Author: RINGSHADOW Subject: IS addition Posted: OCTOBER 01, 1998 14:27 //James McCloud appeared early on in the IS for the space of four or so seconds. I decided to bring him back. Humor me okay?// "Something just came up on the screen." Reported Sgt. Wolf. "Readouts say Wolfen4." "They're certainly moving along with the Wolfen technology." Fox replied, looking at a closeup of the plane. "It's just a wild guess, but I'd say that the pilot isn't going to attack us." "Why do you say that?" FJMcCloud asked, coming in. "For one, none of his weapons are armed. Wake him up, ROB." The Great Fox's active radar went off once, and an alarm buzzed in the Wolfen4's cockpit, telling it's pilot that he was targeted. "You sure that's a good idea Fox?" Peppy asked. "Too late now. Is the pilot's radio on? "Don't bother, he's using typed messages." FRIEND PILOT REQUESTS TO LAND ASAP. Fox typed a message back. IDENTIFY YOURSELF. I AM UNABLE TO ID MYSELF. I AM BEING MONITORED BY THE VENOMIANS IN AN EFFORT BY THEM TO FIND ME. Fox continued typing. THEN HOW DO WE KNOW YOU'RE A FRIEND? IT ISN'T MY FAULT, SON, IF I'M BEING MONITORED. He looked at the screen for several moments, then answered. YOU ARE CLEARED TO LAND. MUCH OBLIGED, FOX. "Once again, are you sure that's a good idea?" "Pep, he knew who i was, and i never said my name. He called me son." "Your dad died Fox." "You don't have to remind me! And the fact is, we don't know if he is." He walked down to the docking bay, jacket open so he could grab his gun if needed. The Wolfen4 was larger then the earlier versions, and was a tight fit around the 30 or so other planes in the bay. Fox arrived just as the pilot got out of the Venomian fighter. The pilot pulled his helmet off and smiled at Fox. "Glad to see you son." "Dad..." Fox strode across the docking bay and gave his thought-dead father a bear hug. "Good to see you too." "You know i have nine lives. I was captured. I escaped, and my arwing wasn't available, so i had to, ahm...borrow someone's Wolfen4." "In other words you just made a long story short. Come on, let's go tell everyone else you're back." "I'd really love it if you told me just why there's enough fighters in this bay for the Team eight times over." "Well, dad, it's like this. We ran across a website called Nintendo.com, and something called NSider. We looked up all the NSider's backgrounds, and..." --------------------------------------------- James examined a map in the strategy room, which was mapped out with the fighters, both friend and enemy. "Any ideas?" Peppy asked. "We're outnumbered lord-knows to one." "Pep, you tell me one time when the odds mattered when we fought. In fact, don't even tell me the odds okay? Yes, i do have some ideas. And if we use them, pray to god they work." IS-United Forever Author: F.J. McCloud The earth below them celebrated a new year, but the Star Fox team and its new members, the fans from earth, couldn't partake in the merriment and festivities. Andross' largest armada yet was en route to earth, and the team could never hope to combat such a large force directly. Slippy and KillerThunder, however, had successfully tested a time warp via the black hole. Time travel, it seemed, was the only way to fight Andross' looming menace this time. KillerThunder had proposed sabotaging the armada in the past while it was still growing, but while the rest of the team agreed to the proposal, everyone was anxious. Throughout their adventures with the Lylatians, the Nsiders from earth faced numerous dangers, but until now those dangers felt more like a game, perhaps eclipsed by the joys of flying alongside characters once dismissed as fictional. This time, however, it felt real, and hopes were riding on KillerThunder's idea. MYSTOUT ran into the rec room aboard the Great Fox where Falco and Sovan Jedi were arm wrestling to pass the time. "Guys, they've done it! Slippy and KillerThunder say we can attempt the time travel mission in an hour!" "About time! I can't wait to see some action here. No one threatens MY planet and gets away with it!" Sovan Jedi replied. Falco smiled in agreement. "You said it! Now let's talk details," D'nel added as the rest of the team congregated in the rec room. "We know where the ships originated from now, so we'll need to hit those construction facilities, right?" StarFoxandWolf asked. "Yes, and I think nova bombs may be our best bet to strike those facilities," Peppy said as calmly as ever. "Easier said than done. Those facilities will have defenses, too," Sovan Jedi reminded. The team nodded collectively, knowing that their fancy piloting was needed once again. "I can't wait to stretch my wings again!" Ringshadow beamed with excitement. "Those arwings are FUN!" Fox showed his leadership skills as he directed the team and coordinated its preparations to travel back in time. Everyone took it seriously, but there was a gleam in everyone's eyes. They knew the dangers ahead, but they also knew this was the start of their largest and most daring mission yet and, no matter what, they were a team--united forever. Nothing could stand in their way. Author: DNELTHEEXMAGE Subject: ES- How I Got Here I Posted: JANUARY 08, 1999 14:19 --How I Got Here I-- OOC: It's been a long time since I've had to write anything Nsider-complaint, so I hope this gets through. I'm introducing my self in third-person, then I'll continue in first-person, as I usually do. --- F. J. McCloud looked over the posts on Nsider in a small bit of free time he happened to have. "Hmm..." he mused, then said to Ace McLeod, "Do you think we try to go after D'nel the ex-Mage?" "Why not?" replied Ace. "If you can find him." F. J. went into the Message Center and checked to see if D'nel had a profile there. Sure enough, he lived in Ohio. "Well, it's a start..." --- Ar U sat on the couch at the back of the third floor smoking lounge next to Sunny Bono. She was busily being bored with the Camarilla meeting, but Ar U paid no attention. He sat with his head on his knees, humming in a reflective meditation as the old Garou had taught him. He ignored the introduction of new members into the Camarilla Clans. When Nosferatu came up, a person clad in a heavy parka with their face obscured was derided: "When did we embrace Kenny?" But had Ar U known, he would not have been sitting with Clan Malkavian. Had he known that the person that stood before him was really Ann in disguise, he would have felt much better. But he remained oblivious to all, including the small flying creature that popped out of the wall. He ignored the question asked of it: "What the f/ck are you?" and it's response: "Coo-coo!" The laughter of the Camarilla rang around him, and he remained, oblivious. But then he checked his watch. It was 10:25. He stood, unfolding from the couch, and placed his hand over his wrist. He changed, from taciturn Gangrel vampire to nerdy roleplayer. "I'll see you guys after break," he said. Few heard him or saw him as he left the room. --- It was a cold Friday night in early December that greeted the lone figure that walked the streets of a college town in Northeast Ohio, alone. The temperature was not above 40 degrees, yet the figure wore only black jeans and T-shirt, along with an opened gray jacket, seemingly unaffected by winter's fury. Rather, he enjoyed it. He also wore a ring on his right hand, the stone of which changed color under the streetlights. And, most importantly, a necklace with an amulet at the end: a dragon amulet. The six-foot-four adolescent's long stride carried him effortlessly up and down the hills that lay between his gaming sessions and home. As he walked, he sang a song. It was 'Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat', from the soundtrack of 'Cats', and he knew every word and inflection. A flash in the night sky caught his attention, though too late for him to see what it had been. He though nothing of it, and continued walking. He moved over to share the sidewalk with whoever was coming his way. He did not pay much attention to the person, but nodded courteously. The person, however, stopped when the adolescent passed him. He had seen the ring and necklace: he knew what these artifacts signified. "Are you D'nel the ex-Mage?" he asked, breaking the still night air. The walked stopped, turned, and looked at the man with an air of total disbelief. "How do you know that name?" "D'nel, you would know me as Ace McLeod." As the man stepped from the shadows towards, D'nel, he saw that he was speaking to a fox-man. D'nel tried his darnedest to speak, but all he could do was point and say, "Woooh..." before he blacked out. --- --How I Got Here II-- When I came to, I was alone in some room that I did not recognize. In fact, I had no idea why I should be coming to at all. I checked my head. No lumps, bumps, or abrasions. I was still wearing my ring and necklace, but I had absolutely no idea where I was at all. I reached over to a table beside the bed I was laying on and groped around to find my glasses case. I felt that I was in a dream, because everything was floating around my eyes, even with my glasses on, and nothing made sense. So I got up, satisfied with following the course of the dream, and went to the door, which slid open before me, making a sound straight out of Star Trek. Before me stood a large hare, who spoke to me in a Southern accent. "Good, you're awake. I'm Peppy. C'mon, let's introduce everyone to ya." He gestured for me to proceed him. I looked at him dumbly, then pointed at his head. "Woooh..." was all I managed to say before I fainted for the second time in my life. --- "Look, D'nel, we've brought you here because you're one of us." "One of us... How many times have I heard that before? Look, no offense, but I'm one of far too many things nowadays." "C'mon, D'nel, we need your help!" "Look, would you stop calling me D'nel! I'm not D'nel the ex-Mage! If I was, I'd be a half-dragon with storywriting magic, not to mention some nice psychic abilities, and I wouldn't be here trying to hold on to what little bit of reality is left around me!" "Sheesh... You're not this p/ssy online..." "You're d/mned right I'm not, Miss Shadow, if that who you really are! I'm a completely different person online, assuming you know me online, which I doubt you do, because the people I talk to online are all human!" I huffed and puffed with anger, frustration, and shock as I viewed the unearthly faces around me. Normally, I would have been happy as he11 to see people like these, but not after what I'd been through. "So, are you going to help us, or not? We don't really have time to sit around waiting, if you don't mind my saying." "No, I don't mind. God, what I wouldn't give for an N64 and/or an Internet connection right now!" "Come on, D'nel, you can't just poop out on us like this!" "Yes, I can, and I would if the fate of the world was not in our hands. This is a little too much for me to take in right now, and I'm doin' my d/mnedest to keep from going full-blown nucking futz here! So give me a break! If not for all the roleplaying I do, my brain would have shorted out long ago!" I got a lot of strange looks, which made me feel better. At least I was acting normally. "Why can't you just help us? We were all very pleased to help Star Fox." "Look, normally, I would be really happy at the chance to meet a bunch of video game characters in person. It's always been a childhood dream of mine. But right now is not the time to fulfill that dream. I mean, I'm not the huge Star Fox fan you may take me for. I've got the game, I've always liked it, but the only reason I go to that board is because... Well, I like the people there, and it's the only board left on Nsider since the exodus that I can go to and have pleasant conversations. I don't go the Game Boy board to do that at all... "So, would you please tell me why you all look like Star Fox characters, yet claim to be the same people I've been talking to on the SF64 BBS on Nsider for the past... six months?" "Come on, I'll fill you in on everything," said F. J. He stood and left the meeting room, and I followed him, feeling rather... --- "So you're still convinced you're all the people that I talk to online?" "Can't you just accept that?" "Fine, I can say I accept that. So, F. J., don't get me wrong. I'd like to help, since you took all the trouble to bring me here." "You will?" F. J. seemed very concerned that I might not. "Yes. But I won't fly anything for you. I've got parents who are probably worried sick about where the heck I am, and I don't want to go home in pieces. I may be chivalrous, but I'm not brave." "So, then, what do you propose to do?" "Technical work. Keeping an eye on the ship while you all are out flying and getting your a/sses shot off." "You're really high-strung, aren't you?" I could have given him a rather bitter retort at that point, but instead a really bad running gag from the Scribes of Not NOA Board popped into my head at that inopportune moment. "LIKE A FOX!" I cried, then commenced laying on the ground, whooping up a storm and rolling back and forth, hyperventilating. "BUWAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!" F. J. was at a loss as he watched me. "What the heck is so funny?" "I... I'm back... to... my old... self... now..." I gasped. F. J. shook his head and helped me up. I leaned against him for a few more minutes until I had calmed down. "You aren't manic-depressive are you?" he asked, concerned. "Nope. Actually, I think I'm obsessive/compulsive, but that doesn't matter. We're all a little crazy in our own ways. So, why don't you tell me how you all got to be Lylatians, since you're apparently _the_ F. J. McCloud?" "So you're going to accept it finally?" I shook my head no, and he continued his tale, which I found rather hard to believe. "So then, the same won't happen to me?" I asked, only a tad envious. "No. Andross did this, but Peppy says it can be reversed." For the first time since I got there, I actually acted nice. I put my hand on F. J.'s shoulder and said, in a compassionate tone, "I hope so, for your sake. I'll stay the human, then, I guess. Great, now I feel guilty and I'm going to be apologizing to everyone for the next two weeks. So, what's our plan?" --- "So you really think this will work?" "Sure it will. It's our only chance." "Well, I've done a lot of thinking about alternate timelines and dimensions and stuff, so I can help with that. Let's sort out the details." I thought that I might get along well with these people... --- The first person I wanted to apologize to was Ring Shadow. I had been really mean to her during the conference, or whatever that was. I found her walking the halls, looking rather upset, though I found it difficult to read the expressions of these animal-people. "Ring..." I said tentatively, getting her attention. "What?" she snapped. "I... I'd like to apologize for the way I acted earlier today. Or would that be earlier tonight? Doesn't matter, what matters is I was acting like a complete assh/le. I hope you can forgive me. This has been rather hard on me, I'd say. No hard feelings?" I extended my hand towards her. "Are you staying on with us?" she asked, softer, but still angered. She didn't react to my hand. "Yes." "All right. I can understand what you must be going through." She grabbed my hand, but rather than shake it, as she must have thought I was going to do, I put her paw to my lips and kissed it. "My duty to you, lady," I said. Ring Shadow's eyes got very large, and she lost all her former expression. She turned on her heel and strode off down the hall in the opposite direction, a lot faster than she had been going before. "Fuzzy," I muttered to myself, wiping a few black hairs from my lips. --- Thinking about the time travel stuff, I began wandering about the Great Fox, looking for others to apologize to. I found Ace and KillerThunder, though I wasn't quite so verbose in my apologies to them as I had been to Ring Shadow. I was actually beginning to feel rather embarrassed about that. My ears were red and hot, so I knew I was most definitely embarrassed. I took a walk back to my quarters, where I had first awakened since coming on board the Great Fox. "God..." I said to myself. "That was ages ago! And now I'm here, trying to live a dream, hoping I don't die or go insane in the process, and just trying to make the best of it. And I'm talking to myself. So much for not going insane..." I found a full-length mirror, and began to move about in front of it: moving my hands back and forth, stepping, turning, breathing, in time to the music from Aquas, in what could be described as my own twist on Tai Chi and Klingon calisthenics. And I hadn't studied either one. --- OOC: This says nothing about how I feel about guys //the yelling//, but how I think I'd react to this if it was presented to me. About everything else in this story shows you aspects of what I'm really like when I'm not sitting behind my computer, pretending to be a dragon. -D'nel the ex-Mage, Dragon Scribe