A Funny Thing Happened
"Alright, alright" I backed up and said "zip the lip, shut up no more talking about the vor-" I closed my mouth as several of the older RPers shot me angry glances Maybe this only happens to insane people I wanted to add but I knew I mustn’t...

Must blend in, must blend in with the general populace of ditto town, how in the world do I do that? I can't even blend in back home! OH WAIT ALL I HAVE TO DO IS ACT NORMAL AND I'LL FIT RIGHT IN

I bent next to the monkey and apoligised "Sorry 'bout that... Mintoo?"

I tried guessing who the newcomer was, Eusy? No she hasn't reminded me to post in SOL yet... I could only think of two other role-players right now and that was Marshy and Kate, knowing that Kate did more ditto galaxy role plays I went with Kate.

I stood foward and since I didn't know how to how to greet anyone I simply said "It an honor to meet you Master Nalume, you would not belive the things I've heard about you sir" And then I added mentaly "No seriosly you wouldn't

A Funny Thing Happened
It works! I mentally screamed as it lit up. An iPod seemed like a minuscule thing to worry about in this situation, but it was bought with hard earned babysitting money, and I didn't want that to go to waste. I quickly shoved it into my pocket again and moved a little closer to the group of Narniawebbers, beside Kate I was pretty sure. If we got apparated I did not want to be left behind.

The Aftermath ((Sorry 'bout that Joe!))
Ellie and John stayed back while Matthew went in close and watched. All the recruits seemed to be doing very well, especially one. He beat everyone he dueled against, and beat them easily at that."I guess we don't have to worry about the recruits putting Matthew in a bad mood." John commented quietly to Ellie with a small chuckle.Ellie nodded her head in agreement. Then she saw Matthew draw his sword, and stopped the recruit's in mid-air. She was surprised when the recruit kept going, most would've dropped their swords in surprise.

The Aftermath
Matthew jumped back and brought his sword up to block an overhead follow up blow from the boy. Alan kicked Matthew in the chest sending him to the ground were he rolled backwards strait into a standing posistion. Alan swung in from the left and Mathew ducked under the blow then jumped over a back swing from the recruit. Then he attacked him with a jab which the boy dodged and swung around and backhanded Mathew with his fist sending Mathew back to the ground were Mathew tripped up the boy causing him to fall down beside Mathew. He laid his sword against the boy's neck.

"Dead"
"And?" Said Alan before he pushed the sword away and lifted himself up.
Mathew pushed himself up and looked on as the boy walked away, then turned to the man in charge of the new recruits and said "Get this boy premoted, I want him serving under me"

A (Slightly) Less Normal Life
Galvan signaled for the chauffeur droid to stay when Jakov came forward and made his demand. He looked at the young man skeptically and took a moment to think it over.

"Captain!" he shouted past Jakov. "Take Mr. Jakov to Jedi Sanchez's residence." He rapped on the back of the droid's chair, and the limo zipped off back to his office complex. As he left, the other speeders arrived, and the soldiers ushered Chase and Nessie into one and Jakov into the other.

"I guess we'll see you later!" Chase said over his shoulder as their speeder took off after the Lord Overseer's limo.

***********

Meanwhile, back in Autobot City, Warpath and most of the other Autobots were listening to Bursa wrap up a presentation he'd been giving on the upgrade process, its benefits to Transformer society, and how it would be done.

"Are there any questions?" Bursa asked as he concluded. The Maximal team leader was standing on a small, hovering platform that allowed him to be at eye level with the Autobots. Space Case raised his hand.

"Ok, I understand how the upgrade works, by transferring our sparks to new protoform bodies and all, but what about alternate modes? Do we need external devices to scan new forms, or is that built in to the new bodies?"

"Unfortunately, the bioscan technology has not yet been miniaturized beyond stasis pod adaptability," Bursa said. He elaborated on the nature of the technology, but Warpath tuned him out. He was standing in the back corner of the room, arms folded across his chest, feeling very grumpy. It just didn't feel right, all the Transformers having to change like this, but Autobot High Command had said that it had to be. And it wasn't voluntary, either. If you knew about it, you had no excuse not to be upgraded when the opportunity arrived. Warpath was never fond of change, but this went beyond all that. To him, it was like becoming a completely different person, and that was something he didn't want to do. He silently resolved to hold off on becoming a Maximal as long as he possibly could.

"And keep in mind," Bursa was continuing, "that you are not limited to beast forms. With the initial upgrade, you will have the option of maintaining your vehicle form, adapted as closely as possible, if you so choose. Jetjagar will be interviewing each of you over the remainder of this solar cycle, and you will be able to tell him whether you wish to maintain your vehicle mode, or if you wish to have a beast mode."

"So if we choose to keep our vehicle forms," and Autobot asked from near the back, "We'll pretty much look like Shono?" Bursa paused as he tried to remember which Autobot was Shono. Once he did, he nodded.

"As far as scale goes, yes," he said. This elicited a series of groans from around the room, followed by mutterings of variations of "I'm going with a beast mode." Unfortunately, Shono was not the most popular Autobot.

Slightly Less
"Yes!" said Shono with a big grin knowing full well that he was very anoying "I am so going with the vehicle mode" he started chanting "I won't be the seccond smallest guy anymore, I won't be the seccond smallest guy anymore I always had a good feeling about you guy's" he said even though it contridicted what he had just said an hour ago.

A (Slightly) Less Normal Life

Ana nodded in agreement when Jones told her to leave. She couldn't blame the man for not being terribly friendly to Jedi at the moment. Still, there was just something about the ship that felt off to her. It nagged at her and eluded her attempts to probe it in the Force. And so she hesitated before leaving to talk to the boy who seemed to lack the dislike of Jedi that Jones possessed.

"No big deal. Someone has to make sure these young ones don't tarnish the reputation of the Order. Well, anymore than the older ones manage to do," Ana said and laughed. "Here's some credits to cover the damages. Considering the way Kale ripped that thing off, you're probably going to need to replace the cover."

A (Slightly) More Normal Life

Jakov rode in the speeder silently, watching the buildings race by as he thought of what exactly he would say to the Jedi once he found her. It turned out he did not have much time to think. The speeder arrived at a small, low house and the chauffeur practically ordered him out.

Taking a deep breath, he walked up to the door and knocked firmly. The door opened after a moment, revealing a beautiful young woman with dark hair and dark eyes. She frowned slightly when she saw him, as if not sure what he could be there for. Or perhaps she had felt something amiss about him.

"Can I help you?" she asked politely.

"I understand you knew Cei," Jakov said firmly, not bothering with any introductions at the moment.

Her eyes widened. "Come in," she said quickly, looking up and down the street before stepping aside and holding the door open wider, beckoning him in. Once he entered, she closed the door behind him and locked it.

----

"That's her name, huh?" Caeden asked, taking the credits gratefully. "Yeah, she was intense. I don't know what she thought we were hiding in the vent." He shrugged. "Jedi can be paranoid." He blinked. "No offense," he added with a slight grin.

Meanwhile in the bridge, Jones called up the main technician. The thin, sour-looking man appeared beside the First Mate with a scowl.

"What?" he snapped in a rolling Irish brogue. "I was just running diagnostics like you told me to. Do you want this done or not?"

"Yes, yes, but first, I need to know whether or not the package is mentioned at all in the ship's computers." Jones said, frowning threateningly.

The technician snorted. "What do you take me for? An idiot? Of course there's no mention of the package in our computers. Ever. Not one. The Captain was very specific on that subject. No one even knows where it is."

"I had Caeden hide it."

"Ah. That explains things then. If Caeden's hidden it, there's no telling where it might be."

"That's the plan," Jones said in a gruff voice. "I just wanted to make sure. You can go back to . . . whatever it is you were doing."

"Aye, sir," the technician said with a slight grin. "That I will then." And he disappeared from the bridge.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

The Aftermath
Ellie watched as Matthew and the boy named Alan stood up, and she could hardly hide her surprise when she heard Matthew's request. This kind of thing was pretty rare, but it seemed this recruit had what it would take. At least he was a decent enough swordsman she thought, although she could say nothing yet for his attitude.

Restart

The clamour of the paparazzi did not die down even a few hours after Dotty's admittance in to Monstropolis General Hospital. A few police officers remained to keep traffic control, allowing no one inside who even remotely looked like they could be hiding a camera. So there were a few clashes when someone wanted entrance into the hospital, like right now when Mrs. Withers demanded in a bellowing voice, shocking to her female figure, to be let through.

It took Nate to come up and confirm with the officers that she was Miss Hennessey's guardian before they let her, Bradley, and Shelby pass. By the tone of her glare a person could tell Mrs. Withers was not pleased to be here as she walked into the waiting room.

"So where is the runaway?" she asked Nate, not bothering with the nurses to find out. "Or did she slip away again just after you called?" There was annoyance and pure scepticism in her voice that what she said was true.

"Dotty is unconscious," Nate told her quietly, really in a whisper compared to Mrs. Withers' tone. "She can't go anywhere."

"Humph." Obviously she would believe it once she saw Dotty herself.

Bradley leaned against the front desk as his mother was asked to sign some forms. Seeing Tyler hunkered in the corner a small sneer tugged his lips. Shelby hugged by her aunt, not wanting to be in the hospital either but for reasons her wide eyes suggested were from apprehension.

~~~~~~

At his statement of Layla cooking for them, Mary Jane blinked in realization. "Oh" was all she said at first, her mind at work at what that would entail. "Now that I think about it I don't know if this will work. . .

"Who's going to look after John Luke?" she spelled out her predicament for Chase.

Restart

Ty looked up as the Withers came in. He smiled slightly at Shelby, but scowled instantly when he looked up at Mrs. Withers and Bradley.

"They shouldn't be here," he muttered angrily. "They don't care about Dotty."

Alyson looked over and stood slowly, keeping a wary eye on the family. There was something that annoyed her with Bradley and Mrs. Withers was not one for good impressions either.

----

Chase shook his head. "Layla makes dinner for us before she goes over to your place. She puts it in the fridge or freezer and we just heat it up." He grinned slightly. "Mostly though, we live on TV dinners and easy, cheap stuff like that. She doesn't have a lot of time to actually cook good meals. Not like she used to anyway." He shrugged.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Restart

When Mrs. Withers was done signing all the papers, which she had grumbled about doing the entire ten minutes it took her to finish, she slapped the pen on the counter. "All right, let's go see her," she muttered under her breath as she picked up her purse.

With only two people allowed to visit at a time Mrs. Withers told Bradley and Shelby to wait for her in the waiting room. She didn't want Shelby to wander off in her absence so she ordered Bradley to watch her. Normally Bradley would not have allowed his mother to get away with bossing him around in public, but he didn't make an attempt to protest. He was actually pleased with the arrangment.

Poor Shelby was terrified to be left alone with Bradley, but she knew better than to make a fuss.

"Can I go with you, Mrs. Withers?" Nate was by Mrs. Withers' side just seconds after she told her children to stay behind, leaping at the opportunity for that last visitor's spot. Besides from time when he confronted Tyler in the intensive care unit Nate had not seen Dotty at all since she had been admitted.

Mrs. Withers shrugged, not really caring, and barged through the ICU's double doors. Slipping in as the doors started to swing close Nate followed her lead.

~~~~~~

Mary Jane showed a sign of relief with a sigh. "Oh, I see," she commented. She didn't want to say much about what Chase mentioned they were going to eat, not wanting to sound snobbish as she wasn't used to eating TV dinners.

Restart

Ty felt bad for Shelby. He knew how much of a jerk Bradley was, and he could see the terror in her eyes. A familiar sick feeling twisted in his gut. Sliding out of his chair, he stood and walked over to her, carefully avoiding looking at Bradley.

"Hey," he said softly, gently to the little girl. "Remember me?" He smiled slightly. "I came and got you at the church that one time with Dotty."

Alyson watched Nate leave and then looked back at Ty and the little girl. She then raised her eyes to stare at Bradley, watching him closely, ready to call security if he did anything.

----

"Yeah," Chase said, after thinking of nothing better to say. He turned to go down the street that would lead them to the condominiums. "So we're cool for Saturday then?" he asked, stopping at a stop sign.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Restart

Turning away from the doors her aunt passed through, which she watched longingly for Mrs. Withers to suddenly return and take her home, Shelby kept her eyes at the movie star's feet shyly. With a glance at Bradley she dipped her head in a small nod.

Bradley looked back at Alyson unabashedly as he crossed the waiting room to sit in a chair, which he slouched in, his backside hardly on the seat. He didn't watch his little cousin as he was supposed to, just glanced at her once as Tyler spoke to her, but he was listening acutely.

"You were nice," Shelby admitted softly, scared to say anything to Tyler at first but when Bradley didn't admonish her she got braver. "Dotty wasn't at all."

~~~~~~

"Yeah," Mary Jane confirmed with nod. She looked both ways at the intersection out of habit. "What time?" she asked, forgetting that was a question Chase should be asking. She wanted to know since she wanted to make sure she would get back in time to do a little bit of homework and tuck John Luke in bed herself.

Restart

Ty smiled crookedly. "Yeah well, I think she was just worried about you. She doesn't show her feelings well, so she comes across as mean all the time. Kinda annoying, right?"

Alyson could not contain her curiosity any more. She marched over to Bradley.

"You don't look very concerned about your foster sister," she stated flatly.

----

"Hmm," Chase said, furrowing his brow in thought as he started forward. "I guess a good time would be--"

He was suddenly cut off by a loud honking and squealing of tires. Chase barely had time to move the wheel to the side before a car rammed into them. The truck lurched forward and slammed into the opposite side's stop sign. Chase was flung forward and smacked his head against the wheel, going unconscious instantly for his airbag did not inflate.

Luckily for Mary Jane, hers did.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Restart

Shelby nodded once again, this time more adamantly. "She's always like that," she told Tyler like he needed to know that.

Bradley shrugged listlessly while trying to contain a smirk. "This isn't unusual," he informed Alyson impertinently. "She's always getting herself in trouble. It's in her nature."

~~~~~~

Somehow out of the corner of her eye, Mary Jane saw the car coming before it hit them. She screamed in an act to warn Chase as it came plowing towards them, but it was too late.

When the car struck them everything seemed like it was spinning out of control, which it literally was. The only time did she stop screaming was when her face met the air bag roughly and snuffed everything out.

Mary Jane must have blacked out for only a few seconds, for everything still seemed to be spinning when she opened her eyes. Tiny shards to plexiglass fell on her face as she slowly lifted her head, some catching on her eyelashes, and she moaned when a fierce headache broke out. Disoriented she looked to her right and outside the truck before she turned and saw--

"Chase?" His name slipped from her lips as the shock of what she saw struck her like a battering ram to her gut. Chase's head was bleeding profusely and the driver's side door was pushed in, shoving him into an awkward angle that pressed him against her.

"Chase?" Mary Jane was gripped by fear as she reached out and touched his face. He was hardly breathing at all--"Chase!"