Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 14:51:31 CDT From: Matt Blah Subject: The Book - 5 Salutations!! Matt here, as most of you know =) (BTW I'm not Matt in the story) If you've ever read a Nifty Story before, you know the rules, and can skip on down to the asterisks (that's the *'s for you newbies).... Since you're reading this, I can assume you've never read any of my stories or any of the others at Nifty, which is odd, since this is part of a series... Oh well, if you happen to be underage, I cannot condone your reading of this. If this type of material is illegal in the area you currently _are_, I cannot condone your reading of this. If you do not like this type of material, why are you here? Wacko!! Sorry if I sound a bit prudish by this, but it's standard procedure. Personally, I could care less if you're underage or it's illegal, so long as you enjoy it (and _don't get caught!). * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Well, I gotta pretty good response for you folks, which makes me feel all... well, I've said it before, but oh well, "All warm and squishy inside." BTW, I know I've been skimping on the Earth tale, so this time I'm going to make the Earth portion considerably longer. That's all I've gotta say this time.. So on to the next portion! -------- The Book -------- Chapter 6 : Disaster Judas and Matt met the next morning (in Judas' quarters) in drastically different moods. Judas had rings under his eyes, and looked basically like hell, and was half-ready to rip off anyone's head. His night had not gone well, and he had woken up many times from various dreams, all involving Matt in inappropriate ways. Matt, on the other hand, was chipper and fully rested, which made Judas incredibly resentful. "Mornin'!" sang Matt. "Ahhh, whatever," muttered Judas, feeling more cheerful despite himself, "Why are you so damn happy?" "Ah, I dunno!" Matt laughed nervously, avoiding the question, "Just a really nice night of sleep, is all." Matt peered at Judas, "Why are _you_ in such a bad mood today?" "Bad dreams." Judas said shortly. "Ahh." Matt said knowingly, even though he really had no idea what Judas meant by that. Judas sighed, and motioned for Matt to speed up. "We have to meet with the Alchemists, Matt." "Oh yeah!" Matt said, sobering, "Do you think they know what happened to the Elven Lands?" "We might as well check on them," Judas replied, just as sober. "Well, let's--" Matt froze. "Matt? What's the mat--" Judas froze as well. The Necronomicon, source of Judas' power, was floating off of his desk and glowing a pale red. Judas reached for his Book with trembling hands, but as his fingers touched the cover, the Necronomicon threw itself violently away, soaring out of the window. "Damn!" swore Judas, "What the hell is going on!?" "Let's go!" hollered Matt from the window. Judas ran to where Matt stood, and waited impatiently as Matt drew a glyph in the air... ///_\\_//_\\\ which glowed in the air for a moment... __ __ / \ / \ / \_/ \ / \ Matt rose from the ground, as did Judas, and they flew from the window after the Book, which left a glowing trail for them to follow. The two landed down light as a feather, and looked around, not understanding where they were. Judas pulled out a map from one of his various pockets, and scrutinized it for a moment. "There is supposed to be a lake here..." began Judas. "I take it 'supposed to be' is the operative phrase there?" scoffed Matt sarcastically. Before them stretched an expanse of forest, so thick that one could not see 5 ft forward without being obstructed by a tree or a bush. The colors of the forest were vibrant, red splashed with yellows and violets. The eeriest part of all, however, was that it was utterly silent. There were no calls of birds, no buzzing of insects, nothing. Matt and Judas might as well have been in the Catacombs, or with the Krakkan digesting their meal. Matt and Judas unconsciously moved a little closer to each other. "The trail ends here." Judas said finally, "We've no choice but to enter and find out what's happening." Judas strode inside with a determined pace, leaving Matt no choice but to follow behind meekly. Within the forest, it was utterly still, and stiflingly hot. The ever-present silence was as deafening to the two as a dragon's roar. The heat permeated the atmosphere and made the two question how any plants at all could grow in such an environment. Finally, Judas got fed up, and stopped mid-track, which surprised Matt, who bumped into him. Judas Reached for Water and Wind, and Willed the two into his hands. There, he Weaved the two together, making a tapestry of blue and gold, and released it. A fine, cool mist spread from his hands, lowering the temperature drastically. The two heaved a sigh of relief. "Okay, let's go." Judas said, resuming his fast pace. As they marched their way deeper into the forest, Judas began to worry. The utter lack of life in the entire area was disconcerting to say the least. He found himself looking to either side, desperately wanting to find a sign of life, but at the same time fearful as to what form of life it might be. When he wasn't looking to the sides or forward, Judas continually glanced to his feet, as if afraid it would transmute back into the lake, or wondering what had happened to the fish. "Judas!" Matt shouted. Judas gave a yelp of startlement and stopped. "What?!" he squeeked. "Look!" Matt said excitedly, pointing to Judas' left. Judas turned slightly, and gasped. Before them was a ruined temple, majestic despite its wear. There were vines growing all around it, and the half of the stones were cracked from weathering. It was shaped like a pyramid, with a large structure atop it. Also atop it was a faint red glow... "The Necronomicon!" exulted Judas, racing towards it. Matt raced alongside him, matching pace for pace. The two raced up the stairs, taking them two or three at a time, until they reached the top. The Book was floating there, waiting for them, still glowing faintly. Judas reached it first, and with a sigh of relief picked it up. The Book suddenly opened, and began flipping violently. "Whoa!" cried Judas, trying to let go of the Book, but unable to pry his own fingers from the spine. "Wait!" said Matt, placing a calming hand upon Judas' shoulder. "There must be an explanation for this, and I'm betting that this is it!" Judas stopped struggling, and simply looked as his Book flipped back and forth, as if searching for a particular spot. Then, it abruptly ceased its convulsions, and stopped on a page midway through the Book. The two boys looked at each other, and Judas began to read its contents. "I am Judas, Guardian of the Rift, protector of the innocent," Matt then interrupted with a laugh. "Did you write this, Judas?" he chuckled. "No!" yelled Judas, "The Book was an heirloom, passed down from my family. As far as I knew, it held only spells!" Matt stopped laughing. "The current date is unimportant, as time will not be understood for some millenia," he read on, "The important fact is that nearing the 4th Quarter of the 3rd Epoche, the Rift shall close, and the two realities will Merge." "Two realities?" wondered Matt, perplexed. "I'm as much in the dark as you are," Judas laughed shakily. "As the Merge nears, I shall take a form of a young man, in order to circumvent any disaster," now Judas' eyes grew wide, "I will, as does everybody else, co-exist in the two realities. I have arranged for an assistant, by the name of Matthias, to accompany me." The two just looked at each other. "The 1st reality, which will be known as 'Earth,' is likely to be very technological, and the second, which shall be known as 'Terra,' will be quite arcane. My plan is to manage the Merge with as little chaos as possible, and to this end I have directed my servant, Marcas, to retrain me in 'Earth.' I guess we're Terra..." Judas finished with a weak chuckle. "The predicament is that as I reincarnate myself in the human body, my Powers will be diminished, and all my training obsolete. I am uncertain what will happen to my memory, but I am not taking any chances, and am recording everything I have learned and experienced here within." Judas paused for a moment, letting it sink in. "If you are reading this novel, then You are I, and I am You. We are Judas, Gatekeeper, and this is our past..." The two stood for 3 candlemarks, reading their supposed past. There were tales that seemed straight out of a Bardic tale. There was romance, battle, epic crusades, but nothing that struck a chord within the two. Matt had taken the fact that he was supposedly a "servant" surprisingly well, and had said, philosophically, "I am what I am." As they searched, the hour grew late, and still no sign of a remedy was at hand. Finally, Judas shut the book with a muttered curse. "I guess we'll have to wing this." he growled, "The Book has nothing on how to handle the merge." Suddenly the Book opened itself, despite Judas' hands upon it, and flipped to a page within. The text glowed, and made itself known to the two: The Merge shall be heralded by the lessening of the Rift, which will cause very visible effects. The first to watch for is the 'shared body' effect, where actions done to a body in one reality shall affect the respective body in the other reality. The second will be a 'changeover,' where one consciousness will shift into the other reality. The third shall be a 'crossover,' where the bodies of one individual shall shift planes, as well as the consciousness. Judas and Matt turned to each other with the same expression. "The stranger with Ardanas!" they exclaimed simultaneously. "Is there anything more?" asked Matt, half eagerly, half with dread. "The fourth and final herald shall be the transmutation of great expanses of land, as the two realities seek to find a neutral plane to Merge upon. After this herald, prepare for the Merge, for it will be at hand." the two stopped. "The Elven Lands..." began Matt sadly. "Forget that!" interrupted Judas, "What about this forest we're in right now?!" "Does that mean the Merging is near?" asked Matt fearfully. "I guess s--" A gray mist permeated Judas and Matt's sight. The two tried to move, tried to flee, but had lost control of their limbs. The two were suspended in air, motion, time itself, for a fraction of a moment, and then were plunged into a darkness. {[]}{[]}{[]}{[]}{[]}{[]}{[]}{[]}{[]}{[]}{[]}{[]}{[]}{[]}{[]}{[]}{[]}{[]} Judas and Matt froze, and slowly rose from the couch. They walked to where the sound had come from... upstairs. Judas took the lead, signaling for Matt to wait a moment. Judas climbed the stairs, unconsciously stepping on every silent step. Years of paranoia had compelled Judas to learn every facet of his household, and he could move without even a whisper of sound through the entire domacile. As he reached the top of the stairs, he looked down the hallway to his right, then two his left-- --his face ran right into the creature's face. "Shit!!" he screamed, as the creature began making an unusual sound. Judas tried to run down the stairs, tried to tell Matt to run for it, but once again, an unknown force took him over. Judas swung out with his left hand, aiming at what could be the creature's stomach. The creature caught it, with surprise splashing over its "face." The creature retaliated with a kick aimed at Judas' groin, which Judas blocked with his other foot. He then brought his other hand down upon the creature's arm (the one holding Judas' hand) which made the creature howl in pain and release him. He then flipped over it, brushing his feet against the ceiling, and landed behind it. Judas then felt something within him, something that burned. He closed his eyes for a split second, and reached for the burning substance with his mind. One he had it in "hand," he opened his eyes, and saw that the creature was still turning to meet the threat. Time slowed down, then stopped. Judas paused for a moment, and surveyed around him, not comprehending what was happening. Past the creature he could see Matt, stark fear on his face, in mid-step up the stairs. Before him was the creature, still in mid-whirl. Judas looked down, to where his hands were, and saw that they glowed a bright red light. Judas then Looked at his hands, and Willed the light into a compact ball that rested in his hands. Judas froze. What had he just done? He just focused light with his mind, something that broke every rule of every science he had ever known. He had created light from nothing! A memory danced across the surface of his mind, teasing him, staying just out of reach. Then a picture, of him, surrounded by a golden light, and various shaped creatures. The memory then pranced tauntingly away, leaving Judas sorely confused. Suddenly, time began to resume, slowly at first, then at full speed. Before Judas could react, the creature was facing him entirely, a snarling beast thing with _far_ too many teeth for Judas' comfort. Judas gulped, but something told him to throw the ball at the creature. For lack of any other options, Judas went with the feeling, hurling the ball of crimson light at the creature. There was a wrenching feeling, like his arms were being tugged at, but the crimson light left his hands and impacted against the creature soundlessly. The creature, not so soundlessly, gave a screech of pain, and Judas as well as Matt could definitely smell something burning. The creature scratched at its chest, seemingly thinking that if it could remove its own mid-section, it would survive. Then the ball exploded, still utterly silent, and the creature stopped its screaming. Kind of hard to scream when you've been reduced to a light dust.... "What... the.. HELL WAS THAT?!" Matt demanded. "I don't fucking know!" retorted Judas. "Didn't it say something about that in the Book?" "I guess so..." began Matt. "We have to go to sleep." Judas said shortly. "Sleep?!" Matt's voice was well into the soprano range. Judas winced. "How can you talk about sleep after what I've seen, and after what you've done!!" "Simple," Judas replied tersely. "Whatever else is going on, we still have school tomorrow, and I'm not letting the end of the world as we know it screw up my chances at Harvard!" Matt just gave him a wild look, one that had too little sanity for Judas' liking. Judas reached for Water, and crushed it into a fine mist, and gently sent it into Matt's mind. Matt slumped, and fell fast asleep, right into Judas' waiting arms. "I guess it _is_ entirely instincts..." he chuckled, dragging Matt's limp body into the guest bedroom. The next morning the two were more prepared to handle a day of school. After a hearty breakfast made mundanely (at Matt's insistence), the two were ready to face reality. Then the grandfather clock rang 10:00... "CRAP!!!" the two swore, racing for the door. The two made it to school, and sat down as unobtrusively as possible in sour old Glupnik's class. He noticed them, however, and put down his chalk and turned to the two. "This is the second time, you two," he said, the anger easily detectable in his carefully controlled tone. "You two have a detention, after school." "Yes sir, sorry sir." the two replied in unison. The class laughed, and old Glupnik's face darkened. "As we were discussing, _before we were so rudely interrupted_..." he continued, as Judas and Matt smothered giggles. The rest of the day passes tolerably enough, despite the fact that neither had done his homework. As the last bell rang, the two trudged unhappily along to their little prison, and walked in. The room was empty, except for old Glupnik at his table, where he sat perusing a musty old textbook. The two made no pretense about being happy there, and dropped their bags with an unceremonial <> At the sound, Mr. Glupnik lifted his bald little head from where it had been buried in a book. "Well, Mr. Bishop and Mr. Cardinal, what a pleasant surprise." the sarcasm could have been cut up... with a butcher's knife, anyways. "Yes sir, hello sir." the two said, in unison again. The two giggled. "I'm afraid that detention is not your only punishment," Glupnik began, rising from his desk. He walked over to the chalkboard, picked up a piece of chalk, and began to write. "For disrespecting me, and the students for taking away their time to learn, I'm afraid I have a very special punishment in mind." "Yes sir?" Matt was the only speaker, this time. Judas was eyeing the professor with no little suspicion. "Yes, what I have in mind for you to is..." Glupnik turned around. "A slow and excruciatingly painful death!!" he screamed. The two gasped. Where a balding, overweight 60 yr-old man was, now stood a creature that stood at 7'. It had green, thick skin, and had patches of hair in unusual places. It wore only a loincloth, and every square inch shown was pure muscle. The face had an elongated nose, and squinty eyes that seemed far too small for its body. The mouth was set in a snarl, and hardly moved at all as it spoke. It held in its hand a small wooden rod, with elaborate designs carved upon it. "Shit!" the two cursed, diving from their seats. "Ah hahaha!!" it cackled, pointed the wand at Judas. A flood of sickly green ichor rose from the earth beneath Judas, and pinned him down. "Judas!" cried Matt, reaching out for his friend. Judas struggled in vain against the constraints, and looked at the creature with pure hate on his face. "I know what you are!" he snarled, red faced with effort, "You're a Troll, aren't you?!" "Excellent observation," laughed the Troll, "Now you die, and we of the Darkside shall rule the Realms!" The troll pointed the staff at Matt, who dove out of the way as blades of iron lanced from beneath the earth just beneath where he was lying. Matt rose to his feet, his expression flaring with anger-- --and his hands glowing with Power... The troll gasped with surprise as Matt gestured once: ///||||||| | /| / | / | | | The symbol glowed in mid-air for a moment, then vanished. The bonds binding Judas vanished with a faint <>. Judas swiped off all remaining ichor with a grimace, but Matt was far from finished. He turned to the troll, who was backing away from the boy slowly. Matt traced another pattern in the air, one that glowed a sickly green: LH : |//||\\| RH : |\\||//| BH : . | | / \ / \ | . | | | \ / \ / | | And a blast of green energy lanced from Matt's hands and slammed into the troll. The troll flew back, arcing his back in agony, and slammed against the wall, pinned there for a moment from the sheer force of the impact. Then the troll's body began to shake, and slowly dissolved into a green ooze that spilled to the floor. Matt collapsed to his knees, exhaustion turning his entire body into jelly. Judas slowly walked to where his friend sat slumped over, and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Hey, thanks." Judas said awkwardly. An equally awkward silence followed. "You're welcome." Matt said finally, looking at his hands in amazement. "Is this what we're supposed to do to make the Merge easier?" "I would hope not," Judas replied with a tired chuckle, "This isn't any fun at all!" "'tis not supposed to be fun, lad," the voice came from the door. The two whirled about, and saw... --the figure from their dreams. "You!" cried Matt, recovering from the shock first. "Aye, me." mimicked the figure with a slight sneer. "If ya aren't takin' yer job seriously, lads, yer gonna wind up some ne'er-do-well's trophy." "I believe that an explanation is overdue." Judas said carefully, rising from where he crouched next to Matt. "Aye again," the figure said, walking towards the two, "But not where there be pryin' eyes, eh?" The figure pulled out an oaken walking stick, and waved it in the air once, twice.. Their surroundings blurred... And at the third time they found themselves back at Judas' home, standing in the middle of the living room. "Now, I believe you wanted an explanation?" the figure said, chortling, "Well, it's a doozy! It all started long before time was time, and the Hundred Ones, the first beings in existence, were involved in a fight. These Hundred Ones you would call gods, and indeed, each has become a figurehead in one of the sentient beings' 'religions...'" -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=In Nebula, Realm of the Hundred=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- "You may not!" hollered Oblivion at the top of his lungs. "I'll not be in a world of this 'science,' as you call it!" "You will!" countered Siva, "For _we_ shall not live in a Realm of this 'magick!'" "Enough!" yelled Judas. Each of the Hundred, down to the one, froze in their arguing and looked at their leader. Well, for a moment at least... "But they..." "What about..." "There's no way..." "HALT!!!" Judas cried, raising his hands. As the crowd sullenly grew quiet, Judas glared at each of them in turn. "Are we mere infants, to argue like this?" he said with a contemptuous look, "You shame your very names!" The crowd looked amongst themselves for a moment, then a representative of each faction stepped up. For the Magicka, The Triad was chosen, and for Science, The One. The Triad turned its sweetest face upon Judas, the one of water, and spoke in its musical tongue, "Those such as we are will suffer greatly in this world of 'science,' oh lord." She/He/It said, the voice reminiscent of a babbling brook, "We will not agree with such demands." The One, having only one face, simply said in a careful tone, "And those such as _we_ are will suffer _more_ greatly in this world of 'magick!'" he/she spat. "Why should we compromise when they are being so stubborn about it?" The Triad turned to his/her/its opponent, and turned to its face of Earth. "Us?! Stubborn?!" the voice was gravelly, and rumbled like an uneasy mountain, "What have you done to show how compromising _you_ are?!" This was met with murmurs of approval from the Magicka, and murmurs of outrage and disagreement from the Science. Judas raised his hands for silence, and began to speak in his own deep and strident voice, "Have you spoken your piece, then?" The Triad looked blank for a moment, as he/she/it discussed with him/her/itself the question, then it switched to Wind and spoke in its musical contralto, "If we make this world one of 'science,' beings such as we are will not be worshipped. We cannot take a very active hand in such a world, and as such, belief will falter, then die out. Even as our believers lose their faith, so shall we lose our strength. We shall become remnants of the past, studied by these so=called 'scientists!' Would you condemn your people to such a fate?" at his/her/its end, the whole Magicka contingent raised an uproar of approval. The One glared daggers at The Triad, and spoke his final words, "If we make this world one of 'magicka,' beings such as we are will be mocked! Our Powers are not of the active kind. In such a world, we will not only be ignored, our few followers will be persecuted and hunted down! We shall become the outlawed faith, not practiced for fear of the law! Would you force us to live a life of fear and of fugitives?!" at his/her end, the entire Science party raised their hands and cried out their own agreement. "I have heard your standings, then?" Judas said slowly. At each of their nods, he continued, "Well then, it is but a simple compromise. We shall create two worlds. One of Science, one of Magicka. We shall place them in differing Realms, so that one cannot affect the other. I myself will watch the Gateway between them, and no Magick gods may associate with the Science gods." The congregation gasped. Then Creation and The One, twin siblings, stepped forward. Creation was a Magick, The One was a Science. "And what of us, oh lord?" they spoke in unison, as they often did. "What of you?" asked Judas, feigning a look of confusion. "You shall each have your own realm, and will not have to deal with each other for all eternity? Isn't that what you wanted?" The siblings looked at each other, then turned to Judas once more, "We don't want that!" they said, and were agreed with various members of each congregation. "Well then, what do you want me to do?!" cursed Judas, rising from his seat and pacing about. "You are all at each other's throats, cursing the lineage of the other, swearing that you want nothing to do with each other, and the only compromise you reject?! I will not have this!" at the last, Judas slammed his fist into the arm of his chair, causing a loud rumbling from the very foundations. "Peace, beloved," Matthias said softly, placing his hand upon Judas' shoulder. "We have not exhausted all our options." Judas looked up at the taller Matthias, smiled, and placed his own hand on Matthias'. "Do you have a suggestion, then?" "Indeed I do, beloved," Matthias said thoughtfully. The congregation grew utterly still waiting for Matthias' suggestion. "We make two worlds," at the outcry, Matthias held up his hands, "We make two worlds, and we combine them." There was a milling about of confusion in the ranks, as each pondered the consequences of such an action. Finally, The Triad and The One stepped forward again. "We agree!" they said simultaneously. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= "What do you mean, 'beloved?!'" asked Matt, half fearfully. "You mean ya didn't know, child?!" the figure said, genuinely surprised, "You and Judas were lovers, even in the time before time." Matt and Judas looked at each other, then looked away flushing. The figure laughed, but sobered so suddenly that neither was entirely sure that it even laughed at all. "The Merge!!" it cried... A gray mist clouded over Judas and Matt's eyes, and the two froze. They tried to move their arms, to struggle, to do something at all, but their limbs no longer obeyed them. The gray mist was quickly replaced with darkness. '.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'. Judas groaned, and held his head. He slowly opened his eyes, as if afraid of what he should see. When he opened his eyes, he say Matt's hand before them. "Judas, are you alright?" he asked. "Will you wake-up already?" the voice was naggingly familiar. "We don't exactly have much time." Judas opened his eyes fully, and rose from the... earth? No, that was not an accurate depiction of what lay beneath Judas. It was dark, and seemed to be made of mists, although it felt entirely firm. Judas looked down, mesmerized by the constant shifting of the "floor." "Hurry up already!" it was Matt, and Judas raised his head to see what was so urgent. He recoiled immediately as he came face to face with... -himself... "Well, this is a fine mess." he... no, it said. Judas looked at his doppelganger in amazement. "We don't have enough time to be confused," Judas 2 said, "Something has gone wrong with the Merging." "Wrong? What do you mean 'wrong?'" asked Judas 1, feeling cold fear seize his stomach. "What could have gone wrong?" "One of the Hundred is apparently tampering with the Gate," Matt (1) said, as Matthias (2) nodded his agreement. "We, or more accurately, I discussed this with you before we split." Judas 2 nodded in agreement, and Judas 1 just looked back and forth between them. "His memories haven't been restored," Matt said softly, placing a hand on Judas' (1) shoulder, "Don't worry about it, we can take care of this." the last was spoken directly to Judas 1. "Well, hear this, then," Judas 2 said, becoming impatient, "When we incarnated ourselves into these new bodies, we left the Gate unprotected, counting on the protections we laid upon it to protect it from tampering." "Obviously, someone broke through our protections," Matthias (2) said, with a rueful chuckle. "We don't know what's happening, exactly, and all we can do is wait." Judas 1 placed his hand upon Matt's. "What about that figure?" "You mean ol' Waddleworth?" chuckled Judas 2, "He has served his purpose, we returned him to the Oblivion." "You mean you killed him?!" Judas 1 was shocked. Matt tightened his grip on Judas 1, "No, he was already dead, all we were dealing with was a shade back there." Judas blinked once, then stood straighter, "Wait for what happens next? That's all we can do about this?" "Afraid so.." the voice came from behind them all. The four whirled, and stepped back in astonishment. /*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\/*\ Okay, that's enough, I guess. If you know the rules, all well and good, you can leave right now, and be sure to follow them. IF you haven't read my story before, or you just forgot the rules... 1) If you hated my story, write to me and tell me what's wrong. I promise I won't get _too_ mad!! LOL Seriously, write to me and tell me how to fix it, that's what I'm here for, to figure out what I'm doing wrong and how to get better. 2) If you liked it, then I love you, will you marry me? J/K!! Well, if you liked it, you _can_ write me, but I'm not asking you to. It feels good to know that someone out there liked my story, but a lack of bad mail is compliment enough for me! LOL 3) If you were kinda ?? about it, then go ahead, write me and ask me questions, I'll answer pretty much anything you ask! =) My e-mail is kaiser_cain@hotmail.com (please don't use this incorrectly, I'm trusting you!!) I'm outy!!