her jewelry. , he thought as he pocketed the diamond and lapis lazuli brooch. Kenny was just fingering a set of stunning onyx and ruby teardrop earrings when he thought he noticed a brown furry something dash across the floor and disappear under the bed. Lifting up the dust ruffle and peering into the darkness under the bed, he saw nothing except dust bunnies. He was going back to the jewelry box when *NIP* something bit him on the ankle. The earrings went flying and one rattled down the heater vent. Kenny found himself standing on the dressing table, staring down at a grinning, fuzzy, tailless critter with a little shred of burgundy cloth stuck between her front teeth. "What the *(&(%^%!???" Kenny muttered. The critter dove back under the bed and Kenny jumped off the table and ran toward the door, only to be blocked by the creature. Kenny was just reaching for a cut-glass perfume bottle to smash its fuzzy little head when, to his great surprise, the wombat (for it *was* a wombat, gentle readers) suddenly flopped over onto its back and began rolling around on the carpet, making the oddest little cooing sounds. Kenny just stared. The wombat looked up at him with her dewy little wombat eyes and nuzzled his shoes, then playfully nipped at his toes, grabbing his leg with her soft little wombat paws and rubbing her moist little wombat nose against his ankle. Tentatively, Kenny reached down and she cooed again, rubbing her little wombat jaw against his hand. Picking her up, Kenny set her on his shoulder and she began mewing little wombat noises into his ear. This is *very* odd, he thought, but I haven't had a pet in so long... Suddenly she vaulted off his shoulder and skittered to the heater vent. Pulling off the cover, she dove down head-first and returned a moment later, the errant earring in her tiny little wombat teeth. Dropping the earring in his hand, she bent her head for him to scratch behind her tiny little wombat ears. After a few more moments of cooing and mewing, she got to her feet and clambered to the top of Anne's dresser, nudging at the painting hanging there. Kenny watched as she knocked the painting off the wall, revealing a wall safe. The wombat stood on her tiny little wombat legs, showing her fuzzy little tailless wombat bottom, and began to dial the combination. Kenny started to smile. Joanne Curme jcurme@pyramid.com K'immie Brigade Leader for the first HL War =========================================================================== Date: Thu, 21 Mar 1996 13:45:58 From: Jennifer Grouling Subject: WAR: Jenny and Scott finally arrive Weds. afternoon: This time it was Jenny that was asleep in the passenger seat of the Red Ford Tempo. Scott drove along, contently humming to himself and trying to keep his eyes on the road. They were finally entering Seacouver. "Jen..." he called softly, "Jenny..." She opened her eyes slightly and smiled sleepily. There was nothing better than waking up to his deep brown eyes and enticing smile. She made some sort of happy-waking-up groan. His hand ran gently over her cheek and she blinked her eyes and smiled. She began to stretch. "We're here." He announced. "And you haven't even had to go to the bathroom in the last two hours. I'm impressed." "I've been sleeping..." she muttered. "I noticed." He laughed. "I saw signs for a hotel coming up. It called the Double Eagle Inn. We can see the street where Duncan's dojo is from there. How does that sound?" "As long as it has a nice comfortable bed to sleep in it's fine." "Who said I'm going to let you sleep?" He grinned. She smiled and raised her eyebrows, "Remember it's a PG War, dear." "That's why the scene is fading out here..." "Ahh..." Epilogue: Jenny and Scott entered the inn arm in arm. Upon their arrival, they encountered the manager of the inn, who sneezed twice. =========================================================================== Date: Thu, 28 Mar 1996 20:36:25 From: Elizabeth Ann Lewis Subject: WAR: Another Fine Mess You've Gotten Me Into (Informational note: The Fang Gang is a private AOL Forever Knight list. We have "Wars" that are far more serious than FK or HL Wars are.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Another Fine Mess You've Gotten Me Into By Elizabeth Ann Lewis Wendesday, March 20th, 1996 Joe's Bar, then Anne's House Se'ilidhe paid the cabbie and watched him zoom off. She had debated with herself for four days about what to do with the Chronicle that her friend Lizbet had sent her. Unfortunately, Lizbet wasn't answering her e-mail or attending the FK Fang Gang chats, a fact that alarmed Se'ilidhe to no end. Finally, she took the Chronicle out of its hiding place, called the airlines and booked a flight to Seacouver. ~It's a good thing that I've travelled so much in the Fang Gang wars,~ she thought. ~I have a ton of Virtual Frequent Flyer miles!~ The auburn-haired woman approached the door of the bar, her heart pounding. *The* bar. *Joe's* bar. The bar that looked curiously deserted and had a sign on the door. "Closed for Mary's Christening." ~Great,~ Se'ilidhe thought. ~Now I get to crash a private party looking for Joe. I'll bet that there are only about 5 people there, all close personal friends of Anne. I'll stick out like a sore thumb.~ But if she was going to find out what happened to Lizbet, she didn't have a choice. She had to find Joe. He was the only one who could give her an idea what to do with the Chronicle Lizbet had sent her. Hailing another cab, she gave directions to Anne's house. It didn't take long for the auburn-haired woman to realize that this was not a small, private party. There were dozens of people scattered all over the place. They seemed to be grouped into various factions, some glaring at the other faction members. Factions... "Oh, no," Se'ilidhe groaned. "Lizbet started a War! And she's landed me right in the middle of it!" For a moment all she wanted to do was run. Then she caught sight of Joe in the crowd, thought of her friend, screwed her courage to the sticking place, and waded into the fray. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lizbet |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ elewis@ucla.edu | METHOS!!!!! ~ Co-Warmistress for |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ the first Highlander| "Arnyd yw Ewyll hyd yw" Gathering | Passion is the will to be =========================================================================== Date: Thu, 28 Mar 1996 17:48:22 From: Toni C. Holm Subject: WAR: In Memorium Wednesday March 20th 1996 HIGHLA-L A strange quiet settled over the streets of Seacouver and the Highlander Universe. Humans and immortals, Weasels, ferrets, ravens, sharks, Tiggers, Eternal Grad Students, Pirates, newbies and "oldbies" all alike for just that moment, paused to remember and shed a tear or smile in tribute as a smiling Irish man with a Poker passed from our land that night, riding out of town on a herd of coal black cows. In Memory of Kip Giunn (With apologies, Kip, I can't really do you justice, but you always made a person feel like they ought to try...) =========================================================================== Date: Thu, 21 Mar 1996 19:19:04 From: Jimmy Murphy Subject: WAR: Over a long time ago? Says who? "Overheard at the Christening" by Jimmy Murphy 3:30pm, Christening day St. Darius Church, Seacouver The guests were arriving in groups rather than individually, or so it seemed. Donna saw the DFW contingent arrive and was rather impressed by seeing "the" Duncan MacLeod in person...or at least as much as could be seen through the cluster of women surrounding him. She had no idea just who they were, but she did know that it would be hard for Anne to get near him if the hangers-on kept..well, hanging on. One girl even faked a cramp in her leg as they got out of the car, hinting that if Duncan were to massage it, she would be just fine. Marie was holding Mary and greeting everyone in the vestibule. Everyone was alternatively pinching at Mary's smiling cheeks or looking over their shoulder, which seemed odd to Marie. Anne was also chatting with new arrivals, even those who seemed to know her but whom she had never met. Duncan was taller than most of the assembled crowd, so he spotted Anne across the room and tried to wave. One of the DFW's grabbed his hand, claiming that she needed his strong hand around her in order to navigate this growing crowd. Donna rolled her eyes. "Oh, brother..." she thought. Duncan was guided along the receiving line by his contingent, noticeably *away* from where Anne was waiting. In the crush of female DFW's, it was all Duncan could do to make an "oh-well" face at Anne. Seemed as though no one wanted to share. Jimmy was standing outside when Duncan and his entourage had arrived, but like everyone else he could not make out very much other than a tall man with a ponytail and a decidedly expensive suit. He had no idea what he could say to MacLeod, considering all that was going on, so he decided it would be best to get lost in the crowd. He ended up in the churchyard, meeting with some of the band members who were focused on a "Horton Watch". "Do you think he will show up here? I mean, if Anne's life or Mary's is in any danger...." He was assured that practically everyone in the church would be looking for Horton..one or more Hortons...and that Anne was perfectly safe. Jimmy wanted more assurance. He now had had a taste of the malevolence of James Horton...or was it Peter? No, he was the guy from "Thirtysomething". Or was he? It was causing Jimmy to wonder if anything could be done to get life back to normal. "Don't worry," Lori said, "wars don't usually last beyond two weeks." "I need to say hello to Anne and the baby," Duncan said, momentarily fazed by the sensation of a hand on his behind. "Oh, come on, Duncan...tell us more of your flashback stories. She can wait." Duncan seemed uncomfortable, then faked a left to emerge from the tangle. He smiled at Anne and said, "You look lovely. Mary is so cute." Anne smiled and lowered her chin bashfully as Duncan took her hand. "I hope you don't mind..." he said, indicating his friends. She hesitated a second, then said "Sure! What's a party without lots of friends?" Donna saw how the female DFW contingent stood spellbound by Duncan's presence, but soon they made another approach to spirit Duncan away from Anne, with whom he was getting along so well. When Duncan kissed Anne's hand, there was a sudden rush of the women toward the altar where Duncan and Anne were standing. Donna sprang into action. She took from her purse the calendar which she had wisely ordered from The Highlander Store. Stepping between the women and Duncan, Donna held up the calendar. "Here it is, ladies...hot off the presses, the new, 1997 Highlander calendar!" The women froze as if spellbound. Okay, they *were* spellbound because this new calendar featured the July shot from "Chivalry" as well as an outtake involving a blue feather. The women surged forward, a mass of grasping hands and yelps of "the hottest month of the year!". Donna waved them toward the cloak room, then tossed the calendar in. The frothing DFW women piled into the room, whereby Donna locked the door behind them. "NOW they can have some quality time together!" Donna said with a self-satisfied smirk, looking across the room to Anne and Duncan in what appeared to be an intense conversation. "I never considered your decision to leave Paris as you did to be an ending to us, y'know," Duncan said, fixing Anne with "those eyes". "I dumped alot of new things on you at once, and then when you had a crisis of your own...well, things certainly could have been different with us." "I guess it's all in the timing...and the editing." Anne noticed that Amanda and her friends had joined the crowd. "I guess I should go greet my guests." "Did I mention how beautiful you look today?" Duncan asked, resuming his tender hand-hold. "I think they can find their way in..." Anne replied, sitting on the pew offered by Duncan. "Well, you have your life with..." Anne offered, looking around to see where the DFW's had gone. "Well, you have your life, and I have mine. That does not mean that I won't always feel like you are a part of mine and Mary's lives, too. I want you to be. I don't know what my life would be like today if I had not mowed you down with my bicycle!" Duncan seemed a bit concerned over his missing friends, and rose to go search for them. Anne had to go greet Amanda, who had managed to send Duncan's male FW's and all the other males into disarray by her "eye-catching" (or was it "eye-popping"?) outfit. Anne looked at Duncan. "Yeah, I guess we will never know, will we? If things could have turned out differently." "At least not until the Eurominutes are available in December," he said with a hint of a frown. Her feat accomplished, Donna opened the door to the cloak room to release what she thought would be an angry army of Duncan worshippers. Instead, she found the women giggling and pointing, tearing out certain months and yelling dibs on July. "Thank you, oh, THANK you," one of the girls commented, shoving October's photo into her katana space. "This has been on back order with the Highlander Store for months!" Donna could only reply that she was glad to oblige. =========================================================================== Date: Sat, 23 Mar 1996 01:09:05 From: Enmare Subject: WAR: Total Radio Silence Title: Total Radio Silence By: Enmare Time: Wednesday March 20th around 3:30 pm Location: St. Darius. "Damnation," Enmare swore, finally taking off her headset. Just her luck that the one she picked out would've been a broken one. 'D' whined a little, making a mournful face. Enmare patted him on his back. The poor dog; she wouldn't have wished a poodle haircut even on a poodle, but with what hair Horton's goons had left, she had no choice in the matter. At least he looked neater. She'd also been hijacked by her catering relatives. "Ah look!" Anna May had yelled, "If it isn't Mildred." "No." "Helen May?" "No." "Mabel?" "No." "Oh, yes. Your parents decided on Tina, right?" Enmare sighed. "Close enough," deposited her packages on the table with the other gifts, and prepared for a chattering whirlstorm of relatives. Of course, it had been worth it to see her cousins, once removed: Olivia, Michelle and Rachelle. She loved small children. Now she stood in a nook near the doorway, watching the other people come in with D. Horton said that the dog could sense Immortals (just like Daniel, Enmare thought), and her job was to watch the people go by and see who was an Immie and who was not. It was virtually a trenchcoat convention in the church, and although Enmare could recognize a few, she could never be sure whether the dog barked because the person going by was Immortal, or whether the dog just didn't like him or her. She saw a glimpse of Horton, now and then, but she couldn't be sure if it was him or not, because she had no verification, because the blasted radio get-up wasn't working. While she pondered on things, Enmare noticed that the dog was straining at the leash, barking at a small, out of breath aardvark who had come up. -Message- the aardvark hissed, indicating the tape it carried in its mouth with a nod of its head. Enmare let go of D's leash, and he sprinted into the mass of people. Enmare faintly heard Russ happily call out "Daniel", which caused her to start. -Daniel was a poodle?- she thought incredulously. The aardvark got her attention again by butting her leg. Enmare took the tape from the aardvark's mouth and examined it. It was one of the tapes that she'd left McCullen woman. Mingus in fact. The aardvark butted against her leg again and hissed something about a tip. One tip later, Enmare took out her walkman (which she never went anywhere without having it in her coat pocket), and put in the tape. "Hello Enmare," Ms. McCullen's voice whispered. "This is just a friendly reminder of your debt to Horton. You think that sniffing around the christening with a dog repayed it? Not hardly. You've a long way to go still, my friend, and just so that you keep your priorities straight, we've arrainged a little motivation for you." The tape swtiched suddenly to the muffled cries of some woman for a few minutes, then back to McCullen's voice. "That was Wendy; I'm sure you've heard of her by now. We have her, and we are going to keep her. You will do as you are instructed, you will do more than just follow the letter of the law like with that little scene at the bar, or she will get hurt. How do we know you'll keep your side of the bargin? We know you. You have a small annoyance of a conscience, and that will keep you up nights, eventually destroying your life, should anything happen to her. Thank the powers that I don't have that problem." There was another chuckle. " Oh, and do bring better music next time. Ciao." Enmare clicked off the tape player and put it away slowly. =========================================================================== Date: Sun, 24 Mar 1996 18:00:00 From: Elspeth Emery Subject: WAR: Murphy Was An Optimist "In Which Elys Does a Little Redistribution of Property" by Elys Emery (before the ceremony, but after certain, ah, other provocations, but, then again, before certain, er, other odiferous mayhem) Christening day St. Darius Church, Seacouver The woman came across the carpetted vestry with daintily small steps of her pearl buttoned boots. If you blinked twice her carefully piled dark hair and cream velvet dress with its long draped skirt, lace trim and matching parasol could have come straight out of a Victorian patternbook. If there was a more impractical looking costume at the christening, the group standing by the sanctuary doors hadn't seen it. She saw Anne & Jimmy standing together, talking quietly, by the doors, and lifted a lace gloved hand to wave brightly in the very best Southern feminine tradition. Marie, standing by Anne and holding Mary, rolled her eyes. "Oh, no," she muttered to no one in particular. "What -" Anne began, distracted from a very detailed recitation of the circumstances of Mary's birth. "What is it?" "One of Duncan's girls," Jimmy said, forebearing to roll *his* eyes. "The one with the weird name," Marie added. "Half of them have weird names," Anne said. "The weird Scottish name," Jimmy said lightly. "Looks like the head Scot's given her the slip. Watch, she'll ask if we've seen him." Anne gulped down a sudden burst of laughter at that description of MacLeod and feigned a cough when Marie and Jimmy stared at her. Elspeth did her best 'doe eyes' and sweet, helpless, shy smile as she came up to them, still carefully walking as if she were in a deportment class. It helped to create the impression of feminine ineffectuality. "Dr. Linsay. Ms Chang. Mr. Murray. And little Miss Linsay - aren't you just a little doll?" she said, finishing it in a proper 'speaking to baby' coo - and immediately repressed the urge to spit and get the taste out of her mouth.. "That's Murphy," Jimmy corrected. "Murphy? Oh, dear. Is it terribly proper to discuss your relationship to the child under these, ah, circumstances?" Elys asked looking as pitiful as possible while Jimmy turned pink. "I mean, I doubt Miss Manners would see - " "No! Her name's Linsay. I'm Murphy," Jimmy snapped, hoping this woman wouldn't embarass Anne. Elspeth did the doe eyes again and took three dainty steps backward to bring her beside Marie. "Oh, dear. In light of your *law,* Mr. Murphy, I trust you'll understand if a lady prefers to, ah, keep her distance, so to speak," she said nervously. Jimmy gaped. Marie stared. And Anne had to cough again. "Oh, ah, yes. Of course," Anne finally managed. "What can we do for you, dear?" Elys did her very best abashed manner with a shy, beatific smile and a dismissive wave of her left hand. "I just had to give you my very best wishes and congratulations, Dr. Linsay. This is a perfectly lovely occasion, and your daughter is so very charming. You must be so proud." "Well, yes. I am," Anne said. "She worked very hard on this," Jimmy added, relaxing again. "Oh, I can see that. You all must've worked very hard. It is a marvelous occasion." "Yes, it is," Jimmy agreed. "And I hope you will enjoy it every bit as much as I have so far," Elys gushed. "Now I know I interrupted a private conversation. I saw you two talking as I came up. So I will be going. Must find that good looking fellow with the long hair, you know. But - Mr. Murray -" "That's _Murphy_." "Well, if you insist. Though, to be totally frank, I wouldn't if I were you, since things might start going wrong if you do," Elys said conspiratorially, batting big brown eyes, and somehow managing to keep a straight face. "What could go wrong?" Jimmy asked, repressing the sarcasm since this creature claimed to be leaving, and not really succeeding because he was perfectly certain she wouldn't recognize ten tons of sarcasm if it landed on her head. "Oh, my - well, heavens knows, I'm not one to wish ill luck on _anyone_, _ever_, dear. I do apologize if I left that impression! I just meant someone might not have found this for you, is all," Elys said, retrieving a little black book that had latterly resided in the katana space of one Benny Carbassa from the depths of the velvet reticule hanging from one gloved wrist. "Indeed, the luck has been with you so far today, Mr Murray. I saw you drop this before, and I was sure you'd want it back. I know how a boy feels about his, ah, 'sacred book,'" she finished with an outrageously coquettish wink, and waved the volume at Jimmy - clearly displaying the words "Little Black Book" imprinted in unmistakable gold script on its cover - before pressing it into his hands. "Ta ta," Elys said )over Anne shrieking Jimmy's name, and proceeding to demand if he was planning on collecting phone numbers today of all days, while Marie muttered 'Cad' in a carrying tone, and Jimmy stuttered that it wasn't his, and both women snorted their opinion of that excuse) and sailed off, snapping her lacy parasol open as she came out into the sun again. "Y'all have a nice day, now." If anyone behind her had been paying any attention they might have seen the psuedo victorian lady striding away like a tigress on the trail of the next unfortunate gazelle, smiling in a most unladylike, but thoroughly satisfied, fashion. Elspeth Emery - zen@fast.net @ <<<<<@{}======================>>> @ http://www.mt.net/~satori/DFW/DFW.html =========================================================================== Date: Sun, 24 Mar 1996 17:19:39 From: Sandy Fields Subject: WAR: What I did at the Christening Title: What I did at the Christening Author: Amy Denton Date: Wednesday, March 20. Time: Early to Mid-Afternoon Place: St. Darius Church Reason: 'Cause I want to After digging through all the Immortal's sword pockets with the rest of the DFW and gloating over their finds, Amy wound her way among the guests milling around inside the church untill she spotted Anne and Mary, along with Jimmy and Joe. Anne looked a bit frazled but Mary looked adorable in her Christening gown. Amy didn't pay any attention to Jimmy but Joe looked very nice. Amy got in line and chatted with the other people standing there untill her turn came to speak to Anne. Joe had moved on by this time which was a shame since she wanted to talk to him but she was sure she'd catch up to him later. "Hi," Amy said, sticking her hand out. "I'm Amy Denton, a friend of Duncan's." She got the strangest look from Anne in return but Anne was polite and shook her hand anyway. "I don't bite, I promise." Amy said. "I just wanted to compliment you on your adorable daughter. She's so cute, you must be very proud." "Ah, thank you, yes, yes, I am." Anne replied. Amy made a few faces at Mary, who giggled and then she moved on to Jimmy. They locked eyes and shook hands then Amy kicked him in the shins. Jimmy bit back the yelp he made and stared at her. Amy, keeping a firm grip on his hand, pulled him a little closer and still smiling, said in a low tone "I'm not a drooling fan girl and I don't appreciate being portrayed as such. The DFW's are not happy with you at the moment, Jimmy." She let go of his hand and stepped back. Anne, fortunately hadn't noticed their little exchange, which was good. Why bother her with his apparent lack of tact? Jimmy just starred at Amy unable to say anything. Amy complimented Anne on Mary again and then moved on. Jimmy watched her walk away and suddenly felt the hair rise on the back of his neck. *God, that felt good* Amy thought, as she went in search of the other DFW's =========================================================================== Date: Thu, 28 Mar 1996 10:38:26 From: Karen Droms Subject: WAR: If you can't take it, don't dish it out... Date: Wednesday, March 20 Time: Late in the afternoon Where: The reception Lori looked over at Jimmy who was being accosted by a woman with an umbrella. "Looks like Jimmy's getting some heat from Duncan's girls for how he described their arrival at the Christening." "But aren't they the ones who jump up and down and giggle everytime they meet one another? Didn't they try to pass that off as 'a woman thing'?" Karen's annoyance showed in her face. She despises people who try to excuse a silly behavior by saying it's genetically predetermined. "Yea, that's them. They're also the ones who wrote some little fantasy about the three of them all ending up in Duncan's bed with him at the same time with four hours to kill..." Lori looked at Karen, and with a smile on her face, said, "Hon, you know I care about you, but if you and I ever ended up in bed together with Joe, I'd kick you out so fast, you'd have the imprint of the door on your behind." Karen exploded into laughter. "I know *exactly* what you mean. Heavens, maybe when one is in bed with Duncan, one needs another there to...pick up the slack...but with Joe... Well, he does command *all* of your attention, doesn't he?" "Sweetie, that ain't the half of it! At least when Anne was in Duncan's bed, there was no need for extra assistance to keep him there." Lori put her arm around Karen's shoulder. "C'mon, let's go see how Jimmy's handling Duncan's girls. You know, from the stories they told, I figured they'd know a joke when they saw one. Maybe they'll figure it out right the next time..." The women go to find Jimmy, careful to take Highway 42, or "the high road" as the locals call it. ======================================================================== Karen A. Droms Instructional Technologist KDroms@luzerne.edu "Ho la! What strumpet that?!?" http://www.luzerne.edu/karen PSEB PRO, HeLLLion ======================================================================== Syndi-CON WebWeaver http://www.luzerne.edu/karen/highland/syndicon/syndicon.html =========================================================================== Date: Sun, 24 Mar 1996 09:14:29 From: anonymous Subject: WAR: Party Animals 960320, Wednesday afternoon, 3:45 PM, Christening day, St. Darius Church, Seacouver Of course they were late. Richie had wanted to look his best. The women had spent hours dressing up for the occasion and fixing their makeup. Not an easy feat with just one bathroom. Richie entered the church with his entourage following closely. He immediately recognized the presence of other Immortals. He spotted Duncan across the room and waved, not knowing if Duncan even noticed, due to the large crowd. Then he saw Amanda. She looked absolutely . . . stunning. "Come on," Marina grabbed Richie's elbow and yanked. The other women quickly moved to block Richie's view of Amanda. After a few minutes of what could have passed for a flashback in an Immortal, but was really a fantasy, Richie came out of it. He noticed Marina still yanking on his arm. Then he looked around for Anne and Mary. The group continued to follow staying as near to Richie as possible as he made his way to Anne. She was surrounded by a small knot of close friends. When Richie reached her, he gave Anne a warm, friendly hug. "You and Mary look great," he told them. "Glad you could make it," Anne replied. She looked around at his entourage, ". . . and your friends." Richie started the introductions. "This is Marina, and Kim and little Richie. . . ." Anne immediately recognized the now orange collar and leash as the sign of a hearing ear dog. "I know a specialist for that," she said to Kim in a friendly, supportive manner. Anne was about to search her collection of business cards from her various doctor friends. Kim was about to turn a very, interesting shade of red. Richie interrupted, graciously covering for his group, saying, "Don't worry, Anne. It's being taken care of." Then he continued with the many introductions. ". . . Laura and the other Laura. . . ." Once he was finished naming everyone off, Anne introduced her two dear friends Donna and Marie. Then someone in Richie's group asked what to do about the presents they were carrying. Their arms were getting tired. "Oh, I'll take care of them," Anne offered helpfully. The group soon had Anne's, Donna's and Marie's arms loaded with gifts. The Richie Brigade might not be very active in the war, but they were active shoppers. Between the announcement of the christening Tuesday night and the actual christening Wednesday afternoon, they had managed to shop for, scrounge, locate, make and generally come up with the largest number and the most unusual gifts so far. Laura Michaels p004927b@pbfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us http://members.aol.com/lauram3017/index.html =========================================================================== Date: Fri, 22 Mar 1996 22:22:40 From: Joanne Curme Subject: WAR: Leap of Faith War: Leap of Faith Wednesday, 4 pm St. Darius Church, Seacouver A K'immie Brigade collaboration "What a beautiful day for a christening. The first day of spring hasn't been this nice in years." "Good thing, too. This week is really dragging! It feels like it should be Friday night already but it's only Wednesday." As they walked towards the church, Rob carefully scanned the grounds for signs of trouble. He had a strange premonition that there was trouble brewing -- trouble with a capital "K". "Hey -- the ceremony's about to begin! Come on, Rob. You'd be late to your own funeral!" Joanne said as she grabbed her friend's arm and pulled him towards the church. "Late to my own funeral? I plan on missing it altogether." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Moving at a near jog, they traveled quickly along a path with a beautifully manicured flowered border. They nodded a greeting to a giant red-haired priest carefully pulling some weeds in the immaculate flowerbeds as they passed by. "Good day, folks - and mind yer step, now," he warned. "Ursa!" he called to a huge gardener working on a patch of roses under some trees. "More gladiolas!" They hastened toward the baptistry, not wanting to miss the christening but knowing that foiling Kenny's plan was more important. As they neared the chapel a scraping sound came from above. Rob and Joanne looked up to see a once-clean pair of hospital shoes wiggling out of an airvent crawlspace, above a fire escape ladder neither remembered seeing earlier. Rob shook his head sadly. "It's Kenny again. Let's see what trouble he's gotten into THIS time." "Guess the Christening will have to start without us. Knowing Kenny, he's not just up there for the view," Joanne concurred. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Kenny had climbed part way down when he spotted Rob and Joanne waiting for him near the bottom. He looked down at them guiltily and tried to scramble back up - but lost his grip on the rusty rungs. He plummeted thirty feet downward to land headfirst in the elaborate topiary at the bottom, leaving only his legs protruding from the greenery. >From a distance, it looked like Kenny was being devoured by a giant dolphin. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Rob removed his jacket and tie before wading into the bushes to extract Kenny. , he cursed to himself - and then thought of how Kenny must feel. He couldn't help but smile. Joanne was walking around the back, looking for an easier way in. She had nearly circled the topiary display, and Rob had gingerly picked his way close to the hungry dolphin, when the bush collapsed under Kenny's weight. A ragged Kenny scrambled to his feet and immediately dashed across the lawn, heading back towards the path, with Rob and Joanne in hot pursuit. He ran haphazardly through the flowers, trampling a good deal of them in the process - when suddenly the red-haired priest reared up from behind a patch of Easter lilies and grabbed Kenny by the scruff of the neck. "Running on the Church grounds is discouraged, m'boy," he said sternly. "Now tell Father O'Malley what the big rush is all about." He set Kenny back on his feet, looking towards the two adults approaching as quickly as they could without attracting any more undue attention, and being VERY careful not to step on the plants. "I'm sorry, I was just playing. Can I go now?" Kenny squirmed in the big man's grasp. "Hold on just a moment," he said as Joanne and Rob approached. Panicking, Kenny punched Father O'Malley in the gut. He *whoofed* softly as Kenny turned to run - but Kenny instead found himself suddenly suspended in mid air, then pulled close to the disgruntled priest in a firm headlock. "Nice move, Father," Rob panted as they arrived, "Is that part of the clerical training nowadays?" "I wasn't always a priest, you know," said O'Malley, squeezing slightly to muffle the protests of the little boy. "I coulda been a contender. Is the little devil with you?" "Little devil is right!" said Joanne. "Can we have him?" "Let's have a little talk first, shall we?" Father O'Malley's request was not one to be refused. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * They approached the side door of the church. "So you two are his parents," the priest said, chuckling. Rob and Joanne looked aghast. Joanne was shocked speechless, Rob sputtered, "By God's Navel, NO!" It was the priest's chance to be stunned, staring at Rob. He recovered quickly. "Then why were ya chasing him?" he asked suspiciously. "We're here for the christening, and he's not exactly a friend of the family. We thought he might be up to no good -- he's been known to pull a few, let's say, practical jokes before." "Is that so, Kenny? Are you planning to disrupt this holy occasion with a wee prank? Look me in the eye now, and tell me God's own truth." Kenny squirmed under the priest's gaze, hemming and hawing. "Uh, well, um, I - I - I'm outta here!" Suddenly twisting and backing out of the large man's grip, Kenny turned and ran out the other door -- right into the middle of the Christening ceremony! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Reverend Douglass finished pouring the holy water over Mary's cute little forehead, and the baby scowled slightly at the unexpected cold wetness. Duncan, Anne, Marie, and Jimmy all beamed. So did the large audience. There were sighs of contentment and a little applause, when . . . Kenny came hurtling out of a side doorway, looking behind him to avoid his former captors, not noticing he was headed straight toward the baptismal party. Duncan scooped Anne and Mary into his arms and pulled them out of Kenny's path. Kenny turned around in surprise and tripped over an iron ring that hadn't been there a moment before -- and landed face-first in the baptismal font, to the horror of over a hundred onlookers. His arms immersed in the water, Kenny looked out at the crowd -- and the liquid mysteriously pulsed bright blue, glowing with a magical light. The crowd gasped. Methos sat up straight with a look of shock -- then slid down, defeated, into the pew. "Not *another* bloody Holy Spring!", he muttered with his face in his hands. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * [Kenny himself begins to glow with a blue aura with flaring white electrical effects. Camera pans low, shooting up toward his face and chest. We see him suddenly transformed into a handsome, grown man, who looks up to see an assortment of hostile, perplexed, and amazed stares. The audience, however, notes no such change.] "Oh boy", he said. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "Kenny!" growled Duncan "Kenny!" screamed Amanda "Kenny!" scolded Anne "Kenny!" hollered Richie "Kenny!" shouted Rob "DUNCAN!" yelled Joanne, forgetting everything else at the sight of his Overly Sexy Body. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Reverend Douglass pulled the boy away from the baptismal font. "You wait right here, young man. There's no way out, so just sit there and think about what you've done. Don't make me use my whip on you." Kenny was promptly escorted to a side room, seated, and locked inside. Rob and Duncan stood near the door and heard Kenny speaking out loud. Duncan wondered how different his own enchanted jacuzzi encounter was from the one Kenny seemed to be having. He thought maybe Kenny was having a conversation with his "other side". Rob just thought the boy was certifiably psychotic, and it was about time people noticed. , he thought, looking at his scratched arms and torn trousers. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "Al, what's going on here?" "Gee, Sam, guess you gotta go through puberty all over again." "But I feel so old." Al merely shrugged. "Does Ziggy have any idea why I'm here?" "Are you kidding? Ziggy says the entire church blows up today." "What?! What triggered the explosion?" "Whooo. Ziggy must be on the blink or something. She's talking about decapitated bodies and a vast lightning storm." "Have you guys been letting her watch too much TV again?" asked Sam. "Well, Dr. Beeks brought in her X Files collection last week." "Great! She probably thinks there's a government conspiracy or something!" "A conspiracy? By who?" Sam gave Al one of *those* looks. "So what does young Kenny have to do with this?" "Err, uh, no not yet. And she can't get much of a background on him either." Sam grumbled, "Go back and see if there's anything up with Ziggy. I refuse to go through puberty again!" Al punched a few buttons on the handlink and disappeared into the Imaging Chamber. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The door opened, and Sam - I mean Kenny - walked slowly out. "What were you doing up there on the roof?" asked Rob. "I . . . don't know. I don't remember." "Kenny, tell the truth." "I really don't know, " he said, shrugging and putting his hands in his pockets. He felt something - and pulled out the wrapper for an Acme Super-Skunko Stink Bomb. "Sure looks like something to me," Rob said. Father O'Malley grabbed Kenny by the collar. "Looks like we've got a wee bit o' penance to do, boyo." "Let's banish him from the List for two weeks", suggested Reverend Douglass. Everyone looked at the Reverend in horror. A visible shudder passed through the crowd at the thought. Kenny, O'Malley, and Rob headed for the exit, still shaking, as Reverend Douglass tried to settle everyone down and finish the ceremony. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The boy crawled through the air shaft, carrying on his odd little one sided conversation. "But Al, I still don't see how a stink bomb - even an industrial sized one - could blow up a church. Now where do you think this thing is?" Kenny couldn't figure out which way to turn, with his swiss-cheesed brain. Or was he Sam? Things might have a scientific explanation . . . Picking a random direction, he headed toward what he thought was the central ventilation unit, where the Stink Bomb would have the greatest effect. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Just inside the main air intake, he found a suitcase-sized object labeled "ACME" in large, friendly letters. "Don't panic," thought Sam as he looked at the timer on the bomb. Only 42 seconds remained. It could spell the end of Life, The Universe, and Everything - for him at least. He hoped it was wrong. "You know, Al, this isn't a stink bomb." Sam began to peer at the wiring behind the timer. He gently tugged at a wire connected to the odd-shaped contraption. "Don't touch that!! Sam, we have to disarm it! Ziggy's looking up the configuration of that device now." "Al - the time is almost up! How do I disarm this?" "Ziggy says there's a 54% chance it's the red wire - no, the green!" "WHICH ONE?!?!" "I don't know! Sam, quick!" He yanked the yellow one. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * K A A - B O O O O M ! ! ! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * In a blaze of blue glory, Sam Beckett leaped - somewhen else. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Kenny crawled out of the airspace, dropping the suitcase and its dubious contents at the feet of Rob and the priest. "Look what I found. I saved everyone's life in there. Without me, the explosion would have killed all your friends." Father O'Malley dragged Kenny back inside the church, giving the case a contemptuous look. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Rob examined the contents of the suitcase with curiousity and disbelief. he wondered. Skeptically, he examined the contents. , he surmised. . He tossed the suitcase beside a hole the hulking Ursa was digging. "Bring me - a shrubbery!" he demanded of the brute, while enlarging the hole enough for the suitcase to fit. he thought. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * O'Malley escorted Kenny back toward the church . Kenny strutted with the triumphant air of a king returning from battle. Now everyone owed him, and they'd have to respect him, regardless of his stature. He'd saved ALL their sorry butts. He was a hero. Heck, Amanda would soon be begging HIM for a date. It was about time, too, since . . . Kenny's train of thought - and passage of foot - was interrupted by a small furry object that had had just about enough of the attitude. He went crashing to the cement path and before he could gather up the shreds of his dignity and make up some halfway plausible excuse for making a fool of himself again, he was knocked down once more by the entire group of Anne's guests, running out of the baptistry shouting at the tops of their lungs. "Kenny!" Duncan grabbed Kenny by the scruff of the neck and pulled him out of the path of the stampeding crowd. "Look at what you've done! That stink bomb of yours set off the fire sprinklers!" Kenny looked inside. The fire sprinklers were, indeed, covering the entire baptistry with a gentle shower of rusty water. People everywhere were running and shouting, holding papers and jackets over their heads, trying to get outside before the rusty water stained their suits and dresses. Above them all a trail of smoke was falling from the bell tower. he thought as Duncan dragged him by an ear toward the parking lot. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Rob met Duncan by the car. "I'm sorry, MacLeod. We tried to stop him." "I know," Duncan said. "But this time he's *not* getting away." "Oh, Duncan," Anne cried as she came running up to the group. "Mary's dress is *ruined*! You promised there wouldn't be any trouble!" "There won't be in a few minutes," Duncan growled as he glared at Kenny. "You and I have some unfinished business." "No!" shouted Anne. "Hasn't enough happened for today? I will *not* have you going around chopping someone's head off on Mary's christening day. Do you hear me, Duncan MacLeod?" They stared at each other in silence. Duncan finally gave in and let go of Kenny's ear. The boy took off running, narrowly avoiding being hit by a pizza truck before tripping on the curb and falling off the overpass into the oncoming lanes of traffic. "Happy now?" Anne said. Duncan just looked at her and took her and Mary in his arms. Jimmy gazed on sadly from a distance, and Marie beamed. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * A few minutes later, Kenny dragged himself off the shoulder of the road and into the shrubbery. He jumped when he heard something rustling, but relaxed when he recognized the familiar wombat shape waddling toward him. She nuzzled him gently to make sure he was all right, then turned and grabbed what she'd been dragging through the brush for him. "For me?" The wombat nodded. Kenny opened the can of Coke and poured a little out in a piece of styrofoam cup for the wombat, then drank the rest in one greedy swallow. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The K'immie Brigade Joanne Curme jcurme@pyramid.com Rob Distante SenseiRob@aol.com =========================================================================== Date: Sat, 23 Mar 1996 02:36:4 From: Enmare Subject: WAR: "And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling kids..." Title: "And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling kids..." By: Enmare Time and location: a few minutes after Leap of Faith, Duncan and company have left the building Enmare ran out of the church, shaking water out of her hair. She bumped into James Horton, who was sniffing his trenchcoat to see if any of the stink from the stink bomb remained. Remembering the tape message, Enmare apologized, and James just grunted in reply. They were in some garden, and Enmare looked down to see freshly turned over earth. She dug through it a little, the brushed away some dirt to reveal a suitcase. James took it and opened it to reveal the works inside. There was some movement in the bushes behind them. If you listened really closely you could hear "Where was the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom!" As one, Enmare and Horton turned around and yelled "Peter!" Again, if you listened carefully, right before the crashing of a large creature taking flight through the woods, you could hear the plaintive cry of "D'oh!!" =========================================================================== Date: Sun, 24 Mar 1996 00:26:29 From: Marie Chang Subject: WAR: Unwanted Attentions PART 1 of 2 "Unwanted Attentions" PART 1 OF 2 by Jimmy Murphy Christening Day, just after the Christening ceremony St. Darius Church, Seacouver The chiming of the bells at St. Darius Church sounded once again, this time to signal the ending of the Christening ceremony. At the same time well-wishers were all running out of the sanctuary as fast as they can. They were trying to avoid being sprayed by the fire sprinklers set off by Kenny's stink bomb. With so many things going, it was up to the rest of the group to maintain some level of normalcy for Anne's sake. Everyone knew that she did not deserve to have her day ruined by the machinations of the evil Hortons and the Kimmies on the loose. Finally, the group settled down outside in the parking lot. While waiting for the cars to be brought around, the group mingled and discussed recent events. Some tried to put on the best face, especially when Anne or the godparents approached, but many could not contain their anxieties over the feelings of impending trouble. Joe comes over to shake Anne's hand and to give Mary a big kiss. Lori, always nearby when Joe makes an appearance, instinctively presses a finger to the earpiece which she and most of the band members are wearing, listening to some voice updating her. Anne can't help but notice. Lori grins sheepishly. "They're playing the Dodgers..." she says, then hurriedly excuses herself. Joe tries to change the subject to divert Anne's increasing suspicion that something is going on right under her nose. "Beautiful Christening gown...the work looks hand-done!" Joe fingers the hem of Mary's gown, sending Mary into a giggle. Marie comments to Joe and the others around Anne that the reception preparations were complete when she got off the phone to Mr. Kinard; the big tent have been hoisted and the tables are in place. "There's plenty of food..I hope you can bring some of your friends in the band." Actually, everyone seemed to be bringing along friends, and those friends had friends. Jimmy had been anxious to get a chance to talk to Joe Dawson again. Given the hectic nature of their last meeting, Jimmy had not been allowed to find out more about this horrible-horrible-Horton that seemed to be on everyone's minds--including Jimmy's. Joe had had Horton (one of them..or would it be all of them?) as in-laws at one point, so Joe would be the one to talk to about the guy. Jimmy waited until Anne had drifted back into the sea of "Oh, she's so cute" chanters before asking Joe if he had seen Horton. He told Joe about the sort-of sighting in front of the Arby's across the street. "Did you know about their new, Chicken Cordon Bleu Sandwich?" Joe asked. "Freshly-sliced swiss on top of the freshest--" "I get the picture," Jimmy said, feeling a peculiar sense of deja vu. "Do you know if he is around here? You guys are supposed to be Watchers, right?" Joe grinned a bit. "This is all pretty new stuff to you. I understand your feelings. It's not every day stuff like this gets thrown in your lap." Jimmy was glad to see that at least *he* was not taking all this mayhem as lightly as some of the people he had met in the past few days. Marie's decision to feed strined peas to Mary before the Christening was obviously not a good idea. After giving Marie's new, Versace blouse a bit of a spray, Mary had inconveniently soiled Mama Anne's shirtsleeve, as well. Anne excused herself to go back into the church to try to clean the stain. "It would take a miracle to get this out," she said, rubbing her sleeve with a moist towelette (the mom's best friend). She saw the font at the front of the empty room, stopped for a second, then shook her head. "Nah, that would be cheating!"she quipped. Stay tuned for part 2...more to come from St. Darius Church.... ******************************************************************************* Marie CFW for and Godmother to little Mary FW, Dr. Anne Lindsey mariec728@earthlink.net =========================================================================== Date: Fri, 22 Mar 1996 22:32:15 From: Gina Shaw Subject: WAR: Never Underestimate... When: 4:30 pm, Christening day (whatever that's turned into now...) Where: St. Darius Church, Seacouver The DFW contingent had gathered to plot in the small room that annexed the church's sanctuary. "Do you think we fooled them?" asked Gina, mock-fluttering about the room in her long skirt. "Ooh, Duncan, you're so big and strong...ooh, ooh, would you please flex your bicep again for li'l ol us?" Elys, Falcon, Amy and Katherine were convulsed in laughter in the corner. "Take me...take me now!" moaned Falcon, pretending to wipe drool from her chin. "I have been rendered a brainless refugee from '90210' by your masculine charms, Duncan." "I particularly liked your little butt-grab, Katherine," cackled Elys, out of breath. "The look on your face, mo dhu..." Duncan looked more than a bit offended, while Sean leaned against the wall wearing his "been there, done that, got the T-shirt," amused-yet-cynical expression. "I beg your pardon," said the indignant Highlander. "I've been groped a time or two in my life, and I think I know how to handle a..." "Yes, of course you do," said Falcon sweetly, patting Duncan's head. "Well, anyway," concluded Sean, "I think your little fluttery-fainting-female act worked. Anne's flagwavers have clearly underestimated you, and that means any K-immies around probably will as well." Duncan raised a peremptory hand, still looking a bit peeved by Falcon's head-patting. "All right then, goal one of Plan Tori Spelling is accomplished -- put the enemy off guard. Now what about goal two?" A triumphant grin spread across Gina's face that told the Highlander all he needed to know. "If Donna weren't so busy trying to glue you and Anne together at the hip, I'd hug her," she said. Falcon and Elys looked skeptical at that, but Gina continued, "I never dreamed we'd have an excuse to get locked in the *cloakroom*, of all places. Fifteen whole minutes to go through everyone's katana-space, in utter, undisturbed, suspicion-free privacy. You wouldn't believe the treasure we found!" Gina, Elys, Falcon, Katherine and Amy stood dramatically in the center of the room, each poised to reveal the illicit goods they had swiped. "Lovely dramatic moment," Sean commented. "Very nice." "Now GIVE!" he and Duncan yelled at the same time and charged. A pile of ill-gotten gains was ceremoniously dumped on the kitchen floor. "Oh, what we can do with all this," sighed Sean happily. A large, rectangular sheaf of paper thudded out of Falcon's katana-space. "What's that?" she asked, distracted. "Oh. . .that calendar. Anybody have any ideas what to do with that?" "Isn't it time to reline Chirpie's cage?" asked Amy, her expression all wide-eyed innocence. "Very funny," Duncan grumbled. "Give me that thing." He snatched it from Falcon's hand as the women burst into fresh waves of laughter. "It's not that funny. I do have a certain. . .effect on women, you know." "We have no doubt about that," Gina grinned. "But, generally speaking, it's not our gender that has trouble with thinking with our. . .chromosomes." "Believe me, Duncan love, you still set our hearts pounding. That part wasn't an act," Elys said. He looked somewhat mollified. "But plotting comes first." "And petting comes later!" finished Falcon. Sean reminded them all that someone (Anne, prodded by Donna, no doubt) was bound to come looking for them (at least one of them) before long. "It's time we got to work," he said. The others agreed and they formed a quick huddle to discuss their respective tasks. Anyone unfortunate enough to look into the small annex room at that point would have found their blood running cold at the identical evil grins that spread across seven faces as Sean explained his "extra special" plot to keep "godfather" Jimmy from mucking up the works again. Carefully dispersing into small knots of one and two to divert suspicion, they slipped cautiously back into the gathering. Gina and Falcon slapped palms as they moved through the crowd. "Places to go, havoc to wreak," Gina said under her breath. @ Gina Shaw: DFW Reserve Corps <<@{}==============>>> @ ginadc@mail.erols.com ********************************************************************* * "When I dare to be powerful---to use my strength in the service * * of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I * * am afraid." -- Audre Lorde * * * * "Yes, I rise to defend * * The quite possible She." -- Phyllis McGinley * *********************************************************************