[Last Time, on El WHAT?!: The group arrived in Australia and got a hotel room. Sadly, they fell for the poisoned ice cream trick, and were lucky it wasn't a deadly poison. ROBOCROOK and his team of V.I.L.E. goons stormed their room and captured everybody but Daphne, who was in the shower. Cara sounded the attack after using the psionic arts she learned on Athas to get rid of the poison and cut the ropes binding her, and Daphne charged out... ...breaking her hand on ROBOCROOK's head, knocking him out in the bargain. ROBOCROOK was captured, Rockapella sang, and the group knows where to wait for Carmen to arrive, but not precisely WHEN. We open the next day, in a different hotel room, where Daphne is nursing her hand with alcohol and the rest of the group has gathered after waking.] [Session Start] How's your hand recovering, Daphne? * Taro looks a bit concerned * Cara sits on a bed, sketching idly. Oh, it's doing very nice, as long as I ignore the intense throbbing pain. Now sit sit still, you're making me dizzy. ... ah. * Daphne seems to be having difficulty keeping her eyes focused, for some reason. * Rocky looks up from his curled up position on one of the chairs. "I don't see what the big deal is. She can still punch things with her other hand." * Shiho runs a hand through her hair, then stands up. I'm going to the docks to see if I can't find out when that ship's supposed to get here. Mm-hm. And kick things, tooooo. * Taro nods. Pier 25, right? * In a burst of industrial light and magic, Ichi plushifies. * Cara idly notes Ichi's plushification. * Taro blinks at Ichi. ... wow I don't think you should go alone, Shiho. Carmen might have more goons around... I won't. Let's go, Rocky. Hey, wait. I thought me an' Rocky were going to the docks? If someone wants to come along, that's fine. But one of you needs to stay here with Daphne. Y'know, to see if that's how Carmen got th' tower out? * Cara gets up. "I'll come with you, Shiho." ^_^ * Shiho looks over to Daphne. "You're not going anywhere while your hand's like that." * Rocky eyes Daphne. I guess I'll keep watch over Daphne. Nah, I'm comin' with. * Daphne looks down at her hands. "'Sides, nothing's wrong with... hey, where the fuck did all these bandages come from?" o.o; * Shiho looks over to Taro. "Please do. If she tries to leave, stop her." * Shiho heads out. * Cara follows Shiho. Alright. * Rocky hops down from the chair and scampers after the girls. * Daphne gets up and follows out after the others. "Hey, waiddup." Umm... Daphne, please stop. Please? ^^; * Taro tries to think of a way to get Daphne to stop. Which causes him to shift his mind over to his various detective stories. Which gets his mind onto handcuffs. Then he dismisses the idea, as he not only lack handcuffs, but people would get the wrong idea * Daphne gets up and follows out after the others. "Hey, waiddup." Umm... Daphne, please stop. Please? ^^; * Taro tries to think of a way to get Daphne to stop. Which causes him to shift his mind over to his various detective stories. Which gets his mind onto handcuffs. Then he dismisses the idea, as he not only lack handcuffs, but people would get the wrong idea * Daphne continues out the door after the others. ^_^ * Taro chases after Daphne. Please... stop... ^^; * Taro attempts to grab her shoulder. Yur a funny boy, Taro. Now leggo. You've really gotta stay, Daphne. Or you might get hurt. ^^;;; ...y'rilly gotta leggo, funny boy. Or y'might get hurt. * Shiho sighs and turns to Cara. "Go on ahead, ok?" She then turns to face Daphne. * Taro tries to talk to the others. "Some help, please?" ^^;;;; * Daphne keeps going, Taro or no Taro. * Taro is forced to walk with Daphne or fall over. * Taro attempts to walk, but at least slower her down. @_@ * Shiho stands in Daphne's way. * Cara goes a little bit down the hall, but stops before she's out of earshot. * Rocky blinks and turns, stopping near Cara. "I've gotta see this." * Daphne notes that Shiho is in front of her, and looks at her curiously, but it never occurs to her to stop. * Rocky climbs up onto Cara's shoulder (bet she's never had that happen to her before) and semi-whispers to her. "Keep going." * Cara whispers back "Uh, okay." and keeps walking. "You'll let me know what they're saying?" * Rocky grins. "If I find out, sure." * Daphne is still going down the hall. o/~ Daphne, stop. * Cara stops. "But I wanna here what they're talking about." * Daphne finds out the Shiho makes a better wall than door, and bowls her over, tripping and falling right on top of Shiho in the process. * Taro tries to stop Daphne in place, but ends up falling over. He still tries to wrap his arms around Daphne's ankles to stop her, but more likely than not starts acting like an anchor made of helium. * Rocky grumbles. "Keep *going*, Cara! I'll let you know if I find out." @_@ ...'kay. 'M stopped. * Cara nods, and gets back to walking. * Shiho wrestles Daphne off of her. * Daphne ends up face to face with Shiho, making the doujin artists go into action. * Rocky sighs and settles more comfortably on Cara's shoulder. * Shiho ends up on top now. The doujin artists cackle with glee. * Taro is watching. o_o * Shiho stands up. "Knock it off, Daphne." * Luckily for Taro, the girls aren't wearing skirts. Knock what off? * or is that... unluckily? * Cara comes to a stop when she hears the thud, and looks back to see what happened. She blushes slightly when she sees the position the two of them were in, but quickly shakes her head and starts walking again. * Daphne gets up, only wobbling a little. * Rocky frumps as only a racoon can. * Shiho redirects Daphne back towards the room. "You're CLEARLY in no condition to be wandering around." * Daphne redirects herself back down the hall. "Sure 'm not." * Cara reaches up a hand to scratch Rocky behind the ears, still blushing. * Rocky grins. "Just keep going. Don't worry about any of that stuff." * Daphne gets dizzy and falls over. * Shiho doesn't let Daphne go in any direction other than towards the room. * Shiho rubs her forehead then looks to Taro. "Help me carry her back." * Daphne gets dizzy and falls over. "...the fuck?" Sure thing, Shiho. * Taro gets ready to help carry Daphne back * Daphne tries to get back to her feet. * Shiho carries Daphne back to the room with Taro's help. * Taro takes the legs and Shiho takes the upper body, and they get Daphne back in the room. * Daphne seems to think this is great fun, since she's giggling. @_@;;; * Shiho puts Daphne on the bed, then goes over and locks the door (yeah, from the inside, but whatever), and then takes a seat in a chair. * Taro watches Daphne Hee! Tha' was fun! Lesdoit'gain! * Cara slows down as she hears the door closed. "Are you sure we should go on without them?" * Shiho grumbles and rubs her head. "Taro, go see if you can catch up with Cara." * Daphne gets up off the bed and heads after Taro. * Rocky gives Cara a paws up. "Sure I'm sure! If anyone needs to catch up, Shiho'll send them on their way." No, on second thought, don't. * Shiho gets up and stops Daphne. "I'm going to need your help here." o.o * Cara sighs. "Alright." * Daphne looks at Shiho funnily. * Rocky smiles. "Don't worry, don't worry. Trust your talking animal guide, yeah?" * Cara giggles. "Okay. I was just kinda hoping to...ah, nevermind." * Daphne grabs Shiho's head and gives her a big kiss. She then heads on to the door. "Yur sucha dear, Shiho. Bud I'll be fine." * Shiho stops Daphne. "No you won't." * Daphne keeps going. "Sure ae will." * Shiho spins Daphne towards the bed. "No you won't." * Daphne turns around again. "Sure ae will." * Shiho spins Daphne around again! "No you won't." * Daphne gets dizzy and falls down on the bed, bouncing a bit. Woooo. * Shiho moves quickly, trying to tie Daphne up @_@ Taro! give me a hand. Hai! * Taro goes to help tie up Daphne * Daphne gets back up. ^_^ * Shiho doesn't let Daphne. * Taro tries to hold Daphne down * Shiho and Taro hold Daphne down and tie her up. I didn't know they were into the group bondage thing. Hey, 'm not like tha, Sheeeho. * Daphne hiccups. * Shiho wipes her forehead. "Unbelieveable." Alright. You go ahead, while I make sure nothing happens with her. ^^; Are you sure you can handle it? Ummm.... I dunno. I'll let you decide. @_@ * Daphne tries to get up again and fails. "Hey, 'm knotted up. What gives?" * Shiho sighs. "You go. I'll keep an eye on Daphne." Alright. * Taro tries to catch up * Shiho keeps watch over Daphne, checking to make sure the ropes won't break. [Some twenty minutes later, Taro, Cara, and Rocky arrive at the docks. Now they just have to figure out where to wait.] * Taro checks his notepad. Pier 25. * Cara looks around. Judging from her expression, she's a bit miffed. Right, sure. We should also be on the lookout for suspicious trucks * There are only a few ships in port right now, and a single LARGE one pulling into sight. Pier 25 is all the way to one end of the harbor. Better get a move on. * Rocki points at the ship. "Think that's it?" Could be. ... that might be it. * Taro starts heading towards 25. * Cara starts jogging towards Pier 25. * Rocki hops down from Cara's shoulder and scampers towards the pier. * You make it to the pier just as the ship is beginning to pull in. You can already see, standing where the stairs will be lowered, a tall figure with long, dark hair flowing from beneath a large, floppy purple hat, wearing a long purple coat. .... There she is. Erp. They're here. Rocky, is there anyway you can tell Shiho what's going on? Nuh uh. I think we should stop her, though. * Cara nods. "Yeah." * Cara whips out her sketchpad. * The ship pulls into its moorings and the stairs are lowered. The figure starts descending. Now that s/he's closer, you can see that Carmen is wearing black boots and black gloves that nicely complement the coat and hat. You still can't see his/her face, though. * Cara focusses her power and starts drawing the figure frozen in place. See any goons, Taro? * CarmenSandiego gets to the bottom of the stairs and raises her hands toward Cara, palms outward in the universal sign of surrender. * Cara blinks, and stops. * Taro blinks. * Cara's power slowly dissipates. So you're Carmen, huh? * CarmenSandiego nods. * Rocki hops onto Cara's shoulder and whispers, "The forklifts are still moving." Stop the forklifts, Carmen. * CarmenSandiego tilts her head to one side quizically. We're not interested in arresting you. We just want Tokyo Tower back. * CarmenSandiego nods. * CarmenSandiego reaches into one pocket and withdraws a small device. Inside, you can see a beautiful miniature of Tokyo Tower. * Cara narrows her eyes, and very quickly sketches Carmen's hat getting blown off. She focusses hard. * Taro looks at it. o.o * Cara whispers as quietly as she can. "Rocky, take her hat." * Rocki flicks his eyes from the tower to the hat, then jumps off Cara's shoulder, dashing at Carmen. * CarmenSandiego whispers hoarsely, "Don't bother." and boots Rocky gently back into Cara's arms. * Taro blinks. I just wanna know who you are. We're leaving this world. We won't tell anyone. * Rocki yelps. * CarmenSandiego continues in that same hoarse whisper, "Better people than you have tried to unmask me." I just have to wonder something... why steal these monuments? Because I can. Because I'm the greatest thief in the world. Because nobody would ever catch me if I didn't let them. * CarmenSandiego tosses Tokyo Tower to Cara. * Taro blinks. * CarmenSandiego reaches into his/her coat. * Cara catches it and smiles at Carmen. "I'm not your enemy, even though your goons tried to kill us. Heck, I think you're kinda cool." She blushes a bit. "And I -love- your coat." * Rocki eyes Cara like she's gone insane. * CarmenSandiego withdraws a small manilla envelope, the 8.5x11 inch size. ... you know, I have to respect someone like you. Normally, I don't like thieving types, but you're not like most. You've got a more admirable reason * Rocki eyes Taro like he's gone insane, too. Here. An autographed picture. Don't open it until you're through the portal. There are chemicals that will destroy it before you get a look if you open it before the portal burns them off. * Rocki hops down out of Cara's arms. * Taro blinks. ... wow. Thanks. * CarmenSandiego tosses it to Taro, frizbee style. * Taro catches. I've got things to steal, people to lead. Bye. So, how do we restore the tower to its rightful size? * Cara nods and grins, then examines the device. * CarmenSandiego dives into the water and is gone. * Rocki runs to where Carmen dove and looks into the water. * Taro blinks. * Carmen appears to be gone, though her coat and hat are floating there. * Cara runs after Rocky and looks down into the water, too. o.o You said you liked the coat. .... hm. Yeah. I think she left it for you. You can have the hat too. I've got one of my own that I like just fine. * Cara attempts to fish the coat out. "I wonder if it'll fit." * Taro attempts to get help and get the hat too * The coat is a tad long, but it's nothing a good tailor can't fix. * The hat, though, fits fairly well. * Cara grins. "Cool." ^_^ * Cara tucks the coat and hat under her arm. "Let's get back to the hotel." Yeah. I think you'd look nice in those, Cara. ^_^ [Some twenty minutes later, the three arrive back at the hotel, where Daphne and Shiho await.] * Rocki singsongs as they enter. "Taro likes Cara, Taro likes Cara o/~" * Shiho is sitting in a chair, looking half-asleep. * Cara giggles. "You think so?" Yeah. ^_^ o.o; * Taro sweatdrops at Rocky. ^_^;;; * Rocki hops onto Shiho's lap and pokes at her nose. "Taro likes Cara!" * Daphne is looking at something on the cieling that must by absolutely fascinating. * Shiho looks up. "I'd ask how it went, but I already know." * Taro blinks. * Taro looks up at the ceiling. * Cara blinks at Rocky. "Huh?" * Taro tries to find what Daphne's looking at * Rocki grins at Cara and settles into Shiho's lap. ^^; * Taro stops looking upwards. Hey, Shiho? Wanna untie Daphne now? * Shiho shrugs. "Couldn't hurt, I suppose. Probably. * Cara shakes her head, then smiles. "Well, we can go to the next world, now." Yeah. ^_^ * Taro goes to untie Daphne Why didn't you try to catch Carmen? Heey, thas' great! What, di' Carmen jus' give it to ya'? Why? I didn't know how to stop her. 'Sides, I'm not a police officer. She gave up the tower willingly. * Daphne giggles and turns to Shiho. "Tol' ya'." * Cara looks embarrassed. "...and I thought she was cool." * Shiho eyes Daphne. "Oh really? They don't look like they died or got captured, now do they?" * Cara hangs her head. They don' look like they got Carmen either, mm? I'm sorry, Shiho. * Shiho rolls her eyes at Daphne, then turns to Cara. "Nevermind. It doesn't matter this time." But in the future, you shouldn't do that. You don't know what her motivations may have been. She said her motivation was to show that she was the world's greatest thief... * Daphne goes back to watching her hallucination. ^_^ * Shiho rolls her eyes. "She could have said her motivation was to sell the tower to buy a jelly doughnut, for all it matters. The point is not to take anything at face value." * Taro nods... Sorry. ^^; As soon as Daphne's better, we'd better check in with Al. Okay. * Daphne won't be healed for another couple weeks. [Several days later, the group arrives in Tokyo. Nobody knows about their amazingly fast success yet, so they're not mobbed by reporters.] * Taro stretches. Z.z * Taro walks alongside Cara, and yawns. * Rocki rides on Shiho's shoulder. * Cara has Carmen's stuff (other than the tower) in her backpack at the moment. * CaptainAl waddles up as the group comes out into the terminal. Welcome back! How did your trip go? Hiya, Captain. ^_^ Hey. ^_z Z.z * Daphne grimaces. "Miserable." I'll agree to that. That badly, hmm? Daphne messed up her hand and broke her brass knuckles... but we did get the tower back You lost the trail, t-REALLY?! Yes. Yeah. ^_^ Show him, Cara * Cara produces the miniaturized tower. Amazing! Let's go put it back right now. I can have the techs mobilized by morning. Okay. ^^ * Taro smiles * CaptainAl leads the way out to his van, which holds everybody comfortably. Except for Daphne, whose hand aches. * Daphne scowls. * Shiho gets in the van. * Taro gets in * Cara hops in. * CaptainAl drives straight back to Tower Square and lets everybody out. * Taro gets out * Cara hops out. * Daphne scowls her way out of the van. * Luckily for you all, the device has some very specific usage instructions on it, telling precisely how to let the Tower out so it'll end up in the right place. Is it clear to do it, Captain? Go ahead. * Shiho hops out @_@ * Cara activates the thingy. * POOF! Tokyo Tower appears in a puff of Sufficiently Advanced Technology! o_o wooow. * Rocki blinks a few times. * Cara grins. "Cool." That's neat Nice. Does it to birthdays? * The device promptly detonates, leaving an unsightly soot stain on Cara's hand in the shape of a little Carmen-head with hat and "BurglarGlasses" like the Neighborhood Watch pictures have. * Rocki blinks at Cara, then cracks up. * Shiho chuckles. "Yeah, cool." * Cara blinks. "Eheheh." * Daphne chuckles, then winces. * Taro blinks. ... wow. That's kinda neat, but... say, was it painful? ^^; * No, it wasn't. Nuhuh. Whew. Wonder how they get that effect Okay. I'm, uh, gonna go find a tailor to do um...something, before we go. * Taro nods * Daphne shrugs. "Whatever." Hurry up. [Fast FORWARD! The next morning, Cara has a nicely tailored and cleaned coat and hat once worn by Carmen Sandiego, and everybody's ready to go. The techs have fired up the dimensional rift, and are about to generate the portal. You're all in the main research deck of Tokyo Tower, staring at the space where the portal will be.] * Daphne yawns, grumbles, rolls her shoulders slowly. * Cara is wearing Carmen's coat and looking rather pleased with herself, though she's not wearing the hat. Looks like I was right. The coat does look nice on you. * Cara blushes. * CaptainAl grabs Shiho's hand and shakes firmly. @_@ Thanks. *^_^* The Wanderer was right about you. Thanks for all your help. Wanderer? The who? Right about what? What did he say? * Rocki cutely scratches behind one ear. Who -is- this Wanderer, anyway? He said that when I needed you most, you'd appear to help me. And you did. And all I had to do in return was help you however I could. Huh. Oh. That's nice. What did this Wanderer look like? Well, glad I could help, then. * CaptainAl looks around uneasily. "That's not the sort of thing I should talk about here. Shiho can tell you, I think." * CaptainAl looks over his shoulder and shouts, "Generate the portal!" Alright... Oh. I think I know, then. * The techs generate the portal, which looks rather like the one you came here through. It's a spinning blue vortex hanging about three feet off the ground, seeming almost to spin. A slight wind pulls you towards the opening. Goodbye, travelers! Bye! Hey, nice. Well, this is it... it's been nice knowing you, Captain Al. Maybe we'll meet again. * Shiho waves. * Rocki waves, too. * Cara waves, and walks towards the portal. * Daphne nods to the captain and heads into the portal. * Taro waves, then heads towards the portal * Shiho heads through the portal. [Session End]