Marguerite wakes up to the sound of a breeze. [SESSION START.] Upon opening her eyes, she finds hersels looking up at a clear blue sky. * Marguerite struggles to stand up. "What the hell?" Did I sleep through the battle? I'm gonna be really pissed if I fucking slept through it. She finds that she was lying on what appears to be a dark asphalt road; it is solid black. On either side of the road are endless fields of waist-deep grass, stretching infinitely to either horizon. Margie manages to stand, and while she takes in her surroundings, she bumps into something solid. .... what the hell? Weren't we in the - oof! The object is her bike. * Marguerite turns arouns. Huh. Strange... I wonder where the others are. The world seems devoid of sound, save for the wind and the noise it makes moving through the grass. There are no people sounds, no automobile sounds, no animal sounds. * Marguerite looks around. She shivers. "Creepy." * Marguerite cups her hand to her mouth and shouts. "DEJIKO? SAYURI? RINA?" Your shout produces an eerie lack of echo. There is no response. The wind kicks up again briefly. "TOGO? YOJI?" She pauses. "ROBERT? YOU ASS!" The wind grows somewhat more silent. Fuckin' WEIRD. * Marguerite leans against her bike and ponders. * Marguerite shouts "XIVILAI?" Again, there is no response. You suddenly notice something, however. About a mile up the road is a sign. Goddamn. You can't begin to make it out from here, but it's the only break in the scenery, other than yourself and your Harley. Wonder if I got teleported here or something? Might as well find out where I am. * Marguerite gets on her bike and straps on her helmet. then kickstarts the bike. The bike roars to live as Harleys often do. Looking at the fuel gage (if you have one) tells you that the tank is full. * Marguerite blinks. "... Curiouser and curiouser, I think is the phrase. I can't have had a full tank." She pauses and taps the gauge. "Maybe I just misread it before." The guage still says full. Or maybe I'm going crazy. * Marguerite accelerates towards the sign. (Pause for a sec, aight? I need some ice.) There are actually two signs; one large green sign reading "NOWHERE", and a speed limit sign labeled "Don't worry about it." (Back.) What the hell? Is this some kind of a joke? If it's a joke, nobody seems to be laughing about it. Or am I in a simulation or something? * Marguerite idles the bike and gets off to inspect the sign. (+s) The sign seems perfectly normal, other than what it's labeled. On the back you see a sticker labled as a certificate of authenticity issued by the Beaureau of Inter-Dimensional Travel, Black Highway division. I'm hallucinating. This can't possibly be real. The world in general fails to confirm or dispute your claim. * Marguerite looks up and down the road. One path, dead to Nowhere. * Marguerite climbs back on her bike and slams down her visor. Mom always told me my life was going Nowhere. Guess now I have license to get there faster. * Marguerite guns the throttle. You take off down the road. * Marguerite accelerates to max throttle. About a half hour later, the world begins to change. Mountains fade in out of nowhere, and the road goes up a slight incline. * Marguerite checks her fuel gauge. The fuel gauge still reads full. How fucking bizarre. The road moves through the mountains, winding only slightly. Ahead you see what looks like a church or cathedral, carved out of the rock of the mountain. This has to be a sim of some sort. I'll bet money it's I13 or Illuminati. There is still no evidence that anyone else exists in this world. * Marguerite stops by the cathedral. "Maybe I'll find out in here." * Marguerite pulls her helmet off and examines the church closely. The cathedral is large, or at least it looks it from the outside. A single person emerges when you pull up, and he looks around confusedly before noticing you. He is small, with smooth blue skin, no hair, and large black eyes. He smiles at you. "Ah, a visitor. I get so few of those here." * Marguerite mutters under her breath. "Holy hopping horntoads." The being blinks. "I beg your pardon?" I can't imagine why not. You're doing a wonderful job advertising. * Marguerite swings off the cycle. "Just surprised. Blue skin's a new experience for me." The man nods. "Well, I've seen all manner of person come through here. Please, won't you come in?" Why not? I've gone sightseeing in weirder places than this. * Marguerite shrugs and puts her helmet on the seat, then approaches the man. The man gestures to the inside of the cathedral, which has no door. Through the entryway, however, you can see the only feature of the inside of the cathedral; a large, round pool that emits a serene blue glow. The air around it seems to sparkly faintly. * Marguerite walks up and through the entryway. "So, uh... what is this place?" "Welcome to the Church of the Pool," says the man. "Founded by, well, me. I can't remember how long ago." (I keep picturing this thing as a blue Tonberry. It's breaking my head. >_<) ( ...*snerk* ) So long ago you forgot, huh? The man nods. "Yes. The story isn't very long, and I'll happily tell it to you if you want." Sure. I don't seem to have elsewhere to go. The man nods. "A very long time ago, I was a warrior. In fact, and I say so with little pride, I was one of the greatest warriors of my people. I probably don't look like much to you, but it is true." "But in a great battle between great nations, I was defeated by another great warrior, whose name I can no longer recall, but it doesn't really matter. He had left me with quite a gash in my side, and after failing to stay upright, I passed out." * Marguerite listens intently. "I awoke inside a cave, next to the Pool. I still felt as if I was dying, but that did not stop me from being thirsty. I decided to have a drink before death claimed me, but after I drank some water from the pool, my wound closed up." Healing spring, huh? The man nods. "Quite, yes. I decided to stay here, and built this sanctuary around the Pool. Not only was my body repaired, but it seemed to aid my spirit as well. Over the ...years, decades, aeons, I don't know, but over time many other warriors have shown up at this place, all needing healing of one sort or another, and always I have told them of the pool, and when needed I have helped them to drink it's water." Sounds like some sort of Japanese legend or something. The man shrugs. "I wouldn't know anything about those. But at any rate, it often seems that nobody finds this place without needing it in some way, so..." "Kinda funny, though. I'm perfectly fine." She looks herself over. "I don't think I hurt anywhere." The man chuckles. "Not all warriors come here with wounds of the body." * Marguerite frowns. "Don't go saying my soul cries with pain or some crap like that. I might have my troubles, but I've borne them so far and I plan on doing so till I die." And besides, I don't think any spring could clean memory. But I am kind of thirsty, and any water's good for that. Do you have a cup handy? The man shakes his head. "I'm afriad not. I haven't anything to make them from. You may cup your hands and take the water that way, or even drink directly from the pool." ( Ping? ) * Marguerite chuckles. "Just like they never let us do in Girl Scouts. When they let us camp at all." She bends down and scoops up a handful of water. (Just working on phrasing.) (Alright.) The water tastes good, and leaves you quite refreshed. Hey, not bad. You ought to bottle this - you'd make a mint selling it. * Marguerite scoops up another handful. The man chuckles. "It needs not be sold. As I said, those who need it, find it." (You hear an odd noise outside. It sounds like an old sci-fi outtake.) * Marguerite snaps her head up. What the hell? The man hums. "Mmm? What's that?" Came from outside. * Marguerite gets up and walks towards the exit. One out the door, you see an odd site; it's KITT, and it now has something resembling the warp nacelles off the origional Enterprise. *** KITT has joined #Chibilite (I knew it. I just knew it.) ( ^_^ Gotta love me. ) (The driver's side door opens and Robert steps out.) * Marguerite smacks her forehead with the butt of her hand. "Aw, fuck me sideways." *** Robert has joined #Chibilite Miss me? Much as I miss my tonsils. How the hell did you get here? * Robert points to the warp nacelles on KITT. I brought him here. * KITT starts playing the Star Trek opening theme. I meant more in the sense of you knowing where the hell we are. Somebody hooked KITT up with directions to come get everybody. Along with the nifty dimensional travel warp nacelles. Try to be quiet, please. Rina's sleeping. "Somebody"? Okay, a lot of somebodies. *** Retrieving #ChibiLite info... How bizarre. So where are we? We're here. Hard to say, really. * Marguerite sweeps her arm, indicating the mountains and the road. From the signs, this appears to be Nowhere. Yeah, you shoulda seen the world Rina and I woke up on. the whole place was floating cubes. And really, this place might just _be_ nowhere. I don't want to try to wrap my mind around dimensional physics right now. I always left that to people who couldn't shoot guns. Yeah, he tried just after I picked him up and sprained something. What is there around here, anyway? Any natives? So I assume I'm going with you? "Yeah, a little blue guy inside there." She points. * Robert quirks an eyebrow. Just one person? Been here longer than he can remember. Yeah. He's the only one I've seen yet. Strange. Rina and I ended up on a world with at least one city, probably more. We did some profitable trading. Maybe someday I'll find my way back there with a truckload of MREs. There's nothing here. Not bugs, not birds, not people. At least these mountains are better than the plains I was on earlier. You're all finished here, then? I suppose. I've gotta go say goodbye, maybe get another drink for the road. Be back in a minute. Hokay. Seeya. * Marguerite walks back inside. The man is still standing where Margie left him. "A friend of yours?" Yeah. He nods. "Very well. I assume they are here to take you back home, and so I wish you good luck on your travels." Come to pick me up. I'm gonna grab a drink of this, and then get moving. The little blue man nods. * Marguerite stoops and takes another drink. "Thanks." Thanks for the water and the story, too. Hope your next visitor doesn't take quite so long to get here. "Think nothing of it," says the man. (Mind if I go ahead and call it a game there?) Oh, hey. I never got your name. ( Keep going. ) ( Until Maggie gets in the van. ) (Got one last thing to clear up with Robert. "Gaavor," says the man. "I have to remind myself occasionally in order to remember it." * Marguerite chuckles a little. Goodbye, Gaavor. Thanks again. * Marguerite waves and walks back out. The little blie man nods and waves back. * Robert is still lounging around, leaning against KITT next to the open side door. Say, Robert. You'd better have a place for my bike, or I'll have to drive wherever. Unfortunately, you can't drive wherever. At least, I don't think you can. I think we can work something out, though. Maybe we can tie it to the roof, or something. It'll be quite a squeeze putting it inside, especially with the presents, but it'll probably fit there, too. * Marguerite sighs. "Just a paint job, just a paint job." She shudders. "The roof will be fine." * Marguerite grabs the helmets and chucks them inside. * Robert takes ahold of the bike and waits for Maggie to come help. * Marguerite grabs the other end. "Count of three, alright? One... two.... three." * Robert lifts. This is going to hurt. ;_; You manage to get the bike up there, with some work. Oh, my poor paint job. * Robert opens a pocket on a strangely segmented belt at his waist and begins pulling out rope. Lots of it. Quit whining. I'm going to have to spend hours realigning the steering now. Yeah, well Robert will be spending hours repainting me. ... ...fuck. Fuck? I hate painting. Good. I thought you were offering. * Robert stops after pulling about fifty feet of rope out of a two inch by four inch pocket. * Robert proceeds to tie the bike securely down. Sorry. I'm married. To Reason, I assume. No. To Andrea. My wife. * Marguerite raises an eyebrow. "Interesting." * Robert holds up his left hand, which _does_ have a wedding band. Duly noted. Let's go. * Robert hops in. * Marguerite looks up at the bike and sighs. "Guess that will have to do." She slowly climbs inside KITT, wincing as she does so. "I wish Sayuri were here." Why? * Inside KITT, near the back, is a large pile of wrapped gifts, labeled with various names of members of the team, and all marked "Do not open 'til Christmas." (Rina is asleep on one of the seats. She turns over and mumbles something about cookies.) * There are at least two boxes with Marguerite's name on them. Because then she could talk to you, and I could polish my guns instead. * Marguerite eyes the boxes. You don't have to talk to me. The devil is this, Robert? Christmas at Ground Zero. I told you, Rina and I did a little trading, so we got everybody presents. It turns out that the residents of the place we ended up had some kind of inverted taste sense or something. So the worse something tasted, the more they liked it. My meager supply of MREs was a gold mine. I wish I'd had more. Jesus christ. Wish I'd had the foresight to keep Libyan rations with me. They consisted of a live rat and a stick to kill it with. You never know when something will come in handy. Anyways. Where are we headed next? Togo and Jackie are next on my list. You heard the van. Let's go, KITT. Wonderful. And a waaaaaay we go! (Ending now's alright with me.) * KITT pulls off and warps. ( Fine iwth me, too. ) KITT rises into the air, and then takes off into the sky, accompanied by the approapriate sound effect. [SESISON END.]