OOC:
Furnivore? I demand an image when you find the time, Terg.

IC:
Kayla stared in awe at the couch creature.

"You've GOT to be kidding me," she said incredulously.

She raised her cannon and fired. To her horror, the blast bounced right off.

"Oh slag!" she cried, "Now what?"

Mobius cocked an eyebrow in disbelief...now that was something new!

" ...Ya know, I can appreciate the idea of hired guns...but a guard couch? " The eagle shook his head, a little amused by the situation. " Wow, just...wow "

Oh, there was no doubt it was dangerous - he'd seen what was happening and knew that unless they were careful, that thing could probably send them to sleep - minus the chances of waking up again.
No, this was no time to be laughing...Mobius knew that much.

" Well, uhh - does ANYONE know if this thing is fire retardent? " He asks out loud/. "Hell, maybe if we look behind the cushions we may find something useful...! "

Truth be told, he was a little concerned and bemused - he was never going to look at lounge furniture in quite the same way ever again!

"Well, uh, does anyone know if this thing is fire retardant?" asked Mobius.

Kayla glanced at him.

"Got a flamethrower?" she asked, "My cannon's useless against it, so I'm open to any suggestions."

Jason sagged as he saw the animated couch start cantering around the room like a rabid dog.

A furniture chimera...I always have bad luck with chimerai in ascending tall towers, he thought as he recalled a comparable episode many years ago. But sofas! Why'd it have to be sofas?

In his contemplation, Jason let his eyes fall upon an innocuous wooden table. With Furnivore temporarily distracted--and annoyed--by Kayla's ineffectual attack, Jason made a dash for the table. He stumbled over an electrical cord in the process but managed to dive for the table before he attracted attention. He yanked open the single drawer to reveal a bottle of plain water, much to his chagrin.

"My kingdom for a pack of matches...now what?"

He noticed another electrical cord was lying on his ankle. Indeed, there were any number of the annoying yellow and black cords trailing through this room into the next. He arched his eyebrow slightly, figuring the next room must be some kind of lab. An octopus of electrical cords was in a different corner of the room. He considered this, and the water he was holding. Just a bottle of water would not short out the system to cause an electrical fire, but if one of the sprinklers were struck and set off...

"This could be promising..."

The chao shakily got back on her feet, feeling slightly dazed. "'Frizonians'... that's what they're called, huh?" she said groggily, as though she'd just woke up from a long nap. "And all these weird things going on--"

"Temporal distortions," the reptilian admin reiterated.

"... Right." Kaze shook her head as she started to hover above the chair. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but what kind of connection could there be between these aliens and the distortions?"

OOC: Well, I wasn't able to find any couch monsters that would fit the description, but I did find some neat red couches. I decided to use this one as the basis for the "building blocks" of Furnivore:

Scary huh?

IC:
Vector considered the question thoughtfully, rubbing the end of his chin. "Well, this is just a hypothesis at the moment, but the aliens did not appear until after the first event when the world was slightly set off-balance, speaking in time/space terms. So it may be possible that they were created by the event, leaving the circumstances of the event itself unknown. Or they merely happened to be on their way here to begin with before the event. But I doubt it's entirely coincidence. In any case, their freeze ray weapons have the ability to stop a target in their tracks. But ordinarily, a person frozen in ice like that would die of hypothermia, or simply because they run out of air if the ice is sealed. However..."

And here, Vector got to his feet and began to pace. "I'd like to thaw someone out and see what happens. I believe that this more recent disturbance is because of these aliens, even if the first one had nothing to do with them, and perhaps it is their technology that is the connection."

Kaze blinked. "You mean their freeze rays?"

"Precisely. It may be some other device they utilize, but their freeze rays are the most obvious and blatant unique technology that they use, and therefore is the one we should first investigate. If we unfreeze someone from being entirely frozen, then we may be able to find the answer to our conundrum."

"Either that or snag one of the enemy's weapons, maybe?" The chao crossed her arms, deep in thought. "That oughta be worth trying, too."

She stood up. "I'm going to inform the others. I hope they've gotten to the top of the tower already," she told Vector. "Thanks for the info."

As Vector nodded, Kaze flew out of the room, and, as the automatic door closed behind her, headed back the way she came from the cargo hold. If Ash was still there, she'd have him relay the info to the forumers.

========
OOC: Sorry it's a short post. Can't think of much at the moment.

Gyser had remained quite for most of the time. He had felt a sense of familarity here, fighting alongside fellow forumers, against a great evil, for the greater good and all that sort, but it still sat wrong with him. These weren't the people he was used to fighting alongside. He admitted to himself, common goal or not, he felt like an outsider.

As they made their way towards the top of the tower, Gyser couldnt help but feel that he hadn't contributed much to the group at all. He was little more than a speedy tag-along.

He was snapped out of his self-loathing thoughts when everyone reacted to something ahead of them. Blinking a few times and shaking his head, Gyser focused on what was in front of them.

"...That's quite possibly the comfiest way to die that I've ever seen." He quipped as his eyes fell upon the couch monster before them. A few of the others tried various tactics against the creature, but most seemed to be little more than an annoyance.

"... Wait a tic! I know that brand of couch!" Gyser exclaimed, pointing his finger like he was a hotshot lawyer, and earning him a few odd looks from some of the others.

With a grin that indicated that a plan was bubbling away inside his brain, Gyser ran his hand through his quills. "And I know just what they can't hold up against.... One spikey little hedgehog." The fluroscent green hedgehogs grin grew wider by the second.

IC:
In the Delta's cockpit, Ash was keeping an eye on the unfolding mayhem via his thermal imaging scanners.
"Well, that's hardly your everyday event." he mused. His thoughts were interrupted by the soft tapping of a chao knocking on the cockpit door. With a push of a button, the door slid open and Kaze flitted through. Ash looked round with a nod. "How's it going, my micro-Moderator friend?"
"Well, it's good to be out of the cold. But that aside, I've some news to--err, what in the world is going on down there?" the chao replied as her eyes caught sight of the unusual sight on the scanners.
"This is just a wild guess, but that freaky time stop thing that happened? I think it affected the couch somehow. It uhm... ate the Frizonians."
Kaze frowned slightly. "Hang on, how'd you know what they were called?"
"Had a run-in with them once before, but not on this scale. Anyway, you had a natter with Vec, right? What's up?"
The chao nodded. "Actually, I had some news to relay to everyone... but it looks like they're a little busy." she observed, looking in a slightly baffled way at the scanners.
"No kidding... but on the plus side, it did eliminate our frigid foes that were holed up in there. Ate them all up. Bizarre way to go."
"...it ate them?!"
"Yep, and it's trying to eat our friends up as well. But no worries, I'm sure they've got things in hand!"

"I hope so." Kaze crossed her arms, furrowing her brow. She wished she could be down there to help out at the moment, instead of cooped up on board an airship.

"Looks like it's going to have to wait," she said after a moment, hovering to a nearby seat and plopping down in it, looking sour. "I just hope nothing bad happens down there..."

IC:
The fox cast a thoughtful glance at Kaze, and then over one or two things on the ship's dashboard.
"Say, Kaze..." he said after a short while.
"Yes?"
"That walker of yours." He turned and grinned. "You got a hover pack on it?"

"Hoverpack?" Kaze's expression turned puzzled. "No, but there are hover jets in the feet."
Her head tilted sideways. "What do you need it for?"

IC:
Ash smiled mischievously. "It's not what I need it for... you want to be able to make a soft landing, right? I think I might just have a way for you to get back into the thick of things, if you're wanting..."

ooc: And lets give Gyser an opening here...

IC:

The beast snarled and gnashed its jaws, turning its view at the newcomers. Kayla was targeted first, since she seemed to be the one that wielded the thing that kinda bugged him, that blasting shiny thing! Zipperclaws unzipped from the cushions as the chimera lunged! Kayla fell back, immediately heading for the door as Gyser hopped out in front-to try and distract the creature. Jason, huddled down behind the table, looked over to see Kayla barely escape and Gyser dart into the room, standing on the table in a flash of fluorescent green. The beast rammed his head into the door, inadvertently closing it and keeping the others outside the room for now.

Gyser, still smirking from ear to ear, waited until the beast caught sight of him. Jason however, was not so amused, as he wasn't super fast. "Gyser no no, don't bring it back here!" Gyser turned; surprised that Jason was still in the room. But there was no more time for regrouping. The couchivore roared, a sickeningly sweet smell of dried gun and faded copper wafted out of it, sticking to the two very distinctly.

"Well, my plan's gonna hafta wait until yer in the clear." Gyser exclaimed as the beast reached their small fort. Gyser took the high route as the beast slammed a massive forelimb into the desk, shattering it into splinters. Running along the ceiling and making it back to the door, Gyser would open it, not only to check if everyone was still there, but to give the others a chance to get in the room and help out if they could.

"Wait, where's Jason?" Kayla yelled, as the beast seemed to be mulling at something on the floor. The group peered into the room, watching as the beast canted its head back and devoured something in one gulp. In his ship, Ash coughed, unsure of what he just witnessed. The thermal images picked up the couchivore, but the item that was eaten..had no heat to it whatsoever.

"The heck just happened?" Ash said, as he leaned in closer. Kaze also peered over, his small Chao body bobbing with anticipation.

---

The couchivore snarled, apparently disappointed with its meal, and turned back toward the group. A second, more intense roar was bellowed throughout the room, forcing everyone to take a step back. At that moment, Jason cam flying out of the back of the door, landing near the far wall, directly under a sprinkler head. Jason coughed a bit, clutching that water bottle ever so tightly. His mind was still on track for his idea, and now-being repositioned gave him a better chance of making it happen.

Finally, Ryan poked his head out of the door's shadow, peering from behind the door.

"Sorry guys. Not coming out of here. Damn couch ate my clothes >

"Sorry guys. Not coming out of here. Damn couch ate my clothes."

Kayla couldn't help herself. She burst out into laughter, pointedly ignoring the glare Ryan was giving her.

"I'm delighted you find this so hilarious," he growled.

"Sorry," said Kayla in between giggles, "It's just all so surreal."

She glanced back at the monster couch.

"So we know that it's impervious to my cannon," she said, "Anyone have any other ideas?"

Jason flopped onto the floor. "Dreadful davenport..."
The last few seconds for him had been a bit of a blur, including what may have been the esophagus of possessed upholstery. It was preferable not to think about that, though, since there was some inherent implication that the couch had a digestive system and, even worse, an excretory system.
"All right, you blighter," Jason growled as he rose. He ignored the dull pain in his back, upon which he had landed as he was hurtled through the door, and looked up at the sprinkler.
"Someone, lead that horrible couch over to those cords," the hedgehog urged. Kayla circled around the couch to bait its attention. The couch roared in vexation--that shiny blaster again!
"I hope you have a plan," Kayla hissed with a mounting sense of exigency as the couch menacingly shambled toward her.
Jason chuckled as he began winding up his arm. "I always do. Shoot those cords there with your cannon and hope for the best! Toki wo tomarei!"
With that shout, Jason pitched the water bottle at the sprinkler with all the force he could muster. Indeed, time seemed frozen for a few seconds as all eyes watched the bottle sail through the air and burst upon forceful impact with the sprinkler. Then time lurched back with the force of a tidal wave as the sprinkler erupted in streams of water that soaked everything. As voices rose in objection to the unpleasant downpour--Ryan in particular could be heard bemoaning his want of clothing--Jason turned to the entangled cords. Kayla fired a quick shot at the cords on the floor. The result was a momentarily blinding blast as sparks arched in every direction, a small pyrotechnical display. A few sparks landed on the hapless couch, which danced around in alarm at this. The lights went out like a collective candle. Jason wrinkled his nose and snorted, "Fire is indeed hot."

Aboard the Delta, Ash frowned at the thermal scanner. Either the scanner had gone haywire or the whole room was getting warmer, and neither situation seemed to be a pleasant option.
"Hang on, what are they doing down there...?" he muttered to himself.

Kayla bit back a shriek as cold water suddenly started falling from the sprinklers.

"A bit of warning would be nice," she said.

Following Jason's suggestion, she aimed her fusion cannon at the cords on the floor and shot. The cords burst into a shower of sparks, a few of which landed on the monster couch. The couch in question started flailing around, not at all pleased.

"C'mon," muttered Kayla, "Let this work."

Kaze was about to answer back when an alert suddenly went off on the thermal scanner.

"Hang on, what are they doing down there...?" she heard Ash mutter to himself.

The flew over to get a look, the entire screen showed a single, and very large heat signature... something had probably started to go wrong.

"That doesn't look good," Kaze said worriedly. "I can't sit up here and do nothing any longer. Ash, what's your plan?"

It was sometimes good being a form that loved within shadow. Ryan's head would merely rise up and down the side of the door, body competely withing that strange dimension where light nullified it, but never harmed it. Watching as the water began to soak into the beasts hide, he looked over to the motley group of fellows. Though he was getting wet, it was mostly his hair.

"My kingdom for a shirt. Pants. Coat even! Should have been more careful about letting my shirt get snagged on the end of the desk, otherwise I wouldn't be IN this situation!" Ryan lowered his head back to ground level and stayed behind the door, as the couchivore roared, obviously distressed about being soaking wet.

It had been some time since the Ice Wing had departed Sega City. Redley was still in pursuit.

The odd...fluctuation of sorts had gotten his attention. As had the one from earlier, before the Frizonians had invaded. Being the native of a world where various peoples could manipulate physical aspects of space-time and reality itself at a mere whim (the Force was quite the nifty thing), he had...'felt' the change. Subtle. Almost a non-existent facet of his mind...but he knew it had occurred. The full extent of the changes had been beyond his grasp (after all, although he could recognize the fact that a chronological fluctuation had occurred, he had no idea what had happened). In a way, it was almost like thinking of two diverging timelines...and the fluctuation had merely returned everything to an earlier spot on the timeline before branching off to unknown events, everyone clueless as to what had occurred.

Except a few like himself.

It would've been nice to have known the cause, or what exactly the fluctuation had changed.

Jonathon Redley calmly put those thoughts aside; knowing that a time fluctuation had occurred meant nothing at this point in time, not if he didn't know anything concrete about it. His thoughts returned to the Ice Wing, which was now passing over a mountainous ridge.

Redley quickly vaulted up and over various boulders and ledges, reaching the peak of the ridge.

And what he saw...

(OOC: If Terg would like to describe the Mobile Glacier, here's your opportunity.)

IC:
Ah nodded to his Chao companion. "My plan's pretty simple. This ship of mine... well, it was originally a military vessel 'til I got it, and it's still got one or two of the features it had from service - including a catapult built into the cargo lift for launching small craft. It's a sort of universal fitting it has, so I should be able to use it to launch your walker at the Tower - and seeing as you have hover jets, you could safely float on in."
The ball above Kaze's head became an exclamation mark as she listened and then responded. "That might just work!"
"Alright. Head on down, and I'll launch you as close as I can. You might have to compensate a bit, I can't get too close - though the catapult's get plenty of oomph. If you fire your hover jets as soon as you clear the platform you should be alright."
Kaze nodded in response, already flitting away toward the cockpit exit. "Alright! I'll let you know when I'm ready!"

Not too long later, Kaze's voice came over the communicator. "OK, I'm in position on the cargo platform. Ready when you are!"
"Gotcha. Prepare for launch..." Ash responded, flipping a switch. With an accompaniment of flashing warning lights and klaxon, the cargo lift slowly lowered out of the hovering ship's hull, allowing Kaze to appreciate just how high up they now were. The Tower loomed in front of them, cold and still, and now dark with the power fizzed out. The lift came to a halt with a slight judder, and there was a metallic "clang" as the catapult system clamped round the walker's legs, ready to propel it forward.
In the cockpit, Ash pushed a button or two and spoke over the communicator to Kaze. "Stand by for launch. Five... four... three... two... one..." and with that he thumped his hand down on an illuminated red button. "LAUNCH!"
With a whine and a "THUNK", the catapult system launched the walker forwards toward the tower at incredible speed, headed straight for a large window...

Wet cat is wet.

Arikyrenne shook herself, and shook herself again. It didn't help. The water from the sprinklers continued pouring down, drenching anything that it came in contact with.

A series of thumps could be heard from within the room as the couchivore flailed about, followed by a terrible roar. Arikyrenne weaved her way between the legs of the forumers who were gathered around the doorway in order to get a better view. The power outage didn't matter as much as the indoor downpour, which trickled into her eyes and blurred her vision between each blink. But from what she could see - blurry vision or not - it was clear that the red couch…creature/monster/thing was not at all pleased by what was going on.

What next? The direction of Arikyrenne's gaze shifted around the room, from Kayla to Gyser to Jason, then back to the couch chimera. Were things still going according to plan?

Squeezing the Water from his Hat with an annoyed growl, it was clear Mobius hated getting wet - his jacket was soaked, his feathers were getting soggy and a deep scowl was forming along his features, as a dark and annoyed mood crept across him like a bad rash...this couch was really beginning to cause him no end of headaches.

" Gee, It sure is Wet around here " He muttered aloud, spitting out a small amount of water and glaring at the others with a fairly impatient gleam in his eyes. " If the plan was to Drown all of us, I'd say we're doing a pretty bang-up job! "

The couch was making a hullaballoo that was, frankly, the most hilarious sight. Perhaps Not enough to dissuade him from never buying another couch so long as he lived, but he did crack a small grin of absent amusement.

The idea that struck him next, however, came from watching the couches movements and the pool of water surrounding it.

" HEY - Anybody got one of those freeze rays? " He yelled over the sound of the wailing sofa. " That things wet enough for the water expansion that freezing would cause to be a pretty effective measure...or at least, it'll slow it down enough for us to make some kinda escape. Times a-wasting, y'know! "

It was probably a long shot, and he undoubtably realised that they were already in the middle of trying something, but there was no mistaking that an alternative approach might just be the lead they needed at a time like this.

That, and he REALLY wanted to get dry again.

"Not good, not good, NOT GOOD!"

Kaze almost panicked when she saw how fast the Mech was falling towards the window where the others were, possibly fighting against the thing that ate those aliens Ash told her about.

As quickly as she could, the chao nearly pulled the steering out of its socket to get the Walker to start falling feet-first, then jammed on a button on her left side. At once, the hoverjets in the feet sprung to life, giving off a sort of bluish energy. The Chao Walker started to slow down a bit, but not before the mech came crashing through the window, sending a shower of glass everywhere. It landed right on top of something huge and red with a resounding crash that shook the entire room.

At once, it roared and reared backwards, sending the mech reeling.

"Whoa, there! Looks like I've landed on some kind of bucking bronco!" Kaze called out, readying the mech's weapons as it landed skidding on the carpet, sending some forumers running out its way. "Sorry I'm late, guys. I thought I'd drop in and lend a hand... er, ammo... you get the picture."

Kayla stared in awe as the Chao Mech was bucked from the man-eating couch.

"Of all the times for me not to have a camera on hand," she said.

"Sorry I'm late, guys," said Kaze, "I thought I'd drop in and lend a hand... er, ammo... you get the picture."

"We can use all the help we can get. I just hope you don't mind getting wet."

Jason was mystified that, at a time when a malevolent couch was staring at the forumers, they could be concerned about getting wet. But if the water was a distraction to the forumers, it had completely seized the Furnivore's attention. It danced around angrily, taking to the water like a cat while stubbornly trying to avoid coming into contact with the sparking electrical fire against the wall. The only thing that kept the hedgehog from striking was a sincere apprehension as to what the Furnivore might do next in its hysterical state.

CRASH!

Kaze came hurtling in through a window, her mech rebounding off of the Furnivore, which clearly did not appreciate functioning as a landing pad. It sidled around menacingly like an upholstered crab. "Sorry I'm late, guys," Kaze apologised. "I thought I'd drop in and lend a hand...er, ammo...you get the picture."
"We can use all the help we can get," answered Kayla. "I just hope you don't mind getting wet."

POP! The little electrical fire was growing in size, and the water was doing nothing to slow its inflammation. Sparks flew. Whatever was going to happen, it was going to happen in the next coming seconds...

Kaze eyed the stumbling red monstrosity, then, hearing a POP! noise, noticed the fire right near it. At once, an idea crossed her mind. It wasn't complete just yet, but, then again, none of her plans ever were.

"In that case," Kaze said, "Let's make short work of this, shall we?"

Mentally preparing herself for the damage she was probably going to cause her mech, Kaze steered the Chao Walker forward at maximum speed right at the Furnivore, gatling gun aimed at it and firing. Distracted by bullets bouncing off it and whizzing by, it turned to the fast approaching Chao Walker and roared, just as the mech rammed into it and right into a shower of sparks and flames. Now in flames, the Furnivore fought back much more furiously than ever. Kaze struggled to keep a hold of it with the Walker's arms. Warning signs flashed in front of her; the Walker had already taken some damage ramming into the thing, and trying to hold onto a super-strong couch monster was putting a strain on it.

"I can't hold 'im for long!" Kaze shouted out. "Stop worrying about being wet and come on! The admins can't exactly free themselves, you know!"

Kaze eyed the stumbling red monstrosity, then, hearing a POP! noise, noticed the fire right near it. At once, an idea crossed her mind. It wasn't complete just yet, but, then again, none of her plans ever were.

"In that case," Kaze said, "Let's make short work of this, shall we?"

Mentally preparing herself for the damage she was probably going to cause her mech, Kaze steered the Chao Walker forward at maximum speed right at the Furnivore, gatling gun aimed at it and firing. Distracted by bullets bouncing off it and whizzing by, it turned to the fast approaching Chao Walker and roared, just as the mech rammed into it and right into a shower of sparks and flames. Now in flames, the Furnivore fought back much more furiously than ever. Kaze struggled to keep a hold of it with the Walker's arms. Warning signs flashed in front of her; the Walker had already taken some damage ramming into the thing, and trying to hold onto a super-strong couch monster was putting a strain on it.

"I can't hold 'im for long!" Kaze shouted out. "Stop worrying about being wet and come on! The admins can't exactly free themselves, you know!"

"I can't hold 'im for long!" Kaze shouted out. "Stop worrying about being wet and come on! The admins can't exactly free themselves, you know!"

Arikyrenne and some other forumers took the opportunity to dash forward, staying clear of the flaming Couchivore as they headed to the metal door at the other end of the room. Upon reaching the door, she came to a halt and blinked, looking the security door up and down. Although it was dented and had smears of blue around it from previous couch creature action, it still remained shut.

"Does anyone know how to open it?" she asked, glancing back at Kaze to see how the chao and her walker were holding up as she waited for a response.

Marcus leveled his rifle at the couch monster. "The Admins are safer behind that door right now," he called out, loudly but still interminably calm. He fired a burst of carefully-aimed gunfire, puncturing the couch monster's red fuzzy hide and sending bits of flaming fluff flying through the air, only to be doused with the water from the sprinklers overhead.

Then he shot out the sprinkler head, and the water stopped spraying around the room, but instead poured straight down in a single stream. "There, that should make it easier to see in here," he announced. "Now, let's finish off that rogue furniture before we do anything else."

OOC: Whoever posts next is cleared to finish off the creature in fine style. Do whatever is necessary!

Mobius smirked, and looked around for something - his exploring eagle-eyes were not disappointed, as he found the very thing he was looking for. Running from the group, he picks up the item, an abandoned freeze ray gun. He smirked, as he mock-cocked it and turned to the group with his coy wink and a chuckle. " Time for Moby t'shine! "

Turning his attention to the couch, he took a good moment to line up his shot - focusing all his attention to the body of the creature itself.
His finger squeezed around the trigger...and the eagle made one last snide remark before pulling it to Fire the weapon.

" Stay cool! "

All at once, the bright freezing ray of the weapon is emitted, hitting the waterlogged couch in a blistering laser show, and a sudden wave of frigid air breezed around the group, as the couchivore screeched one last time, rearing up in protest as a mass of ice started creeping up along it's bodyframe, solid as glass and unforgivingly cold. Mobius drops the weapon as the metal became too unbearable to grip anymore - shielding his eyes from the bright glow, and entirely amused at the sight of the once-horrendous creature being frozen to the spot.

Finally...all was silent - the creature, for all intents and purposes, was now frozen stiff, contained within a solid block of ice for apparently all time.

" ...After that, I need a damn cola and a hot bath. " Mobius mused, as he turns to face the group with a shrug.
" Okay, shows over...lets get the heck out of here! "

Marcus activated his communicator headset. "Vector, this is Marcus the Third. The Tower is secure."

Kaze quickly backed away from the monster couch a split second before Mobius' shot hit its mark. As she looked up to see it encased in ice, she breathed a sigh of relief, trying to ignore the warning signs about potential damage to the Chao Walker and the occasional spark shooting out of the arm socket to the gatling gun arm. The time to repair it would come later. Now, the only thing to do now was to blast the door open that would lead to the other admins on the other side.

"Stand clear, everyone," she instructed clearly, as a small targeting laser aimed for one of the bigger dents in the door. "Things are about to get a little smoky in here."

A strong energy missile might be a bit too much, the chao thought, but it's probably the only way to get it off.

{{ My bad....I misposted. XD }}

OOC: Just to remind you Terg, Redley's just arrived at the site of the Mobile Glacier. Right before post #420. I sort of can't continue on without a description. >_>;

Kayla sighed in relief as Mobius quite literally put the renegade couch on ice.

"Thank Primus that's over with," she said.

Right about then, a rather large metal sphere floating in through a window. The sphere slowly unfolded into a robot a little taller than Kayla.

"Hi," he said.

"It's about time you got back," said Kayla.

The Minicon looked at her oddly.

"What do you mean?"

"That."

She pointed at the frozen couch.

"Is...is that a couch?"

"Yep."

"But...how?"

"It's a long story. I'll fill you in later."

OOC: Ah, I missed that earlier, Ultra. Don't worry though, it'll be a good way to segue into the next chapter for me to describe it ahead of time during the briefing post and whatnot. I may also have something for Ultra to do while the rest of the group is catching up, depending on how things go.

IC:
In the cockpit of the Delta, Ash grinned and leaned back in his seat as he pushed the talk button for his communicator. "Good job guys. I'll be setting down out front shortly, so if anyone's needing a spot of first aid then you can head on over - the Delta's med bay's fully stocked and nice and warm."
With that said, he banked the ship round and then brought it down carefully to a soft landing in the Tower's parking lot, retrieving his car shortly thereafter before heading back inside the ship to check on Vector's condition.

OOC: I'm here, I swear it!

IC: Gyser dropped his bottom lip a little and pouted. He totally had an awesome idea to defeat that couch monster thingy. No matter though. At least it was taken care of.

Still, this was certainly no time to rest upon their laurels. There were still more Frizonians out there, and as far as Gyser was concerned, Ultra was still a massive issue.

"You guys have a good nights rest. I'll see you all in the morning." Gyser saluted and speed off before anyone could reply. He would spend the entire night searching Sega City for Ultra...

Mobius smirked, picking up the freeze-ray gun and putting it safely away for now...it wasn't dead yet, and could still prove a valuable asset as a weaon and general device. It would also serve as something for the team to study should they need to...after all, alien tech was of great interest to the tech-heads of the town. Maybe he'd hold an auction, and earn a little somthing that way.

The eagle stretches, and sticks a feathered hand in his pocket - feeling around for the gum that was kept in there. He popped some into his mouth and looks around for a moment as the members of the crowd started to disperse slowly...after all, there was no good reason to stick around here now.

"Sure is Cold around here..." He mutters, chuckling at his own joke as he ponders the next course of action.
Good thing He still had the GUI Device of his in an inside pocket - complete with an interesting Ace-in-the-hole should it be required.
Pulling out the small pocket-PDA, he pressed the 'Test Transmission' button to double check everything was working fine - he didn't want his emergency plan to fail on him, after all. When the light turned green on the top of his screen, he smirked with satsifaction and stuffed it back into the weathered jacket. The less that it was noticed by either side, the better - after all, it was always a good idea never to reveal one's tricks in advance.

OOC: A brief way of introducing a minor character, a way to get Gyser to Redley, and a way to get some sense of closure over an old chatroom-RP ahoy!

IC:

The timeline is something that should be clarified.

Victory had been achieved at the HQ Tower. Gyser had begun his search through SEGA City for Ultra. Redley had just reached the site of the Mobile Glacier (description to follow when Tergo deems it so!).

Gyser really had no idea as to the residence of Ultra Sonic...come to think of it, the guy's previous permanent residence had been the headquarters for the Forum Protection Agency. And THAT had been demolished years ago, before the hedgehog's sudden disappearance. But then again, he'd been back for some time now...

The neon-green and fuchsia hedgehog grimaced as his legs sent him hurtling through the streets. He only had one inkling about who to ask...it was one of two people.

There was Ultra's old "evil" avatar, Ultra Shadow 007...and that guy had been relatively quiet lately. He wouldn't know where to look for him.

That left the guy's sailor alter-ego: Sailor Ultra.

To the Sailorness District!

xxxx

A young woman sighed happily as she stepped out of her closet, which seemed to be a universal realm in and of itself. She cradled a piping hot slice of pizza in her palm before yelling, "THANKS FOR THE MEAL TINO!" Closing the door behind her, she once again pondered the beauty of a Hammerspace Closet.

Who else could get their own pizza restaurant in their own home?

Sailor Ultra smiled as she stepped back through her home, her short but fluffy purple hair sitting neatly atop her head as she munched on her pepperoni pizza. The white-and-violet sailor fuku she wore contrasted well with her red ribbons, and her purple shoes tapped quietly against the floor. So...I suppose I could go and bug Sailor Boredom...wish I knew what happened to Sailor Pandemonium though. Sailor Ultra sighed as she thought about the brief period of time where - before Ultra's first disappearance from the MoFo - her original hedgehog alter-ego had been living happily with his wife - Sailor Pandemonium - and his two children, Saffron and Veronica (or was it Rebecca?)...she had never actually gotten to meet the little family (all of her knowledge was hearsay). She had never learned what had happened to Pandemonium...or to the two little ones either.

For not the first time, Sailor Ultra wished she had taken a more active role in the life of her friends.

Knock-knock.

"Hold up!" Sailor Ultra chomped down once more into her pizza and checked through the peephole, blinking at the sight of who it was. Huh, thought the Sailorness Scout as she opened the door, her red eyes blinking out of slight confusion. Wonder why Gyser's here?

The tower secure, Ryan was ready to pipe up and try to lift everyones spirits. However, his body felt drastically weak, and just like that, he disappeared. No sound was made as he fell into the shadows of the door again. With the speed of antelope, he was whooshed through the dark cavernous regions, completely following a different beckoning than what he was used to.

It would be hours before Ryan woke up again, lying upon a dark wooden floor. Hands speed to his head, where a new gash found itself. Crying out in shock, he curled into a ball and looked around, trying to guard his body from whatever attack might still be raining upon him. But, no assailant showed themselves. Instead, there was a note, written in Ryan's own blood.

"Flee him, or fail." ~ G

(Just had ta get him out of there for a sec, he'll be with the main party in a bit once the next part is set up)

As the others began to disperse, Jason rubbed his eyes and then stuffed his paws in his pockets. He marvelled at how Gyser continued to be so energetic, running off the way he did so suddenly. Jason certainly lacked that kind of energy at the moment, and he leaned against a wall as he took one of the lifts down to the ground floor. He gave a yawn when he stepped out of HQ Tower and reached to remove his headset. He then thought better of it and said, "Captain?"
"Yeah?" replied Ash.
"Supposing they're not rebounding from our little alien friends' visit, you wanna go to The Usual Place?"
Jason stifled another yawn as he awaited the fox's response. Failing an affirmative reply, the hedgehog thought to himself, there was always the comfort of the home and the wife.

IC:
A beep in Ash's ear warned him of someone contacting him on the radio.
"Captain?" came Jason's voice. Ash smiled.
"Yeah?"
"Supposing they're not rebounding from our little alien friends' visit, you wanna go to The Usual Place?" this followed by a muffled yawn. The fox thought for a few moments. It'd been a while since he'd last spent some time catching up with his friend...
"Sure thing Jase. Vec should be alright now - and there're folks on their way now to patch folks up. I'll just leave the Delta here where she is in case anyone needs the med-bay, and lock the rest of it."
A few minutes later, Ash came strolling down the ship's loading ramp wearing a cosy short parka jacket. He fixed his gaze on Jason with a smile. "As it happens, there were a few things I wanted to talk about anyway. Shall we walk and talk? It'll stave off the cold."

Tiredness was settling in quickly, now that everything was over - at least for today. Arikyrenne shifted into her smaller (anthro) dragon form, deciding that flight would be the fastest way back to her apartment.

A twinge of guilt hit her as she made her way to the exit. There was a good chance that either of her dragon forms' flames - normal or healing - could have come in handy, and could possibly even be of use now or in the future. She wanted to help as much as possible, but was it worth the risk? Was there even a risk, if she were careful enough? She knew what had happened in the past wasn't her fault, but she still wasn't certain she was ready to give the dragon forms another chance just yet, aside from casual flying in the smaller of the two transformations.

When would she be certain? She had no idea, but it wasn't going to be today, not with how worn out she already was.

Taking one last look to make sure everything was alright or otherwise under control, Arikyrenne leapt out of the window that Kaze's walker had smashed through only a short time before, and spread her wings. Assuming nothing else popped up, she would ride the air currents back to her room, after which she'd finally enjoy a cup of hot cocoa, and then get ready for and go to bed.

Her alarm clock would be set to wake her up bright and early the following morning.

Kayla sighed deeply. All she cared about right now was getting back to her hotel, taking a long hot shower, and getting a good night's sleep.

"You sound tired," commented Dead End.

"You have no idea," she said.

"So, what's up with the couch? And why does the whole city look like the Arctic?"

"I'll tell you on the way back home," she said.

"Want a ride?"

"If you don't mind."

The black Minicon shifted into his planetoid mode. Kayla climbed on top, and the duo took off.

OOC:
I'm starting to run out of ideas here.

Jason removed his headset and slipped it inside his coat. He then adjusted his tie and stuffed his paws into his pockets.
"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Ash grinned sanguinely. Jason nodded, smiling lightly. The fox gestured for Jason to lead the way.
"What do you want to talk about?" asked Jason as the two headed downtown. Ash shrugged in a casual manner.
"Anything, really. We haven't spoken to each other in months. You never even return my calls. You too busy doing the--"
Jason held up a paw. "Before you even ask, my defence for anything and everything is that some gentlemen simply don't kiss and tell."
The tall vulpine chuckled. "Fair enough, old boy."
"How's the married life with you, anyway? I trust Flair's been treating you right."
"Oh yeah," Ash replied with just the proper intonation and smile on his lips to prevent Jason from inquiring further. "But now, in all seriousness, she and I are doing great. So's Cori, for that matter. Not quite as hyper, but still a bundle of energy. The lawyering been going well for you?"
"Loving every minute of it. 'Phoenix Rapidfire' is still wowing 'em in the jury boxes."
They continued this kind of small talk as they passed through the SPA District and the sun began to set on the far end of town. They came to a modest establishment with neon lettering reading The Usual Place. The "P" flickered on and off as they stepped inside and had a seat at the bar. After they ordered their drinks, Ash turned to Jason and said, "You know, it's good that we've been able to catch up like this. There is, however, something I've really been meaning to ask you..."

The battle was over… at least for now. The door leading to the admins had been busted open, words exchanged, and some other stuff… it was all a blur to the weary chao.

As everyone decided to head off and call it a day, she did the same, steering the Chao Walker towards the nearest broken window and hopping right out, hovering to the still half-frozen ground below. As soon as she landed, three familiar, distinct voices called out to her.

"YO! KAZ!"
"Kaze, chu!"
"Kaze!"

Before the chao knew it, a small blur suddenly appeared, running circled around the mech a few times in rapid succession before coming to a stop. The blur was a miniature Sonic the Hedgehog-modeled robot, which looked on at the chao with a broad mischievous grin. Just catching up was a human girl with blond bangs, pale blue hair, -well, she looked human enough without the chao ball floating over her head-wearing a pale blue coat with yellow cuffs at the sleeves holding a Pichu wearing blue handkerchief.

"Chibi Sonic? Saya? Pikku? What are you all doing here?"

"Whaddaya think? We're headin' back home," Chibi Sonic told her.

"It's really cold here," Saya remarked. "It's summer, isn't it?"

"It's a long story, which I will be more than happy to share later," Kaze said. "Come on, let's go. I just hope our street isn't frozen…"

(OOC: Just a brief appearance of my other characters. One of them may be playing a role in this GM. Then again I may use the other one not mentioned here. If and when that does happen I've got profiles handy. I don't really have many ideas.~)

OOC: Neither Ultra. It was Alexia. =P

IC: Gyser tore through the streets of Sega City, unsure where to even begin his search for Ultra...

"Old hide out? ...Nah, too easy. Evil doppelganger? ...No idea where he'd even be.... Era'ck de!" He swore loudly in his home language, it's itention clear even if it's meaning wasn't.

Screeching to a halt, he stared down a nearby street which would lead him to the Sailorness District.

"Sailor Scouts... Sailor Scouts.... Sailor Scouts... Short Skirts.... Wait... No... Bad Gyser!" The hedgehog slapped his own hand. "Wait! Sailor Scouts... Sailor Scouts... Sailor Ultra!" And with that thought, he speed down the road towards his destination.

----------------------

Sailor Ultra opened the door of her home, to a rather stressed looking Gyser.

"Gyser! What are you doing here?" She queried.

"I have questions, and I'm praying that you have answers. I need to find Ultra, and I need to find him now." Gyser placed great emphasis on the last word of that sentance...

OOC: *palms forehead* Darn it, I wish I still had the RP logs.

xxxx

Sailor Ultra blinked at Gyser's question. Particularly the emphasis on the 'now', and how tense he was. "Well, I've sort of been in my closet for the past few days, just exploring...I just now got out of it."

Gyser couldn't help but snicker, which caused Sailor Ultra to glare. "Oh come on girl, you walked right into that one."

"Well...yeah, true." Sailor Ultra sighed as she sat down on her chair. When had been the last time she had seen Ultra? For all she knew, he might have come and gone whilst she had been 'closet spelunking'...and, to be honest, her relationship with her alter-ego had been strained ever since his return. Ever since Redley had emerged. Ever since the assassin had attacked her and left her for dead. That suddenly caused a light-bulb to flicker on in her mind. "This is about Redley...isn't it?"

Gyser frowned. "Who?"

"Have you noticed that, sometimes, his green eyes will turn red...and he suddenly changes? Becomes more powerful...more skilled...more dangerous...?" With each word, Gyser's eyes dilated further. Bingo. "Well, if I've got any inkling about what's got you so determined to find him...it's about Redley. And that's quite a story."

So Sailor Ultra spent about thirty minutes telling Gyser about Ultra...and Jonathon Redley. The same story Ultra had told her when he had begged for her forgiveness following his return.

His past in the Archie Star Forum World, where he had been assassin. Trained by the Sith, becoming one of its most notorious criminals.

His arrival at the Mobius Forum World, and his subsequent amnesia that allowed Ultra Sonic 007 to come into being.

When events forced Ultra to face Redley.

When Ultra gained his adamantium arm.

When Ultra finally returned to the Mobius Forum World...and the subsequent battles between the psyches of Ultra and Redley.

"And that's the basic deal Gyser..." finished Sailor Ultra as she leaned back in her chair, looking quietly at the neon-colored hedgehog. "I've sort of been out of the loop since then. We haven't spoken much, not since he begged for my forgiveness for what Redley had done...so I wouldn't know much about where he is at the moment." Come to think of it, I've been out of the loop about current events since going into my closet. "So...what's been happening? I've been kinda preoccupied as of late. I mean, what's got you look for Ultra-slash-Redley?"

And finally...the present.