After much discussion with my coauthors on this one...
Chris grinned and shook Dodge's hand. "A great fight, Captain, but you do know what happens next."
"Of course! We retire to the party lounge, and you go to see if you can fight through my rearguard and booby-traps to get to our flag-base."
"Well," Chris mused, "There is that. But there's also the question of us 'torturing' the disarm codes out of you. I have a whole box of chinese finger puzzles, and a few jaffa cakes..." He watched the Navy man's face carefully, and grinned at the expression he saw. "Or I could go right to the chocolate-chip anchovie cookies."
"You wouldn't. Chocolate and anchovies? That's... that's inhuman! Beyond the pale!" Indeed, even Ben and Gina seemed a bit dismayed, and several Jess were covering their mouths and stepping back from the scene.
Chris grinned widely and held up a bag of fish-shaped chocolate-chip cookies, waving them under Dodge's nose. "Now, now, Captain..." He chuckled. Then pushed Dodge back into the crowd of Marines. "G'wan, get out of here. We'll get in the old-fashioned way."
The Marines, rather disappointed that the hot blondes had been only holograms, shuffled discontentedly out the exit, to make their way eventually back to the bar. Despite the solemnity of defeat, they quickly started chatting and joking among themselves. They might be out of the game, but the celebration was only beginning. And besides, they'd get their revenge next year.
Chris, then, turned back to his allies-of-the-moment with that same wide grin. "We do make a good team, hmm? Glad to have you along." After a brief pause, though, he added, "Way too much of an imbalance on the Eva pilots, though. Feeling lost in the sea of Rei, Ms. Langley?" He chuckled slightly, fiddled with his watch for a moment, and then...
"Henge no jutsu!" And he changed.
And it was a perfect Asuka Sohryu-Langley, dressed in a red yukata with gold lining, whose arm Amy O'Connell took with her right, just as she took Rei's in her left - Rei's own uniform having been replaced by a matching yukata in blue and white - and the three bestowed a perfectly innocent 'schoolgirl chums' look on Ben, Gina, and the Jess's. "Cheers!" they called in unison, and as Lufy's troops fell into position around them.
"Perv," Gina hmphed, half-affectionately, and leaned back as Chris reached out to tousle her hair as they passed. So far she'd kept him from finding out why she avoided it, and she meant to keep it up.
"Perv?" Chris smiled and lowered her hand, letting the other Asuka lookalike retreat. "Maybe, maybe, little sister. But if that was all I wanted, I'd henge into Ami Mizuno, get some black silk ribbon, and head down to medical..."
"You're the one who was using pornographic holos to distract the Marines," snapped Gina, just as a rather young-looking figure with a decided resemblance to the aforementioned blonde holograms - indeed, it appeared identical - appeared in the doorway.
"Nope! Those were mine!" she crowed, gaining the instant attention of all in the room. "Worked pretty well, too, huh?" The fact that she was riding on what appeared to be a hovering cloud just added to the sheer surreality of the scene.
Then, not noticing Ben's face reddening, she asked, "Got any of those jaffa cakes left?"
And just as one of Lufy's troopers (//Optio// Graham Miller, a former miner who'd opted to follow the Eagles at the start of the Boskone War, after losing several friends to slavers and pirates) was about to hand over the box of the British sweets, Fate handed the group a sign that All Was Not Going To Be Quite So Easy.
"SHIT!" cried out Ben as his Shell-Bullet arm suddenly went wild, bucking and thrashing as Benjamin tried desperately to get the thing clipped to cargo strap around his waist.
The Rockhounds group backed off, quickly, being familiar with the odd quirks of Ben's particular problem. The leaders, also being familiar with it, waited to see what they could do to help.
(The kid, on the other hand, chowed down on a jaffa cake, then asked Graham for the bag of cookies.)
"Here!" cried out Gina as she went to help him with the writhing armored arm, muttering Teutonic imprecations as she did so. As chances to do so appeared, Jess, Amy, Jess, Chris, Jess, Rei, and Jess also piled in. Eventually, the arm did get pinned down and restrained, but only after several people got bruised and Benjamin had been pinned down to the ground.
"Sometimes," said Benjamin as he got up wearily, "I think this thing is more trouble than it's worth." No one dared to disagree with him.
As the blonde nibbled, tasting the new cookie, she snickered softly and slowly morphed into a blond-haired boy with whisker marks on his face. The Roughriders had already figured out who they were dealing with, but it wasn't until now that the Rockhounds team began to grasp it.
Chris, Amy, and Rei directed a uniform glare of their own at the boy. "You, young man," Amy snapped out, the command voice coming easily to the former Air Force officer. "You have two choices."
"What's that?" he asked around a mouthful of cookie.
"You can come with us... or we can lock you in the vegetable locker."
The kid laughed. "Come with you? Guess I could. Though you wouldn't want to lock me in with the vegetables, anyway. I'd just turn them into minions..." The kid's form morphed again...still a boy, maybe ten or so, but dark-haired now...with a monkey's tail. He gave the others a big grin. "Hey guys. Having fun yet? Don't get too close, please...I got hit with a Kawaii grenade a while back. I've taken a few measures to hinder the effects, but if you're female you might want to stay back."
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.
Chris grinned and shook Dodge's hand. "A great fight, Captain, but you do know what happens next."
"Of course! We retire to the party lounge, and you go to see if you can fight through my rearguard and booby-traps to get to our flag-base."
"Well," Chris mused, "There is that. But there's also the question of us 'torturing' the disarm codes out of you. I have a whole box of chinese finger puzzles, and a few jaffa cakes..." He watched the Navy man's face carefully, and grinned at the expression he saw. "Or I could go right to the chocolate-chip anchovie cookies."
"You wouldn't. Chocolate and anchovies? That's... that's inhuman! Beyond the pale!" Indeed, even Ben and Gina seemed a bit dismayed, and several Jess were covering their mouths and stepping back from the scene.
Chris grinned widely and held up a bag of fish-shaped chocolate-chip cookies, waving them under Dodge's nose. "Now, now, Captain..." He chuckled. Then pushed Dodge back into the crowd of Marines. "G'wan, get out of here. We'll get in the old-fashioned way."
The Marines, rather disappointed that the hot blondes had been only holograms, shuffled discontentedly out the exit, to make their way eventually back to the bar. Despite the solemnity of defeat, they quickly started chatting and joking among themselves. They might be out of the game, but the celebration was only beginning. And besides, they'd get their revenge next year.
Chris, then, turned back to his allies-of-the-moment with that same wide grin. "We do make a good team, hmm? Glad to have you along." After a brief pause, though, he added, "Way too much of an imbalance on the Eva pilots, though. Feeling lost in the sea of Rei, Ms. Langley?" He chuckled slightly, fiddled with his watch for a moment, and then...
"Henge no jutsu!" And he changed.
And it was a perfect Asuka Sohryu-Langley, dressed in a red yukata with gold lining, whose arm Amy O'Connell took with her right, just as she took Rei's in her left - Rei's own uniform having been replaced by a matching yukata in blue and white - and the three bestowed a perfectly innocent 'schoolgirl chums' look on Ben, Gina, and the Jess's. "Cheers!" they called in unison, and as Lufy's troops fell into position around them.
"Perv," Gina hmphed, half-affectionately, and leaned back as Chris reached out to tousle her hair as they passed. So far she'd kept him from finding out why she avoided it, and she meant to keep it up.
"Perv?" Chris smiled and lowered her hand, letting the other Asuka lookalike retreat. "Maybe, maybe, little sister. But if that was all I wanted, I'd henge into Ami Mizuno, get some black silk ribbon, and head down to medical..."
"You're the one who was using pornographic holos to distract the Marines," snapped Gina, just as a rather young-looking figure with a decided resemblance to the aforementioned blonde holograms - indeed, it appeared identical - appeared in the doorway.
"Nope! Those were mine!" she crowed, gaining the instant attention of all in the room. "Worked pretty well, too, huh?" The fact that she was riding on what appeared to be a hovering cloud just added to the sheer surreality of the scene.
Then, not noticing Ben's face reddening, she asked, "Got any of those jaffa cakes left?"
And just as one of Lufy's troopers (//Optio// Graham Miller, a former miner who'd opted to follow the Eagles at the start of the Boskone War, after losing several friends to slavers and pirates) was about to hand over the box of the British sweets, Fate handed the group a sign that All Was Not Going To Be Quite So Easy.
"SHIT!" cried out Ben as his Shell-Bullet arm suddenly went wild, bucking and thrashing as Benjamin tried desperately to get the thing clipped to cargo strap around his waist.
The Rockhounds group backed off, quickly, being familiar with the odd quirks of Ben's particular problem. The leaders, also being familiar with it, waited to see what they could do to help.
(The kid, on the other hand, chowed down on a jaffa cake, then asked Graham for the bag of cookies.)
"Here!" cried out Gina as she went to help him with the writhing armored arm, muttering Teutonic imprecations as she did so. As chances to do so appeared, Jess, Amy, Jess, Chris, Jess, Rei, and Jess also piled in. Eventually, the arm did get pinned down and restrained, but only after several people got bruised and Benjamin had been pinned down to the ground.
"Sometimes," said Benjamin as he got up wearily, "I think this thing is more trouble than it's worth." No one dared to disagree with him.
As the blonde nibbled, tasting the new cookie, she snickered softly and slowly morphed into a blond-haired boy with whisker marks on his face. The Roughriders had already figured out who they were dealing with, but it wasn't until now that the Rockhounds team began to grasp it.
Chris, Amy, and Rei directed a uniform glare of their own at the boy. "You, young man," Amy snapped out, the command voice coming easily to the former Air Force officer. "You have two choices."
"What's that?" he asked around a mouthful of cookie.
"You can come with us... or we can lock you in the vegetable locker."
The kid laughed. "Come with you? Guess I could. Though you wouldn't want to lock me in with the vegetables, anyway. I'd just turn them into minions..." The kid's form morphed again...still a boy, maybe ten or so, but dark-haired now...with a monkey's tail. He gave the others a big grin. "Hey guys. Having fun yet? Don't get too close, please...I got hit with a Kawaii grenade a while back. I've taken a few measures to hinder the effects, but if you're female you might want to stay back."
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.