Teaser for Chapter Three

[Bob Schroeck]

*Once is a favor,* Chris thought darkly as he brought his bokuto up into ready position. *Twice is approaching a habit.* "One of these days I need to find out why a smile and 'please' from Belldandy completely deprives me of my will to resist," he muttered under his breath."Huh?" Doug asked from where he stood, a few meters away, his posture relaxed and his bokuto still thrust through his belt. "What was that you said?" Overhead, an enormous flock of large black birds wheeled and whirled before coming to rest in one of the trees just outside the outer fence."Nothing," Chris grunted. "Okay, take your starting position." He narrowed his eyes as he felt a prickling between his shoulder blades, like someone was watching him.Doug slid into stance, drew his bokuto and held it at the ready."Right. Now what?""Okay, today we're going to take..." Chris stopped cold as a sudden, belated realization struck. *Black birds?*Doug blinked in surprise as Chris halted mid-sentence and gazed around the yard of the temple until his eyes rested on the birds perched in their tree. Then with a muttered curse, he stalked towards the flock and scowled up at them."*What?*" Chris demanded.

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The chapter's only about 2/3 done at this point, but we didn't want to leave you guys completely hanging. So... a scrap thrown your way.
Progress is good, and we hope to keep it that way. I'd've preferred to have released at or before the 1-year anniversary of the last chapter, but the muse did not cooperate with either us, plus Chris had this piddling little life-commitment ritual-thing that distracted him a bit...
Anyway, this is a promise of more to come. Enjoy.
-- Bob
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...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...