Wondershot

Excellent, this sounds like a blast... Name: Kaeli Gender: Female Age: 16 Appearance: Kaeli is of average height, about 5'7", and is of very light build. She has light brown hair that reached to her shoulders, and wears a light beige turban on top of her head, usually covering little more than her forehead. She has dark silvery eyes and lightly tanned skin, and wears a beige cloak with a dark brown border trim. The cloak is fastened using a long belt-like cord that reaches over her right shoulder and attaches to the back, and another belt around her waist. The cloak is also weighed down with multiple books, pouches and bottles attached using small strings sewn rather hurriedly to the cloak, and pockets stuffed with money, silks, jewlery or other paraphenalia. These odds and ends usually have tiny bells attached to them, so, should someone try to steal from her, the bells will give them away. Although her arms are covered to the hands by the cloak, people who meet her usually hear the loud jangling of charm bracelets on both her arms, which range from simple thin gold and silver rings to brilliant red, blue and green works of elaborate metal artwork. Her fingers also carry several small rings, which are more likely to be her wares than personal possessions. She wears a pair of dark sandals that are about an inch tall, so as to make her look more impressive, or so she says, and her legs also clink loudly from the weight of several anklets and jewlery that won't fit around her arms. Homeland/Town: Port Junction Biography: Kaeli was originally from the Arch Continent town of Port Azure, but she was sold into slavery at a very young age by her brother, with the consent of her family. Bitter and desolate, Kaeli began to work onboard a trade ship, where most of her job consisted of cleaning and helping the drunken sailors into bed, and get over their hangovers the next morning. When Kaeli turned 10, she was allowed onto shore at Port Junction while her masters traded goods with the locals, and she ended up preventing them from selling their jewlery to a local merchant, claiming that they were simple glass. Her outraged masters grabbed her and were about to beat her when the other merchant stepped in and hit the man with a strange device, causing him to fly backwards and hit the ground, unconcious and crackling with electricity. The other crooked merchants ran away, and the other man helped Kaeli to her feet. Kaeli learned the man's name was Rin, and that he had arrived from Mekanopolis in Astenia to do some business. "I've been thinking of moving here for the longest time, though." Rin-sensei said dreamily. "I've always loved trading as a side-job, but I don't have the help needed to run a store in town." Kaeli offered her help, and an overjoyed Rin picked her up and carried her on his shoulders to a small locale near the port, currently for sale. Within minutes, Rin had bought the store, and Kaeli began her training as a merchant and store owner. Hard work, but after so many years on a trading ship, she learned to love her job. Now, Kaeli owns the store herself, as Rin-sensei now has passed on all his knowledge of trade onto her over the grueling course of six years. Kaeli loves her job, and now walks through town, carrying the load of her wares on her body, and selling to eager customers in the center of town, as well as dealing with the pickpockets with Rin's incredible shocking device, the Vajra. Alignment: Neutral Occupation: Trader Abilities: A1: Spare Change: Despite the merchant's school of thought that it is foolish to throw money away, it would seem much more plausible that one would prefer to save their life rather than their income. When cornered, Kaeli reaches deep into her pockets and bombards the enemy with her coinage, dealing damage proportional to the amount of money used, and that's worth any price. A2: Dice: What is any merchant that refuses to take chances? Not a very good one, that's for sure. Should any roaming demon care to test their luck, Kaeli gladly obliges by summoning up an ancient technique of Rin's, producing a pair of magic dice from thin air. Keeping her fingers crossed, Kaeli throws these enchanted numbered cubes into the air, and when they land, the monster's fate is sealed, dealing more damage should she get a higher roll, and increasing it further should she get two of the same number. Now that's a risk worth taking. S: Mix: Not every merchant is able to skillfully use the wares available to them to save their lives or the lives of their teammates, but Kaeli is one of the lucky ones. Using whatever magical potions she has on hand, she mixes them up as quickly as she can, hoping that the resulting concoction will help save her teammates, and not blow up in her face. When this skill is used, she mixes two potions together and uses them on herself or her teammates, either healing them more, or poisoning them. Weapon: Vajra: A small device built by Rin that fits neatly into her pocket, and consists of a tiny blue hilt with two small prongs sticking out of it. The Vajra, engraved with a tiny yellow lightning bolt, can be whipped out at a moment's notice and shocks and stuns the target. It deals a small amount of lightning damage, but, has the unfortunate side-effect of dealing no damage whatsoever to demons unaffected by lightning. Anything to be changed, just let me know. [color=red]EDIT:[/color] All right, no surname, and I agree with an in-game connection proving more effective, but if you honestly would prefer a reason now, just let me know and I'll add one to the bio. Otherwise, I'll come up with something when the story starts.

[center]- - -Boy, the way things change around here, it can be scary.- - - - - -Take today for instance, Sata seemes to be acting strangely lately, almost as if she has sometihng on her mind, which is not really likely. Then again, if she did, it would probably be more likely that she wouldn't want to tell me, since she has something agains bothering her programmers, so something like that.- - - - - -Sata, just what is on your mind? I really want to know.- - -[/center] The sun, rising agonizingly slowly over the sleepy Heifon city, brought with it the signs of new life, what was left of the grass shining with the dew in the light, and a low rumbling premeated the idyllic silence of this scene, as, some distance away, a large smoke cloud rose from the Heifon launching pad. The Midnight Wing, parked up on it's side, was emitting a low groaning sound as the engines whirred monotonously, causing a thick cloud of fire and smoke to rise from the ground. A lone Rao, as though waiting, stood his ground, staring at the rising smoke cloud with interest. He was dressed in a bright white coat, as it was rather cold at this sleepy hour. He reached a hand up to his earpiece, and spoke softly into the mic. "Showtime, No. 1. Are you okay?" "Affirmative." Sata's expressionless voice replied. "However, I must again reccomend against your attempting this mission on your own, as risk of danger is high." "Don't worry, as long as they are willing to talk civilly, we'll be fine. You know I'll call if there is any trouble." Rao replied soothingly, Sata did not reply. "Ok, time for radio silence, you take care, and I'll be back soon." "Affirmative." Sata replied, Rao pulled the mic out and slipped it into his jacket pocket. He took a look at the rising smoke cloud ahead, and walked slowly, with his hands in his pockets, towards the ship... "Affirmative, Mr. Akiyoshi, your credit has just been cleared, and you are free to take off at any time." Trace eased himself back into the helm chair, and replied coolly. "Thank you." The woman on the video screen smiled, and the line was closed. Senrai stepped into the side chair, and folded her arms, keeping her eyes closed. Trace looked at her, but he decided to keep quiet for now. Lex rose from the lower deck and took his place on Trace's other side. "Kaia looks like she'll be fine, so we can go whenever you want." Trace maintained his poker face, and looked at the control panel in front of him. Pressing a few buttons, the jet stream from the ship intensified, and the ship was in final phase for liftoff. Trace cracked his kuckles quickly, as his hand hovered over the ignition. He paused for a moment to look at the screen, when a warning message flashed up. "Huh?" Lex said, looking at his control panel, Colt's voice rang through the bridge. "Trace, there appears to be a civillian near the pad, trying to send us a message, shall I move to camera view and open the line?" "Yes." Trace replied, wondering what this was about. He wasn't exactly prepared, however, for the camera to zoom out towards the grassy edge of the launch pad, and focus on Rao's face, coat flapping from the powerful wind. Trace's hands clamped onto the chair, and Senrai even opened her eyes slightly to look at the unexpected visitor. "Hey." Rao's voice floated through the bridge, and Trace roared back. "What are you doing here!?" "Why are you in such a hurry, man? It's really early, and it's nice out, you should enjoy a morning like this before you go." Trace stared furiously at the video of Rao, and growled back. "Who the hell do you think you are..." "I'm just saying you should relax a little, maybe come down and have some breakfast, and we can talk for a bit." Trace's hands slammed down, making Lex jump slightly. "Breakfast?!" "Yeah, you know, enjoy a little something before you leave so soon, my treat, and maybe look at the sunrise, it's really great." Lex seemed unusually mystified, and Trace stared with hatred at the video screen. Breakfast?! Who did this guy think he was, coming up here, asking about breakfast like he was a good friend?! "Leave here now! I don't want your...breakfast!" "Aw, but aren't you guys hungry? I'm sure you didn't eat much since yesterday, and I know a great place in town..." "Shut up!" "Ok, fine, forget breakfast, but I still want to talk to you." Trace stared at the screen. "What?" "I know we kind of got off on the wrong foot the other day, but I'm sure we have lots to talk about...you know, why you were fighting Ban...why I didn't want to fight you..." "..." "Come on, at least we ought to talk a little before you go. I don't really want to make an enemy of you so soon, before we get the chance to know each other a little, it's just a damn shame." Trace stared at the screen, now not so sure what to do. He looked to his left, where Lex did not reply, and to his right, Senrai still didn't seem in a very talkative mood. "Well? It won't take a minute..." [center]- - -Gee, and to think, If I was still with the Ban, I'd still be busy trying to kill him right now.- - - - - -As I said before, scary how things change so fast...- - - - - -Heh, I'm sure even he'd agree to that. - - - -END TRANSMISSION- -LOGGED AS RJhf0500.txt-[/center]

Kaze stared off into the distance as the sun began to disappear behind thick clouds, giving the strangest sense of foreboding. Kan was off trying to see where everyone else had been thrown off to, and the group that was still alive was busy erecting a shelter underneath the wrecked ship. Kaze stared as the sun began to vanish behind the thick clouds, covering them half in shadow, as the plains before them seemed to glow with the remaining sunlight. Kaze began to have a strange feeling, as the sky seemed to be growing darker and darker, he could barely see anymore, and the howling wind seemed to be slowly dying again... Kaze opened his eyes to see the strange grassy marsh stretched out before him, same withered old tree, and the small tingling of a bell somewhere in the distance. Kaze whirled and saw that strange winged figure standing before him, shaded and unrecognizable. Kaze stretched a hand forward, and the figure did the same, almost as a mirror of shadow. The small ringing of the bell shattered the almost perfect silence, and Kaze looked to his left to see another figure, also hidden in shadows. He reached a hand out and felt the person's arm, and the figure didn't stir. Kaze looked up into the darkness where the face should have been, and tried to picture someone clearly in his mind, someone that he could remember...someone... "KAZE!" Kaze jumped and nearly collided heads with Kan, who appeared to be hunched over him, eyes wide with fear. Kaze leapt to his feet and tasted blood in his mouth, coughing as though drowning, Kaze spat out a stream of blood, and gasped for air. Kan was breathing heavily, and looked up at Kaze once he stood upright. "Are you okay, mate?" Kaze opened his eyes, and Kan was stunned at how brightly they were burning green this time, just like last time... "I'm fine now, did you find anyone else?" "Nope, no sign, hope they're okay..." Kan trailed off as he stared back to the wreckage of his ship, and the camp the people were building under it. "Hey! HEY!" Kan creid out in a rage, running to those who were building the shelter. "[i]Nodoki den arte en do mino! Ece ante tetran este oni en ereto en terega! Onte den ate kumo ente rukio![/i]" Kan's teammates looked ashamed for a moment, then nodded solemnly. All of the crew stepped out from under the wreckage, and those wandering around ran back to the wreckage and everyone formed a circle around it. They all lowered their heads down, and began a slow, almost groaning chant, which soon became louder and louder until it was almost deafening. [i]indriyebhyah param mano manasah sattvam uttamam sattvad adhi mahan atma mahato 'vyaktam uttamam[/i] They repeated this verse a few times, then all bowed their heads slightly, and a few men's eyes filled with tears, but no sound was made. Kan turned around, and, head still facing the ground, walked away slowly, the other men did the same. After what seemed to be a long time, Kan looked up and walked back to Kaze. "What was that?" Kaze asked, genuinely impressed. Kan cracked a weak smile. "A lot of our countrymen died making that ship for us, mate, that was our way of paying them back for it, and respecting the blood that was spilt for us." Kaze nodded. "I...understand, I used to do the same thing...once before." Kan smiled and patted Kaze lightly on the head. There was a loud scream from the other side of the ship, and a man came running from the back. "[i]Kan! De okrona den ki ote den kui![/i]" Kan raced around the side of the wrecked ship and, descending down from the top of a hillside, was a strange deformed animal that looked somewhat like a dog, only as though it had been ripped up and stitched back together again. Kaze stepped forward, but Kan blocked in front of him. "Scavengers, trying to look for some food..." Kan said slowly, more seriously than Kaze had ever heard from him before. Kan reached into a large bag slung over his shoulder, and pulled out a long chain. Very long, in fact, seemed to take up the whole bag. Eventually, it reached the end, and Kaze noted a large bottle-shaped black studded weight attached to the end, and the other end bore a spearhead with a small green snake engraved on one side. "This thing's on my land, now." Kan said slowly, swinging the weight over his head, and digging the spear into the ground. "It has to get by me, first."

After such a hectic day, Rao jumped lightly onto the top bunk in the sleeping quarters, and fell asleep almost immediately, clothes on and everything. So out of it was he, that he never even heard the ominous sound of high heels clicking slowly down the metal corridor to the quarters. Sata looked up the side of the bunk and saw her programmer lying there, completely inert. She slowly lifted one hand over his face, and a small signal went off in her mechanical tactile nerves. [i]Breathing pattern is rythmic...confirmed...target is asleep.[/i] Lifting har hand over his head, he focused slightly, and tiny electric bolts jumped from the tips of her fingers to Rao's forehead and back, still not disturbing him. Sata checked her sensor again, and replied slowly. [i]Replay effect...in 5....4....3....2...1...[/i] Sata shut her eyes and an image flashed through her mind, a long corridor, illuminated by a chilling green light that seemed to only make the room colder, another image, Rao, running down the hall as fast as he could, something seemed to be chasing him down. He stopped suddenly, as what he appeared to be running from was now in front of him, there was a flash of blood as a hand was thrust like a spear right through the person's back, and there was some kind of marking on it. Another image flashed by, this one was saturated with static, as though coming from a bad video feed, and it was close to thr ground, pointing upwards at the ceiling. A voice came through. "Those markings....Hazanko-dono....no...." The person speaking groaned and gasped for breath, but then the video feed died, and Sata opened her eyes. [i]Replay file appears to have been corrupted, target has repressed memory, permission to extract more files...[/i] Rao groaned and Sata's eyes whirled back to him.... Rao jumped up in shock, as he felt like he had just been electrocuted. His eyes darted to the far corridor, but no one was there, he looked over the side of his bunk to the lower bunk, and still no one was there. He gasped and wiped the sweat off his forehead. Realizing he was still wearing all his clothes, he looked over the side again, then took off his large jacket and threw it to the lower bunk. He flopped back down, and, despite the incident, fell asleep again. Sata took the opportunity, and looked out from the shadows of the door where she had been hiding. [i]Target appears aware of another's presence, permission to abort and store replay files...confirmed.[/i] Sata turned and walked back to the deck, the sound of her high heels echoing through the halls...

[color=red]Let's see, I'm now eighteen years old, I saved the world when I was thirteen, I live with a little sister who is, according to my mom, far more responsible than me, since she is able to keep track of hundreds of small goods that her customers send for her to store, and I still can't keep my closet straight. I still don't know where my dad is, as I have not seen him since I turned thirteen, and he still calls me on that little black telephone in my living room that rings so annoyingly and indefinitely that my dear mother and sister, knowing it's my dad, tactfully ignore the phone until I pick it up to talk to my dad, who, speaking in the same old cliché of the father figure, tells me that I'm doing great, and how much EXP till my next level, whatever that means. It's all good, though, as he always gives me money whenever I beat up a bad guy. It's still a mystery to me where the money comes from, but my dad must work really hard for it, since, as I said before, I have not seen him in over five years. My journey to save the world began conveniently after my dad gave me an ATM card, and deposited money for me to start my quest. Eventually, my savings grew and allowed my to buy ridiculously overpriced baseball bats that allowed me to fell grown men, animals, even cars and dinosaurs in only a few blows. Guess I don't know my own strength. Oh, sorry, my name is [/color][color=yellow]Ness,[/color][color=red] and I have the oddest habit of never mentioning that to anyone, yet, somehow, they are able to understand even if I don't say anything. Bizzare, considering the fact that I'm supposed to be the one with telepathy. Oh, forgot to mention that, too, I am a psychic, no, really, I am. I have been able to move objects with my mind since birth, and I have no explanation for it, since, my ever-sarcastic mother pointd out to me, it cannot be simple brain power, as my test scores are still abysmal. I can read people's minds, and, during the course of my quest, I learned to fire deadly psychedelic fireworks from my hands to beat the bad guys, now, since there are no more bad guys, that skill has been reduced to nothing more than a simple party trick, but maybe not, since I'm still paying the guy back for the damages to his house since his last party. Oh, I'm getting ahead of myself again. Anyway, if you are reading this, you've probably decided to embark on a quest to save the world, as I did in my teen years. It isn't the easiest job, mind you, but you will get to see lots of cool people, maybe with psychic powers, and you will get to see lots of great places, even if some of them can't be reached by the local pizza guy. You'll get to do lots of cool stuff, meet cool locals, some who want your friendship, others who want your money. Even the money guys are okay, and even if they do end up saying the same things over and over again, you know that you'll never meet anyone like them again. Well, the best advice I can give you is to search your house thoroughly for anything you can use on your adventure, check out the neat places in your town, even those places with "Do Not Enter" signs plastered on the walls, and take a nice nap at home once you're all done, and if you're lucky, a girl with psychic powers whom you've never met will send you a telepathic plea for help while you sleep, and you'll have to battle the local blue-clad cult and a strange balding guy who can control the weather in order to save her. As I said, it's not an easy job, but if you wanted an easy job, you should put down this book and go work in an office or something. Well, all I can say now is: Go get em! [/color][color=yellow]Ness[/color] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ For those of you who have played EarthBound before, you'll probably recognize a lot of statements in the above intro, if you haven't, don't worry, you can still join this RPG. Still, it is recommended that you know a little about EarthBound if you want to play, if you have questions, PM me or go to [url]www.starmen.net[/url] for help. This story takes place some five years after the EarthBound story, the Earth's savior, Ness, has just finished writing his book on saving the world, and, as part of the fun, distributed pages from the book around the world to old friends of his, as well as complete strangers, challenging them to get together so they can read the whole book. No one is sure why Ness chose to do this, as there are hints that the world may be in danger again sometime soon, but people have no need of fear with their psychic guru and all his page-finding buddies there to save the world in it's darkest hour. Until that day comes, however, the lucky few with pages to Ness' book will be on their diligent treasure hunt for more pages of the book, and perhaps the answers to the question on everyone's mind: What if I could save the world? Signup Requirements: I reserve he right to reject people whom I don't feel will do well in this RPG. I feel that I've been around long enough to tell who is a good RPer, and who isn't. I don't want to sound elitist, I just want to make sure that whoever joins this team will have what it takes, so do your best, people! Signup (storyline): Name: Something realistic or slightly comical, just nothing out of this world. Age: between 10 and 18, as this was the age group of EarthBound Description: Attached picture will do, as will a good word description. Location: The following locations are available, in following with the EarthBound universe: Onett: the hometown of the great hero, a little place with few cars and people, where the sun shines everyday. A great place to come when you need to get away from the hassles of city life. Features such attractions as the local arcade and the Giant Step, a hillside region with a small plateau in the center, highlited by the impression of an enormous footprint in the ground. A great place for people to escape to for the beautiful view and possibly supernatural nature, but the caves leading up to the place are infested with nasty crawling little bugs that attack travelers without warning. Twoson: A slightly larger town than Onett, mainly because of it's almost-famous Department Store, featuring two floors and all the items one would need when embarking on a journey to save the world. Furthermore, one might get lucky and come into town on the night of a big show at the very classy Chaos Theatre, where all the local stars, especially blues musicians come to play. Speaking of play, there is also the wondrous outdoor bazaar in Burglin Park, where locals and out-of-towners alike flock for a year-round swap meet where the lucky can score big when looking for a rarity. Happy-Happy Village: Secluded in the mountains, this little town has little connection with the outside world, as there are often horrible accidents when trying to cross the Peaceful Rest Valley into Twoson, including animal attacks, broken bridges and avalanches. Even for a small town, crime is surprisingly high, as members of a cult calling themselves the Happy Happyists try to change the little village into their base of operations as they seek their ultimate objective, painting the world blue. Maybe one hero is capable of trouncing the gang, but hopes are not high among the locals. Threed: Often plagued by the mysterious threat of the supernatural, Threed is probably a place that is considered great to visit, but horrible to live in. For example, pollution often trails in from the neighbouring city of Fourside, clouding the sky and turning the grass brown. Not even the dead can rest, as there are several reports in Threed of errie apparations appearing in the graveyard at night, and buses from nearby cities are unable to go through the tunnel to the town, as strange and terrifying spirits flock around passing vehicles, warning their drivers that death and the great beyond await at the end of the tunnel. Once again, a hero might be able to save the town, but who can do it? Dusty Dunes Desert: Although technically not a town, the road between Fourside and Threed passes through this place, where traffic is often held up by stampeding wild buffalo. There is a small dry goods shop and inn at the roadside, but should one venture further into the desert, the would find a diamond mine smack in the middle of the place. The miners there have little luck finding hteir fortune, and often find wild monsters more often than they find treasure. Despite the small population, the place is always lively, and people are taking advantage of the incredible heat to form a tourist attraction, so far, though, It's not working. Fourside: The bustling city of Fourside is a great place to visit, if one can stand the trek through the Dusty Dunes Desert. The city boasts the world-famous Department Store where the customers can shop within the four-story building to their heart's content, and heroes may find useful items sold by the small arms dealers in the building's storerooms. However, the town istelf is plagued by corruption, as the mayor Monotoli The Second uses his wealth and influence to push crime rates up and cut spending to important assets such as schools and hospitals to line his pockets with gold. This mad mayor must be stopped, and hwo better to hold the unoficcial impeachment than a local hero? There are other locations, but all on different continents, so these five will do. Biography: As our characters are young, a terribly lengtly bio is not necessary, just include the fact that you own a few pages of the book, and why you might have received them. Personality: Always a must, just a few things about your character, in terms of relationships with others, as well as strange quirks, if any. Signup (RPG style) Traits/Abilities: Whatever unique traits or skills your character might possess that would make him a good hero. Anything from repairing broken items to telling great jokes to using psychic powers is acceptable. (I would prefer to keep Psi powers more limited in this RP, so only the best signups will incluse Psi powers. If I think you are not fit to wield the power of Psi, I will PM you and ask you to change your signup accordingly.) Weapon of Choice: In keeping with the EarthBound theme, all the usual weapons are reduced to toys. For example, instead of a sword, you would use a baseball bat, instead of a flail, a yo-yo will do, as deadly war hammer becomes an ordinary household frying pan, and so on. At a stretch, small arms such as BB guns or knives are acceptable, but try and keep it in the EarthBound theme. Psi Skills: This is only for those who included Psychic powers in their signups, all others need not apply. Psi can be divided into "groups" of sorts, and, for the sake of this RP, I've attached point values to each of the Psi groups, and the total point value of your Psi skills cannot exceed 8 points. Psi - Point value - description Special - 5 points - As mentioned in the page from Ness' book above, these are the "psychedelic fireworks" he spoke of. This is the deadliest Psi skill in existence, and therefore has been attributed the highest point value. It has no defining traits, it is simply raw power channelled through the waves of the mind into a brilliant blast of energy that can vanquish even the toughest foes. This Psi skill is nameless and faceless, and only the most skilled Psi users can give it form and shape, as well as an adequately fitting name. ([color=red]Note: Only one person in this entire RP will be allowed to use Special, and they will also be allowed to give the spell a name. I'm not necessarily saying that it'll be me, but I can still judge who will be chosen to use the special power.[/color]) Starstorm - 5 points - Who can harness the incredible powers of the celestial bodies floating infinitely high in the heavens? Only the most diligent practitiouners of the pysterious Psi powers are able to use the destructive power of Starstorm. When cast, this amazing fireworks display sends white flashes all over the area, disintegrating parts of your opponent's body until there is nothing left. ([color=red]Note, same rules for Psi Special apply, only one person in this RPG can use this skill, and it will go to the person who I feel is best fit for using it. Thanks to StrikeGundam for PMing me reminding me about this.[/color]) Light - 3 points - This skill is probably one of the lesser known forms of Psi, and also works in the strangest ways. A flash of Light Psi can have strange effects on foes, blinding them, dazing them and rendering them unable to tell friend from foe, even vaporizing their bodies in one brilliant explosion. However, Light Psi is not easy to control in the least, and one tiny lapse in concentration can turn the spell against his own allies, having similar adverse effects. Fire - 2 points - Self explanatory, this Psi fires from the fingertips of the user, having effects ranging from a small burst of heat to a searing-rolling flame that can incinerate all in seconds flat. This skill must be practised, however, lest it go cold (no pun intended.) Ice - 2 points - This skill is more of a single-target bomb, that can devastate even the most heavily armoured opponents one at a time. This skill becomes more and more powerful with practise, and the most diligent Ice Psi users will be able to end chills down their opponent's spines with use of this skill. Lightning - 2 points - The most devastating and unpredictable Psi attack, Lightning calls down a bolt of pure energy from the Earth's upper ionosphere, frying their opponents to a crunchy crisp. However, this skill is very hit-or-miss, as, since the shots are fired from so high up, they can land somewhere else, and leave their targets unharmed. To this end, Lightning, despite it's great power, should be used with caution. Shielding - 2 points - A solely defensive Psi skill, this ability helps to weaken, nullify, or even retaliate against the effects of your opponents attacks. The weakest forms of this skill allow you to cover yourself with curtains of light, reducing damage to parts of you body. With practice, the most able Psi conjurers will be able to create massive walls of energy around their bodies, and the bodies of their allies, not only protecting them from damage, but reflecting it against their hapless opponents! A useful technique indeed! Mental - 1 point - Mind over matter, as they say, and the use of this skill will allow you to befuddle your opponents with your skillful manipulation of the physical plane with your mind. For example, you can get inside the heads of your opponents, and use hypnotic skills to put them to sleep, or turn them against each other, or lock their joints in place, rendering them unable to move! Furthermore, this skill can be used on your allies, using your mental energies to bolster their physical force, allowing them to attack with greater strength and stamina, and defend with more endurance and quicker reflexes. Very nice. Healing - 1 point - Who needs medical attention when one has this ally-friendly Psi power? Using simple conjuration and tapping into the mental state of the patient, Healing Psi can effectively disinfect and close the wounds of your friends painlessly, and even help them get over such viral adversaries from normally incurable or crippling disease to the common cold! No shots or long-term prescription drugs required! RPG System: For this game, I have given some thought to working with a classic RPG engine with experience levels and quantitative attributes. These details will be given to people once their signups are complete, so feel free to hint at whatever attributes one possesses when they sign up. On the other hand, if anyone would prefer not to do this, it means less work for me and I won't bother doing it if the majority of people are against it. Naturally, we will do this by vote, and if you would like to use this system, please say so at the end of your post. If not, then please say so, again, at the end of your post, and I won't do it. If you have any other comments, please add them, or PM me, I would like to hear some opinions on this. Essentially, after you sign up, I'll either PM you or post your attributes up here, with some extra point that you can distribute as you please. The attributes will probably look like this: HP: PP (Psychic Points, only for those with Psi): Strength: Endurance: Mental Focus (Psi only): IQ: Speed: Extra Pts (to be distributed as you like among your other points): That's about the size of it in terms of the engine. People will gain levels and points after battles and I will inform them when such an event has occurred, based on their writing skills. Again, if someone has something to add, please PM me or include it in your post. Again, should anyone wish to know more about the EarthBound storyline, please PM me or go to [url]www.starmen.net[/url] for assistance. Good luck, heroes of the world! (my own signup soon to follow)

Engines humming monotonously, Rao and Sata whirled down the highway to look out at the city skyline, dotted with as many lights as there were stars in the sky. Rao turned to look at Sata, who appeared to be unperturbed, despite the fact that her clothes were badly shredded. Rao thought of that vicious battle, and wondered to himself how Sata managed ot get herself out of it again. Rao couldn't help but grin, his sister was full of surprises. "Rao," Sata spoke, suddenly suprising Rao since she never talked to him before. "Yes?" "I am in need of recharging, as it would appear that the battle has drained most of my energy reserves, please return to the Malus Gemellis so that I may recharge." "Oh, sure thing." Rao replied, grinding the controls and pulling off a slick U-turn right on the highway. Rao hung his head back and turned on cruise control, letting himself fall back. "Reverting to safe mode, please stand by for further status." Sata proclaimed, before closing her eyes and going limp almost immediately. Rao stared at her and looked back in the direction of the spaceport facility. "You know what, I think we ought to work something out with those guys." Rao said to Sata suddently, despite the fact that he was pretty sure she couldn't hear him. "Well, you know, I hate making enemies like that, so tomorrow morning, you know, to make sure that Ctarl-Ctarl woman doesn't morph again, I'm gonna try and talk to them, and I don't want you to hurt anyone." Rao pulled over to the side of the road, looking at Sata. "I'll fix you up with some new clothes, so you be a good girl and be nice to those people tomorrow, you hear?" Rao took off his seatbelt and leaned in closer to the sleeping girl. "And thanks for helping me, I couldn't have done it without you." He gave her a small kiss on the forehead, and she replied, "It was my pleasure." Rao jumped at the sudden response, and without looking at her again, gunned the engines and took off back to the port. "Whoa! Check it out, man, these girls are frozen solid!" "Yeah, and they're cute, too." "Quit being pervs, you guys, we need to figure out what they are." "Hey, man, aren't you a little turned on?" "We're here on a mission, shut up and focus!" Rao watched the video feed in amazement. The reception was horrible, and he could hardly make anytihng out, just the fact that it was a dark green metal corridor, lined with ominously glowing cryo tubes that contained women, almost acting as a source of lighting. It was freaky, but it was, indeed, the place he had been thinking of. "So, what do you tihnk these chicks are used for, anyway?" "Dunno, but someone must have got tired of them, since they're here now." "Well, they're probably outdated or something." "We'll leave that to HQ to figure out, so we'll go back and let the search team..." "Dude, are you meaning to tell me that you're gonna leave these girls here for HQ? Wha'sa matter? Scared?" "We were just the advance team sent out to check for hostiles, no one else is here, so now we go get the search team to..." "Hey, man, I thought you were more of a man then that, let's go see how to start these ladies up!" "Dude, I think he's right, let's..." "Forget it, you wussies go back and get your search team, I'm gonna have some fun..." "...This isn't some sort of space harem, man..." The screen, now saturated with static, faded out. Rao stared amusingly at the screen as reminiscient memories flooded over him, he never remembered being that scared or attentive of orders, things sure change in a year... "This is Third Eye, we're out looking for our stupid partner who is out trying to get laid..." "Dude, what do you think these women are for, anyway?" "Not what he thinks they're for, anyway." "Yeah, but they've been frozen for some reason, right? Any guesses?" "How should I know? This isn't supposed to be my job." "No need to bite my head off, dude, it was just a question." "Well, maybe they were used for cheap labour...or something." "Women, man? I'm not sure." "Ok, maybe he was right, then..." "Huh?" "Dudes! Dudes! It's unbelievable! Dragonite, man! And it's all hooked up to this one chick!" "What?" "Wow, that is a lot of dragonite." "Yeah, but why's it here?" "Who cares, man? This stuff could be worth millions!" "Hm, well, as I said, the search team should..." "Screw the search team! I'm cashing in now!" "You realize what'll happen if you're caught with that stuff?" "Hey! Whoa! What'd you do?!" "I dunno! This switch, I thought..." "We have to go!" "Hey, whoa!" "It's another one, and she's moving!" "AAAHHH!" "You who have activated me and restored preliminary functions to normal, please state your name so that I may record information for future reference." "Rao, I think she's hot for you, dude." "She's an android." "...Rao Jaihera..." "Affirmative, Rao Jaihera, please state your next command." "Hey, man, what's she talking about? Rao?" "...Rao?..." [center]- - -I coudln't believe it, but that old datacard did have the video feed from my old mission, it was like walking into that dream world again, seeing so much and never really thinking about what was happening, just that the energy was flowing through the air and you could never let it go.- - - - - -Now, that world is gone. Rui is dead, and...I don't know where the other guy is...Hell, I've even forgotten his name, how about that? That space station is now property of the Ban Pirates, but I really want to go back, and see what has become of the others, and him too. Yeah, I really would like to see him again, even if he tries to hurt me.- - - - - -Yeah, first step is to see what those other guys think of this datacard of mine. After all, I don't really think we should have anything against each other, after I return their information, anyway.- - - - - -Gee, I guess the enemy thing isn't so true after all, at least I hope not.- - - - - -Oh, well, [i]Nolite bastierdi cabarundum[/i].- - - -END TRANSMISSION- -LOGGED AS RJhf0300.txt-[/center]

Well, let's see: In Canada the concept of decriminalization of marijuana is becoming more and more likely everyday, not necessarily meaning that you can buy pot as you would cigarettes, just decriminalization. That just means that people can smoke pot as they would smoke a cigarette (only outdoors or in a bar somewhere where they are allowed) only that people can't sell it on the street. Available by prescription only, and you are not charged for possesison of pot. Essentially, I would just have to say that, in moderation, marijuana can be treated just like cigarettes or caffeine or stuff ike that, annoying and somewhat harmful, but at least not illegal. So it's either one extreme or the other, make more drugs legal and more easily avalable to the general public, or reduce their use. Personally, I think things seem to be going well the way they are, decriminalizing substance possession and use with certain restrictions. Should people decide to use it or not is completely up to them, and they are responsible for whatever consequences may come.

"Kaizou Izato...oh, the 'Tsuchikemuri'.." Kaizou's good-natured smile vanished immediately as the guard grinned at his odd nickname. Kaizou, ears flaming, grabbed the loudly jingling bag of yen and stormed off, muttering. "Whatever, bakayarou." Moments later, the streets emptied out yet again to admit the humanoid dust tornado himself, muttering bitterly, the same tumbleweed from before was following him again. He stopped and stopped over to pick it up. "You're not going to leave me alone, are you?" The tumbleweed jumped once, as though acknowledging the statement. Kaizou ignored it and let it follow him all the way to the general store before staying outside like a good pet. Kaizou walked inside, and the clerks voice wavered when he spoke. "We-Welcome...Is there anything you...." Kaizou thrust his broom forward suddenly, and the store owner screamed and ducked under the counter, arms over his head. Kaizou looked over the edge of the counter, and replied blandly. "I was only pointing at the wall." The store owner leapt to his feet immediately, resuming his good natured smile. "Of course, I was only kidding." He replied, reaching high up for the straw hat that Kaizou was pointing at. He looked at Kaizou, still slightly nervous. "Anything else?" Kaizou slammed his broom hard on the counter, and the clerk screamed and ducked again. The gust from the broom flipped the hat up into the air, and it landed neatly on his head. Kaizou looked over the counter at the cowering clerk. "I'll also take a dumpling kebab and a bottle of water." He said blandly. A hand reached up from under the counter and dropped the items onto the counter. "That...that'll be 250 yen...please..." The clerk replied, shivering. Cursing under his breath, Kaizou reached into his bag, and pulled out the coins, slamming them hard on the table. The cleark screamed again, and Kaizou stormed out in an even worse mood. "Feh, baka everywhere." He muttered as he left the town gate, tumbleweed hopping madly behind him trying to keep up. He stopped and stared at it. "You really think we have something in common, right?" The tumbleweed jumped again to acknowledge, and Kaizou groaned slightly. "Unfortunately, I think you're right. C'mon." Kaizou held the giant ball under his arm and continued down the path leading away from town. On his way, he turned to stare at the city one last time, and bumped into someone. Truning, he caught a flash of a bright yellow outfit and a fan, so, naturally, he made the wrong assumption. "Oh, sorry Miss..." The figure turned around and Kaizou clamed a hand to his mouth, although he wan't sure if it was out of embarrasement or to keep himself from laughing. The man, face full of makeup, turned and stared at him. "Hey, watch where you're going! I could have been hurt!" He cried in an unusually agitated voice, Kaizou let the hand drop, and he opened his mouth to speak. "Sorry." A snort escaped him and he clamped his hand over his mouth again. Sandy looked him over. "Oh, you're filthy, dear, you should get some better clothes!" Kaizou opened his mouth to protest, but before he could, he left, multicolored fan swinging madly at his side. Kaizou, dumbstruck, could find nothing better to do then stare at the tumbleweed at his side. "Weirdo," he told it. "Hey!" A few moments later, Kaizou, completely lost in thought realized that he had strayed off the path and disappeared into tall grass at the side of the road. A young man seemed to be calling out to him, and Kaizou ran out to meet him, however, he didn't notice just how close to the road the grass was, and he crashed into the other person. "Ouch! Sorry." Kaizou said hurriedly, staring at the blue-haired youth before him. "Eh, no big deal, you here on that job too?" "Uh huh, my name is 'Tsuchikemuri'..." Kaizou stopped and narrowed his eyes strangely, as though someone else had said it. He continued a moment later. "Kaizou Izato, but everyone calls me 'Tsuchikemuri', and I hate it." "Yijo Ricecake." The blue-haired youth replied, Kaizou nodded, and stopped as he saw Yijo staring at the tumbleweed at Kaizou's side. "This is a tumbleweed." Kaizou said, holding it up. Yijo stared at it further. "What's it doing there?" "I dunno, It just started following me around." Kaizou said, shrugging apologetically. Yijo stared and laughed for a minute, before the two of them saw a familliar yellow-clad, makeup-splashed figure striding up the side of the road...

It was just another day in peaceful Nabuto Town, as the usual busy bodies crashed into each other on their way to their places of employment and/or entertainment. Everything seemed to be normal, but among the crowd, one middle-aged man looked down the street the strangely unified crowd was walking dow in all it's crowding glory, and he spotted a huge brownish clowd floating ominously in their direction. "Tsuchikemuri!" The man cried out in surprise. However, among the hustle and bustle of people, only about five people nearest to him heard him, and looked at the huge cloud. "HAAAAA!" The five cried out, the rest of the crowd, uncertain wether they were screaming or laughing, stopped to stare. As the small group in the middle began to run in the opposite direction, the mob, being the mob that it is, swayed even by the slightest disturbances and determined to copy the craziest members of the mob itself, did the same, screaming (or laughing) and running in the opposite direction. Within minutes the street was vacant, and the giant cloud arrived just in time to see one of the most amazing sights ever, the town street completely vacant at noon. "Huh?" Kaizou looked around, befuddled, he looked at the empty streets, when a giant tumbleweed rolled down the street, barely brushing his leg, and rolled off, as though following the crowd. Kaizou's eyebrows arched, that was weird, that tumbleweed, with all it's stereotypical symbolism of loneliness, what in the world was it doing there? Rolling around as though expecting Kaizou's arrival. Kaizou frowned, that damn tumbleweed seemed to follow him around everywhere. Shrugging, he glanced once more around the streets, and decided that everyone was sleeping in. He began humming to himself, dragging his broom on the ground behind him, which seemed to kick up a disproportionate amount of dust behind him. He turned around and looked at the giant brown cloud floating behind him. Suddenly, out of the dust, a small white piece of paper was airborne, and Kaizou, watching it fall, allowed it to bounce off his forehead before catching it in his hand. He glanced at it casually, and saw it was adressed from the Emperor. He then shoved it in his back pocket. A moment later, the tumbleweed reappeared down the street, and bounced it's way up to Kaizou. Suddenly, it made an especially large jump, and landed right in Kaizou's arms, like some affectionate pet. Kaizou stared at it for a moment before letting it fall, and it began to circle him, bouncing with the wind. Kaizou shrugged for a moment before letting the tumbleweed follow him. As soon as he turned and left the street, a small man peeked his head out from an alley, and watched as Kaizou and the tumbleweed left, then he walked out of the alley and resumed his normal business, the huge mob doing the same behind him. "Good mornining ihabitant of Nabuto Town. I assume you are here for the Emperor's job opportunity. Please can you show us the letter that informed you." Kaizou stared at the oddly synchronized guards for a moment before realizing where he was, and what he was doing there. "Oh! Right." Kaizou reached into his back pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. The guard stared at it. "leeks...onions...rice?" The guard read suspicously, Kaizou grabbed the paper back, embarrased. "Oops, that's my grocery list." He replied before pulling out the other paper. The guard stared at it, and then resumed his habitual mechanical response. "Everything checks out, you are permitted to pass the checkpoint, please enjoy your stay and any act that violates the Kainoho laws will either result in a long sentence of imprisonment, or banishment to the wicked clan in the North." Kaizou watched as the men opened the huge gates, and then returned to their statue-like state. Kaizou waved a hand in front of the guard's face, but recieved no reaction. Shrugging, Kaizou and the tumbleweed walked through the gate, jumping as it inexplicably slammed shut behind them...

Ah, the old Mystical Ninja Series, good times. Name: Kaizou "Tsuchikemuri" Izato Age: 16 Gender: Male Hometown: Born in Tanto Town, Now lives in Nabuto Town. Hobbies: Used to work at an inn in Tanto Town, where his speciality was sweeping the floor. He loves sweeping the floor, as he claims it's the best way of relieveing stress. He is also an angry and sarcastic teenager, which is a hobby in and of itself. Appearance: [img]http://anime-x.drsolinfo.ca/Bakuretsu%20Hunters/animedia_1295_carrot.jpg[/img] He doesn't own a sword, though. He also wears a plain white headband, and usually an apron while he is at work. Sometimes he never takes them off no matter where he goes. Pesronality: Kaizou is three things, loud, rebellious, and he could care less about what others think of it. Although he isn't a troublemaker, he is not good at recognizing authority, or exactly where that fine line is between doing something and overdoing it. His overzealous nature (especially when it comes to sweeping the floor) is what gets him into trouble 99.9% of the time, (the other 0.1% is probably something stupid, according to him). He also has a sarcastic and venomous side, and when something rubs him the wrong way, it becomes evident from his sudden change in attitude. Bio: Kaizou ws wandering around ever since he hit his teen years (probably has something to do with the fact that he is kicked out of every town he tries to live in.) And he searches constantly for a new home with an especially dusty floor. People know him as the most dangerous human being ever to hold a broom, and he earned his reputation after an incident in Koi Village (No one is sure what happened, but eyewitness accounts claim they saw some kind of hurricane inside the inn, and chairs and tables were flying out the windows.) Despite this, even Kaizou readily admits that he is a dangerous teen when armed with a broom, therefore earning him his nickname: "Tsuchikemuri" (the dust cloud). In any case, Kaizou has been looking for more work, and spreading his name and the dust particles wherever he goes. Some people seem to like him for his willingness to work, but those feelings are gone with the wind (no pun intended) after they try putting him to work. Kaizou also loves all kinds of sports, and dreams of one day creating a new sport to do with sweeping the floor, he has tried to promote his new sport wherever he goes, and he claims that when the dust settles (again, no pun intended), he will have invented the greatest pastime in the world. If you think anything should be changed or added, please let me know. [color=red]Absolutely, I will be commited to this RPG. I just felt it uneccesary to post a second time.[/color]

[i]"Oi! Aketa dui askase en lan Ma'Uriith nojo!"[/i] Kan barked to his crew, as they all scrambled to their appropriate places on deck. Kaze stepped out of his cabin at this announcement, and looked straight at Kan. "That means we're about to land, mate." Kan said with a small grin to Kaze, who looked over the edge of the ship with some boredom. He wondered what his old house would look like now that the place had been wrecked. Probably the same as it's always been, Kaze thought bitterly as the rumbling of chains in the background drowned out the rest of his thoughts. As he stareted to turn back towards the deck, an oddly chilly wind struck his face, and he looked over the side of the deck. As he looked, an odd feeling of foreboding came over him, and he called out to Kan. [i]"Durake! En kojin de use an arekedan!"[/i] Kan looked at Kaze with a mixture of disbelief and terror. "What'd you say, mate?" Before Kaze could reply, an incredible bang rocked the ship, and more than a few people lost their balance. Kaze hit the ground hard, and a panicked voice yelled, [i]"Arekedan!"[/i] People who were still standing rushed for the edge railing of the ship, those on the ground hid behind whatever they could find. Elda and Ensis looke around to see what was happening, when a flying Kan pushed them both behind a barrel. Kaze got up and looked around, when suddenly, there was a flash of green light, and Kaze looked over to see a giant ethereal demon floating next to the ship. It made and odd low-pitched echoing noise, and Kaze summoned up his ethereal pistols, firing round after round into the side of what vaguely looked like the enemy's head. It seemed to have little effect, however, as the giant beast slammed into the side of the ship. Kaze didn't fall over from the collision as much as from the shock of seeing an ethereal monster make contact with the physical plane like that. Flames burst around the side of the ship, and the chains abruptly stopped as the ship began to glide far too fast towards the ground. Kan threw himself to the controls, trying to prevent the airship from capsizing, and just before the the ground rushed up to meet the ship, Kaze heard Kan yell something in his native tongue. Before he could identify it, however, there was an earth-shattering jolt ans the whole ship crashed into the rocky earth... Kaze felt his eyelids hurt , so, with some difficulty, he managed to get up and open his eyes. What he saw he could not easily credit at first, so he turned around and saw a camp made just a little ways away, and Kan standing behind him. "You okay?" Kan seemed more depressed than usual, and a strange tone in his voice told Kaze that Kan could care less if he was okay. He turned back and looked at the wrecked ship. The ultimate transport, gone. Kan began weeping quietly. "I'll lose everything for this, this wasn't supposed to happen..." Kan said, voice quavering. Kaze velt a rush of guilt wash over him, he should have never come back, now more people were destroyed because of him. Kaze got up and looked at the back of Kan's head, trying to speak, but the words weren't there. Kan looked up, but his voice still rattled. "Well, let's see how your friends are doing, eh?"

"Look, I don't want to make an enemy of you, this is your last chance." Rao said firmly as Trace kept his eyes on Rao. "My last chance? You've gotta be kidding me." "You are unaware of exactly what Sata is capable of...please." Trace snorted and quickly shifted his gaze up towards the Midnight Wing. A small device behind Rao's right ear crackled slightly as a voice came through. "This is Unit 01, I am sustaining critical damage, please transmit new orders." Trace reached over and pulled a small communications headset from behind Rao's ear. "Sounds like she's in trouble, what are you gonna tell her?" Trace mocked as he handed Rao back the headset. Rao stared at it for a moment, before putting it back behind his ear. "Sata..." He began before blurting out the next part. "Objective acheived! R.D.E.!" Trace punched Rao in the face as he said the last part, and pointed the rifle at his forehead. "What did you just tell her?!" Trace roared, before Rao could rely, a bright flash came from the building, and Senrai roared loudly. "She shocked Senrai...somehow!" Lex cried out, before he oculd finish, there was an even brighter flash, and the room exploded, blowing Lex and Kaia backwards. Trace whirled around at this, and Rao capitalized by jumping to his feet and running. Trace whirled and fired a bullet, but Rao had alreaty started his mantra. [i]"Pagu-a-sun-fa, pagu-a-sun-fa, pagu-a-sun-fa..."[/i] A bright green light shield coated his body and the bullets stopped just before they hit. Rao grinned and kept running. Trace started to follow, but then his communicator crackled to life. "Trace! The android is escaping, she's going out of range!" "Damnit!" Trance cursed under his breath, before responding. "Find the kid!" Sata ran through the perpetually empty streets, moving faster than usual, due to her new orders. Senrai, efter recovering from the shock, began a hard pursuit, but as she bagan to catch up, Sata turned down an alleyway, and Senrai followed, seeing red. Sata arrived at a dead end, but rather then stopping, kept running towards the wall. Taking a large leap, her feet hit the wall and stuck there, and Sata continued running vertically. Senrai followed suit, but being heavier, was just a little slower at the vertical climb. when Sata reached the top of the building, she threw her blazer off and kept running. Senrai continuing pursuit, When she reached the end, she jumped, and suddently two large energy-based wings appeared with a brilliant flash from her shoulder blades. Pushing her arms hard downwards, Sata took flight, and Senrai stopped as she could no longer follow Sata through the air. She roared with rage, when a voice came to her. "Follow the other one..." Senrai took one last resentful look towards her escaped prey and leapt off the building, after Rao. "What did you find, Colt?" Trace asked. "The kid is not in range either...or his Spell singals must be shielding him from my scanners...but you should abort immediately and come take a look at this." "What is it?" "I wasn't able to pull much from the android, as she escaped range soon after the beam locked on, but what I did find is something you should definetely look at." "All right, be there in a sec." Trace closed the line, and took one last look at the smoking building before walking back in the direction of the port... Rao raced through the streets of Heifon in a small jet-car he found in a garage off the spaceport area. It was rather fast, but it had little equipment, as he sould not locate Sata. Just as this thought crossed his mind, a bright light soared down from the sky directly at him, but in a flash, it had vanished again. Before he could even consider what just happened, a voice came from beside him. "Mission accomplished." Rao whirled in surprise as he heard Sata's voice come from the passenger side. Sure enough, there she was, sitting patiently as though nothing had happened. He stared at her shredded clothes, but her skin seemed to have been undamaged. "I thought you said you were in critical condition!" "Affirmative, I require an energy recharge, my base level is dropping to below 10%." she looked at him, and he looked in surprise as her eyes had turned a misty purple. He stared at her. "Where should I take you, then?" "the Malus Gemellis has such a station to accomodate the process." How convenient, Rao thought bitterly, as he gunned the jets again, heading back to the port. Suddenly, there was a loud bang behind them, and a roar that sounded like... "I thought you lost her!" Rao yelled as Senrai began chasing the car. Sata seemed unfazed, as she stood up in the seat, since there was no roof. "What are your orders?" "Any trick you can use to throw her off is authorized!" Rao yelled back, Sata moved her hands out, and then moved them so that the palms faced each other, A small white beam of light shone from between her hands, as small electric particles jumped between her hands. Once the beam grew larger, Sata clapped her hands together, and one explosive flash later, the Ctarl-Ctarl was howling in pain. Sata sat back down as Rao stared at her in surprise. "What did you do?!" "A Spell-based flare, she is now recovering from temporary damage to her retinas." Rao smiled with amazement as he gunned in back towards the port... "So...what did you find?" Trace asked Colt, who seemed even more urgent and nervous than usual. "That android...named Sata Jaihera...she is in her mid twenties..." "You misunderstand, Colt, I came for the urgent information." "That was it, the infromation is in the name, Sata." "What?" "Sata is not a name, it's an abbreviation: S.A.T.A." "What's it stand for?" "Something big, that unit is part of an old historical study of bio-androids, when it was considered the newest thing." "Yeah, but what is it?" "This type of research was only considered to be a rumour, but this is the evidence that it was real. S.A.T.A. stands for 'Specialized Assault-Tactical Androids.'" "So...what of these S.A.T.A. units?" "Since they are nothing but rumours, my best guess is that they were part of a failed weapons exeriment to train bio-androids as soldiers." "Failed?" "Yeah, from what I heard, the units seemed to exhibit 'strange tendencies' which made them hazardrous to their owners." "'Strange tendencies?'" "I don't know much more than that, but if there are S.A.T.A. units running around, then we could all be in trouble." "All of us?" "All of us, even that kid..." [center]- - -Another day, another enemy.- - - - - -Need I say more?- - - -END TRANSMISSION- -LOGGED AS RJhf0100.txt-[/center]

Although Rao and the rest of the group jumped in surprise at Senrai's instantaneous transformation, Sata, despite being the one pinned down by the giant were-beast, maintained her poker face, and simply craned her head to the side as Senrai's massive paw smashed into the ground next to her. Using a small energy charge in her legs, Sata pushed off the gorund right out from underneat Senrai, and slid on her back about thirty feet before jumping upright. Senrai rushed forward, and Sata made a quick jump over her. Senrai, however, wasn't about to let that happen, as she stopped almost instantaneously and lunged at Sata while her back was exposed. Sata jumped again and let herself roll off Senrai's back, but the damage had been done. Sata turned her head slightly as she felt three enormous gouges open up in her back. Her suit was torn open, and, amazingly, the scratches did not draw blood, but rather ripped her skin open to reveal mechanical parts underneath. Sata seemed unfazed, however, and began to run as Senrai turned for a third attack. As Senrai lunged forward, Sata sent an energy blast from her hand, suddenly propelling her in the opposite direction, right underneath and behind Senrai. Senrai turned, but not quite as quickly, as Sata had begun running again. Senrai pursued quickly, but as she closed in, Sata dove sideways without warning through the window of a dilapidated building. Senrai stopped to turn around, and followed suit. The building, an ancient bar, was immediately wrecked by Senrai's rampage, as Sata ducked and rolled, like a small mouse, to get out of her way. Trace and the rest of the group walked over to the broken window to see what was happening, but Rao had a different priority. He loooked closely at the body of the fallen Ban pirate, and searched through his pockets. He looked over the other side, and saw the face of the pirate. "Rui?...shit." Rao stared into the face of his old comrade, and just then, a flood of memories came rushing back to him. [i]"So maybe it is a weapon, who knows, but until then, what atre we gonna do?" "Look dangerous to me, maybe we ought to dismantle them first." "I'm sure that if whoever built them could, they would have. that's why we found them all in cryo tubes." "Look, what we're disputing over is a bunch of androids, they can be easily programmed to follow orders, how do you think they would have accepted being shut down in the first place?" "They wouldn't have, they were just following orders, like any biological weapons." "If this were that simple, someone would have used them to conquer the universe a long time ago. There has to be some kind of problem, otherwise why would they have been frozen all this time?" "I'm sure that whatever scientist built them never had the balls to finish what he started." "He must not have anticipated that his creations could have been so adept as weapons." "Never you mind with that, what about the first one?" "Rao has sure taken some interest in the first one." "He found it, what do you think? You walk into a room and find a girl in a tube who listens to your every command, who wouldn't be interested?" "Look, maybe we sould leave Rao out of this, if he dares turn on us with that thing we can use the others to rip him to shreds." "That's if they listen to us." "They will..."[/i] Rao came crashing back down to reality as he felt his fingers close around something in Rui's pocket, he pulled out a small data card, and pocketed it. Suddenly, he heard a small click from behind his head, as Trace asked: "You mind telling me what you're doing?" Rao raised his hands in the air, and smiled, replying as calmly as possible. "What kind of problem you have with Ban, man? I'm just here investigating the death of an old war buddy, and while your girlfriend is trying to eat my sister, you sneak up on me like this, where's the justice?" Trace picked up Rao by the collar and spun his around, pointing the rifle at his face. "What are you doing here?" "i could easily as you the same question, but my sister and I are just innocent passerby, and when we saw this body, we decided to check it out. I even specifically told her not to hurt anyone. You don't seem to want that body very bad, so what's the deal?" Rao grinned slightly as Trace kept the gun trained on Rao's face. In the background, a huge table smashed through another window as the fight continued...

Sata glanced casually from target to target, while still keeping her hands up at about chest and face level. She cast and icy glare towards Trance and company, but then returned to her primary target, the Ctarl Ctarl. She heard Senrai laugh casually, and speak. "You go ahead, I'd like to see you try that again." Sata charged up the energy blast in her right leg again, but Rao's voice reached her. "You have no chance, Ctarl Ctarl are practically indestructible, nothing less than a caster will do damage to one, let alone kill it." Sata listened attentively, Senrai laughed again. "Your blonde friend has a point." Rao continued. "It is beyond question that at your current level it is impossible to beat her, but you can outmanuver her. Redirect all your focus to evasion and stamina control." "Affirmative." Sata stood inert, like a statue in a battle stance. Senrai reached up a hand. "Fine, you won't start, I will." Senrai brought the hand down with lightning speed, but Sata, even more quickly, dodged it. Senrai pulled a quick roundhouse kick, but Sata ducked it, and when Senrai came around with a sweep, Sata took a small jump back to dodge. "Hm, so you are fast..." Senrai replied amusingly, Sata did not reply, just kept her determined aim. Senrai's smile disappeared as she took another swing forward, which Sata simply blocked, then spun around to make Senrai lose some momentum. Sata ducked the next punch, and managed to bend back even further when Senrai went for an explosive kick to the face. Seing an opening, Senrai went for a thrust to the stomach, which Sata avoided again by bending sideways. Senrai stared at Sata in this bizzare contortionist pose, and watched as she did a quick backflip to get upright again, high heels clicking softly. Sata lowered her hands and began to walk towards the fallen Ban pirate, when Senrai stepped in her way again. "What makes you think that we're finished?" Senrai demanded angrily. Sata blinked once, then replied automatically. "My mission is not to defeat you, it is to investigate the confrontation that occured here earlier. As it appears that it is not your immediate objective to destroy me, it would seem logical that we get out of each others way and continue with our respective business." Senrai glared furiously at Sata, who just replied with her usual expressionless stare. Senrai growled slightly, before cooling down again. "Hmph, well it may not be your business, but it is mine. If you fight me, you fight me to the end." Senrai fell back into her stance, and Sata back into hers. The two gladiators eyed each other carefully, but Rao was already doing his job, as no one saw him edge himself closer to the body...

OOC: My sincerest apologies, all. Kaze groaned slightly and got up slowly. He opened his eyes and winced slightly as they were stung by light. However, as the world came into focus, he jumped in surprise as he was no longer on the ship. As he bagan to take in details, he noticed a strange moist feeling hanging in the air. It smelled like it had just rained, but as a cool breeze brushed his face he noticed that he couldn't hear anything. Furthermore, Kaze held out a hand, and was mystified to notice that he couldn't see in colour either, everything was in black and white. Getting up, he saw a small withered tree next to him. He reached out and tougched a branch lightly, just before he became aware of someone else's presence. He whirled and saw a strange figure in the mist, this one was watching him with interest. Kaze began to feel a light tingling run all over his body. He stared at this figure who seemed to be trying to talk to him. The person's mouth moved, but no sound came out. Kaze leaned over, straining to hear what this person was saying, when he heard a tiny ringing in the distance, like a sleigh bell. Both the figure and Kaze turned to see who was approaching, and Kaze barely made out an outline of a tall man through the fog. The bells jingled again, only more loudly this time, as the figure of the man became clearer. He was tall and long-haired, with a coat that reached his feet. Kaze whirled as the sound became clearer still, only from a different direction. Another man was approaching, only this one was shorter and had spiky hair, He also appeared to be carrying something very large on his back. Kaze took a step back and turned back to the first figure, as the bells continued to grow louder. He reached out a hand to try and touch his arm, but as he did so, the bells jingled one more time and everything went black, as though the world was snuffed out like a candle. Kaze could no longer see, and he began to feel very drowsy all of a sudden. Struggling to stay awake, Kaze began to feel very light, as though he was weightless, as though the world was disappearing, and he fell asleep. "No...I want to see him..." Kaze jumped as he snapped back to conciousness. He had been moved into a bed, at which Kan was sitting as well. Kan's eyes snapped to Kaze as he jumped, and waht he saw stunned him. Kaze's eyes had once again increased in brightness and intensity, almost to the point of shining like gems. Kan ignored this as best he could and spoke. "You alright, mate?" Kaze nodded, and then added, "My eyes hurt." Kan smiled and rubbed Kaze slightly on the head. "It'll go away, mate, don't worry 'bout it." Kan got up and Kaze looked around, for some reason, He seemed lightheaded, but no pain as though he had lost blood again. Kaze looked up at Kan. "Can you explain this?" Kaze asked, as though expecting Kan to read his mind. To his astonishment, however, Kan smiled and sat back down. "That's a tall order, mate, but I'll try." Kan cleared his throat and continued. "You were out on us a much longer time than usual, but this time you seemed calm, you seemed to be having a good dream this time around." Kan smiled slightly and leaned in closer. "Do you remember if you had a good dream?" Kaze thought back to that misty wood, to the strange people he saw, but came so close to recognising. He looked up into Kan's earnest face and replied: "I think so." Kan smiled and looked at Kaze. "What did you see?" Kaze stared back at his knees, wondering who they were. "Someone I knew...I think."

Well, this is a different and difficult choice I have to make, and it starts with my last year of high school. My school offers a Grade 12 (or level 7 as we call it) education. If we chose to take the extra year, and pay that much more in tuition, we can choose most of our classes and immediately become eligible for entry into a university out of the province. I could have a year off school, and be able to study somewhere away from home, which I would certainly miss. On the other hand, I could skip the level 7, and go to college for two years until I go to a university in town where I can still live comfortably at home. So, I guess I'll have to decide where I'm going to university before I finish high school. As for what I am planning in terms of occupation. Definetely something to do with writing. My best guess would be screenwriting or adapting literature to film, as I am told that most of my ideas would adapt more easily to the screen then paper. (Maybe too much TV?) That, or I could be an English teacher. There's still much to think about, though. Hopefully I can figure out more about what I want to do in the near future.

Well, I would have to agree with Xenosaga being made into a series. However, it probably should not follow the story of the game (as the series is 5 or 6 episodes long) and should probably be told from someone else's point of view. (Can you say...Albedo?) Dynasty Warriors sounds cool too, but it's another one of those theories of adaptation. Right now, I'm comparing the novel to the game, and so I wonder how an anime would compare to that. I'm sort of surprised no one mentioned this already, but Disgaea could cut it as an anime series. (Well, it is mostly anime already.) The parts that I played already sounded like fun, and it would be pretty cool if I could watch it on TV.

Trace and Senrai looked at each other for a moment before turning back to the samurai. Trace raised the gun slightly again, when he began to hear something, the sharp ckicking of high heels against the pavement. He turned slightly and saw two strangers walking towards them. Trace stiffened, Senrai seemed to be looking intelnly at them. "Is something wrong?' He asked tentatively, as though he wasn't sure he wanted an answer. Senrai growled slightly, and Trace's communicator crackled to life. "Trace! Do you see anything unusual?" Colt shouted, the transmission was crackling with static and almost inaudible. Trace shouted back. "There's two people coming up the walkway!" Trace shouted back, "A young guy, and a woman!" "Tra....evac....the wo...." Colt's voice crackled before the line was flooded with white noise. Trace cursed under his breath before turning back towards the samurai. The clicking of the high heels becoming more ominous by the second. Senrai growled and sniffed at the air. "It's her, it's that human girl..." She muttered to Trace, Trace kept his eyes on the sasmurai. Taking a step back, he muttered under his breath: "Can anything else go wrong today?" "There appear to have been casualties in this confrontation. I am curretnly identifying one Ctarl-Ctarl, two humans, and two other races who have not been recorded in my database." Sata announced, Rao folded his arms. "And the Ban?" "The Ban appear to have been eliminated already." Sata stated coolly, she turned slightly. "I would request a new set of orders, as the original set appears to have been violated upon the death of the Ban source." "All right, find any evidence regarding these people's connection to the Ban, as well as why the Ban attacked them, should they become hostile, use evasive auto-defense tactics. No casualties, please." "Affirmative." Sata started walking again. Rao shifted uncomfortably before starting to walk again... Senrai stared maliciously at Sata as she began her approach again. Taking a heavy step forward, she roared. "Who the hell are you? Get out of here!" Sata ignored her completely, continuing to stride forward, unperturbed. Senrai growled and stomped forward. "Explain yourself!" Sata stopped and began to recite blandly. "My name is Sata Jaihera. I am currently engaged in mission ops-mode, and I am unable to react according to orders from any source other than my controller. Therefore, this is all the information I can divulge at this time." "Leave! There's nothing for you to see here." "I am afraid that is impossible, I cannot detract from my orders as I am engaged in ops-mode. I must warn you that any hostile actions will result in automatic self-defense." Senrai roared and took a flying leap forward. Sata blinked and her eyes changed colour from blue to a bright green. "Automatic defense, Sata." Rao stated, arms folded. "Affirmative." Sata replied, as her right leg began crackling with electricity. As Senrai closed in, Sata jumped forward and dealt a flying kick to the face, blowing her back with such force that Trace had to jump back as Senrai landed right in front of him, showering chipped pavement everywhere from her hard landing. Sata, meanwhile, continued to walk again as though nothing had happened. Rao stared with mild interest, he had never seen Sata take Ctarl-Ctarl before. His smile faded as Senrai jumped up almost immediately, despite the energy shock she seemed no worse for the wear, and what's more, she was just slightly fazed. "Well, now, I have to admit I didn't expect that." She replied coolly, Sata said nothing, just stopped again. Rao continued to stare, thinking how this would turn out, when he noticed another person standing up on a roof. "A kid...Ah, of course." Rao thought to himself. He casted a quick eye back to Trace, who, despite the shock of seeing his teammate land like that, also seemed calm, and was now checking his gun. Rao's eyes shifted back to Sata and Senrai, who were now standing face-to-face. Sata was wearing the same expressionless stare, and Senrai growled slightly under her breath. "Hmph, want to try that again?" Senrai challenged smugly. Sata brushed her hair back over her right ear, and fell back into a combat stance. The two fighters eyed each other cautiously, and Rao, meanwhile, was talking into a little device... [center]- - -Sadly, I can't say that I never saw this coming. Sata is still somewhat of an enigma to me, but since I have to control her, every single bad descision I make passes on to her, as she learns from the most imperfect species in existence.- - - - - -I figure that we will end up making the right choice someday, but I would at least like to understand a little more about what will happen between now and then.- - - - - -Still, I wonder what might have happened...were circumstances any different...- - - -END TRANSMISSION- -LOGGED AS RJhf2230.txt-[/center] OOC: My apologies, Raiha, I did not intend for it to sound that biased.

General Awards Overall Member of the Year: James Honorable Mention: Arcadia Male Otaku of the Year: Solo Tremaine Honorable Mention: Baron Samedi Female Otaku of the Year: Arcadia Honorable Mention: Eclectic Staff Member of the Year: Semjaza Azazel Honorable Mention: Harlequin Funniest Member: Dragon Warrior Honorable Mention: Most Opinionated Otaku: PoisonTongue Honorable Mention: Member most likely to be here in two years: Adam Honorable Mention: James Best Newbie: Arcadia Honorable Mention: Best Oldie: James Honorable Mention: Shy Most likely to become a Staff Member: Baron Samedi Honorable Mention: Knight Of The Rose Favorite Banned Member: Taylor Hewitt Honorable Mention: Dayday Most improved Member of the Year: Eclectic Honorable Mention: Baron Samedi Thread of the Year: Honorable Mention: Silliest Thread of the Year: Honorable Mention: Random Awards Avatar Award: (Best Avatars Overall) Baron Samedi Honorable Mention: James Signature Award: (Best Signatures Overall) Sara Honorable Mention: Arcadia Best Location: (Best Specific Location) Zidargh Honorable Mention: PoisonTongue Best Otaku Couple: Harlequin and Ravenstorture Honorable Mention: Syk3 and Mei Best looking Otaku: Honorable Mention: Otaku clique of the Year: Canadians Honorable Mention: G3 Best MyOtaku: James Honorable Mention: Arcadia Otaku Writers Poet Laureate: Mitch Honorable Mention: -- Writer of the Year: Solo Tremaine Honorable Mention: Mitch Orginal Story of the Year: Otakuboards: Enter the Net -Solo Tremaine Honorable Mention: Role-Player of the Year: Arcadia Honorable Mention: James Brawler of the Year (sparring): Honorable Mention: Role-Playing Game of the Year: Laeth E'Thae Honorable Mention: Outlaw Star: Future Prospects Social Otakus Otaku Social member of the year: James Honorable Mention: Entertainment Otaku of the Year: Dragon Warrior Honorable Mention: Otaku Artists Best Graphic Designer (Banners, wallpapers, etc.): Baron Samedi Honorable Mention: Eclectic Best "Traditional" Artist (Drawings, paintings, etc.): mystikal Honorable Mention: Best Spriter: Honorable Mention: Series Otakus Square/Enix Member of the Year: Semjaza Azazel Honorable Mention: Zidargh

Well, guys, I'm sorry about the small text, so I made a larger one. The only problem was that the picture wasn't large enough to hold a width of 500, so I had to mutilate the star background somewhat so that I could increase the size. I boldened the text, so now it should be easier to read. Border has been added too. Azure, I didn't think the picture was too bad to begin with, but I scanned it, so who knows. Baron, maybe the text does look a little slanted because I had to eyeball each line and try to center it. Maybe the problem seems more evident when the text is enlarged. Oh, and the only reason it's titled "Fateban" is because the person is Fate Linegod from the soon-to-be-released Star Ocean 3.

This is the kind of thing I tend to produce when I'm bored. The strange text you see is actually a cipher I made using symbols on the keyboard which vaguely resemble letters. Just something I made for fun, see if you can break the code!

[color=seagreen]A low mechanical whirring filled the shop, sending small waves through the air and shaking the ground. The people, curious as they were, stopped to stare at what was going on. They looked around, tryng to pinpoint the exact source of this strange haunting noise, when an incredible explosion rocked the ground floor. Some people had to grab onto chairs or beams for support, others just fell to the ground. Everyone stared out the window, or rather, the hole in the wall that acted as the window, just in time to see a huge chunk of the ceiling hit the pavement. A few odd bystanders rushed over to see what was going on, but before anyone asked quesions, all eyes turned to the stairs that led to the upper floor... "Oh my god! You did it! It fired!" A young boy shouted in a mixure of surprise and euphoria. He bagan to jump up and down, excited and shaken from the blast. Tristan, however, was not so enthusiastic. He was lying on the flooor, apparently exhausted, which came as no surprise, since what appeared to bee a giant satellite dish with a five-foot blade sticking out of it rested on the floor next to him. He panted, and with great effort, managed to get himself up, checking for broken bones. He grimaced as he felt his shoulder pop loudly, and the boy next to him stared. "Is something wrong?" Tristan groaned and sat up. "That thing...is...too...heavy." He replied, taking deep, laboured breaths between words. The boy stared at him. "Well, why don't you just make it smaller?" "Then the blast would destroy the weapon." Tristan replied impatiently, since this kid had seen what has happened before. "Well, why don't you make it out of lighter material?" "Same problem, it's too weak to support the impact." "Well...how about using less ammo, then?" Tristan stopped short as he was about to reply. He hadn't thought of that one yet, what he had intended was a one-man Materia weapon, but it was too much for one man, like an artillery cannon. This kid may be on to something. Tristan throught smugly as he looked back at the boy. "Ok, I'll have to go get some more Materia, anyway." He said, rumpling his hand through the kid's hair. The kid looked annoyed as he reached up and felt his hair slightly oil-stained. Tristan ignored it, and trhew his coat on in a single motion. Walking out the window, he slid down a small emergency exit ramp and landed on his feet. shoving his hands in his pockets, he began to walk towards Sector 7, whistling a simple tune, albeit very badly...[/color]

[center]Heifon Planet Surface - 22:00h - - -Naturally, things start to heat up as we get closer and closer to our target. I don't mean nerves or excitement or anything. Hell, Sata has never even seemed surprised at anything since I activated her. What I'm trying to say is, we start dreaming, so to speak. We try and think like our victim, see, we wonder what name he's going to give us, and how we're going to seal the deal, so to speak.- - - - - -Sata has been scaring me lately, since those last battles she has been so intense, and despite the fact that she is part human, she still thinks of herself as an emotionless weapon, and everyone else, even women or children, are potential targets, all I have to do is say the word. I'm not afraid she'll hurt me, or anything, it's just that she listens to me so diligently, that I'm afraid that I'll mess up and ruin everything for her as well...- - - - - -Sometimes...I wish I had never met her...- - -[/center] "Welcome to Heifon, Mr. Jaihera. Is there any way we can assist you?" The lady receptionist at the spaceport asked cheerfully. Rao nodded. "Yes, simple routine repairs are required to maintain the ship, spare no expense, if you find sometihng worth repairing, put it on my bill." Rao replied nonchalantly. The woman smiled and nodded, and the video feed ended. Rao turned his head slightly, and spoke over his shoulder to Sata. "Encode the log data, please." Sata nodded, and manipulated the terminal in front of her. Suddenly, a large disc appeared on the video screen, comprised of concentric circles with several symbols etched onto each section of the ring. Sata nodded once, and the rings began to rotate slowly, some to the right, others to the left. The circle in the center didn't move. Sata nodded again, and the rings stopped, the symbol in the middle turned from green to red. "Encoding complete, please register simulation codes in order to prevent loss of data." A computerized voice replied monotonously throughout the ship. Sata left the terminal and stepped outside with Rao. "Fred Luo's companny HQ is located five thousand-eight hundred-thirty-six metres from this precise location, our best option would be to find some mode of transport to get us there quickly and inconspicuously." Sata replied with a mechanical certainty. Rao, however, shook his head. "No, not very interesting, we're on Heifon, we should relax and do some sightseeing." Sata stared at him, but instead of registering surprise, she continued. "I am afraid that that is an illogical choice, we are currently running low on funding, and the idea of staying in Heifon for more than two days would reduce our funding to nothing." Rao smiled. "You really have to learn to live a little, you know? This is H-E-I-F-O-N. We can't just come here on vacation, this is work, so we should take advantage." Sata didn't bother to reply, so Rao continued. "No objections? Good." Sata snapped to attention suddenly and her head whipped to the side of the spaceport. "There is some hostile activity going on between two parties in that direction." "Oh, a fight? Sounds like none of our business..." "Shall I engage the targets?" Sata continued. Rao stared at her, and then he asked. "Who is involved?" Sata's eyes whipped back in the direction of the scene, and then answered. "They appear to be freelance outlaws...and Ban Pirates." Rao grinned, but jumped when he saw, or thought he saw, Sata doing the same. "Shall I engage?" Sata asked again, Rao looked seriously at her. "No casualties, please, nonlethal reconnaissance only." Sata nodded, and began walking quickly in the direction of the fight, heels clikcing loudly... [center]- - -Sometimes I hate myself for letting Sata do as she pleases like that, she always follows orders, and comes back alive, but still, I feel that I could be doing something other than getting in the way. It feels strange to be like this, since Sata is so great, but sometimes, I forget that I have control, and let some...strange feelings take over. It's a weird idea, but it can happen.- - - - - -Sata, on the other hand, doesn't seem to mind this, and although her methods condradict multiple laws of human morality and reason, she doesn't let those, as she likes to call them "insignificant human thoughts" get in her way.- - - - - -Oh, well, [i]ecce universa terra coram te est recede a me obscero...[/i]- - - -END TRANSMISSION- -LOGGED AS RJhf2200.txt-[/center]

[color=seagreen]OOC: Sorry I'm late, all. Tristan looked around the street as he walked by at a slow pace. He was carefully examining the gutters and junk piles nearby for some kind of useful trash. On his way past, he thought he spotted some part he was looking for, or a nice metal or something, and without a second thought dove into the junk, scraping frantically for it. He stopped as he began to get up, thinking of what he had just done. "Shit." He said aloud, laughing without showing the slightest trace that he was amused. He was sickened. Reduced to this, jumping into trash heaps trying to make a living, like some kind of sewer rat. Wincing, he got up and resumed his slow walk as though nothing had happened. He grinned slightly as his heavy jacket brushed against a large, unbandaged burn on his arm, sending a sharp sting down his arm. After so many accidents in ihs line of work, Tristan has also begun to enjoy the sensation of pain, it reminds him that he's still alive. He grinned as he walked down the road that passed the train station. He took a quick moment to examine the train graveyard, opposite the station, and see if there was any promising garbage. No one has ever gone past the train graveyard before, apparently populated with ghosts and vengeful spirits and other paranormal shit. Tristan frowned, nothing new here, nothing ever changes. As he walked by the 7th Heaven, he paused to contemplate getting himself a nice drink, maybe take his mind off all the shit that's been going on. He paused, then finally decided against it. He had just come to relax, not get boozed up for no reason. As he walked by, however, he heard a small crash, and peered into the alleyway leading to the side of the bar. He walked down, and saw that it had only been a piece of garbage. He turned to leave, when he began hearing voices from a small building adjacent to the bar. Growing ever more curious, he snuck down to listen in on what was going on.[/color] [color=darkblue]"...Shinra seems to be on the verge of battle with other continents of the Planet, or so I hear. So are you in, or out?"[/color] [color=seagreen]There was a small silence at these words, and Tristan thought he heard someone cough. He leaned in closer, trying to hear if there was any approval, when there was a small crash, and Tristan realized, with some shock, that he had knocked over a hunk of scrap iron. There was some commotion inside, and the door opened. Tristan righted himself as a young man looked out at him from inside.[/color] [color=crimson]"Hey, are you in on this too?"[/color][color=seagreen] Tristan wasn't too sure how to answer, but he thought that the last bit of conversation he had caught sounded good enough... "Yeah, I'm the guy." Tristan replied as casually as he could, and walked slowly up the steps into the house, closing the door behind him.[/color]

[color=red]EDIT:[/color] Added some more small details, hoping to make it better. Name: Tristan Mercer Gender: Male Age: 24 Occupation: Junk shop owner, does illegal side jobs (smuggling weapons, drugs, etc.) Height: 6'2" Birthdate: 19 November Birthplace: Sector 6 Slum (not Wall Market) Specialties: Repairs and invention, ripping people off, also quite the actor, and can earn the trust of almost anyone. Appearance: What used to be dark red hair is now oil-stained and filthy, so now it is a more brown shade and sticks up in all the wrong places, giving him an appearance of permanent bed hair. Has blue eyes, but they are usually covered by a pair of cracked sunglasses. Light skin and a slender figure, burned slightly from the heat of so many gas torches, and also slimy with grease. Wears a brown sleeveless shirt when he works in the shop, usually torn, and sometimes with holes burned right through, and wears a dark green bomber jacket when he goes out. Wears a belt over his stomach instead of his waist level, and keeps all his tools there, including other "essentials" like lockpicks or sharp worthy-to-be called-weapon-like objects. Also wears torn black and white camouflage pants, complete with multiple pockets for carrying extra equipment, and worn out white sneakers. Personality: Tristan is a real opportunist, and will grab any chance of making a quick buck as it comes along. He rarely gets into trouble, since he has earned the trust of so many around him, but he stays on his guard nonetheless, since he has had several unfortunate run-ins with the law which he has narrowly managed to escape thanks to "connections". He spends any and all free time in his shop, perfecting the next "secret weapon", provided it doesn't blow up in his face and give him an even worse appearance. Tristan is also optimistic, and despite the losses he may suffer, he has a strange habit of bouncing back just as all seems lost. Despite this admirable quality, he also speaks his mind on subects he cares deeply about, especially when one's life, that is to say, his own life, is at stake. When he thinks that something is a bad idea, he is sure to make it clear to everyone before it gets any further. He would never stick his own neck out before anyone else, and would much prefer to let others take the heat in his stead. He is also somewhat of a pacifist, and avoids confrontation whenever possible, preferring to rely on stealth and his (figurative and literal) ability to slip out of the grip of his adversaries. However, like any other creature, he only reaches for his sharp objects when cornered or threatened. He has a positive outlook when he is at peace and working in his shop, but when real work comes along, it's down to business.