Märchen Awakens Ranma.
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma or Mar Heaven. If I did I would have a slave that's typing this fic.
A/N: Thank you people who reviewed.
majinbuu7985: As a special to you, here is the longer chapter. I'm not going to give anything away, but I can tell you Ranma, Ryouga and Ukyo are all at least … Pawn level :)
I could still use a prereader to correct my mistakes, someone who has seen both Anime/Manga are preferred. Please leave a review with your E-mail if you would like to be.
Okay here goes.
---------------------------------------------Chapter 4: Confrontation at Vestry--------------------------
A man with long blond hair and a blue scarf was standing, waiting for something with some other men around him. Then he saw a blue carpet flying towards the land.
"Do it" he said and no sooner than that, five spears where sent on a collision course with the carpet, ripping trough the silky cloth and making it fall down.
As they were falling down the only three people who could keep their heads cool were Ranma, Ryouga and Ukyo. They reacted to the falling by each picking up one of the other people on the carpet who looked vulnerable (Ranma got Snow, Ryouga got Jack and Ukyo got Ed) and got them to the ground safely.
When most of them stopped groaning and looked around, they saw a lot of men surrounding them. One of them came forward.
"I need to straighten out some things with you. You guys are the Chess pieces, right? You're going to hell" he said while giving them thumps down. Then Ginta walked up to him, really pissed.
"We're Mar! You guys are the chess!" he said while pointing an accusing finger to him. "Picking a fight like that… Fix the carpet, damn it!" This left the man thinking "What is it? Say something!" Then he looked to the people he just took down.
"Did I make a wrong assumption?" he said in an almost comical voice. Ginta responded with more anger.
"We're trying to beat the Chess!" They stood there for a while staring at each other.
"Hime-sama, that emblem is…" Ed didn't need to finish his sentence, because she nodded.
"Looks like we're not in the worst situation" she said
"We're not Chess either." The man said. "We're the guild of bandits, Ruberia. I'm the boss, Nanashi. Sorry for making that mistake." Then he chukled. "There's no way you kids would be Chess."
"Well, excuse us." Ginta yelled immediately pissed again.
"Uhm, if you're Ruberia, do you intend to steal Arms from us?" Snow asked while walking forward. This left Nanashi astounded. Then Dorothy landed next to Snow, which left Nanashi muttering happily about "exposed legs".
"What's wrong?" She asked Snow. Then Ukyo walked towards them asking the same thing.
"Now that I've taken a good look, there are three cuties here. My policy is not to take things from ladies. Rather… I'd like to escort you!" Nanashi said and is going mental. Three of the bandits had to pin him down and drag him away. This made Dorothy's face shine.
"My, he said I was cute! And he's rather good looking too. He can't be a bad guy." She said.
"We've been waiting for those Chess fools for hours and besides you there was nothing. So we were about to return to base." Nanashi said while returning to the group. "You are fighting them as well, right? Wanna come?"
"So what do you think, Snow? He's a weird guy." Ginta said.
"Ruberia's a large band of thieves. Their information network is amazing. They could be great allies in the war against the Chess. Besides, he isn't such a bad person" Snow said.
"Okay, we're going home with our guests. Dimension Arm, Andarta, take every human here to the Ruberia base." Nanashi said. And they all disappeared.
"Now I get it," Nanashi said while sitting on a barrel in the Ruberia base "The princess of Lestava, people from another world and the weird Arm used by the key knight of the Chess. No wonder they are after you guys. And instead of running away, you formed Mar to fight them"
"We're going to save this world. This beautiful world" Ginta yelled in excitement.
"It may be a bit to late for the 'beautiful' part. Look at these" Nanashi said while he threw some balls in the air that showed some of the cities of Mar Heaven, and they were all pretty much destroyed. Every one looked to the cities in awe, while Nanashi continued his story.
"This is what Mar Heaven is at present. Elt Town, Geyrelulu, Akalpa Port, Eudaria. Just from our research, they have destroyed more than half of the countries and cities."
"So something like this happened when we were training…" Ginta said.
"I have something more I want to show you." Nanashi said and he lead the group to a cemetery. "It's the grave of those in Ruberia. I will never forgive the Chess. Not only here, but the entire world is becoming a cemetery, because of the Chess' declaration of war."
"Exactly, and if this is the same plan they followed in the past, the war moves to step 2 after this terrorist-like step 1" Ed said.
"What is this step 2? Ranma asked.
"A war game. After destroying about half the country and terrorizing the world, they bring up a game in the name of war. It's to directly kill those who rebel, to obtain Arms and to establish that they are the kings of the world. During the war game six years ago, Danna-sama, Allan and the Cross Guard took the battle and gained victory. The Chess, who have lost once in this game, will probably challenge this world with a similar game as revenge. And they're not for away from accomplishing such a thing." Ed told them all.
When he finished Ginta hit the wall hard enough to make a small hole in it, trembling with anger. "A game? They've killed many people. And now there's a game of even more killing? Now I understand why everyone is so desperate to defeat the chess. As much as it hurts, we have to annihilate them."
Then a bandit ran towards them, "Nanashi! We've spotted Chess members! Over in northwestern Hild, Vestry. Seems like they're still rampaging there."
"So they've gone to the underground lake, right?" Nanashi said "I've been there so it's within Andarta's range. It's a nice town with water and vegetation. How about it Mar? Want me to take you guys with us? You'll be able to get there immediately."
"I think we should go." Ranma said.
"What! Becoming comrades with bandits?" Jack asked unbelieving.
"I'm fine with it." Dorothy said in an over cheery voice.
"Don't make the decision for us, you insolent women." An angered Babbo yelled.
"What do you think, Snow?" Ginta asked.
"We could always use more people in Mar, right?" she said happily.
"It's decided Nanashi. Take us to Vestry." Ginta said.
"All right. Activate Dimension Arm, Andarta! Take these members to Vestry!" Nanashi said and just after he finished they were in Vestry. And they all gasped when they saw it was totally destroyed.
"This is the nice town with water and vegetation?" Ginta asked in awe.
"What have they done? The town of water and woods, Vestry. I've been here before and it used to be such a beautiful place. And now…" Nanashi said.
"You guys…" A villager said as he came walking towards the group. "What did you all come here for? Are you Chess? Or Cross Guard?"
"No, we're…" Ginta started but was cut off by the villager.
"It doesn't matter who you are anymore. Vestry is done for. Nothing would change even if it would be further damaged. Assistance came too late. Do as you like. The farms have been destroyed. We don't even have the energy to live anymore." He said.
"Don't say such things!" Ginta said "Cheer up! Even if it did get destroyed, you can still start over."
It's pointless. I may not look like it, but I was a member of the Cross Guard once. But I couldn't do anything." He fell to his knees and started crying. "I was powerless against two mere Chess. I couldn't do anything, let alone save the town."
Then Nanashi walked up to him "So, do you know where those two went?"
"Yeah, they're still in Vestry. They went through the entrance to the underground lake. They said they're going to take the hidden Arm there." The man said.
"Are you going, Ginta?" Nanashi asked.
"You bet" he said. "Right Babbo?"
"Right. Only cowards don't do the right thing." The mustached ball said.
"I can tag along as well" Dorothy said.
"Ed and I will take care of the injured." Snow said "We'll need food for them so it would be best if Jack stayed with us"
"If you need food then I'll stay behind as well" Ukyo said.
"I'll go as well. I'm getting rusty from no action." Ranma said "Ryouga, you should stay here to protect if there is another attack, Okay?"
"Then I guess I'll stay here." Ryouga said.
"Ukyo, don't let him wander off, Okay?" Ranma asked the okonomiyaki chef, who replied with a nod.
"Are you guys planning to fight against those two?" The man asked.
"You shouldn't" a second man said.
"Yeah, none of you would stand a chance against them." A third said.
"Besides, over there, in that lake, there's a legend that ghosts bring misfortune." The second man said.
Ginta chuckled "I'm not afraid of either of them. I'll go get revenge. Okay then, Jack, Ed, Snow, Ukyo, Ryouga, please take care of the town."
"Fight hard, Ginta" Jack said.
"All of you, cheer up" Ginta said to the villagers. And then they ran of to the underground lake.
"Who is that boy?" The villager asked.
"He might be able to take care of things." Ed said "Aren't you getting that feeling?"
"Ginta has the power to make anyone believe that." Snow said
"Yeah, you can trust in him" Jack added.
"We can't fall behind, Ed" Snow said to the dog. And she ran of towards some injured people. "Does it hurt? I'll heal you right away." She said as she used the Healing Angel.
"All right then." Jack said with a smirk "We'll work on getting the farm back together."
"Who are you guys?" The villager asked a bit confused.
"Mar! We're just some reckless bunch trying to defeat the Chess." Jack said with the same smirk.
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Ginta, Ranma, Dorothy and Nanashi were standing in front of the mouth of a cave. "So this is the entrance to the underground lake?" Ginta asked no one in particular.
"Seems like any ordinary cave to me" Ranma said a bit disappointed.
"I've always heard that there's an Arm hidden here" Nanashi said "I tried to steal it before, but the people in Vestry had it sealed. That must be why the Chess are here."
"Are Arms really that great?" Ranma asked unbelieving.
"Don't you know about Arms!" Nanashi asked in utter shock. Ranma nodded and Nanashi continued "Arms are accessories with magic. The variety of different Arms is pretty large, but they're devided in the categories weapon, guardian, nature, holy, darkness, dimension Arms"
"Hey Ginta" Dorothy said cutting of the little conversation Ranma and Nanashi had. "Scary. Could it be that your mad?" She asked when she was ignored.
"Of course!" he yelled "When I was in grade school, I loved building plastic model kits. Kits form the anime 'Fighter Robot'. I put a lot of work into one, and the day I finished it, I took it to school. Then the strongest guy in class broke it. I got pissed and fought him, but since I was so weak, I got beat up. It was really humiliating. It was more humiliating to not have the strength to get revenge than to have my model broken. I never wanted to make one after that. But a childhood friend of mine, Koyuki, who helped me, told me I should make another one. If I would stop making them because he broke them, I would've lost in every way to him. After I heard that, I decided to make another one. A plastic model is really different compared to a whole town, but I don't want those people to give up."
"How nice, a male-male relationship" Dorothy said. "That Koyuki-kun must be as cute as you are"
"Don't get me wrong" Ginta said a bit annoyed "Koyuki is a girl"
"Oh, he's a girl?" Dorothy asked. None of them saw Ranma twitch. Then Dorothy got upset and thought 'A girl?'
"I'll beat the Chess in here." Ginta said "I want to be like Koyuki was on that day" And he entered the cave, leaving an astounded Dorothy behind. "W-wait a sec, Ginta!" she said catching up to him. "Who is this childhood girl friend of yours!"
Ranma and Nanashi were still standing silently at the entrance. Breaking the silence Ranma asked "We shouldn't fall behind, should we?"
"No, that would be a bad thing" Nanashi replied with a smirk.
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The four of them were walking through the cave, all having to listen to the 'damsel in distress' Dorothy. "This is a freaky place." Then they heard an inhuman moan, which scared Dorothy pretty much. "What was that!" she asked and after that a shade drifted before her. She screamed with all her might and clung onto Ginta, who was a bit surprised by the action. Ranma thought at this 'Wow, this looks pretty weird now it's not happening to me.'
"So the story about the ghosts was true" Nanahi said. "There's a creepy feeling around here that's different from magical power."
"Dorothy, even though you're a sorceress, you're afraid of ghosts?" Ginta asked.
"You're not scared?" she asked in return.
"Nope, I'm really happy." He said cheery.
"Happy?"
"Yeah, because in my world, I've never seen a ghost before."
"Then you've obviously never been to Nerima." Ranma said nonchalantly.
"But they could curse you." Dorothy said in shock.
"No problem! I'll just knock them out" Ginta said.
They encountered a fork in the cave.
"The road splits in two." Nanashi said stating the obvious. "Looks like we need to split up too."
"Split up, you mean from here on?" Dorothy asked. Nanashi nodded in reply.
"Rock comes first." The four said, playing Rock-Paper-Scissors. "Rock, Paper, Scissors, shoot." Ginta and Ranma both had Rock, while Nanashi and Dorothy had Paper.
"Arg, separated from Gin-tan…" Dorothy groaned.
"We'll go this way" Nanashi said standing next to Dorothy "Take care Ginta, Ranma"
"Yeah, you too" Ginta said.
"We'll take care of the lousy gamers" Ranma said with a smirk on his face.
"Dorothy-chan, you can cling on to me anytime you want." Nanashi said in a seductive voice.
"Like I would. Save your dreams for when you are asleep." Dorothy replied, a bit annoyed.
"How scary" Nanashi said and the two of them were lost from sight.
"Say, Ginta" Babbo started "Was it Nanashi? That guys name?"
"Yeah, so what?" Ginta asked.
"I was sensing the same smell as yours from him" Babbo said.
"Smell?" Ginta asked, slightly confused. Then Ginta started sniffing himself. "There you go saying stupid stuff again, moron!" He said cheery.
"You insolent fool! Ah, shut up now." Babbo yelled. "I don't care about you"
"He is right, Ginta" Ranma said, still chuckling from the little episode "I could sense something only the two of you have, although I can't quite place it" This caused Babbo to roar in triumph.
"Ha. I told you, you insolent fool."
They walked on, surrounded by shades that were flowing freely in the cavern.
"You'd better not get involved with them." Babbo said suddenly "As long as we leave them alone, they shouldn't bother us. I don't feel any strange presence at the mo…" He suddenly froze and his expression was one of agony.
"What's wrong, Babbo?" Ginta asked
'This sensation… Who is it?' Babbo thought as he started looking around. "Someone's there." He then said. "Come out!" he yelled.
A figure walked out of the shadows to reveal a silver haired boy who's right arm was bandaged.
"Who are you?" Ginta shouted.
"I'm sorry" the boy said with fear in his voice. "I'm no one suspicious. I'm a villager of Vestry, Tom."
"Oh, I thought you were a Chess." Ginta said
"I'm grateful to you all for trying to save us." Tom said. "I wanted to be of help to you in some way, so I came here. I can't fight, but I can guide you trough without getting lost. Will you let me accompany you?"
"That's a great help." Ginta said, extending his hand "Nice to meet you, Tom" Then a shade drifted by, surprising Ginta. "H-Hey, will these guys ever possess our bodies or anything like that?" Ginta asked.
"They're fine" Tom said "I like this place, so I come here often, but they've never done anything to me."
"You like it here?" Ginta asked "You're weird"
"You think so?" Tom said "But it's been a while since I last came here. It brings back memories… this feeling. What are your names?"
"Ginta. Toramizu Ginta" he said.
"I'm Saotome Ranma" Ranma chimed in.
"Ginta, Ranma. Those are unusual names" Tom said.
"I guess" Ranma said.
"We're from another world after all." Ginta said.
Tom chuckled "That's a funny joke"
"It's not a joke" Ginta said a bit angered "We really did come to Mar Heaven from another world"
"Really" Tom asked, still not believing what he heard.
"Yeah, this snotty guy Alviss summoned me here with an Arm called Gatekeeper Pierrot." Ginta explained "I'm basically a Mar Heaven Novice. He's my Arm, Babbo. We're going to beat the Chess together"
"Hmm" Tom let out, angering Ginta again. Ginta started to stomp on Tom.
"What do you mean 'Hmm'?" Ginta asked.
"Sorry, sorry, but the Chess are really strong" Tom said
"I know" Ginta replied "But I'll definitely beat them. I can't forgive them. Because of them, many people are suffering. Someone has to end this. And I'm going to do that."
"Now don't be so selfish" Ranma said "I'd like to kick their buts as well"
"Just like Danna-san did six years ago?" Tom asked.
"You know Danna?" Ginta asked in return.
"Of course" Tom said, like he was explaining child stuff "He's a famous person"
Ginta chuckled and said "In that case, I'll surpass Danna"
"This is getting exciting" Tom said "I'll look forward to that"
After a while of walking, Tom said "The area ahead is connected to the underground lake"
"What the heck is that" Ginta asked in shock, as the impromptu team walked into a giant place with a large, glowing, white ship, which was severely damaged. "A ghost ship"
"It seems that ship's the ghosts' den" Babbo said
Then Ginta noticed something "Stay back, Tom" he said "I sense magical power" he said when he saw Toms expression of confusion. "Which means it's the Chess"
They all looked up to the ghost ship, where they could see a boy, probably not much older than 16, standing with an arrogant smirk on his face. He had some spikes on his head, strange scar shaped lines around his eyes and between them above the eyes there was a third eye.
"Tom, hurry up!" Ginta said. Tom nodded and started to back out.
"What, just two?" the Chess asked no one in particular. "And they're kids too. Who the hell are you? I'm Giromu of the Chess Pieces. You'd better be ready to die."
"There aren't two of them" Babbo yelled in anger "Take a better look, you insolent fool. I'm here too"
"Babbo?" Giromu said "I see, you're the one Peta was talking about. The human using Phantom's Arm. You're hundred years too young, brat! You can't be using that, idiot! Come here. Looks like I'll get a good souvenir for Phantom."
"Giromu, was it?" Ginta asked "Are you the one who destroyed Vestry?"
"The one who did the majority of the destruction was Oruko" Giromu said "I'm in the killing department. I especially go after women. I wanted to play around a little more with the villagers, but I came here to search for the Arm in this underground lake. However, there's nothing like that on this ship. Did you find any Arms on the way here? You're guys, so if you give me that, I'll leave you only half dead."
Then Ginta started to get angered and he turned Babbo in his hammer form. Ranma saw Ginta get ready for battle.
Ginta started mumbling something about "There's no way we can tolerate that, right Koyuki? We're going to beat him Babbo"
"Of course" came the simple reply from Babbo.
"Ginta, wait a minute" Ranma said.
"What for? We should be kicking his ass all around this place." Ginta replied.
"I know" Ranma said "But let me take care of him, okay?"
"Okay" Ginta said after a while "But don't hesitate to ask for help, got that?"
"Got it" Ranma said.
'What are they doing totally ignoring me?' Giromu thought "Stop the chattering. I'll send you to hell with this Arm. Iced Earth!" he said while launching some ice chunks at the two of them.
They both jumped clear from the ice and Ranma started advancing over the stepping stones in the water. More ice came directly towards Ranma, but he dodged it easily. The downpart of that was the ice. When it fell in the water the splash was enough to trigger the change. After a few seconds of more ice dodging, Ranma jumped up the ship and came down to charge his foot in Giromu, who jumped out of the way just in time.
"A woman?" Giromu said "Then I won't let you leave this place alive. Iced Earth!" And another barrage of ice came flying towards the now female Ranma, who dodged it all and managed to get close to Giromu.
"I'M A GUY, YOU BASTARD" Ranma shouted as she slammed her fist in Giromu's jaw, lifting him of the ground slightly. Then she turned to make a nice roundhouse kick in his stomach, sending him flying towards the edge.
'Her magical power can match mine?' Giromu thought as he stood back up 'You've got to be kidding' "Ice Claw!" he shouted and his arm was covered with ice, slightly bigger than before.
They charged to each other. Ranma had to dodge the claw to come from it alive, so he couldn't land a blow. "Help me…" A voice said. It was enough to distract Ranma for a while. Giromu took this chance and slammed his claw in the place Ranma just had been.
"Hey, did you just say, 'help me'?" Ranma asked.
"Huh?" Giromu looked unbelieving "You're the one who needs help right now, bitch. Instead of helping you, I'll give you an extra large Iced Earth" And as he said he started to form a large boulder of ice above his head.
More shades were circling around Ranma all asking for her help. "Release the ship to the ocean" one of them said "We lost the previous war and got trapped in here. We've had enough of staying in here. Send the ship out. Break that wall. Make a hole for us"
Then the voice turned into that of a woman "If you help us, we shall give you an Arm"
'I guess I should help them, but at the moment that Giromu guy is a bigger worry' Ranma thought
"Take this and die!" Giromu yelled as he threw the giant boulder of ice. "Okay, time to get a bit serious" Ranma said as she jumped up, avoiding the boulder. Giromu reacted to that with another barrage of ice. "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!" Ranma yelled as she struck all of the ice chunks threatening to hit her. Then she landed in front of Giromu, who tried to strike him with the ice claw, only to have it stopped by Ranma's hand. Ranma punched Giromu so hard in the stomach, he fell to his knees. A few seconds later he was having the dreadful foot-in-mouth disease when Ranma kicked him brutally away.
"Oruko, get over here!" Giromu yelled while he was holding his earring "Why won't you respond!"
Then he saw Ranma slowly advancing towards him. "Don't mess with me, Iced Earth!" Giromu said, as he launched more ice. Ranma easily dodged all of them and was standing directly in front of Giromu, with a cold look in her eyes. Then Giromu started to cower "Let me go. Please, spare me. I won't kill anyone anymore."
"What did you do to the people in Vestry who said the same thing?" Ranma said coolly "Fly away and reflect on your actions!" she said, as she punched Giromu so he was sent flying into the cavern wall and left a crater in there.
Then the ghosts returned to Ranma "Save us… the ship. Make a hole in the wall"
"Yeah, yeah, don't push me" Ranma said. She got into a certain pose facing the wall that has to be broken. "Moko Takabisha" she yelled as she fired a large burst of ki. It exploded against the wall and when the smoke was no more… the wall was. 'I knew it wouldn't be that easy and I don't have anything left in my arsenal to break through this wall' Ranma thought.
"Hey, Ginta?" Ranma yelled.
"Hmm, what is it?" Ginta asked in return.
"Do you have anything to break that wall over there" Ranma shouted "It's for the ghosts, they want to get out of here. So you got something?"
"Break out a whole wall huh?" Ginta asked "I think I have something for that. Babbo, we're going to use it" And Ginta started to concentrate.
"It? You don't mean" Babbo stammered "If you use that… Aww whatever, I won't take responsibility."
"Version 3. Gargoyle!" Ginta yelled. The ground he was standing on started to glow in a circle and a winged beast with a bright shining diamond instead of legs erupted from it. The gargoyle had a ring between his mighty teeth and it's giant fists seemed like they could crush anything.
The gargoyle floated towards the place where Ranma had shot. Once he was close enough, he punched the wall with tremendous force. However, that tremendous force wasn't enough to break through the wall.
"It's really thick" Ginta said to none in particular. "I've got no choice. I'll use it." Then he concentrated even harder. The gargoyle threw the ring out of his mouth and the ring floated in mid air. The ring started to gather a large amount of energy. Then the gargoyle exhaled and the gathered energy was visible as it shot right through the wall, creating a hole large enough for the ship to pass through. After seeing the results of the blast, Ginta collapsed, being caught by Ranma before he hit the ground.
The gargoyle returned to it's original form and owner. "Ginta… You fool! Idiot! Moron! You used way too much power!"
"I don't want to listen to your lectures now" Ginta said covering his ears.
"Thank you" They heard a female voice say, as the transparent, gray form of a woman materialised in front of them. "Now we, who were trapped here, can go out to the ocean and heaven. Ginta chose that moment to fall asleep. "As a sign of our gratitude, let me give you a magic stone and a key Arm. In the previous war, the Chess feared this Arm. Therefore, they sealed us here with a Dimension Arm. I'm sure it'll be useful some day." And with that she drifted away.
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Ginta awoke in an orange light. "He's up!" Dorothy exclaimed happily.
"All right, looks like you beat one of the Chess too, Ginta" Nanashi said.
"Well, actually it was me who did it" Ranma said "But Ginta was great anyway"
"Do you want CPR, Gin-tan?" Dorothy asked seductively.
"No thanks, I'm up already" Ginta replied.
"Oh, I'm suddenly feeling sick" Nanashi said "I'll need CPR" After that he was smacked down by Dorothy's broom.
"By the way, Ranma, I could've sworn you were a guy" Ginta said to the redhead.
"Oh, that's a long story. I'll tell you later about it with everyone around" Ranma said.
Ginta opened his hand when he noticed there was something in it. "A magic stone and a key?" Ginta asked.
"That ghost put it into your hand" Babbo replied. "She said she's giving it to you. She also said it was a powerful Arm, so it should come in handy someday"
"So those ghost were also victims of the Chess" Ranma said.
"Dorothy, do you know what this Arm is?" Ginta asked.
Dorothy took the items over from Ginta and examined them. After a while she said "I don't really know. Looks like it doesn't activate either. It's probably special…" She was interrupted by the sound of Ginta's sleeping "Oh, Gin-tan…" she said softly.
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A/N: Here it is and I hope you liked it. Sorry for the really long wait, but I was a bit of depressed and I didn't really feel like doing anything.
The cookie goes to Majinbuu who was the only one who responded to the contest :( Anyway wait for ma next uppie :)