Anyway, as I turned from the stall and back to the street, Icollided with someone who'd been coming down the sidewalk. Igrunted with the impact and bounced off the unfortunate soul,catching myself before I could stumble and murmuring, "I'msorry, please excuse me," in my politest Japanese."Filthy gaijun scum!" snapped the other half of the accident as Iturned to face him. "Why don't you watch where you're going!"As if the racial insult and the supercilious tone in which hespat it out weren't enough of a clue, the clothes and the bearingimmediately told me the story -- one I had grown up with, andthus was intimately familiar with. From the toes of his gleamingItalian leather shoes to the stylish frames of his designerglasses and the immaculately coiffed hair, he was a perfectexample of Brattus Cashus Toomuchus -- the Spoiled Rich Kid.I had no patience for the species, as I'd grown up around them(and had *been* one of them) for a lot longer than I'd like toadmit. This one was a classic example, and to top it off he wasin a royal snit, too, as he was apparently the "King of the Road"variety. You know the kind: "Part before me, ye peasants, for Iam more important than thee and the avenue of travel is mine ownpossession!" A real smarmy git, too.I resisted the urge to belt him. Not only would it have beenvery antisocial, and it would have undoubtedly earned me someofficial attention I'd much rather avoid. Let's not evenconsider the fact that he was just a crunchy. Unless I took careto pull my punch -- which honestly wasn't something he made mefeel like doing -- I could kill or at the very least seriouslyinjure him.So rather than hurt him, I did the next best thing. I bowed solow it was almost a kowtow, tugged my forelock (well, what wouldhave been my forelock had my hair been long enough), and said inthe most obsequious mode Japanese possesses, "Forgive this one, omighty lord, for his grievous transgression, and pray withholdthe righteous might of thy blade." Of course I said it with asaudible a sneer as I could pour into the words. Then I lifted myhead enough to look up at him through the hair hanging over myeyes and gave him a taunting grin.Smarmy-dono snarled, took a step toward me, then thought better of it as I straightened back up. I had at least five centimeters on him, and my jeans and T-shirt did nothing to hide my physique. I'm not bulky or muscular, but I'm fit in a way that Maggie (and Kat, and Diana, and Alison) admiringly call "hardbody". I also massed at least ten or fifteen kilos more than him, too, so the effect was heightened. Seeing that, he just sneered back and brushed past me, coming as close as he possibly could to walking into me and still not touch me.I turned and watched him as he continued down the street. Hisbody language broadcast the fact that he was seething all the wayto the incredibly cliche late-model red sportscar -- convertible,of course -- parked about 50 meters away. With exaggerated carehe unlocked the door and slid behind the wheel. Once he had theengine started, he gunned it unmercifully and peeled out of theparking space. I rolled my eyes.Behind me, the gold dealer chortled. "That one's parents should have spanked him a time or two before he got out of high school," the old man declared with a chuckle. I shared a wry grin with him for a moment, then bowed respectfully and continued on my way. I still had a couple hours before lunch, and wanted to see more of the neighborhood.-- Bob
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Chaos isn't really chaos if it isn't Lawful part of the time.

From a Step that I will never write, but the line is too good not to share. Envision Doug in the world of Futari wa Pretty Cure: "Those two, they're the Cure. Me?" He grinned nastily and slapped the stick against his open palm. "I'm *Prevention*."-- Bob
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Chaos isn't really chaos if it isn't Lawful part of the time.

Not even on the order of a teaser. Just a little something that might appear if I ever write a "Harry Potter" Step:

Golden Boy. Think about it... especially the "bike race..."
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

"with too much time on [his] hands."
Okay, we've seen that Belldandy is much less gullible and liable to put up with less sh*t (profanity neutered for the little kiddies out there) from people than manga/anime Bell (though Bell was quite capable of pulling out the ol' lightning bolt whenever Urd went too far back in the early manga, but that's because they're family)--more stern mommy making everyone play nice with the ol' gimlet eye than the sweet naif who wins over others with the power of extreme repression like unto Julie Andrews in the first hour of The Sound of Music (Do, a deer, a female deer made for dying in the beginning of a disney movie, traumatizing generation after generation).
I wonder where this came from? Mr. Bob? Did you have to try to adapt your own views on the characters (beyond the whole overgod, undergod aspect thing) to Mr. Chris's or were you guys sympatico? Mr. Chris? Did your views on the personalities on the characters change during the course of the writing of the last few chapters of your fic and the beginning of this one?
Ooh, another thing. I wonder if this AMG-verse exists in the same -verse as You're Under Arrest. I remember at least one AMG-SI had them in the same verse (Brett Handy's, I think) but not if Mr. Chris had done so as well. You probably won't have a YUA cameo here, since it'd probably be one too many crossover too many.
. . . Still . . . *sigh* Don't you want to see a three-way motorcycle race between Keiichi, Doug, and Natsumi? Huh? Don't ya? Aaaaaa, buttons.
Oh, speaking of crossovers. We know that in God's Toy, Mr. Chris crosses over with lots of other -verses. Wouldn't it be funny if Mr. Chris "leaps" (heheheheheh) into one world, only to find Doug there in the exact opposite situation of before? HIGH-larious! Or maybe they could compare notes or something.
-murmur
(and it's ticking away, ticking away from me. [too much time on my hands] it's t-t-t-ticking away [too much time on my hands] Now I don't know what to do [too much time on my hands.])
GUITAR SOLO!
. . . jesus, no wonder i like it here and UF. who else would share my love of 70s rock?

I said "Go if you wanna go
Stay if you wanna stay"
I didn't care if you hung around me
I didn't care if you went away
And I know you were never right
I'll admit I was never wrong
I could never make up my mind
I made it up as I went along
And though I treated you like a child
I'm gonna miss you for the rest of my life
All I need is a miracle, all I need is you
All I need is a miracle, all I need is you
All I need is a miracle, all I need is you
I never had any time
And I never had any call
But I went out of my way just to hurt you
The one I shouldn't hurt at all
I thought I was being cool
Yeah, I thought I was being strong
But it's always the same old story
You never know what you've got 'til it's gone
If I ever catch up with you
I'm gonna love you for the rest of your life
All I need is a miracle, all I need is you
All I need is a miracle, all I need is you
All I need is a miracle, all I need is you
And if I ever catch up with you
I'm gonna love you for the rest of your life
All I need is a miracle, all I need is you
All I need is a miracle, all I need is you
All I need is a miracle, all I need is you
All I need is a miracle, all I need is you
-- Mike And The Mechanics, All I Need Is A Miracle
(Don't read too much into this. I just happened to hear it the other day and said, yeah, why not? -- Bob)
-- Bob
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Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

As Bob knows, and I've hinted around, I'm quite sick. I'm at about 50% right now.
Unfortunately, this means I'm not writing much.
Just letting people know.--
Christopher Angel, aka JPublic
The Works of Christopher Angel

...can be found Here:
www.evaotaku.com/html/rcb.html
or here:
www.magisus.com/eva/redcross1.html-- Bob
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Chaos isn't really chaos if it isn't Lawful part of the time.

What year did Doug arrive at Buckaroo Banzai's dimension?
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

I mentioned this over in the Website area, but just for redundancy's sake, let me note that I posted a revised DW FAQ page late yesterday; the only change is the addition of the question "Was the climax of DW2 inspired by the movie "Unbreakable"?"-- Bob
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Chaos isn't really chaos if it isn't Lawful part of the time.