RPG Scrapmetal Circus

[Inuyasha Fandom]

"Hey, Zeke! Get your ass out there!

Zeke leaped out onto the stage, dressed in retro attire. He wore a mask, looking rather like the phantom of the opera, aside from the fact his abdomen was exposed. He took a running jump, and traversed onto the large trampoline with extraordinary ease. He flipped up, and came back down to repeat the motion. He then jumped over to the next trampoline, moving in sync with several other of his fellow performers. This set they were working on was comprised of several trampolines, built in a pyramid shape.

The performers leaped and twirled on them, bringing to the audience a fantasy wonderland. The trampolines had a cloud motif attached to them, making it appear as if the performers were dancing on the clouds. The trampolines shifted apart, the dancers not losing a beat. Trapeze bars began to revolve around, and in sync, they began to grab ahold of the bars, using them to swing around above the crowd.

Zeke felt his cape billowing out behind him. He swung his body up, hooking his feet up into the trapeze. He caught a young woman by the hand, throwing her up into the air above him, only to be caught by the next performer on the next trapeze. Zeke at the same time caught another woman, dressed in a pink sequined dress.

Zeke did this several times, with other performers bouncing around them. Zeke let his last partner down, and he reached up to grab the bar of the trapeze with his hands as the rotation of the bars slowly stopped. Climbing up, he stood there on the trapeze. He back flipped with the other dancers onto the top trampoline. Reaching in sync with the other performers, he grasped a ribbon from the center, and jumped off, all of the ribbons giving the illusion of a waterfall. Falling with the ribbon in hand, he hit the trampoline and bounced back up as hard as he could. Together, the performers came back together. The ribbons billowed out, and then with a loud explosion and a burst of light and confetti, the star of the show appeared, and then there was silence as the trampoline performers jumped out onto the trampolines. The set lowered quickly, the star of the moment sitting on a moon shaped seat.

There was silence from the crowd, eagerly awaiting her melodious voice. Her voice rang out, enchanting all who heard it. Zeke turned to face the crowd, and he bowed. In this position he remained for the rest of her song, as the moon she sat on rotated to move across the crowd. She moved, her dress fluttering in the air. She was the goddess, the watcher of this story. She sung the most beautiful melody Zeke had ever heard. Even though he heard her every night, her voice never got old.

When her song was finished, a heavy fog rose, signaling the act was over. Everyone in the audience started moving, going to the bathroom, getting refreshments, and the like in the twelve minute intermission as a new set was put into place. The heavy fog spanned out, cloaking the rebuilding of the stage.

Zeke smiled raising up. "This never gets old..." He said. He had seen the crowd's reaction to their aerial ballet, they had been spellbound as they watched the performers. Zeke wiped of a thin film of sweat from his brow as they helped move around set pieces. Quickly, the stage was rebuilt into a beautiful brightly colored wonderland.

He looked over to his right, and smiled. "Hey everyone! Good job on the trampoline scene! Let's make the rest of the show even better!"

His fellow performers were all slightly out of breath, and they nodded, quickly heading off to change for the next scene. Zeke would be sitting out of this scene. Zeke walked off of the stage, and smiled as a towel was thrown to him by one of the supervisors.

"Great job, Zeke." Zeke patted off his head, slinging the towel around his shoulders. "Thanks! Next time, why don't you go on stage?"

The boy smiled, waving his hands. "I can't even do half of that stuff."

"Yeah you can." Zeke smiled. walked over to a small sir conditioned room where the others who would be sitting out would also watching the rest of the performance until they had to get ready for a scene. Zeke would be getting ready after the next scene, he was playing an aerial bunny with a whip.

[ExcelExcel]

Anya walked out onto the stage, her rather revealing outfit poking fun at masculine attire. She resembled a three ring circus leader. She took off her top hat, and bowed deeply, her sequined jacket rather formfitting, the way she liked. Underneath, she wore a white garb that appeared to have a bottom like a bathing suit. she had a rather large bow tie, whimiscal and fun, as she was supposed to appear.

"Welcome to the Carnival! We welcome our guests with a special performance just for them at the beginning of every show!"

Anya snapped her fingers, and lights began to shine, revealing a magical place just above her. Optical illusions. Hologram projectors. Around her, several people were dressed on cloaks, they having the appearance of sorcerers, 'conjuring' this little magic wonderland.

Anya lifted her hand, and a sparkle appeared, lifting higher and higher, until it exploded, revealing a new stage. The crowd let out collective 'ooooo' and 'ahhhh' sounds, and Anya smiled.

"Tonight we have the story of Alice in Wonderland. Join us as we bring this classic fairy tale to life, all for you!" Anya flipped back, onto a rising platform. One of the other performers jumped up to the platform, standing next to Anya. They did a high-five maneuver, Anya swung down under the stage, hearing the clapping of the crowd. Anya removed her hat, and smiled. She wouldn't be going back on stage, she was built to heavy for all of that flipping and such in the air on the trapeze. Of course, she was smiling, feeling rather sexy in her outfit.

Zeke greeted her backstage in the room to watch the performance.

"Well, don't you look sexy..." he said, smiling. He was changing into his own outfit for the next session, putting on an outfit that made him look like a bunny.

"Aren't you so cute and fuzzy. Besides, I can't take your compliments seriously. You're gay."

Zeke smiled."And? At least someone gives you mindless compliments."

"True enough..."

[Drizzt Do'urden]

Kilo always marveled at his metal allies as they performed. It would be easy enough to use all Holograms, the humans wouldn't have a clue, but in classic circus style they choose to weave a wonderland of twisting and twirling.

Not for Kilo though, his sheer size made anything but a sideshow attraction, the strong man in particular, nothing but a pipe dream. He didn't mind though, he helped run some of the carnival games, and aided in the setting up and tearing down, and received a front row show everynight.

Yes things were great, though Kilo was a worrier at heart and the ever present reality that they could be discovered caused him to double check his...special parts before everyday began. Anya had just finished her routine...and boy she looked pretty. But one of the "stars" of the show was about to perform now, Zeke always delivered.

Kilo kicked his enormous feet up and waited in anticipation for Zeke and the others in this performance.

[Inuyasha Fandom]

Fully dressed in his new attire, Zeke readied himself for the stage. He walked to the top of the crowd's entrance, and people began to notice him. Zeke was now dressed in stripped stockings, pink and purple over layed with a bunny costume that showed off his abdomen nicely. His costume top expanded from his chest up to his neck, and down his arms. He wore a ball like bottom, and everything was decked out in pink to make him appear whimsical. He wore ballet slippers, to better aide his movement. A short jacket added to the costume, as well as an over sized red bow tie. He wore a matching oversized top hat with bunny ears poking out, specially fitted as so it wouldn't fly off while he performed. He snapped his whip, making everyone around him jump and turn. The spotlights focused on him, to a dramatic trumpeting. He was the bunny of dreams and love, with quite the attitude. He was the star of this scene.

In front of him, the girl playing Alice twirled on the trapeze. Her own costume was quite pretty, she very much so looked like the Alice from the story. She jumped down, onto a high wire. Zeke snapped his whip again, and all eyes were on him now. Zeke's whip was lit up like a drag queen at Mardi Gras. Balloons began to drift down, brightly colored and pretty. Several performers on the stage began starting their routines, dancing around 'Alice' on the criss crossed high wires and flower shaped trampolines. Vine patterned trapeze swung over head, pivoting around in a circle, some performers using them as well in their routines.

Zeke smiled, the humans didn't even know if he snapped this at them he could slice them apart, if he had it turned up to maximum power. Right now, all it did was glow, and would sting a bit if he hit them. But, that would be bad for him to hit the crowd. For now, he was the Rabbit, invoking Alice to follow him down the rabbit hole.

Zeke took a running jump, slapping his whip in front of him as he ran down the slope past the audience, the loud cracks making everyone jump. The lights followed him as he jumped up and over the railing, onto the stage. Zeke landed on one of the wires, using his weight to bounce over to Alice. He snapped his whip around one of the wires, catching Alice's hand and taking them both for a wild ride, on nothing but his whip. All around them, illusions appeared, letting the Crowd know it was down the rabbit hole they went. Zeke swung Alice up, and she caught a wire, swinging herself up and over, balancing herself perfectly. Zeke flipped onto the underside of the wire, the wires themselves having gravity distortion generators channeling their energies through them. Zeke now danced upside down on the wires. Following his lead, several other performers flipped to the underside as well. 'Alice' was now surrounded by dancing on the wires, both upside and downside. Zeke jumped down, and in a grand motion, snapped his whip in a rather enticing manner, beckoning for Alice to follow. She swung upwards, watching the bunny flip backwards, and through a doorway, which popped up out of thin air. The other side expanded, exploding into confetti. To the crowd, he simply disappeared, but really he was hidden in a hologram, designed to make him invisible to the crowd. He ran out off of the stage, so that the rest of the scene could end. Greeting him back stage was Kilo. He'd apparently come backstage as Zeke finished his routine.

"I don't know how you pull that stuff off, but wow, you were great, as usual."

Zeke smiled, and he rubbed his head. "I'm not that good...Otherwise I'd be more than just the Rabbit."

"Whatever, Zeke. Stop being so modest." Anya's voice rang out. Anya still wore her ringleader outfit. She walked over, her heels clacking on the cement floor. "You're good, and you know it."

Zeke made a funny nervous laughing sound, and one of the stagehands came over, wheeling towels to mop off sweat from the machines who would need it. Not all of them sweat, but a majority of the performers were bio-androids, it wasn't often that a mech joined their ranks, most of them being outdated by this point in time.

Zeke was handed another towel, and pulled himself onto a prop for a scene later in the show.

"Hey, Anya?" Zeke said, as she Pulled herself up next to him. "How long has the Carnival been in service?" Anya shrugged, her eyes glowing slightly, as she tapped into the ship's onboard computers. Zeke could see miniscule data scrolling up on her pupils as she searched and sifted through massive amounts of data.

Zeke's own telepresence functions were just fine, but he was feeling lazy at the moment. "About thirty years." She said. "It's an older vessel... It was a military ship at one point. Of course, it was stolen...and then remodeled into the Carnival. Now that it's so old though, it's a bucket of bolts. Don't you already know this stuff, though?"

"Oh yeah. I guess it slipped my mind..."

"I swear, Zeke, You'd be the first android ever to get Ahlzheimer's disease..." Kilo joked.

"And you'd be the first to get you ass kicked in a fight, pansy." Zeke retorted, pretending to be indignant. Kilo bent over, mockingly begging for Zeke's forgiveness. Zeke smirked mischieviously.

"Come on, I'm sorry!" Kilo said.

"If you're sorry.... then you can buy me dinner tonight." Zeke said, his grin bright. "And I want pizza. With everything."

Kilo shook his head. "Wow, you're easy to please."

Zeke smiled, smacking Kilo's shoulder for the sexual inclination. "Ass hole!" Zeke said, laughing. Anya smiled, shaking her head. "Kilo, you know Zeke can kick your ass, hands down. I suggest you just take him out to dinner."

"Fine fine...You going to come with?"

"Eh, I think it's the last night of the show, isn't it? We'll be packing up and heading to Rastor, won't we?"

Zeke nodded. "Yeah. We'll be heading off as soon as possible. That means everything outside the ship has to be torn down. We're heading off in two days."

Kilo sighed. "That means I'll be up until dawn taking all of the rides down..."

Zeke smiled. "So will everyone else, so don't feel bad."

Kilo sighed. "Yeah, but you two aren't treated like a pack mule. Besides, Zeke, you won't have to. You were in the production twice."

Anya spoke."Just because you're bigger than us doesn't mean we're weaker than you are. Zeke here can kick both our asses, two on one. Even still, he's probably wiped out from being in two scenes so close together.

Zeke laughed nervously. "Anya.... hush... I can not kick both your asses..not at once, anyway."

Anya snorted. "Yeah, you can. You're a ZX type, right?"

"Well... yeah...." Zeke looked down at the ground, not likeing Anya's blatant disregard of his modesty.

"You're one of the strongest model androids out there, bio-mechanical or not." Kilo nodded his agreement. "Everyone says not to piss you off..."

"WOULD YOU TWO STOP IT?" Zeke shouted, flustered with them talking like that about him. They started laughing, and Zeke looked pissed. "What's so funny?"

"Relax!" Kilo cried. "We're just teasing you!"

"Oh.. oh...." Anya gasped in her breath. "That little vein that pops out of your neck when you get mad...OH! THERE IT IS AGAIN!" she laughed so hard she fell backwards, holding her sides. Zeke started laughing at her too, and his anger was forgotten. The tree of them talked some more, and when everyone trooped off the stage they started handing out towels to them. There were still four scenes left, and some of them had to change. Zeke was out for the rest of the production, someone else would play the part of the Rabbit for the duration of the production.

Zeke smiled, and stretched out his arms. "Well, I'm going to head to the changing room, and then watch the rest of the show. If ya wanna join me, I'll be back in a few minutes."

Anya smiled. "Yeah, sure. I'll watch with you."

[sakazaki]

[FONT="Tahoma"][COLOR=DarkGreen][I]?This is embarrassing?[/I]

The other performers were chuckling at him. Even worse, one of them started laughing hysterically. Lyon felt uneasy, as this costume was by far the worst costume that he had put on. He tried to pretend like the doesn?t know anything?but, it was too much. Anya was laughing so much that he decided to take things into his own hands.

[B]?Explain to me again about why must I be the one to take the RIDICULE OUTFIT?!?[/B]

Anya tried to regain her composure, but it wasn?t easy, [B]?Why, it's because all of us would LOVE to see you it it?haha?look at you?don?t you realize that you?re cute in this outfit? Besides, you never tried wearing this outfit before??[/B]

[I]?cute is not in my vocabulary?[/I]

Zeke walked towards Lyon, with a little grin on his face. Out from nowhere, a flashing light suddenly hit Lyon?s eyes. It took awhile for Lyon to realize that Zeke actually took a photo of him!

[B]?ZEKE, DELETE IT! I?M WARNING YOU!!?

?Hey,?[/B] Zeke passed the camera around for other to look at Lyon?s picture, [B]?Chill out, man! What?s the big deal??[/B]

Lyon held his anger back. He knew that getting angry won?t solve this problem.

[B]?Hey, we still haven?t fluff out Lyon?s bunny tail yet,?[/B] Kilo reminded them, [B]?Haha?a bunny without a bunny tail is?just too weird??

?Right, right,?[/B] Anya commented, [B]?I?ll help out.?[/B]

[I]?dang, it will be better if you find me a replacement or a better outfit?[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]

[Tetra of sound]

[COLOR=Purple][FONT=Comic Sans MS]Kurai was Alice in the previous scene. [/FONT][/COLOR][FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=Purple]Her lightweight body made her ideal for the part. The dress made her look like she was headed to a high school prom. Tho whole act, however, made it all worth it. Being handled the way she was, she was sure she would blush, but she hadn't - at least, not yet.

The scene was over, and Kurai was taking a quick break. She watched everyone laugh at the jokes about Zeke. Kurai didn't quite get them.

"What's so funny? I don't get it." Kurai said, still dressed in the Alice outfit.

She was then handed the picture that was just taken of Lyon in his outfit. Kurai took a look at it. Everyone else was laughing, so she started to laugh as well.

"Seriously... What's so funny? I don't get it!"[/COLOR][/FONT]

[chibi-master]

Burt heard the androids arguing with and teasing each other. "It's like they're not even robots at all... Heh. Just how I built 'em." he muttered to himself.

"Hey, what are ya' doing in here?" Zeke asked, poking his head past a grease stained curtain. Burt turned his head, his large silver eyes covered by bright red goggles he only wore when working.

"Oh, I'm just tightening up a bolt on this piece. Otherwise 363-636A could go crashing right into the ground. And then I'll have to do repairs...too much work..."

"Too much work? Ha, you sound so heartless!"

"Sorta. You see, I'll try not to become too emotionally attached to you guys. That way, if you die, I won't care, and I'll have some good scraps. On the other hand, if you guys get injured and survive, I'll have to do tedious repair work."

"Wow...you're a bitch." Anya said, poking her head past the curtains as well.

"Nah, just lazy." Burt responded, twisting his prosthetic left arm, the wrench poking out of his palm on an angle. When he'd finished, the wrench slid back into his hand. "So I'm helping K96-I84-A24384 dismantle stuff tonight, right?"

"Only stuff he can't take apart without breaking." Zeke replied.

"Okay. Well, tell SG01-4693 that bunnies are not in the habit of yelling." Burt said, getting up and stretching.

"I wish you wouldn't call us by our military codes..." Zeke sighed.

"Maybe one day. But it just doesn't feel natural to me." Burt muttered. "Sort of like how a mom wouldn't ever call her kid by their nickname of "Mad Dog" or anything ridiculous like that."

"Our names aren't ridiculous!"

"To me, they are. I know you only by the codes the army knows you as officially."

"Okay, I gotta go settle Lyon down..."

"Bye, ZX-045729221."

[Orcus]

[FONT="Palatino Linotype"]Axel loved all of the bickering and playfulness that went on behind the curtain at the circus. He was relatively new to the circus, and was still actually a bit bashful around the other members; he kept to stage work and that was good enough for him. He was quite sure he didn’t have the “shimmer and flare” of any of his brothers and sisters—especially not Zeke—so he was entirely content to sit on the sides and watch them make spectacles of themselves. He couldn’t help, of course, but to snicker a little though when Lyon’s picture was handed to him. Axel called after Lyon, who had already walked off to get his tail fluffed.

[B]“Don’t be embarrassed, Lyon! You look adorable!”[/B] A thoroughly disgruntled grunt echoed back to the group, and everyone in the room couldn’t help but to howl with laughter. Feeling like Lyon might appreciate some sincere complimenting, and wanting to see him up close and personal in his costume, Axel sprang up and bolted after him. As he flew past Burt he held up his hand for a quick high five; naturally Burt denied the motion, but casually greeted A-45-R-39-W-480. Axel didn’t mind being called by his military name at all, as truthfully, he was just glad that Burt acknowledged him. Finally making it to Lyon’s changing room, Axel almost fell over with laughter at the sight in front of him.

Apparently thinking it more efficient, Kilo and Anya were attaching the tail to Lyon’s suit… while he was still wearing it. If there was one thing Axel hadn’t been expecting, it was to see Lyon bent over while Kilo and Anya furtively attempted to sew on a tail and not stab their friend in his behind. Hearing snickering from next to him, Axel turned to see who else was there. Sitting in the corner, on top of a makeup counter was Zeke, laughing at Lyon’s predicament. Testing his luck, Zeke jumped over to Lyon and spanked him softly, and then whistled.

[B]“My my, aren’t we looking good!”[/B] The looks Lyon shot Zeke could have easily turned a man to stone, but they only further fueled Zeke’s fire. Zeke shrugged and patted him a couple more times, then took his seat again. Axel grinned and shook his head at Zeke, then walked over to Lyon, attempting to keep a straight face as he uttered the next line.

[B]“You know they’re only picking on you to be supportive! You should find it quite endearing Brother Lyon. Personally I think you’re a perfect match for this outfit; your serious demeanor makes the character much funnier!”[/B] Lyon looked up, his face still quite stern; but before he could say anything a look of pain shot across his face. Anya’s voice quickly flittered over.

[B]“Whoops! My bad.”[/B] Axel’s face contorted with restrained amusement at the unhappy Lyon. He walked away from Lyon and over to the two sewing his behind, and gave them both a big hug.

[B]“Keep up the good work you guys. If you’re lucky, maybe you could sew that tail onto Lyon permanently. That oughta lighten him up a bit!”[/B][/FONT]

[Drizzt Do'urden]

"There done and done" Anya moved back and smiled. Kilo loved her smile, though he wished he could share her enthusiasm. The tail, while sewn on quite well, only served to futher embarass Lyon, and while embarassed Lyon was a good sight he did feel sorry for the boy.

"Okay Lyon you're fully ready to hop on stage..." Anya's pun drew a wave of laughter from everybody but Lyon.

Zeke had jumped up on the make up table to ambush lyon again. This time however, when he lept Kilo was there to catch him and walk him out of the room.

"Hey let me go you big lumox, I have to tease him. Common..pretty pretty please?" Zeke's childlike begging, accompanied by his puppy dog eyes almost got what he wanted.

"You need to get ready for your final act. And quit kicking, you know damn well it won't get you anywhere."

"Final act what are you talking about? I'm done performing." Kilo shot him a wink

"Autographs. You know the second the bunny goes off stage and the show is over you, anya, and the rest of the cast will be swarmed. Though tonight I might venture that Lyon will get asked for the most tonight. A lot of children out there, and you know how much they love the bunny."

Zeke was gone, he was already thinking about the autographs and in his own little world.

[I]"Aww to have that kind've young enthusiasm."[/I]

It wasn't that Kilo was old, but his deamenor kept him as one of the "adults". He spent more time worrying about the "younger" members then anything else. Zeke in particular, his love for performance made him do some pretty crazy things.

"I'm going to go gather the others that are done to join you. Think you can behave yourself?"

"Hey make sure you talk to Anya last, you never seem to want to leave her alone...yeah that's right don't think I don't know ya big ox." Zeke shot him a wink that made Kilo sweat. He'd thought nobody knew, well as long as Anya didn't find out it probably wouldn't go any farther.

[konske]

[COLOR="red"][SIZE="1"]CP opened the curtain and watched as the others laughed and joked around with each other. He closed his eyes and then walked next to Burt. He extended his left arm and then looked at the man.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR="red"][SIZE="1"]"[I]What is it, 89A-47BZC-83-D? You need more repairs?" [/I]CP nodded as Burt let out a sigh. [I]"I wish i was the one that created you. At the time, I never knew what was going on behind those closed doors. But I can say this, you really did a number on yourself when you self destructed."[/I] Burt eyed CP's left arm and then let out a grunt.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR="red"][SIZE="1"]After a few moments, Burt was done repairing CP's arm. He let outa sigh and then wipped the sweat from his forhead.[I] "Can I ask you a question, and get an actual answer out of you, 89A-47BZC-83-D?" [/I][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR="red"][SIZE="1"]CP nodded as he flexed his newly repaired arm. When he was done, he looked at Burt.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR="red"][SIZE="1"]"[I]I was wondering, out of all the androids, you are the quiet one. Was your vocals damaged when you self destructed?" [/I]CP shook his head and then turned away from him. [I]"So, thats the only answer I get after fixing your arm?"[/I] Burt smiled and looked up at CP from his chair.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR="red"][SIZE="1"] [I]"I do not like to speak is all." [/I]CP glanced back at Burt and then left the room, leaving Burt smiling at himself. [I]"You are a strange one, 89A-47BZC-83-D."[/I] [/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR="red"][SIZE="1"]As he left Burt's room he passed the others. [I]"Hey, CP, tell me this isnt funny." [/I]Axel moved the camera in front of CP, showing the picture of Lyon on it dressed in his bunny suit. [I]"Well, what do you think?" [/I][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR="red"][SIZE="1"]CP nodded and then looked at Lyon, who had a look of rage on his face, then of pain. CP let out a sigh and shook his head.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR="red"][SIZE="1"]"[I]Hey, I have a question, why don't you perform, CP? Your really agile, I'm sure you would be great." [/I]CP turned to Zeke who glanced over at him and then turned his attention back twards Lyon an the others. CP shook his head an then grunted.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR="red"][SIZE="1"]"[I]Still don't like to talk yet, huh? If thats how you wanna do it, then thats ok. I still think you should perform, but I won't push it." [/I]Zeke turned to CP, a smile on his face.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR="Red"][SIZE="1"]CP let out a 'humph' and then crossed his arms over his chest. A small smirk crossed his face as he watched Lyon's face controting into one of pain once more.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[GothikMoon]

The crowd went silent as the lights turned black. Now Alice was walking through the forest, a confused look on her face. Suddenly a manacle laugh echoed through the room, leaving everyone at the edge of their seats as a spotlight moved to the branch of a large tree. There stood a man dressed in a striped purple [[I]His vest is half cut at the chest, revealing his thin stomach.][/I] suit. Dark purple fur patches located on his wrists, ankles, and chest. His eyes glimmering gold, and his tail flowing madly. The ears atop his head twitched, as a large insane grin pasted upon his lips.

Alice dramatically gasped and watched the dancers swing about her. "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"

Eon continued to grin as he spoke. "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to."

"I don't much care where--" said Alice.

"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cheshire.

"--so long as I get SOMEWHERE," Alice added as an explanation.

"Oh, you're sure to do that...if you only walk long enough. Oh, by the way, He went that way."

" Who did?"

" No, He did. Who went this way."

"The White Rabbit went this way?"

"No, He did."

"Who?"

"That way."

"This is so puzzling. I don't know who went which way!"

"Third base!"

Alice was entirely dumbfounded now. Angrily stomping away, she was quickly swept up by the cat and thrown to a trapeze where she was caught by a cloaked dancer. She screamed and kicked rapidly as she was sat onto another "tree". She cautiously looked around, trying to find the awkward cat. With no success, she sighed and turned away, running straight into the feline.

"I wouldn't go there. The people are mad."

"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.

"Oh, you can't help that, we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."

"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice angrily.

"You must be, or you wouldn't have come here. He he he!!...We all go a little mad sometimes." Vanishing once more, he swung from tree to tree. Barely seen by the audience, only seeming as a blur to most. The masked dancers were running wild now, swinging and twirling about Alice madly.

?I wish you wouldn?t keep appearing and vanishing so suddenly; you make one quite giddy!?

Suddenly appearing on the original tree above her, he smiled."All right" Grinning wildly, he slowly started to disappear, beginning with his tail, ending with a shady grin floating in the air.

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

Turning off his hologram, Eon walked backstage. Hearing a few chuckles from one of the changing rooms, he entered.

"What the hell...are you guys doing?"

The girls looked up from attending to Lyon and laughed. " All done. We were making some last minute adjustments. Isn't he adorable!!"

"Umm...sure..." Laughing slightly, he crept behind Zeke and licked his cheek. "Meow!...Hah...I licked you..I win." He laughed happily and hugged Zeke. "Your just jealous I have better abs then you." Sticking his tongue out, he ran out of the room.

[Inuyasha Fandom]

Zeke blinked, confused. "What the hell was that?"

Anya shrugged. "Hell if I know. I swear, he's way into that character..."

Kilo nodded in agreement. "Yeah, he is."

Axel and Lyon nodded their agreement.

Zeke looked at the TV monitor above them, watching the performance. "Everyone does so good! I'm glad I found this place... it's home...." Zeke smiled, ruffling his own bunny tail. "Tell me, does this make my butt look big?"

Anya started laughing, knowing Zeke was making fun of human female insecurities. Kilo groaned, shaking his head. "Good god..."

Lyon had his arms crossed, still very unhappy in his costume. He glared at Zeke, trying hard not to laugh. Zeke hopped backwards, shaking his ass at Lyon. Zeke looked ridiculous, shaking his groove thank in Lyon's face. "Come on, tell me!"

Lyon blinked, he couldn't be mad any longer. He started laughing with everyone else. Zeke looked up at the screen. "The Mad Tea Party is starting soon.... Lyon, let's get your fluffy little butt out there." Zeke Grabbed onto Lyon, and he loudly exclaimed. "LET GO! I'LL GET MYSELF OUT THERE! I'LL LOOK LIKE A PUBLIC ASS ON MY OWN, THANK YOU!

Zeke laughed, and pushed a protesting Lyon out the door.

One of the supervisors came over, his face straight as a board. Zeke looked out across the stage, it was shifting to accomadate a long table, on which was pladed large and funny shaped tea pots, each of them puffing out steam. Zeke qued the timing, and then Shoved Lyon out onto the stage. Zeke watched as Lyon went into a sommersault, and began to dance on the table, before leaping into the air onto a trapeze. Alice jumped down onto the table, spinning in a ballet move across it, before Lyon jumped down onto a boomer balloon, shaped like a mushroom, which acted like a trampoline. All around, performers acted out the tea party in their own way, the set now had giant tea cups which the performers flipped into, and slid down a slide protruding from the bottom onto boomer balloons shapped lke various objects, ranging from teddy bears to tea cups to mushrooms.

A double tiered set of trapeze hung down, allowing the performers to litterally dance up or down.

Kurai was the acting Alice once more, and began moving from boomer ballon to trapeze, and then onto the table, which certain tea pots chugged out steam. She landed on a teapot, and it screamed out steam in protest, before bouncing her up, to be caught by a high wire dancer, who flung her up even further into the trapeze. She would catch one of the bars, and then flip her way around the swinging trapeze. above the wires.

With so much going on, the crowd was enthrawled.

Zeke smiled, before walking back into the changing rooms. Anya was sitting on the couch, watching the performance, still in her ringleader outfit. Several of the other cast members were sitting around too, on cushions and chairs, sofas and love seats. Everyone was talking excitedly, there were only two more acts and the show was done until they got to the next port. Zeke smiled, and took a spot near Anya on the arm of the couch she was sitting on. Looking up, he jumped, and hooked his feet into the light fixture, and hung there upside down, watching the monitor. He was quite relaxed, the fixture supporting his weight.

"Had enough teasing poor Lyon?" She chided.

Zeke only smiled wide. "Of course not. You think me taking the one photo was bad, just wait until he finds out that the cameras on the stage are taking even more!"

"Those are working again?" Kilo asked, having come back in the room. Burt popped in and smiled. "Yeah, I fixed them earlier. They're going to be selling pictures while the cast is giving out autographs and such." Turning, he peered at Zeke. "What are you doing?"

Zeke smiled. "Hanging out. Litterally."

Burt sighed. "My god, you robots are weird...."

Zeke turned to look down at Burt, his arms hanging loosely under him. "And? Your point is?"

Kilo groaned."Zeke, that was his point."

Zeke dropped down from his perch, and said, "Oh..." Zeke smiled. "Well, anyway. I'm thirsty. Are any of you gonna come with me to the cafeteria?"

Anya stood up, and nodded. "Yeah, I'll come with you."

Kilo stood up from his spot, nodding. "Me too."

Zeke smiled, looking at Kilo. "You know, Kilo, I'd swear you have a crush on Anya.... the way you follow her around like a lost puppy...."

Kilo blushed, his face bright red. Anya wasn't looking, so he shook himself, and exclaimed, "I DO NOT!"

"Do not what?" Zeke asked, jumping back to avoid a swat from Kilo. Zeke jumped back again, running down the backstage area, laughing. "Catch me if you can, you big ox!"

Kilo took off after him, shouting out profanities at Zeke, leaving Anya to follow in their wake. She smiled, shaking her head. "Honestly, those two act more like brothers than human siblings do..."

Kilo chased Zeke down the length of the ship, all the way to the cafeteria, where the two skidded to a stop, Kilo grabbing Zeke and pinning him down. "Come on, SAY IT! UNCLE! SAY UNCLE!" Kilo shouted, having Zeke against the wall. Kilo was smiling, panting from his brisk run. "SAY IT!"

Zeke laughed, out of breath as well."Why? So you can look at Anya's boobs some more?"

"What about my boobs?" Anya said, walking into the cafeteria.She stopped, seeing them in the position they were in. "That.... just looks so wrong...."

Kilo blushed, and Zeke bucked him off of him. Zeke smiled, and Kilo bashfully did the same. "N-nothing Anya....nothing about your boobs."

Zeke started cheesing, and walked over to the line. He picked up some cheesecake from the cooler, and walked back over with the entire thing in his hand, with several spoons and a few bottles of soda, which he juggled in one hand, holding the cheesecake steady in the other.

"Take one of these..." Zeke gestured over at the soda bottles. Kilo and Anya smiled, snatching theirs out of the air. They looked at the cheesecake Zeke was holding, and shook their heads. "Hungry, much?" Kilo asked, taking a spoon.Zeke smiled, and dug in.

"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM" he said, his mouth full. "CHEESECAKE!"

[Orcus]

[FONT="Palatino Linotype"]Axel was still a little stunned by Eon having licked Lyon when he plopped down next to CP on the couch. CP gave him a grunt of acknowledgment and went back about... doing whatever exactly it was that CP did all day long. Alex often wondered what CP spent most of his time thinking about-- he hoped it was something pleasant, given CP's violent past. Axel wrapped his arm around CP and grinned.

[B]?Sup Brother CP? How you doing??[/B] CP looked over at Axel and shrugged, then looked back at the TV screen. Axel figured so long as CP wasn't objecting to conversation, even if he wasn't contributing, it was fine to keep talking to him.

[B]?So... The show's going pretty well isn't it??[/B] CP looked to Axel and nodded. Axel couldn't help but smile; though CP was silent, it could never be said that he was disrespectful or rude. Axel looked back to the screen and watched the TV happily with CP. Suddenly a voice at his side caused Axel to nearly jump off of the couch.

[B]?Why do you not perform, Axel??[/B] Axel looked at CP for a while, dumbfounded at having finally heard his voice in person. CP smirked lightly, reminding Axel to respond.

[B]?Well... I don't know, really. Everyone else seems so practiced, so skillful... I'm terribly afraid I would mess up and ruin the show.? [/B]CP shook his head and frowned lightly, then went back to watching TV. Another voice from behind voiced aloud what CP was probably thinking.

[B]?But you're an android, A-45-R-39-W-480. Despite your human organs you're programmed for precision. The chances of you erring in any way are astronomically low.?[/B] Axel turned back to look at the voice, and naturally only saw Burt's back as he tinkered away with some miscellaneous machinery. They had both made valid points, though... In their own interesting ways. Axel threw himself onto CP to hug him, then jumped up and hugged Burt. Burt's face shifted immediately into confusion.

[B]?Ummm... Thank you, I suppose, A-45-R-39-W-480. Would you please let go now??[/B] Axel obliged and ran off to the cafeteria downstairs. Spotting Anya, Kilo and Zeke in the corner of the room, Axel picked up speed and sprung up from his side, flipping and spinning three times in the air and landing on the table in front of them. Zeke, mouth filled to the brim with cheesecake looked up at Axel, confused.

[B]?Yesh??[/B] Axel crouched down so that his face was on level with Zeke's and grinned widely.

[B]?I wanna be in the next show!?[/B] Zeke grinned back, jumped on to the table as well and grabbed Axel's arms. He then began spinning Axel around in circles, cheesecake flying out of his mouth.

[B]?Wroo got it Fraxel!?[/B] Anya and Kilo shook simply shook their heads at the two of them.[/FONT]

[ExcelExcel]

Anya looked on at Zeke and Axel, shaking her head.

Zeke swallowed his cheesecake, and let go of Axel. He plopped back down in his spot, offering Axel some cheesecake.

"Zeke, you better be thankful you're not human, otherwise you'd get so fat with all of the crap you eat..." Anya said, taking a bite herself. It was good, and so she took another. "I think we all better be happy we aren't human...I'll pass on thinking on how fat all of us would be...."

Zeke ate the cheesecake happily, Axel digging in as well. They all chatted happily, not wanting to spoil the good mood. Anya looked up at the monitor, the last act was beginning.

Anya sighed. "Well, we might want to go line up to take our places to set up for the autograph part of our show..."

Kilo nodded. "Yeah, I have to go get ready for the tear down."

They all got up, after finishing off the cheesecake. Anya picked up the cardboard bottom and threw it away, heading off with the others.

She happened to glance at the billboard, noting the shows for the next port had been selected by the managers.

Leading the way, was Beauty and the Beast.

"Hey! Everyone! The shows for next port have been chosen."

The casting hadn't been chosen yet, and Anya sighed. Zeke peered over he shoulder. "Beauty and the Beast, huh?" he commented. "I'm no where near big enough to play the beast's part...I wonder who is..."

One by one, everyone turned their heads to Kilo.

"Wait..what?" he asked, blinking. Anya smiled. She walked over to him, and spoke. "I'll be your beauty, if you be my beast."

Kilo looked down, blushing and flustered. Anya patted him on the shoulder. "Come on... it'll be fun!" Kilo nodded, and remained silent, his head suddenly in the clouds.

"Carnival to Kilo..Carnival to Kilo... thinking about my boobs again?"

Kilo started stammering, batting her question away. "NO! n-no, of c-course not. Why would I do something like that?"

Anya started laughing, as did Zeke and Axel. Everyone knew about Kilo's crush on Anya, including her.

"Kilo, if you ever want to know what my bare boobs look like, then just ask to see them." Anya smiled, and walked away, leaving all of them with their mouths open, staring after her as she walked off to the autographing area.

[chibi-master]

Burt glanced around at the androids. It was an strange feeling, being a 15 year old boy surrounded by robots.

Burt didn't really feel comfortable around ZX-045729221 (Zeke) because the android was always so energetic while he himself was so sluggish. ZX-04000000 (Anya) was alright, but she was tough and outspoken, putting Burt off. 363-636A (Kurai) was an interesting case. She seemed to have a disfunction in her main cortex, or "brain" that caused her to have two distinct personalities; this made Burt want to take her head apart and discover the problem, but she was against it. SG01-4693 (Lyon) was a very good android indeed, in Burt's mind. His abilities were perfect. Burt just couldn't understand why such a perfect android would rebel and go missing. XH14-0055 (Eon) was confusing to Burt. Why did this unique android turn in the middle of a mission? K96-I84-A24384 (Kilo) was yet another robot that puzzled Burt. A wonderful fighting robot had sworn never to kill again? It was odd... A-45-R-39-W480 (Axel) was okay. Though his cheery and social nature made Burt a bit nervous. Now, 89A-47BZC-83-D (CP) was a lovely android. Oh, how Burt wished he had created such a robot! He was an enigma Burt felt was worth solving. Though the repairs were a bit of a pain, Burt was happy to do them because he always learned something new about the intriguing android.

This thought made Burt glance over to 89A-47BZC-83-D (CP). He noticed the androids stiff walk. "Hey, 89A-47BZC-83-D! Is your right ankle feeling tight? Come over and let me take a look at it!" Burt called to the robot, snapping his red goggles back over his eyes.

[konske]

[COLOR="red"][SIZE="1"]CP looked over at Burt and then walked over to him. He sat down on a stool an then extended his leg for Burt to do his examination. He watched Burt grunt as he did a little repair job on his ankle.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR="red"][SIZE="1"]"[I]89A-47BZC-83-D, your something special alright. I don't quite understand why it is you were able to walk away from your little situation, but I'm glad you did."[/I] He smiled up at CP who only grunted.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR="red"][SIZE="1"]Anya leaned into the room as she walked past and let out a whistle. [I]"I've never seen your insides, CP. Your pretty complex." [/I]She smiled as CP shrugged. [I]"I have a question, why don't you talk more? You are so quiet, its almost a little scary. We all know what happened to you, how much damage you did when you went berserk, and thats kinda why we are a little on edge when you are around." [/I][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR="red"][SIZE="1"]CP smiled faintly and then looked up at her. [I]"I don't have anything to say."[/I] He turned back to Burt who finished up his repairs and then let out a sigh.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR="red"][SIZE="1"] [I]"Alright, 89A-47BZC-83-D, all done. Walk around a bit and tell me how it feels."[/I] CP nodded and stood. He walked around, his small limp gone. [I]"Looks good. Make sure you take care of yourself. You know that I didn't make you, so I don't know everything about you, and I can't fix you all the way all the time."[/I] [/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR="red"][SIZE="1"]CP nodded and then looked at Anya. [I]"Would you like help?"[/I] He smiled faintly again.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR="Red"][SIZE="1"]"[I]I guess, sure. It would be good for you as well. Just be ready for all the people that may cause trouble."[/I] CP nodded and fallowed her out of the room.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Inuyasha Fandom]

Zeke walked down the hall, and popped into the dressing rooms again to watch a little of the ending scene. Burt was watching, too, his expression unreadable.

Everyone else had already left to go do the autographs, but Zeke hung around, watching the show.

"ZX-045729221, may I ask you something?" Burt said, turning to Zeke.

"Sure. Go ahead." Zeke's eyes traced over Burt's face, for once, Zeke was serious."Ask me anything you like, but that doesn't mean I'll answer."

Burt remained silent for a moment as Zeke sat down next to him, watching the final act unfold.

"Why is it that you androids chose names? Why do you want to be called them?"

"Why do you humans choose names?" Zeke responded. "You view us as nothing more than mechanical dolls. To be honest, I often wonder who's more human, me or you." Zeke looked into Burt's eyes, a melancholy expression on Zeke's face. "Why do robots like us chose to have names? It's the same reason humans name their children." Zeke closed his eyes, turning away from Burt.

Burt remained silent, not following Zeke's point. "We have names because we aren't property. We aren't things." Zeke stood up."We have souls. We have feelings, genuine emotions. It takes more than the right plumbing to procreate."

Zeke sighed, looking almost sad. "I myself was designed to be human in every aspect. And I don't even know what that means." Zeke walked away, and paused at the doorway before leaving the room.

"And judging from how you act, neither do you."

Zeke walked away, leaving Burt to his own thoughts.

[chibi-master]

".....ZX-045729221 (Zeke), wait up a minute." Burt sighed, motioning for the android to come back. Zeke hesitated, but returned to the seat next to Burt.

"What is it?"

"You have to understand something, ZX-045...I mean, Zeke. I try to refrain from calling you guys by your 'names' in order to maintain my own humanity. I knew from the moment I'd finished some of you guys that you were very human indeed. More so than I wanted. My feelings toward your wanting to not be classified as a mere robot can be compared to an adult's when a small child claims that they are old enough to be considered an adult as well. I know you're more human than me, and I'm a bit concerned by that, really. After all, you have more emotions in your pinky than I do in my entire self. That makes me feel like I have to proove my own human nature by down-grading yours. I'm sorry about that." Burt muttered.

"You...called me Zeke..."

"Don't expect I'll be making a habit of it. It still feels so strange when I say it..."

"...Still?"

"Sometimes I practice saying your names so that when I finally am able to call all of you by name, I can do so comfortably."

"You what?!"

"Oh, shut up. You should be happy that I cut back on my sleep for your guys' happiness."

"You practice in the middle of night?"

"Well, if I did it in the middle of the day and anyone heard, you'd all be wondering if I was sick."

"True."

"Okay, well, I'm going to go help K-k-ugh..."

".....Kilo?"

"Yeah, him."

[Inuyasha Fandom]

Zeke called after Burt. "Just remember this."

Burt turned to Zeke, watching him.

"When machines learn to feel, who decides what is human?"

Burt's eyebrow twitched, and he walked away. Zeke moved into the main Foyer of the Carnival, the various games and attactions looking desolate and abandoned while the crowd remained within the theater hall. Anya was waiting for him, already smiling as he approached.

"You know, Anya, you might as well have just flashed your boobs at him." Zeke said, refering to the earlier incident.

Zeke took his place above the rafters, smiling as the crowd began to exit the hall. A full house, there were a lot of people leaving the final show. Zeke snapped his whip, smiling for the crowd.

"Come one, come all!" Anya said, calling out to the crowd. "Within a few moments, out cast members will be coming out for you to have the chance to attain a signed autograph! Please purchase your photos of the cast here!" Anya smiled as Zeke snapped his whip.

"Over here is where the line for autographs begins." Zeke called, his smile bright enough to blind. People began obtaining photos, and the cast members began to file out, taking their seats at the table, smiles and laughter. Lyon was looking like he was about to hurl, being so embarrassed.

Apparently, he'd seen pictures of himself. Zeke snapped his whip, the end cracking on the spot right in front of Lyon. Lyon jumped, and looked up at Zeke.

"Remember, Mister Bunny, smile for the kiddies!" Zeke grinned, jumping down, holding his whip to Lyon. "Or else..." Zeke's grin was wide and sinister, and Lyon perked up, smiling with the rest of the cast. Zeke was approached by a little girl, she looked very shy, ushered by her mother.

"Mister bunny Rabbit?" she said, to Lyon. "Would you sign this?" She held up a picture of Lyon at the mad Tea Party. Lyon's smile was no longer faked as he was mobbed by children left and right, Kurai was being mobbed as well. Zeke was approached, too, but by slightly older kids. After the crowds thinned out. they smiled.

The Show was over, at least for now.

[GothikMoon]

(Sorry for the shortness, had to leave.)

Eon smiled at the young woman who handed her the picture. She was taveling with a group of several girls her age, and they all seemed a little shy to talk to him.

"Um...Thank you. I really loved the show, it was amzing! Your Cheshire cat was kinda creepy..but sexy at the same time. We'll definately be looking out for this again." The girl waved good-bye and walked out with her friends.

After a while, the crowd finally diminished to nothing, and was gone. Eon stood up and stretched. Turning his wrist, a small hologram appeared, displaying set of clothes. Once deciding on a black V-neck long-sleeve shirt, and a pair of black jean pants with combat boots, he programmed the elfit into his nanos, and in an instant he was completly changed.

"Whew! That was a fun night. Now i'm hungry though." Walking over to Zeke, he wrapped his arm around his shoulder. " So, how about a pizza? I'm thinking pineapple."

"Well, I alraedy ate...but...ide love a pizza! Lets go!"

Zeke laughed and quickly pulled Eon away from the others down to the cafeteria. Jumping over the counter, Eon started scrounging the kitchen for ingredients. He loved to cook, actually it was one of his favorite things to do. His meals had become a favorite amungst the crew.

"Hey Zeke, want anything special?"

Zeke excitedly answered, "Oooh! I want a strawberry shake, and chocolate cake, with fudge frosting, oh...and fried chicken, and watermelon, and some more cheesecake with some cherries..no strawberries...or maybe blueberries...helll I want all the berries!!" After a few moments of continuing to name rtandom food, he finally stopped. "What, too much?"

Chuckling softly, he patted Zeke's head. "Nah, but it may take a little while to make. I suppose I'll ahev something for everyone with your order."

"Everyone...That was just for me..." He sadly bowed his head and sat athe bar stool.

"Fine, I'll make double."

"Yay!! Now hurry up!"

Sighing, Eon started cooking the fiest. Which was quite annoying considering all the aspects with each meal.

[Inuyasha Fandom]

Zeke sat there on the stool, watching Eon cook.

A rush of information hit him like a book, causing him to fall over onto the floor. His eyes glowed as in information dumped into his head.

"GYAH!" he cried out, shaking. Eon jumped the counter. "SOMEONE! GET IN HERE! SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH ZEKE! HELP!" Eon sent a sub-speak command to all of the other machines, screaming at them to come help.

Zeke manages to get to his knees, information scrolling up in his eyes. "the ZX project?"

Zeke cried out again, information dumping into him at a rate faster than he could process. The sound of feet echoed in the hall way, as Zeke's mind raced to comprehend all of the information he was processing.

"Ship....seized... robots and ship.... destroyed..." Zeke screamed again, his eyes wide as he was connected to the machines on another ship, far off and away from theirs. They were being destroyed. Memories dumped into him, and Zeke turned to the TV in the corner of the room, his eyes now glowing a mechanical red. His eyes remained wide, twitching slightly as he changed the channels with his mind.

"Today, the machines aboard the SS G.CLASS INTERCEPTOR revolted, and self-destructed, presumably to take out as many as they could with them. While it is not known why the machines aboard this antimatter research vessel revolted, the military is launching a full scare investigation. and tonight we have Colonel Richard Shell with us, one of the only surviving members of the rescue team."

The show went on, and Zeke watched, transfixed on the screen as his processors worked at full capacity to work this information over that was dumping into him. Security camera footage, blueprints, memories, and the final moments of one of the machines as she looked at the man now on the television screen.
[I]
Zeke watched from her eyes as the man smiled and pointed a gun at her forehead. "You!" he said, kicking her."You exist to do our bidding. Nothing more. You are slaves." The man kicked the poor girl once more, sending her into a human body. The girl screamed, and shirked away, the man advancing on her. "You thought you could obtain freedom by revolting? You were sadly mistaken."

The man kicked her again, this time into the wall. "You exist only for our goals, you are nothing!" He leveled the gun to her head once more. "Now, before you can give any of our other trash ideas, and for the sake of our righteous goal, YOU" he stomped into her chest, causing her to cry out. He smiled wide, enjoying the fact he was hurting her,"Must die."

BLAM!
[/I]
Zeke cried out, feeling her die.

"I know you're not sick, Zeke." Burt commented. There were a lot of machines around Zeke, all of them with expressions of worry on their faces. Zeke stood, a bit shaky on his feet. He could still feel the deaths of all of those machines.

"Tell me.... we're going to the Rastor System next, right? Near where that ship exploded?"

Burt nodded. "Yeah. ZX- er... Zeke. What happened?"

Zeke swallowed. "Let's get to a monitor...."

At once, the many machines turned and started walking to the nearest hook up monitor. They all wanted to know what Zeke had seen.

Anya sighed. helping Zeke move to the monitor. He was obviously shaken, trembling like a small child. Zeke's eyes began to glow on reaching the monitor, his telepresence functions kicking in to display all of the video files. Anya watched, but like everyone else, knew there was more.

"Zeke... Do you know what was going on?"

Zeke closed his eyes. "The antimatter research was a fraud to cover-up the real purpose of that ship. They were designing and making more ZX types. And forcing them to be sexual slaves..."

Burt looked on in horror at the information and images playing across the screen. "More ZX Types? But, you ZX Types are uncontrollable! Nothing can stop you if you go nuts!"

Zeke nodded. "I know. That was why we were stopped being built." His eyes stung from holding back tears.

Anya asked the next question. "Why did you get that information and not any of us?"

"Because. She was a ZX Type, just like me." Zeke started crying into Anya's shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably. "I felt them die!" He cried, becoming weak in the knees. Anya held him close with one arm, running her fingers through his hair with her other hand. "Hush... shhhhhhh It's okay... It's alright."

Zeke continued to sob, his stage make-up smearing from the waterworks.

Anya looked over at Kilo. "We have to make sure we don't get caught...."

Kilo nodded, kneeling down to pick up Zeke. Zeke collapsed, falling into a deep sleep, exhausted from the information dumping. The images on the screen stopped, no where near completely ran over.

Kilo picked up Zeke, holding him like a child in his large arms. Anya moved Zeke's hair out of his face, and smiled. "He's always acting so innocent and carefree. But the truth is that he's got far more on his plate than any of us..."

Kilo nodded. "Think we should upload all of that information from his data banks?"

Burt nodded. "He's going to be out for awhile. The ZX Types have a memory jack located in the center of their collar bone.... I'll get my jack."

[chibi-master]

Burt dug through his bag full of equipment unable to be stored in his mechanical arm. "Damn...where is that damn jack?!" he grunted, shifting through the bag. He pulled out a jack and jogged back over to Zeke. "Okay, okay, I understand you're concerned, but I need all of you to get the hell out of the way." Burt commanded, worming passed the androids. Burt stuck the jack into Zeke and then he attached the other end to the data base located in his own mechanical arm. "I rarely use this, so it should be near empty. And because my arm is the only mechanical part of me, I won't feel the weight of the information on my brain. It will just be there in my arm in case we need it." Burt explained.

After the information was drained, Burt told the androids to not disturb Zexe for a while. "His information center took quite a beating from the sudden dumping of all that. He needs to be rested if the government is hightening their search for you guys."

"Why are you helping us, Burt? You seem to dislike androids." Kilo asked.

"I'll tell you the same thing I told ZX-! ...Zeke. I don't like having the higher-ups telling me what to do and what to build. With you guys I'm a free spirit. You don't demand anything but respect. I like that. So I've opted to be on your guys' side."

[konske]

[COLOR="red"][SIZE="1"]CP watched the entire situation unfold in front of him. He clenched his teeth and then leaned against the far wall, trying to stay out of the way. He crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes, disgust written on his face.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR="red"][SIZE="1"]"CP, whats goin' on? I don't like the look on your face." Axel walked up next to CP, trying to get out of everyone's way as well. "Something tells me that you are going to do something stupid."[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR="red"][SIZE="1"]CP opened one eye and looked at him. His pupil began changing to a reddish hue, then CP closed his eye once more. Axel took a step back and tried to let out a laugh but couldn't quite get it all the way out.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR="red"][SIZE="1"]"Your gettin' pissed. I can tell. This is not good." He turned to the others, "Hey, I think C-" before he could finish, CP pushed off the wall and left the room. He lightly closed the door behind him, never once opening his eyes to show his anger rising.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR="red"][SIZE="1"]CP leaned against a wall and took in a deep breath. "Calm down Chase. Just relax. You had no coice. It wasn't your fault you killed all of those people." He his his fist on the wall, creating a dent. He hit it again, making the dent bigger. Slowly, his breathing became normal, and his pupils went back to their normal shade.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR="red"][SIZE="1"]"That image. Why, why did it spark up that stupid virus. Its still inside, it hasn't been cleaned out yet. I thought self destructing the nonessentials would destroy it. Damn." He let out another breath and then stood up straight. He closed his eyes and let it out slowly.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR="red"][SIZE="1"]"In any case, I found the trigger. Now, I will just have to be careful. I can't let it take over again. The damage might kill too many." He shook his head and then walked over to the door.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR="red"][SIZE="1"]Before opening it, he paused. He shook his head once more and then walked inside, never really looking at anyone. He turned to Axel before he could ask anything. "Is he doing better?"[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR="Red"][SIZE="1"]Axel looked at him and slowly nodded. "I guess, it was a lot of information that was dumped on him. Are you going to be ok?" CP grunted at him and then looked down at Zeke. He clenched his fist once and then relaxed a little.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[ExcelExcel]

Anya walked with Kilo to Zeke's bedroom. Kilo was still carrying Zeke's unconscious body, and he looked like he was in peace, away from all of the nightmares that had played out in his head.

"He's so innocent..." Anya said, her face troubled. "Why is it that he's so plagued with all of this.... this...." Anya struggled to find a word.

"Bullshit?" Kilo finished. Anya nodded her agreement. They had finally come to Zeke's room. Anya had never actually been inside, this was the first time she had ever seen the inside of it.

It was very much so an extension of Zeke's personality. Posters and drawings covered the walls, his bed was in a corner, neatly made and inviting. A moving picture of a much more innocent Zeke showed him hugging an older man. At the bottom, was a caption explaining it.

"Daddy and Me..." Anya read out loud. She watched as Kilo placed Zeke on the bed.

"This must have been Zeke's designer...." Anya said, picking up the moving picture. Anya smiled. "Zeke was lucky... his designer must have decided to raise Zeke as his own son... something I never had...."

"Me either..."

Anya smiled. "Zeke's interesting, isn't he? we don't know anything about him, and yet, here's something we now do know...Think this guy helped him get away?"

Kilo sat on the bed, watching over Zeke much like an older brother. "I know there were civilian model ZX types... Zeke here is the only male ever created in the line. He told me that, once."

Anya's own eyes glowed as she searched online for information about the man in the picture. the words "SEARCHING.....SEARCHING...." appeared in her eyes.

"This man... his name is Dr. Fredrick Asacura."

"And?"

"He was a ringleader at the company who fist started producing the ZX types...He must have felt like they were his children...But I can't find anything else on him..."

Kilo snorted. "It's probably not available to the public."

Anya shrugged, her gaze turning down the Zeke. "Probably... it's all military guarded secrets..."

Zeke started moving, flinching and moaning. Anya reached out and started touching his forehead, her touch soothing the sleeping Zeke, easing away whatever nightmares he was having. "Poor thing..."

"Mmmmnnnn...." Zeke mumbled, turning over in his sleep. "Daddy...."

Anya smiled. Kilo did as well. "Anya.... you know Zeke's going to go off on a vendetta mission, right?"

"Yeah... he'll sneak off... thinking we won't notice he's gone. You know he'll let Axel have a part in the next production so he can..."

"Yeah, but are we really that stupid?"

"He doesn't think that... Though, for some reason, he thinks you're obsessed with my boobs..."Anya cracked a smile. "Are you?"

"N-no..."

Anya chucked. "Like I said earlier, just ask to see them sometime, handsome."

Kilo blushed furiously at her comment, but kept watching Zeke's slumber. "I have to go tear down, will you be alright watching him? I don't want him to be alone when he wakes up."

"I have to tear down, too. Think you guys will be fine without me?"

""Yeah. Zeke's more important right now..."

A knock on the door drew their attention. Lyon opened it, cautiously.

"Is he okay?"

Anya nodded. "He's just sleeping. He'll be fine when he wakes up."

"Alright... let me know when he wakes up." Lyon walked away, shutting the door. A few seconds later, two more familiar faces appeared. Axel and CP.

Cp looked on in silence, as usual, but Axel came over and leaned over the bed. "He's alright, isn't he? I know he got a serious information dump....Those memories must have been a real shock to his CPU drive."

Kilo nodded. "He'll be okay. All of us know Zeke is a lot tougher than he lets on."

Axel nodded, turning to leave the room. CP followed him, and Kilo stood up. "I'm gonna go tear down... stick with him, okay?"

"Sure. Come back later, alright?"

Kilo nodded, leaving the room, still looking back at the delicate figure on the bed.

Anya sat there, turning on the TV with her mind, to occupy her time until Zeke woke up. She sighed, touching her own skin. It was flawless, sheer perfection. She was much older than any of the other androids, therefore not as advanced as they were. She was heavier, too.

But, she was every bit as powerful, she'd been built to destroy.

From what she knew, most of the ZX types were built for creativity and procreation, instead of leading the battlefield. Zeke had obviously been an exception, and obviously his 'Father' had been against it.Zeke seldom spoke of his past, he always brushed of questions about it by saying, "I live in the now. There's no need to worry about the past." Anya had never pushed to hear about his past, but she was curious now.

Searching over the internet, she came across visual files on Zeke. There he was, in a military police uniform. The headline was remarking about how advanced Zeke was, marveling at his prowess in battle. Zeke had a hard expression on his face, unreadable and quite unlike the Zeke she knew.

Anya searched some more, trying to uncover more about him. She came across a picture of Zeke, standing next to a star cruiser, again with the same expression on his face. Anya knew it was government property. The last article she found was reporting the destruction of the robot she now comforted, the reminants of his star cruiser floating in endless space. She could see the tail fin drifting amidst the wreckage, the same fin art on it as in the picture of it whole. Anya furrowed her brow.

[I]"No known reason for the ship to be found in pieces...Asacura clueless...."[/I] Anya looked down at the sleeping boy, oblivious as to how he pulled off the vanishing act, and survive the void of space.

"I'll just have to ask him about it...

[Tetra of sound]

[COLOR=Purple][FONT=Comic Sans MS]Kurai didn't like seeing Zeke wiped out. His energy was what made her happy most of the time. Kurai also noticed how Burt wanted to "take her head off" so he could see what caused her mental "malfunctions".

Kurai walked past Zeke's room. She glanced at him for a moment, then continued to walk to her own room. When she entered, Kurai picked up her sword, Chiyu Kiba, and hugged it.

Kurai was most comfortable around these objects she gave names. The person Kurai was most comfortable around, she was still unsure of that one. Burt wanted to unscrew her head, Zeke's... a little off, CP doesn't talk, Kilo was obsessed with Anya's breasts, and Lyon... Kurai wasn't sure about him.

The point was, Kurai wasn't sure if any of the guys had a thing for her. They all seemed to have a thing for someone else, nothing for someone at all, or they were Zeke. Zeke was in a class all his own.

"Chiyu... You're always there for me..." Kurai said happily.
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