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(Written By RinaLee, Not Bob Dobbs)
Chapters 1-3
Rina Lee was a Believer. She never wanted this to happen; but it happened nevertheless. All of the Believers tried to stop it, [petitions, treaties and everything] but apparently, they didn’t understand that it was inevitable. It was as if it was predestined. Everything just played out like some grandiose manga.
Chapter One
WTF NO WAI?!?!
It all started one dark, stormy night in mid-winter, as all good stories do. Once again, Rina Lee was at the Ian Bar and Grill, emptying their supply of rum. “You know Rina; you technically shouldn’t be drinking that...” sighed Bob Dobbs from behind the counter as the short [yet highly tolerant] catgirl drained another Pina Colada. “You don’t need to worry Bob; I can handle it~,” she grinned. “No, that’s not the problem...You know that the drinking age in Gaia is 20, and you’re—” “Shhhh! Do you want the police to show up here?!~ You never had a problem with my drinking before! ~” Bob merely shook his head and laughed at her.
Abruptly, the doors swung open, releasing a flurry of snow into the front room of the Grill. Several Ianites stumbled into the foyer, shaking the flakes out of their hair. “Heyyyyy! ~” Rina Lee laughed, waving a newly poured Pina Colada frantically, “Shut the dooooor! It’s all cold outside!! ~”
Sway shook her head and laughed, “No Rina, we hadn’t noticed,” she glanced over at Bob, who was pulling a pack of smokes out of his breast pocket, “Bob, not inside, remember?” Bob looked deflated for a moment, and then placed the box back into his pocket, “Sway? Did you pick up the ‘you-know-what’ in Barton while you were out?” Rina’s ears; both of them, perked up, “What ‘you-know-what’? ~ What are you talking about? What did Sway buy? C’mon Captain, what did you buy in Barton? You can tell meeee...~”
Sway looked over at Bob, who nodded, and replied, “A costume. Or two...” “Or ENOUGH FOR ALL OF US!!” hollered Saichen, holding out a Sasha costume on a coat hanger, complete with Island Girl Wig. “Why do we need...? ~” Bob cut in, “You girls are going to be working on a little...performance. I invited Ian to the Grill, and I was hoping you guys would put on a show for him.” “Bob, you’re insane! ~ No way are you going to get me into an Island Girl Wig!! ~ Wait; he finally accepted an invitation? ~” Bob nodded.
“So Bob,” continued Captain Sway, looking mildly afraid, “When exactly is Ian coming over?” Bob grinned evilly, “Twenty minutes.” The girls looked eyes widened in fear, “But Bob! That wasn’t part of the plan!” yelled Mur. “You said we were each going to burn one!!” “I thought you would n** the idea in the bud if I told you...” “WE AREN’T DOING IT!!” the girls shouted in unison. The force of her yelling knocked Rina off her stool and onto the floor, where she started giggling stupidly.
Chapter Two
More than he bargained for...The arguing only lasted a few minutes, and Bob caved to most of the requests of the women. They were not going to be forced into Sasha costumes; the collective sigh of relief was quite funny. However, they were going to have to entertain in some way or another. Another argument ensued.
“Bob~ Why don’t you daaaance for Iaaaaan? ~” Rina slurred. The unamused redhead proceeded to roughly push her off her stool again, and this time, she stayed on the ground. It was safer there. The group came up with nothing. They could not formulate one idea on how to entertain their favorite shopkeeper.
Suddenly, Bob’s head jerked up, seeing the clock.
“There’s something wrong.”
“What?” asked Sway, “What’s wrong?” The man stood up quickly, dashing to the coat tree and removing his jacket. The Ianites stared in disbelief as he threw his coat on hastily, “Bob, what’s wrong?” and headed for the door. “No~” Bob looked over at the tiny hand on his coat sleeve. It was Rina, looking oddly sober, “You’ll freeze to death~” Bob’s resolve showed clearly on his face, “It’s been an hour. He said he would be here in twenty minutes. Look outside,” he motioned to the blizzard raging on the other side of the window, “He needs my help. I have to go. You’d do the same for–” “Don’t say it again~ Just don’t~” she interrupted, an exceptionally serious look on her face; the comment puzzling the rest of the group. “If you’re going to go, put on another coat,” commented Saichen, trying to not meet his eyes. All of the people at the Grill knew his dedication. Maybe this was going to be the day he showed Ian what he was made of. Bob pulled open the door and sprinted out into the snow.
Chapter Three
Whiteout Battle
Bob had never seen so much snowfall in any one place, nor had he ever been outside in such a storm. He did not worry about finding his way; he had been around here long enough to know instinctively where he was. The minutes felt like hours as he trudged through the thick snow. The wind got louder and colder every second. It seemed to get darker with every passing minute. The man pulled his jackets closer around himself; knowing it was futile. Rina’s words played over in his head, “No...~ you’ll freeze to death...~”
“It doesn’t matter what happens to me,” Bob reminded himself, willing his body to stop shivering as he trekked on absolutely refusing to give up until his body failed him, “I just have to find him and get him out of this storm, if I don't think about it it wont be as c-cold.”
“You...Get away from usss!”
Bob looked up, seeing two murky shapes ahead of him; barely noticeable in the darkness. Bob put up a hand to shield his vision from the snow as best he could. “I...I...I’m warning you, I...I can still fight!” shivered a familiar voice. “Ian?!” “What? Who are y...you?!” ‘It’s Bob Dobbs! You know me!!”
Ian breathed a sigh of relief as the redhead approached him. “I though you were those Zurg pigs back to try and take Sa–” “Ian, you have to get out of this storm!” “I can’t! Sasha’s hurt!” Just then, Bob finally identified the object of his affection was holding. Sasha...she just never goes away, does she? He thought inwardly.
“C’mon. You both have to come back with me. You can't stay outside, You'll freeze to death.” Ian nodded, seeing the logic. There was no way that they would be able to survive out in this blizzard. Besides, there was no way he could help Sasha if he was dead.
“Here, Let me help you,” said Bob, hoisting up Sasha’s other shoulder. “Thanks...” The three began the long passage back to the Grill moving in complete silence. The snow absorbed the very sound of their feet. The hush was unnerving and Bob realized something, “Ian?” “Yeah,” the shopkeeper wheezed. “What happened back there?”
“I was coming to the Bar and Grill. I saw how persistent you were with the invites; I have no idea why, but I admired how you kept trying. I don’t get why you wanted me to come so badly, but I figured I’d come anyway.” Bob beamed inwardly, he admires me, if only for that... Ian continued, “So I decided that I would bring Sasha with me. On our way here, the snowstorm got really bad. We got lost...and then those brainless aliens showed up.”
Bob Dobbs was indifferent to the aliens. He did not want to fight; wanted nothing to do with them. Sure, he had supported Flarn when he was shot down by carrying those stupid carnations, but that was different. He was never a Believer; he was also never in the Resistance. The aliens had not affected him...until now...
“They came out of nowhere, and this time, they weren’t just armed with probes. Th-they had guns.” The redhead interrupted Ian, “I thought they were signing a peace treaty!” “So did we...”
“I tried to protect Sasha, but...” Ian’s voice faltered in his throat. Ian was beyond tired but had to keep talking as to not pass out, “I don’t know where it hit. I just know she was bleeding in more than one place, and I bandaged what I could find...” Even in the darkness, Bob could see the tears glistening on the sandy-haired man’s face as he held up his torn sleeves, “I just had to do something...” A dark shape silently floated overhead and Ian painfully gasped, “Those monsters in their UFO’s...Quick, Bob, we have to hurry!”
Swiftly, before they could they were surrounded, not having any time to react. the dark green shadows of the Zurg were clearly visible, and as quickly as the aliens had arrived, Bob became a real part of the Resistance. Nobody hurts Ian and gets away with it.
“Just keep out of their line of fire, and keep Sasha safe,” Bob urged, stepping in front of the two shopkeepers. He was not going down without a fight and he did not know how long he would last. If anything he could distract the aliens long enough for the two to get somewhere to safety. He knew they did not want Sasha. How he knew this is a mystery, but to him, the truth was obvious, they were after Ian. The red-haired man searched his back to discover that he indeed strapped his Demonic Pitchfork onto him out of sheer habit. It looked like he was not going to have to wait for the ever-delayed Battle System to get to use it.
In an instant the Zurg opened fire on them. The laser beams were large enough to block with the Pitchfork, almost too easy. Bob jumped at key moments and even took a few direct hits for the "couple" behind him. When the shooting ceased, Bob charged ahead at the invaders in spite of his pain and wounded arm; blunt end first. As much as he hated the Zurg right now, he did not want to be responsible for killing someone; alien or not. One by one, the wrongdoers hit the ground, all knocked out cold. Bob was just as surprised as the aliens that he was doing a very good job of fighting. "It must be adreneline: he spoke to himself, hiding his own bleeding and they could continue walking.
As the trio neared the Bar and Grill, Ian turned to Bob, “You have no idea how grateful I am to you.” Despite the cold, the smitten man blushed redder than his own hair, and stammered “It...It was nothing. I just...wanted...to...help.” A look of concern crossed Ian’s face, “You’re shivering, and your face is really pink. You need to get inside more than I do right now. Look, we’re right there. Let’s get inside.”
Bob could see the light of the Grill a couple of yards away. Oddly, there was a face in the window. Sway...Bob smiled. They obviously could not see him yet; another face appeared in the window; Saichen this time, followed by Rina Lee. It was this last woman that first caught sight of him, alerting the others to the trio approaching the building.
The women who had been staring out the window now rushed to the door, swinging it open as swiftly as possible. Several of them offered to pick Sasha up off the men’s shoulders [and their offer was declined] as they ushered them inside. Once the trio was finally out of the snow, Rina prepared to take Sasha into the kitchen as Sorrowsong prepared a place to put the gravely injured airhead. Moron or not, they just could not let her lie on the floor and die.
As Rina lifted Sasha onto her shoulders, Ian let out a sigh of both pain and relief as he crumpled to the ground. The women rushed to his aid, but were roughly pushed aside by Bob. He caught him just before he hit the ground. “IAN!” He shook him lightly, trying to rouse him to consciousness, then turned to the women standing there, “Give him some air!!” he bellowed, “Get Sasha taken care of!!”
As they rushed off, Bob turned back to Ian, “Wake up...” “Bob...” came a weak reply, “Ian, what is it?! What can I do?!” “Is...Sasha...safe...?” “Yes, the girls are taking care of her. Ian, are you ok?” No reply. “Ian! stay awake!” The redhead choked up. Bob placed his ear to Ian’s chest. Good. Heartbeat. He’s breathing, too. He was loathe to remove his head from Ian's chest or even open his eyes, it was such heaven to have Ian in his arms. He knew if Ian were awake he would never have been allowed to enjoy such an embrace. regretfully he took comfort in the few precious seconds he was able to. But he was so cold...too cold and he had to make sure Ian stayed awake.
Bob heard someone walk back into the living room. “Bob? Sasha is all set up, but it’s not looking good... Ian! Is he okay?!~” “He’s fine; just passed out. I need you to find the electric blankets and make some tea. We need to warm him up as soon as humanly possible” Rina nodded, and headed back to the kitchen. “And Rina,” he added, “Don’t put rum in it.” “But it warms people—” “No, it doesn’t. It just doesn’t. We don’t have time to argue. Just do it.” The catgirl understood the severity of the situation, and did as she was told. Knowing Bob did not mean it, it was the fear talking.
Bob continued to try and wake Ian, his voice tired and broken. It was a wonder he was able to speak at all. "Stay with me. . . please!" gonk
 Jayce Reinhardt · Tue Jan 16, 2007 @ 10:32pm · 3 Comments |
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