The plane had just finished rolling to a stop at the terminal, and many of the passengers were
disembarking in the usual mad rush to get off the 'flying deathbox' as someone had put it so mildly.
After five minutes (a new record!), most of the plane was empty, and a young woman sitting in the
back row stood up and collected her carryons: one was a large duffel bag, and the other appeared to
be a long map case. As she walked down the aisle, she flipped open a small compact to look at
herself.
"Heh. Not bad for being stuck in this crate for 20 hours. I look almost human." flipping the
compact closed, and putting it in a pocket in her carpenter pants, she then covered the right side of
her face with her long, dark red hair and an old baseball cap. Then she walked into the main terminal
of Meridiana International Airport (closed at least once a week from bombings!). "Miss D'Arnise?"
The woman turned at the sound of the name and saw a customs officer walk over to her when she
nodded.
"We apologize about the lack of service on that carrier, but many of the stewards were out
sick today. But I digress: when the plane's metal detectors scanned the interior, there seemed to be
a large amount of metals in your carryons and on you. This is standard procedure, but we need to
search your bags and ask you several questions." She looked at the man, who was obviously having
trouble keeping his eyes on her face and smiled. "Alright. Lead the way, sir." The officer, after
leading her into a cubicle sat down on one of the two chairs in the room. "Okay. First, the questions:
What is your full name?" "My full name is Sara D'Arnise." "Um... okay. What's your age?"
Two Hours Later
*Gah! If I knew that they'd ask every question humanly possible I would have taken a train.
Hell, the next time I go travelling, that's what I'll do. Well, at least they shut up when examining my
passport. If they hadn't I would have probably fed them their teeth.* Sara stomped down the hallway
to where the officers had put her motorcycle. The monstrous cycle was leaning against a wall with
two large saddlebags placed beside it. She quickly examined the bags and the bike for traces of
tampering, but finding none, she quickly stuffed the contents of her duffel into the saddlebags, put
them on her bike, and relaxed slightly.
In under a minute, Sara rode out of the parking lot with her bike producing a creditable
imitation of a buzzsaw in labour for sheer noise and coronary inducements. Riding into Meridiana
proper, Sara felt how cold it was, cursed for a few seconds, and pulled over so she could get
something out of the bags. Soon, she dug a long, black leather trenchcoat with silver studs in the
shoulders out of one bag, and put it on. About ten minutes after she got her coat, Sara drove up to
a respected real estate firm and walked in like she owned the place. After five minutes of almost
unintelligible shouting heard in the building, Sara walked out with the deed to a rather nice townhouse
near the city park.
20 minutes later, Sara arrived at her new house and she looked around at the semi-peaceful
neighbourhood. "Hmmph. Well, I guess my bike isn't gonna be left on the curb for some time. Well,
at least Meridiana has some free time before meeting me." bringing the bike into the garage, Sara
grinned as she looked around the cavernous space. "Nice. I think I'll explore my new home before
somebody gets the bright idea of throwing me a welcome party." *I still need to make sure that my
contractor got everything right. Last time was a fiasco outta hell!*
Half an hour after her personal tour, Sara was lounging on the huge couch while flipping
through her 200+ channels on the TV, when a news article stopped her cold. Though it was only some
fluff to cover a slow news day, Sara was rivetted. "In further news, sightings of large, green-skinned
men have gone up almost 500%, making many people believe that the city's resident protector,
CyberSix, is dead, wounded, or has just packed up and left town. Now, we go over to Jim at
weather..."
Sara turned off the TV and grimaced when the implications of the report slogged its way
through her sleep-clouded brain. *What the hell?! Greenskins? Here? Goddamned Fucking Hell! Still,
I have to wonder who this CyberSix is. Maybe I'll be able to meet him or her. Wait. Several months
ago I saw a news report on this CyberSix, stating that she's definitely a woman. Aaah screw it. All
this thinking is gonna make my head hurt. May as well take a walk for some fresh air.* after pulling
on her hiking boots, and putting on her coat, she walked out onto her front porch and looked at the
huge statue in the middle of the park. Locking her door, Sara looked south at the rows of houses and
thought for a while. *May as well go North. Most people are asleep at 1 AM.*
Walking northwards, she soon saw that a convenience store was open, and when her stomach
snarled its displeasure at not being fed anything except the toxic waste called airline food, she walked
inside. Looking around, she immediately thought of Murphy's Law when she saw a huge greenskin
threatening to squeeze the clerk's head through the keyhole of the back door if he didn't open up the
register. As soon as the greenskin heard the door's bell however, he spun around while dropping the
clerk behind the counter. Sara saw that it was covered with scars, and when its dim red eyes settled
on her she knew she was screwed.
The greenskin's dim mind tried to associate Sara with anyone else it knew, but when it saw
the scars on her right cheek it shouted loudly enough to rattle the shelves. "YOU!!! LONG TIME
AGO, YOU KILLED BROTHER!!! NOW ME KILL YOU!" with his yell echoing in Sara's ears,
it charged at her through four steel shelves and tried to smash her into paste with his giant fists. When
he reached her however, she dropped down onto her back and nailed him with a stop-kick to the
stomach. As it doubled over, trying to regain its breath, Sara got back up and booted it in the face.
Dark greenish-red blood sprayed everywhere from its nose and mouth as Sara heard bone
crack, while watching a tooth spiral off into a corner of the store. "Had enough yet?" she asked,
smiling sweetly. The greenskin replied by tackling her through the large plate glass window behind
her. A rain of glass shards washed over the road, but none were where Sara landed. Crying out in
pain when the greenskin landed on her, Sara knew her right elbow had been dislocated but punched
the large thing in the face repeatedly until it reeled back in agony. Sara knew she had to end the fight
quickly, so she ran towards the greenskin as it was straightening up, jumped over its shoulder as she
wrapped her good arm around its neck. When she landed, she knew its spine was stretched to the
breaking point, and so she kicked it in the small of its back, separating vertebrae and severing its
spinal cord which sent it into convulsive shock. "The price is WRONG, B'Yatch. You should've quit
while ahead." with those words, Sara grabbed the greenskin's head and twisted it around, killing it
instantly.
Sara stepped back as the greenskin's body disappeared in a flare of green light, leaving only
its bloody clothes and a small vial of luminescent green goo. Pocketing the vial, Sara walked back
into the store (by way of her abrupt exit) and instantly got the enjoyment of looking down the barrel
of a pump-action shotgun. "I-I saw what you did to that thing. What are you? And how the hell did
that thing know you?" the poor clerk was scared out of his wits, and Sara decided to calm him down
before he shot her by accident.
"First, put the gun down. I do not want to be shot by the man whose face I just saved from
an unpleasant ordeal." The clerk, noticing that Sara was in a fair amount of pain, put the shotgun
down, but made no move to help her. "Now, first things first, I'm human. Just trained in several nasty
martial arts. That thing knew me because it participated in an attack on an orphanage several months
ago. I stopped the attack, but when a grenade exploded I was seriously injured. Now, I need a very
strong painkiller because I dislocated my elbow during that fight. Oh yeah, before I forget, here's
$5000 to help defray the cost of repairing your store."
Sara fished out her wallet and (somehow) got five $1000 bills placed onto the countertop.
Then, grabbing a bottle of codeine, she popped her elbow back into place, gasped in agony, and
started to walk out of the store. "Hey, wait a minute! I don't even know your name, or why you
saved me." Sara paused, looked at the man and replied "You are most definitely not going to know
my name for at least another few months, and I only did something any good Samaritan would do.
Bye."
After leaving, Sara walked back to her house, still in a fair amount of pain, but knowing what
codeine would do to her brain. She was in a vile mood because of the damage done to her, and it
became even more volatile when a short rainstorm proceeded to drench her completely. When she
got home, she saw that the upstairs window was open, and proceeded to curse in several languages
for a minute or two before entering her house. Looking around, she saw that the TV was on, and she
heard somebody moving around in there.
*Great. This is fan-fucking-tastic. First, I get into a fight with Frankenstein's little brother,
and now I have to deal with an incompetent B&E artist who's as subtle as a dog turd on the
driveway.* Shaking her head, Sara walked to the door into the living room, leaned against the frame,
and said "May I help you?", startling the person on the opposite side of the room. As the person
turned around, Sara noticed the long, flowing cape, the black fedora, the gloves, and the black
bodysuit.
"You know, you really should wait before entering my house. Now that the formalities are
over: WHAT THE BLOODY FUCKING HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE????" Sara
simply exploded as she swept water out of her hair and took off her trenchcoat (in a rather interesting
act of motion) simultaneously. Looking at the woman, Sara saw that she was taken aback by the flare
in her temper, and, at the same time, she noticed a drastic similarity between the woman and
something she had seen on TV a while ago. Putting two and two together, Sara squinted and said
"Wait a minute... Aren't you CyberSix?" seeing the woman nod, Sara muttered something along the
lines of 'sorry for going ballistic at you' and walked into the room proper. Gesturing at a chair near
the couch, Sara launched herself onto the couch and popped three tablets of codeine while looking
at CyberSix. "Well, don't you usually sit down when talking to people, or are you going to loom over
me like a damned totem pole?"
CyberSix smiled at the statement and shook her head. "I saw what you did to that Fixed Idea,
and have no wish to get within your reach right now. By the way, you know my name, so why don't
you tell me yours?" It was Sara's turn to shake her head and watch as CyberSix leaned against the
window, with no intention of moving towards the offered seat. "Okay, I'll tell you my name, but must
ask you to at least wait until I'm in before rooting around the top floor." Sara flipped herself into a
sitting position in the middle of the couch and offered her hand. "Pleased to meetcha CyberSix, I'm
Sara D'Arnise. And before you become worried, no, I'm not going to beat the crap out of you just
because I could try. I know you're stronger, faster, and much tougher than me, but like me, you have
a soft spot for civilians.
"Now, in my case, I've trained myself to be stronger, faster, and much more agile than most
people, and I love helping out the underdog. Anything else?" CyberSix, being still nervous, shook
Sara's hand for only a few seconds, then dropped it like it was poisoned. "Y'know, I think you might
like one of my friends who lives near the north section of town. Ah well, I'll tell you about him later."
Sara smiled again, and responded quietly "I'd like that. Anyhow, I'm in a fair amount of agony
because I had to relocate my elbow after that fight, and I pulled a muscle in my leg when I kicked the
crap out of Frankenstein Jr. All that and the bonus of being drenched from that storm has turned me
into the angriest person in existence right now. I'll have to ask you to leave within the next five
minutes before I zonk out on codeine. Don't forget to close the door on your way out, okay kiddo?"
"Alright Sara. Just wondering, but how did you know I'm younger than you, and what the
hell was that fighting style? I've never seen it before." CyberSix had opened the door to the back
patio and paused while letting in the draft. "I knew that you were younger because it's written all over
your face, and that style I used is Pentjak Silat. I have to warn you now, you never want to be on the
receiving end of it, in training or in a fight." Sara grinned and waved as CyberSix left her house, but
heard "Point taken. I'll try to visit once a week or so." before the door closed.
*Okay, quick mental check: am I dreaming? (She pinched herself) OW! Guess not. Did
CyberSix actually pay me a visit just because she saw me whack what she said was a Fixed Idea?
That's part of the reason, but what about the rest? That reminds me, what the hell was she
watching?* Turning her attention to the TV, Sara looked on in a mental funk at a show detailing the
history of English Literature. "Hmmph. A show on the history of English lit? Does she even have a
life? Too tired... must sleep." Yawning, Sara turned off the TV, retrieved her coat, and walked
upstairs to her large bed, where she almost instantly crashed, without even bothering to take off her
boots or shirt.
The Next Day
disembarking in the usual mad rush to get off the 'flying deathbox' as someone had put it so mildly.
After five minutes (a new record!), most of the plane was empty, and a young woman sitting in the
back row stood up and collected her carryons: one was a large duffel bag, and the other appeared to
be a long map case. As she walked down the aisle, she flipped open a small compact to look at
herself.
"Heh. Not bad for being stuck in this crate for 20 hours. I look almost human." flipping the
compact closed, and putting it in a pocket in her carpenter pants, she then covered the right side of
her face with her long, dark red hair and an old baseball cap. Then she walked into the main terminal
of Meridiana International Airport (closed at least once a week from bombings!). "Miss D'Arnise?"
The woman turned at the sound of the name and saw a customs officer walk over to her when she
nodded.
"We apologize about the lack of service on that carrier, but many of the stewards were out
sick today. But I digress: when the plane's metal detectors scanned the interior, there seemed to be
a large amount of metals in your carryons and on you. This is standard procedure, but we need to
search your bags and ask you several questions." She looked at the man, who was obviously having
trouble keeping his eyes on her face and smiled. "Alright. Lead the way, sir." The officer, after
leading her into a cubicle sat down on one of the two chairs in the room. "Okay. First, the questions:
What is your full name?" "My full name is Sara D'Arnise." "Um... okay. What's your age?"
Two Hours Later
*Gah! If I knew that they'd ask every question humanly possible I would have taken a train.
Hell, the next time I go travelling, that's what I'll do. Well, at least they shut up when examining my
passport. If they hadn't I would have probably fed them their teeth.* Sara stomped down the hallway
to where the officers had put her motorcycle. The monstrous cycle was leaning against a wall with
two large saddlebags placed beside it. She quickly examined the bags and the bike for traces of
tampering, but finding none, she quickly stuffed the contents of her duffel into the saddlebags, put
them on her bike, and relaxed slightly.
In under a minute, Sara rode out of the parking lot with her bike producing a creditable
imitation of a buzzsaw in labour for sheer noise and coronary inducements. Riding into Meridiana
proper, Sara felt how cold it was, cursed for a few seconds, and pulled over so she could get
something out of the bags. Soon, she dug a long, black leather trenchcoat with silver studs in the
shoulders out of one bag, and put it on. About ten minutes after she got her coat, Sara drove up to
a respected real estate firm and walked in like she owned the place. After five minutes of almost
unintelligible shouting heard in the building, Sara walked out with the deed to a rather nice townhouse
near the city park.
20 minutes later, Sara arrived at her new house and she looked around at the semi-peaceful
neighbourhood. "Hmmph. Well, I guess my bike isn't gonna be left on the curb for some time. Well,
at least Meridiana has some free time before meeting me." bringing the bike into the garage, Sara
grinned as she looked around the cavernous space. "Nice. I think I'll explore my new home before
somebody gets the bright idea of throwing me a welcome party." *I still need to make sure that my
contractor got everything right. Last time was a fiasco outta hell!*
Half an hour after her personal tour, Sara was lounging on the huge couch while flipping
through her 200+ channels on the TV, when a news article stopped her cold. Though it was only some
fluff to cover a slow news day, Sara was rivetted. "In further news, sightings of large, green-skinned
men have gone up almost 500%, making many people believe that the city's resident protector,
CyberSix, is dead, wounded, or has just packed up and left town. Now, we go over to Jim at
weather..."
Sara turned off the TV and grimaced when the implications of the report slogged its way
through her sleep-clouded brain. *What the hell?! Greenskins? Here? Goddamned Fucking Hell! Still,
I have to wonder who this CyberSix is. Maybe I'll be able to meet him or her. Wait. Several months
ago I saw a news report on this CyberSix, stating that she's definitely a woman. Aaah screw it. All
this thinking is gonna make my head hurt. May as well take a walk for some fresh air.* after pulling
on her hiking boots, and putting on her coat, she walked out onto her front porch and looked at the
huge statue in the middle of the park. Locking her door, Sara looked south at the rows of houses and
thought for a while. *May as well go North. Most people are asleep at 1 AM.*
Walking northwards, she soon saw that a convenience store was open, and when her stomach
snarled its displeasure at not being fed anything except the toxic waste called airline food, she walked
inside. Looking around, she immediately thought of Murphy's Law when she saw a huge greenskin
threatening to squeeze the clerk's head through the keyhole of the back door if he didn't open up the
register. As soon as the greenskin heard the door's bell however, he spun around while dropping the
clerk behind the counter. Sara saw that it was covered with scars, and when its dim red eyes settled
on her she knew she was screwed.
The greenskin's dim mind tried to associate Sara with anyone else it knew, but when it saw
the scars on her right cheek it shouted loudly enough to rattle the shelves. "YOU!!! LONG TIME
AGO, YOU KILLED BROTHER!!! NOW ME KILL YOU!" with his yell echoing in Sara's ears,
it charged at her through four steel shelves and tried to smash her into paste with his giant fists. When
he reached her however, she dropped down onto her back and nailed him with a stop-kick to the
stomach. As it doubled over, trying to regain its breath, Sara got back up and booted it in the face.
Dark greenish-red blood sprayed everywhere from its nose and mouth as Sara heard bone
crack, while watching a tooth spiral off into a corner of the store. "Had enough yet?" she asked,
smiling sweetly. The greenskin replied by tackling her through the large plate glass window behind
her. A rain of glass shards washed over the road, but none were where Sara landed. Crying out in
pain when the greenskin landed on her, Sara knew her right elbow had been dislocated but punched
the large thing in the face repeatedly until it reeled back in agony. Sara knew she had to end the fight
quickly, so she ran towards the greenskin as it was straightening up, jumped over its shoulder as she
wrapped her good arm around its neck. When she landed, she knew its spine was stretched to the
breaking point, and so she kicked it in the small of its back, separating vertebrae and severing its
spinal cord which sent it into convulsive shock. "The price is WRONG, B'Yatch. You should've quit
while ahead." with those words, Sara grabbed the greenskin's head and twisted it around, killing it
instantly.
Sara stepped back as the greenskin's body disappeared in a flare of green light, leaving only
its bloody clothes and a small vial of luminescent green goo. Pocketing the vial, Sara walked back
into the store (by way of her abrupt exit) and instantly got the enjoyment of looking down the barrel
of a pump-action shotgun. "I-I saw what you did to that thing. What are you? And how the hell did
that thing know you?" the poor clerk was scared out of his wits, and Sara decided to calm him down
before he shot her by accident.
"First, put the gun down. I do not want to be shot by the man whose face I just saved from
an unpleasant ordeal." The clerk, noticing that Sara was in a fair amount of pain, put the shotgun
down, but made no move to help her. "Now, first things first, I'm human. Just trained in several nasty
martial arts. That thing knew me because it participated in an attack on an orphanage several months
ago. I stopped the attack, but when a grenade exploded I was seriously injured. Now, I need a very
strong painkiller because I dislocated my elbow during that fight. Oh yeah, before I forget, here's
$5000 to help defray the cost of repairing your store."
Sara fished out her wallet and (somehow) got five $1000 bills placed onto the countertop.
Then, grabbing a bottle of codeine, she popped her elbow back into place, gasped in agony, and
started to walk out of the store. "Hey, wait a minute! I don't even know your name, or why you
saved me." Sara paused, looked at the man and replied "You are most definitely not going to know
my name for at least another few months, and I only did something any good Samaritan would do.
Bye."
After leaving, Sara walked back to her house, still in a fair amount of pain, but knowing what
codeine would do to her brain. She was in a vile mood because of the damage done to her, and it
became even more volatile when a short rainstorm proceeded to drench her completely. When she
got home, she saw that the upstairs window was open, and proceeded to curse in several languages
for a minute or two before entering her house. Looking around, she saw that the TV was on, and she
heard somebody moving around in there.
*Great. This is fan-fucking-tastic. First, I get into a fight with Frankenstein's little brother,
and now I have to deal with an incompetent B&E artist who's as subtle as a dog turd on the
driveway.* Shaking her head, Sara walked to the door into the living room, leaned against the frame,
and said "May I help you?", startling the person on the opposite side of the room. As the person
turned around, Sara noticed the long, flowing cape, the black fedora, the gloves, and the black
bodysuit.
"You know, you really should wait before entering my house. Now that the formalities are
over: WHAT THE BLOODY FUCKING HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE????" Sara
simply exploded as she swept water out of her hair and took off her trenchcoat (in a rather interesting
act of motion) simultaneously. Looking at the woman, Sara saw that she was taken aback by the flare
in her temper, and, at the same time, she noticed a drastic similarity between the woman and
something she had seen on TV a while ago. Putting two and two together, Sara squinted and said
"Wait a minute... Aren't you CyberSix?" seeing the woman nod, Sara muttered something along the
lines of 'sorry for going ballistic at you' and walked into the room proper. Gesturing at a chair near
the couch, Sara launched herself onto the couch and popped three tablets of codeine while looking
at CyberSix. "Well, don't you usually sit down when talking to people, or are you going to loom over
me like a damned totem pole?"
CyberSix smiled at the statement and shook her head. "I saw what you did to that Fixed Idea,
and have no wish to get within your reach right now. By the way, you know my name, so why don't
you tell me yours?" It was Sara's turn to shake her head and watch as CyberSix leaned against the
window, with no intention of moving towards the offered seat. "Okay, I'll tell you my name, but must
ask you to at least wait until I'm in before rooting around the top floor." Sara flipped herself into a
sitting position in the middle of the couch and offered her hand. "Pleased to meetcha CyberSix, I'm
Sara D'Arnise. And before you become worried, no, I'm not going to beat the crap out of you just
because I could try. I know you're stronger, faster, and much tougher than me, but like me, you have
a soft spot for civilians.
"Now, in my case, I've trained myself to be stronger, faster, and much more agile than most
people, and I love helping out the underdog. Anything else?" CyberSix, being still nervous, shook
Sara's hand for only a few seconds, then dropped it like it was poisoned. "Y'know, I think you might
like one of my friends who lives near the north section of town. Ah well, I'll tell you about him later."
Sara smiled again, and responded quietly "I'd like that. Anyhow, I'm in a fair amount of agony
because I had to relocate my elbow after that fight, and I pulled a muscle in my leg when I kicked the
crap out of Frankenstein Jr. All that and the bonus of being drenched from that storm has turned me
into the angriest person in existence right now. I'll have to ask you to leave within the next five
minutes before I zonk out on codeine. Don't forget to close the door on your way out, okay kiddo?"
"Alright Sara. Just wondering, but how did you know I'm younger than you, and what the
hell was that fighting style? I've never seen it before." CyberSix had opened the door to the back
patio and paused while letting in the draft. "I knew that you were younger because it's written all over
your face, and that style I used is Pentjak Silat. I have to warn you now, you never want to be on the
receiving end of it, in training or in a fight." Sara grinned and waved as CyberSix left her house, but
heard "Point taken. I'll try to visit once a week or so." before the door closed.
*Okay, quick mental check: am I dreaming? (She pinched herself) OW! Guess not. Did
CyberSix actually pay me a visit just because she saw me whack what she said was a Fixed Idea?
That's part of the reason, but what about the rest? That reminds me, what the hell was she
watching?* Turning her attention to the TV, Sara looked on in a mental funk at a show detailing the
history of English Literature. "Hmmph. A show on the history of English lit? Does she even have a
life? Too tired... must sleep." Yawning, Sara turned off the TV, retrieved her coat, and walked
upstairs to her large bed, where she almost instantly crashed, without even bothering to take off her
boots or shirt.
The Next Day