Dino Attack: At War's End

[Andrewnuva199]

OOC: I gotta say, I was a bit disappointed nobody got the reference I made in my last post.I'll post an IC later when I get the chance. I'm still trying to decide exactly what to do. I was considering having Pierce and Sarah go to the LEGO Island party as well as some of my other characters (Rotor and Cabin, maybe), unless of course there's still some celebrations going on in LEGO City (which would be more convenient for them).

OOC: The LEGO Island party is happening ten days or so after the end of the final battle. I'm sure that's plenty of time for them to have gotten things cleared up and get transport to the island for the event.

[PeabodySam]

OOC: For the convenience of people who don't want to do a ton of scrolling every time they read this page, I've placed the bulk of the post under a spoiler tag. However, considering the... disclosed subject matter of what lies within the spoiler tag, I think this works rather well as a meta-example of a spoiler tag!IC:

The bartender sat in the cold, dark room illuminated only by a single lamp on the table before him. He sat placidly in his chair, waiting for something to happen.A door opened, and the red-haired secret service agent stepped into the room. “I apologize for the low lighting and keeping you in here for so long,” spoke the agent, breaking the silence. “Normally, this room is where we hold… interrogations.”The bartender raised an eyebrow. “Am I in some sort of trouble?” he dared to inquire.The agent approached the table but did not sit down. “No, of course not. You are not held here as a prisoner, you are not accused of any crime… you’re just here to answer a few questions.”“Of course,” nodded the bartender. “I never forget a face, and I suppose you’re asking about a particular face I might’ve seen?”“Indeed,” replied the agent, who placed a photograph down upon the table under the illumination of the lamp.The bartender’s eyes widened. “… Her?”“We have received an account,” explained the agent, “that this individual and you shared… a bit of a bond, shall we say? Non-romantic and purely business, but a close bond nonetheless.”The bartender bit his lip, but did not reply.“Look,” assured the agent, “you are not in any trouble, and nothing you say can change that.” Studying the bartender’s features, the agent paused for a moment before speaking again in a softer tone. “Don’t worry. You’re safe here. Whatever… threats you may have received from this individual are now void. You are free to confess.”The bartender looked away. “It’s… too confidential, what a bartender such as myself knows. And if I dare say too much, I know that I will pay the price.”The agent sighed. After a moment of silence, he revealed: “She’s dead.”“What?” blinked the bartender.“She died only a few days ago,” explained the agent. “Before she died, however, she… confessed a few things. She mentioned your name and said you were now ‘free’.”The bartender sighed. “So, it’s true, then? She really is dead.”“Do I detect a hint of sadness in your voice?” mused the agent.The bartender shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know… despite all the terrible things she had done… I sort of grew to care for her, almost like how a father cares for his daughter.”“A father,” the agent raised an eyebrow, “afraid of his own daughter?”“It’s… complicated,” the bartender bit his lip. “But when you’re entrusted with holding so many secrets for so long… it tends to have an effect on you, you know?”The agent paused, then slowly nodded his head. “Yes. I know.”“Can you promise me that what you say is true?” sighed the bartender. “She really is dead? I really am… free?”“You have my word,” nodded the agent. “Now, don’t think of this as an interrogation… think of it as more of an interview. So, first question… I’m just curious… how did the two of you come to work together?”The bartender sat back in his chair and stared off into space as he recalled the story. “Well, you see, I was there, working in the old bar just like I always did. It was a… Tuesday, yes, and it was raining. A dreadful downpour. While I was cleaning this glass, she walked in for the first time.”“Did you say anything to her?” inquired the agent.The bartender shook his head. “No. Although my profession is tending to the bar, I studied quite a bit of psychology in college. In my years as a bartender, I’ve come to recognize different types of people. There are those who love to chat, there are those who would love to chat but need someone else to spark the conversation for them with a bit of small talk, there are those who just need to hear someone talking to them, and… there are those like her. One look at her, and I says to myself, ‘She doesn’t want to talk, and she doesn’t want me talking to her.’ And I respect that. So, I let her sit in the bar for a while without burdening her with speech. The bar was unusually quiet; we don’t get quite as much business on rainy Tuesdays as we normally do. But even though I never spoke with her, I studied her, as I do with all customers. I could tell that she held some sort of tragic background that had hardened and embittered her… she was a young and pretty little thing, and I think she was still a teenager that day when she walked into my bar for the first time, but I could see that some sort of experience had hardened her exp<b></b>ression like that of an army veteran.”“So, that’s how you first met,” murmured the agent, “but how did you work together? I cannot imagine you two forming a business relationship without a single word being spoken, especially on your end.”“Well,” sighed the bartender, “that’s when a couple of blokes came in. You’ve seen them before. Loud, obnoxious, vulgar kind of guys who think that they own everything and everyone, especially the ladies. So they barge in and order drinks, and so I pour them what they want. They only got louder and even more vulgar. Wondering if these guys had too much to drink before even stopping by my bar, I was about to cut them off… and then they advanced on her. As I said, she was a young and pretty thing. At this point, she had found herself a newspaper and was minding her own business. On the front page, there was some big cover story. Breaking news. Some poor sap who was one of those big business owners had been brutally murdered by a mysterious female assailant. But the blokes tear the newspaper out of her hands and try to advance on her. ‘Come on, little bunny,’ says one of them, ‘girls ain’t supposed to read! We’ll show you how to have a good time!’”“You didn’t try to stop them?” the agent raised an eyebrow.“I saw what they were doing, and I knew it was wrong. These blokes looked to be in their thirties, but she was so young. I says to them, ‘Gentlemen, I’m afraid you must leave the young lady alone,’ but they shrug it off like nothing. And, well, after that I didn’t have a chance to say anything else. One of the blokes got a little too close to the girl… and then, like a viper, she moves. She grabs one bloke’s hand and throws him down to the floor. With one foot on his back to pin him down, she swings her hand towards the other man, and next thing I know, there’s a knife pressed to his neck! I stare at her in shock, and then I lower my gaze to the newspaper. In the back of my mind, I make the connection. And… well, as a bartender, I am trained to rarely lose my composure. And there… I could not help it, but I coughed. Then, she turned her head towards me. Locks eyes with me. And she knew. She knew that I knew. Something about my exp<b></b>ression tipped her off that I had figured out who she was.”“What happened then?” the agent bent in a little closer, quite intrigued by the retelling.“I… made the biggest mistake I could have possibly made,” confessed the bartender. “I immediately turned away and headed into the back room, trying to avoid the situation entirely. But no, I had seen too much, and she follows me, silent as a specter. I turned around, I saw her, and I knew I was cornered. Again, I don’t normally lose my composure, but I lost it again. Panicked, I says to her, ‘Look, please! I’ve got a sister, I’ve got a wife, I’ve got two kids, both still in elementary school… I can’t…!’ It was all true, by the way… I know some guys would just say that, but I really do have a wife and two kids. But then, I realized that I had sealed my fate. I knew too much, and I says too much, so she knows too much. It was the biggest mistake I had ever made.”“What did she do?” inquired the agent.The bartender sighed. “She drew her knife and pressed it against my own neck. I imagine she was ready to slit my throat there and then. And then… and then she thinks better of it. And, to this day, I cannot imagine why… maybe that thing I said about having young kids got to her or something, but that’s too naïve, I think. Slowly, she withdraws her knife, never taking her eyes off of me. Then she raises a finger to her lips, and I got the idea. I had to be silent. I could not speak a word of what happened. No one must know. Not a soul. Then she turned and, suddenly, she was gone.”“And so you didn’t tell anyone about these events,” murmured the agent.“I didn’t tell a soul,” the bartender shook his head. “Not one. I says to myself that I cannot withhold such information… this killer, this terrorist, she was right there in my bar, and I says to myself that I needed to inform the authorities as quickly as possible. But my every instinct says to me, ‘No, don’t do that. She knows who you are, she knows you have a family, and she will hunt you all down and kill you all if you breathe a word about this.’ I was in quite a bit of an internal debate, mind you. Days, weeks passed by, and I never saw another sign of her. But when I finally worked up the courage to call the local police department, suddenly, she walks in again. It’s as though she knew! With my phone waiting for someone to pick up on the other end, she walks in and sits down at the bar again, her wary eyes never leaving me. Wisely, I hang up, and… well, that was the end of my attempts to call the authorities.”“So you tried to call the police station while you were at the bar?” the agent raised an eyebrow.“Yes,” nodded the bartender. “A bartender such as myself… we devote a lot of time in our lives to our job. It’s often not the most convenient place to make such a call, but based upon my work hours, it is practically the only place.”“You couldn’t just use a phone booth or call from another location when you had the chance?” frowned the agent. “If you knew that she knew that you could be found at the bar, why didn’t you try going for a more secure location when you had the rare chance? You said weeks had passed since your first meeting.”The bartender bit his lip. “She really… got to me, I suppose. I couldn’t think rationally. Paranoia and fear drove my instincts. And you know, there was one time that she came back into the bar. And while she sat at the counter, a cop who’s off-duty, he comes in, sits down at the bar, and orders a drink too. There they were, a criminal and a cop, sitting right next to each other. And then the cop turns to look at her… and you know what she does? She smiles sweetly. Yes, she puts on this entire innocent little girl façade. A natural Stepford Smiler. And he smiles right back at her, completely and utterly falling for it, then goes back to minding his own business.”“And you didn’t try to make any hint towards the police offer?”The bartender shook his head. “These times were rare… but every so often, I would forget who she was and realize that… she was only a young girl. As I said, she must have been a teenager when we first met, and the last time I saw her, she could have only have been in her mid-twenties. And I would look at her and says to myself, ‘She’s only a young girl, and like the rest of us, she has her own life, feelings, and personal troubles.’ And when I wonder what sort of horrible experience could turn such a young girl into such a notorious killer… I pity her. And I just couldn’t have the heart to turn such a young girl, even her, into the police.”“The same girl who threatened to kill your family,” pointed out the agent.The bartender frowned. “Yes, that is true. I doubt that she ever forgot that threat, and I’m certain that if I ever did spill the beans without… well, you know, either her confession or her death, she would have made sure that the threat was not an empty one. And yet, I cannot help but feel as though, as that was our first meeting and we were not yet… involved… on a business level, we had not yet achieved a… mutual understanding, per se. In later years, despite the constant threat of her killing my family if I ever spoke a word, we sort of developed a mutual understanding, and I could sense that I was probably the only, or one of the only, people in the entire world that this young girl truly trusted. And when I realized this… I had sealed my fate, one might say.”“So, tell me about this business,” inquired the agent. “How did this get started?”“Well, you see,” the bartender sat back in his chair, “that day we first met, when she beat those blokes who tried to advance upon her, there was another man in the bar who witnessed the whole thing. Like me, he puts two and two together and figures out whom she is. Turns out that he was working for some big corporate head who had heard of her previous exploits and wished to hire her to do some dirty work for him. He came into the bar, asked for a drink, and just before paying, he slipped me this envelope and whispers into my ear: ‘If she comes back here, give this to her.’”The agent raised an eyebrow. “What was inside the envelope?”The bartender shrugged and shook his head. “Like it or not, it was not my business, so I did not dare to open the envelope myself. And then, a day or two later, she comes in again, and so I give her the envelope. She opened the envelope, read it over quickly, and then she gives me this look. I suppose that it was at that moment that she realized that I had unintentionally become her secret-keeper. Then, wordlessly… well, of course wordlessly, I do suppose that’s a bit redundant, but she departs. I didn’t see her again until about a week later. Now, we’ve got a television set in the bar, and when she comes in again, I look at the television, and it’s this news reporter talking about some story about the disappearance of a man who used to work for the same corporation that made me deliver the letter to her. Turns out that, when he quit his job, he took some documents that belonged to the corporate head. That’s when I realized that the corporate head’s envelope was arranging a meeting between him and her, and he had hired her as a bounty hunter to hunt down and capture this man who took his documents.”“I remember that news story,” nodded the agent. “Go on.”The bartender furrowed his brow and stroked his beard. “Now, I’m not quite sure how it happened. The only thing I can think of is that it somehow got out via word of mouth, but only to people interested in hiring her; somehow, it escaped the ears of authority or anyone else who would do the sensible thing and try to have her arrested. Either that, or our government is more corrupt than we suspect, no offense to you, but I’m not one who’s about to get into conspiracy theories.”“Good,” chuckled the agent. “I’ve dealt with more than enough conspiracy theories than I need to, especially the ones that turn out to be true after all.”“What matters is that,” continued the bartender, “after a while, more and more people started showing up at my bar. Many of them were corporate heads, but some of them were politicians, and even some of them were mob bosses. And they’d all hand me envelopes to deliver to her the next time she showed up at my bar. She’d read the letter, meet up with her employer, do their dirty work, and show up on the news. I’d be lying if I say that I did not enjoy a bit of profit from the increased business, but for the most part, I was originally operating under the fear of her threat. After all, I do recall this one incident where one of her clients felt repentant about what he had done, and so he publicly confessed his knowledge of her. After that, he was placed under protective custody for his own safety… that did not stop her from breaking in and brutally murdering him, surely setting an example for anyone else who had already employed her or those who were wishing to employ her.”“I don’t suppose you’d be able to give me a few names of her employers?” the agent dared to ask.The bartender bit his lip and leaned in close. “I don’t know about that. Some of these names… they’re really big, and I don’t want to malign anyone’s reputation. And I mean, really big… on the level of Edward Korrupte and Walter Breen.”The agent nodded slowly. “Edward Korrupte? Well, that certainly sheds some light on the Mindstorms, Inc. incident. As for Walter Breen, you needn’t worry about maligning his reputation… but I digress. So what you’re saying is,” murmured the agent, “this relationship all boiled down to a bit of profit and operating under threat?”“Well… no,” the bartender shook his head. “After a couple years of this… business, that’s when she and I started to develop our mutual understanding for one another. Like it or not, I had become her secret-keeper, and her presence increased the bar’s profit. In a way, we sort of protected one another. And as the years passed, we forged a tighter bond than I would have ever imagined. I looked after her like she was my own daughter, and in return she trusted me, perhaps greater than anyone else that she trusted.”“So, you became her secret-keeper and she increased your profit, and in the end, you both benefited from it. I see. However, all things must come to an end, I’m afraid, and given what happened over the course of this past year, it sounds like it did end.”The bartender sighed. “It did. You see, for her… and, eventually, for me… the whole ordeal was strictly business, and she never showed emotion or regret for the things that she had done. That all changed with one envelope that she received in early January. While she took a few jobs after that one, I believe that the end of her work can be traced back to this job in particular.”“Who hired her this time?” inquired the agent.The bartender shook his head. “He never said his name. Looked to be in his early thirties, had brown hair, glasses, a mustache… You know, I never forget a face, and while I’m certain that I had never seen this fellow before, I thought he looked strangely familiar, like I knew his sibling or something, but that’s not important. But another interesting thing… the corporate heads, the politicians, the mob bosses… whenever they came in to deliver an envelope so that they could hire her, they were always smug, confident, not showing a bit of regret for what they were about to do. But this fellow, I don’t think he was a corporate head or politician or mob boss… and when he handed me his envelope, he was not smug, but solemn. The fellow looked as though he was attending his own funeral. I had never seen that before in any of her employers.”“Interesting,” mused the agent.“So,” continued the bartender, “when she comes in and I hand her the envelope as usual, she opens it, reads it over… and then she does something I never seen her do before: her face betrayed genuine shock. For a stoic such as her, for a person who received assignments to assassinate big names and never batted an eye, to show such emotion while reading that letter… that scared me. I could not possibly imagine what was contained in that letter. Still, she quickly regains her composure and then she departed as usual. Now, usually, as I said, when she was hired for a job, I wouldn’t see her until the job was completed, and then I’d see her work on the news, while she sits there silent and stoic. The next time I saw her, there was nothing in the news. No murders, no disappearances, no heists… nothing. And she sits at the bar, orders a drink, and has that same look of solemnity as the man who hired her. To this day, I do not know what happened, but for her to be so badly affected… I shudder to imagine what horrible crime was written on that letter.”“And then, after that?” inquired the agent.“As I said,” concluded the bartender, “she took a few more jobs after that. Exactly three more jobs, if my memory doesn’t fail me. The first two were like any other job she had done, except this time, she appeared to be falling into a depression or something. As for the third job… she never returned. And when I watched the news, it was telling the story of some famous mechanical engineer whose home was broken into by her. But this news story had a twist ending. It didn’t end with the horrible and gruesome murder of the engineer. Instead, the engineer survived, and according to police reports, she was about to kill him… and she suddenly drops her weapons and starts crying. He ran out of the room to call the police and get his kids to safety, but when he returned, she was gone. And that was the last that anyone had seen or heard of her.”“I remember that news story,” murmured the agent. “It was so unbelievable that there were a number of people accusing the engineer of making it all up. But from what I know about her, and from your side of the story, I believe there might be some truth to it. So, that is the last time you saw her?”“Yes, sir,” nodded the bartender. “Is there another chapter to this story that I do not yet know?”“Did you receive a letter from a Ms. Amanda Remous?” inquired the agent.Frowning, the bartender replied: “Sir, I’m not sure how this is relevant to…”The agent sighed and shook his head. “I suppose not. You should check your mailbox when you get home; it might have taken Ed Mail a little longer to deliver it, I suppose, what with the population moving back up north again in mid-delivery.” With that, the secret service agent stood.“Is that all?” inquired the bartender.The agent nodded. “That is all. As I said, there are no charges held against you. Now that you have spoken, you are free to go.”“If you don’t mind me asking,” murmured the bartender, “but might I inquire as to the… well, point of this ‘interview’? You fellows already know that she’s dead, and you aren’t placing any charges against me.”The agent sighed and scratched his head. “You see, I intend to write up a report on her. She has quite an infamous reputation for being a living nightmare, even to the point of being considered a myth by some. It is clear that the public is very uninformed about her true nature, for you see, she was a tragic villain more than anything else. With my report, I intend to investigate the tragedy of her life and reveal the facts behind the myths, hopefully closing this case for good. Thank you for your time today.” They clasped hands and together left the interrogation room.

*****

The following morning, Bartholomew Enderson sat behind the brand-new counter of his freshly-rebuilt bar. It awed him how quickly LEGO construction crews could work, and combined with the post-war enthusiasm, his bar was restored to more or less exactly how it was before it was originally wrecked by a swarm of hungry Mutant Lizards, a Mutant Raptor that was too intelligent to be locked in the wine cellar, and a Mutant T-Rex with poor eyesight.As he reflected upon the interview he had last night, he stared off into space and continuously wiped a glass with a cloth even though it was already sparkling clean. He was not sure what it was all going to amount to. She was dead, and there were no charges placed upon him. So what was the point of it all?Bartholomew snapped back to Earth when he saw a Minifig approach his counter. From his bright blue uniform and hat, Bartholomew recognized that he was a mailman; if the clothes didn’t tip him off, the giant sack of mail did. The mailman stopped at the bar counter, rummaged through his bag, and pulled out an envelope.Just for an instant, as he watched the mailman, Bartholomew Enderson had a brief relapse of all the countless envelopes that had been handed to him in this very bar to be delivered to her.“Mr. Bartholomew Enderson?” the mailman read the name off the envelope in a weary voice.“Yes, sir,” nodded Bartholomew, “that’s me.”“I’ve got a letter for you.” With that, the mailman handed the envelope to Bartholomew.Bartholomew felt a feeling of surprise mixed with a hint of amusement. All those years, he had been handed envelopes in this very diner, but not one of them was addressed to him; they were always for her. And now, he finally had a letter to himself. “Thank you,” smiled Bartholomew. “Have a good day, sir.”Chuckling softly to himself, the mailman picked up the huge sack of mail and turned to leave. “Oh, I’ll have just as good a day as any other day because every day is a good day for a mailman because there’s always mail that needs delivering. A good day to you too, Mr. Enderson.” With that, the mailman left the bar.Bartholomew Enderson looked over the envelope. Indeed, it was addressed to him. However, what caught his eye was the return address: Dino Attack Headquarters, LEGO City. Puzzled, he opened the envelope, took out the letter inside, and read it.Dear Bartholomew Enderson,I am sorry.As much as I fear that the word “sorry” does not even begin to cover my feelings, I cannot think of another word to use, as I was never particularly eloquent in speech. I am sorry, Bartholomew, for all the trouble I have caused you in the past. It’s all my fault that a great burden has been placed upon you, for in order for you to be my secret-keeper, you had to sacrifice so much and not say a word about it. I have done you so much wrong, and it pains me to remember that I threatened your family just to keep your mouth shut.And I am sorry for leaving you without even saying goodbye.I’ve changed, Bartholomew. Or, at least, I am trying as hard as I can. For now, I’ve joined D.I.N.O. Attack in the battle against Mutant Dinos, in hopes that maybe by helping to save the world, I can redeem myself of all that I have done. After the war, I intend to settle down, live a normal life, and never have to pick up a weapon ever again. But I am writing to you now, for I am not certain that I will survive this war, and I don’t know if I can ever meet you again, face-to-face, and tell you my feelings in person.I need you to understand something… that is, if you haven’t figured it out on your own; I do not doubt your intelligence. During the time that we worked together, I was utterly alone in the world. I had no one… no one, but you. You were the sole person that I could truly trust. And, while our relationship remained strictly a business one… you might have also been the only person I genuinely cared for. Because I trusted you, you were almost like a father to me.And thus, I wish to thank you for all that you have done for me. You are now free, Bartholomew, and our business is finished. You no longer need to suffer the burden I had placed upon you. Take care of yourself for me, okay?Once again, I am sorry. Can you forgive me?With sincere gratitude,Amanda “Silencia Venomosa” RemousBartholomew Enderson read the letter over again. Once more. Twice more. Each time, he let its words sink in deeper and deeper. “It is true, then,” he murmured. “She’s gone.” He folded the letter, placed it back inside the envelope, and pocketed the envelope. Sitting down, he smiled to himself, feeling free at last.And yet, he could not but wipe tears from his eyes. Despite all that she had done, he really did care for her, and knowing that she felt the same way made it feel as though he had lost a daughter. Looking upward, Bartholomew Enderson nodded gently and whispered: “Yes. I forgive you.”OOC: I do believe that's the last of the major posts that I had in mind before I wrap things up for good. Like Andrewnuva, I'm always susceptible to a bit of spontaneity between now and the end of the RPG, so there will most likely be a few more posts between now and then, but this is the last major one I have in mind.

Edited October 5, 2012 by PeabodySam

[Atton Rand]

OOC: I guess so. I'm just still trying to figure out if there's anything left for me to be doing at LEGO City before I go. I suppose if I think of anything, I can write a post set before this one, since anachronic order seems to be in effect. I guess the same goes vise versa, if anyone still wants to write posts with their crew on the Iron Hammer or whatever.IC: Sarah rested her head against the shoulder of her new husband as they sat together on the park bench in the middle of a great big dance party of some sort.They were suddenly approached by a strange chef. "Oh-a-who-a-wants-a-some-a-pizza?" he asked excitedly holding up a plate with two slices of pizza.Sarah raised her head from Pierce's shoulder and stood up, taking one of the slices from the man and biting down. After a moment, she immediately started gagging."What's going on?" Pierce asked as he approached her. Sarah dropped her slice on the ground and spat out what she'd already chewed. "This is the worst pizza I've ever had," she shouted."Oh come on," replied Pierce. "It can't be that bad.""I-a-no-know-what's-a-wrong-with-a-her," Papa Brickolini said enthusiastically. Pierce took one of the pizzas off his tray, and he turned and walked elsewhere. Pierce took a bite of the pizza. "It's not that bad," he said. Sarah looked at him, nervous. Suddenly, he started to grab his mouth in pain and screamed."What's wrong?""MY MOUTH!" Pierce shouted. "IT'S BURNING UP FROM THE INSIDE! GET ME SOME WATER OR SOME- AHHHHH"Sarah quickly stood up and ran to get help.OOC: Oh dear, it seems Pierce just accidentally ate some super-hot-spicy-tounge-melting-jail-cell-door-opening-pizzas.EDIT: PeabodySam seems to have suddenly made a post while I was writing this. It's gotten me thinking about the possibility of maybe writing a reunion scene between Bart and Carrie.

Edited October 5, 2012 by Atton Rand

[Brikman McStudz]

OOC: Eh, avmatoran. I'd prefer not to post on December 24, simply because there is nothing I want to post (but will be more than free to describe in this post) from the end of Athena and Oswald's funeral to December 31.Two things to comment on quick:

I have to honestly say, that these cool dudes over here among some of the best heroes this island has ever created!

It's really sad how much BZP's word filter has altered my thinking, because I took those two bolded words up there the complete wrong way.

but is as strong as Pepper and Luna Rom over here.

PepperxLuna is canon in this timeline?!IC:"I wasn't sure if you were being overdramatic earlier when talking about the island," Minerva said. "But now that there's a party, I can safely say you were right; this place is crazy."Zach smirked as he watched a fire truck zoom by, it's ladder extended as several skeleton pirates tried to reach the ambulance nearby where Enter, Return, and Pete Bog were eating pizza. The latter in particularly seemed rather unamused by their antics. Beside the ambulance was a race car being driven by Studz Linkin, apparently thinking he's racing.He, Minerva, Vinyaya, and Zelda hung by the Octan Gas Station as celebrations for the end of the war, Christmas, and New Years all occurred at once. Citizens were eating pizza, dancing, racing, and having a good time. Trees, flowers, and light posts seemed to dance along as the pop song "2-Step" blasted through the city.Every time I'm dancing I go crazyReaching at the lights just make me crazyEvery time I'm dancing I go crazyLEGO beat."Certainly feels good to be home," Zach said as a palm tree Zelda was leaning against suddenly shrank down into a flower as Bradford Brickford and Shiney Doris went by on their bicycles. "Last time I was here, we had to get out rather quick. Cargo ships with Mutant Dinos were on the way. We managed to get everyone off and when we learned Pepper wasn't onboard, it was rather...bad, to say the least.""Hey, Zach!" the voice of Nubby Stevens said as he exited the gas station with Nancy Nubbins and saw Zach and his friends. "Good to see you again! These your friends you talked about earlier?""Great to see you again, Nubby, Nancy," Zach said happily, clapping Nubby's hand and pulling Nancy into a quick embrace. "Yeah, I met a few people. This is Commander Holly Vinyaya, Zelda Frodongan, and Minerva Fabello.""Shore nice to meet you folk," Nancy said, shaking each of their hands. "Did I hear right about Minerva here packin' up n' moving over here?""Uh, yeah," Minerva said, smiling nervously. Since arriving on the island a week ago, Minerva had been slowly getting acquainted with all the islanders. Each time she met someone new she appeared to be worried of giving the wrong first impression. Zach tried to convince her to relax and she has been gradually. She explained about how having to adapt to a new lifestyle after her living the way she did in LEGO City for almost all her life. Even with her concerns, Zach could see Minerva enjoying the friendly citizens on the island and could (and would) adjust to this new life."Well, I am just drilled to hear that, hun!" Nancy said happily, pulling a drill from her belt and spinning it briefly. Minerva laughed in surprise. "Pardon the pun. You're shore to like livin' here. We're a lively bunch o'folks. N'we don't bite, I promise.""Yeah, you'll love it here!" Nubby agreed. "The weather's great, the people are nice, we got great. Thinking about it, have you ever noticed it never seems to rain on LEGO Island? I wonder why it does that."Zach chuckled. "I wonder as well." Nubby and Nancy soon left, probably to go get some pizza or dance to the music."There certainly a lot of...colorful personalities on this island," Vinyaya noted as she watched the gas station attendants began to dance to "Hobo Train". "It's a rather quirky little place. If I didn't work (or prefer) living in space, I'd consider living here." Vinyaya had become relaxed than ever since the war ended. She had chosen to simply wear jeans and a black, Space Police T-Shirt."A bit too much for my taste," Zelda said, brushing the dirt from her fall of her shoulders. "Visit maybe. Live with this all the time? Not so much.""Come on," Zach said with a grin, punching Zelda in the shoulder. "The island is more like this during a special occasion a la defeating the Brickster in 1997, 2001, and 2007 multiplied by ten or so. LEGO Island is a bit whacky, but not overblown madness every single day.""Regardless, I can kind of see how you are the way you are now," Minerva said, soliciting a chuckle from the others. She turned her head. "Oh, um...what's going on over there?" Zach, Vinyaya, and Zelda turned to see Polly Gone and Valerie Stubbins tossing around a yellow and black ball near the beach. Closer inspection revealed the ball was a Minifig head."Excuse me?" the squeaky voice of Gideon Worse said to Valerie. "Could you throw me over to the Pizzeria? I'm hungry?" Valerie nodded and, with all over might, threw Gideon's head across the street. It bounced once before landing square on the shoulders of a body wearing a black shirt with gray pants."So can you do that?" Zelda asked, an eyebrow raised. "I mean, I've heard of people doing it, but I've never seen someone just break apart into pieces?""Yeah," Zach said. "You want to figure out how to do it, living here. It doesn't make you invincible, by the way. If you mess up, you could hurt or kill yourself. It's rather complicated thing I don't really want to go into, so I'll just show you." With his right hand, he carelessly pulled his left arm off, causing the three women to gasp."And it doesn't kill you or anything?" Vinyaya said with a measure of interest as she took Zach's arm from him and examined it."If you do it right.""Why do you need that right hand then?" Zelda asked, gesturing to his gold hand."Someone blew it up. There was nothing left to put back together, requiring a new hand." He took back his arm and snapped it back into his torso with ease. He then smiled. "Be careful when walking around. Make sure not to bump into anyone here unless you want a nasty surprise."Minerva, Zelda, and Vinyaya just looked at him, but didn't inquire further. Zach merely smirked as he pulled out a slice of pizza and chomped on it as he watched the party carry on and spoke to his friends. Overhead, the space shuttle, an airplane, and Super Stationmaster raced overhead. The train ran around the island, shooting off fireworks. The party house was bouncing more than ever as LEGO Island citizens and Dino Attack agents danced to DJ Jackitt's beats, including Red Greenbase, Snap Lockitt, Rhoda Hogg, Jenny, Timmy, and Jimmy. Pepper was skateboarding around the island, dropping off pizza for the citizens and visitors to eat. Nick and Laura Brick ate doughnuts on their motorcycles while Captain CD Rom tried to maintain order with so many people on the island. Several people were gathered in the park behind the gas station after hearing word that the Flying Legondos were reuniting just for tonight to pull of show. The giant pirate skeleton from the old race track sat up stomped around the north edge of the town while shouts "You were the reason I never got all red bricks!" were tossed at it.Citizens and agents constantly passed the group. The agents congratulated each other while citizens passed by in their partying madness. They saw and met Glen and Dorothy Funberg, Maggie Post, Arnold, Buck Pounds, Gnarly Bones, Technician Bob, and more. They even got into a brief conversation with the Brickster, who had decided stop by and briefly tried to convince the group to vouch for him when Nick, Laura, and Rom decided to rearrest him."And you," he jabbed Minerva's chest with a blue finger. "I hear that your staying here now, right?" Minerva, not really caring what kind of impression she made on the criminal, nodded curtly. The Brickster laughed darkly. "Oh good, someone new to insult. If Condiment Boy manages to point me behind bars again, I'll make get to know you better and toss a few insults your way. Character flaws, disabilities, anything. I'll find it and exploit it."Minerva stared at Zach with a mixture of surprise and amusement before looking back at the Brickster. "I'll be looking forward to that, I suppose." The Brickster raised an eyebrow before stealing the group's pizza and running off to cause more mischief. "Is getting insulted by him a rite-of-passage or something? Transitions me from an outsider into a real citizen." she asked Zach."I suppose it is now," said Zach with a chuckleAs "Park" by Lorin Nelson began to play, Minerva closed her eyes, enjoying the music. Seeing the oppertunity, Zach seized her hand and pulled her on to the grass, shocking her out of her stupor. "What are you doing?" she asked with a half-laugh."I told you we were going to dance," Zach said plainly. She stared at him and shock her head rapidly, pushing him away."I told you I didn't want to! I'm not keen on embarrassing myself in front of everyone.""Please, everyone's too busy we're the own festivities. The only people who are going to make fun of you are Holly and Zelda because they're your friends. Speaking of which," he turned to Vinyaya and Zelda, both who were grinning at the couple. "You should dance with Ryan at some point, Holly."Vinyaya coughed in surprise. "Well, I don't...I mean..." Zelda laughed openly at Vinyaya's stammering. Vinyaya sighed and smiled faintly at Zach and Minerva. "I haven't danced in a long time, but I may give it a shot if you two dance.""Hear that?" Zach said. "Give me a chance and you can poke fun at Holly later." Minerva glanced back at Zelda and Holly, who gave her thumbs up. Minerva gave a breathy laugh then turned to Zach."Fine. But it's not going to look pretty.""I'm sure of that." As Minerva walked toward him, what he said seemed register in her brain."You don't know what you're doing either?" Minerva asked, incredulous. Zach smirked as he grabbed her right hand."Nope."

[avmatoran]

OOC:What?

[Andrewnuva199]

OOC: Gonna comment on a few things while I wait on a few things for my last IC:

OOC:Two things to comment on quick:

I have to honestly say, that these cool dudes over here among some of the best heroes this island has ever created!

It's really sad how much BZP's word filter has altered my thinking, because I took those two bolded words up there the complete wrong way.

I fully intended that double entendre for our amusement.

but is as strong as Pepper and Luna Rom over here.

PepperxLuna is canon in this timeline?!

Blame PeabodySam. He's a bit more believing in it, plus he doesn't feel Sky Lane could make it back to the island in time for the party due to the timing of the LEGO Universe "Return to the Venture Explorer" mission.Atton: Gasp! A person who doesn't like Brickolini's pizza?! BLAMSPHENY!Also, take it easy on the Italian accenting, Papa Brickolini doesn't quite talk like that.Though on the flipside, the person in your post could just be the guy who set up that competing pizza place that I mentioned waaaaay back during the LEGO Island arc when I had the "Andrew hits a Mutant T-Rex with a giant brick hammer" scene. He sells poor quality pizza that either tastes horrible or recreates the super-hot-spicy-tounge-melting-jail-cell-door-opening-pizzas so badly that it becomes an actual health hazard.

[Atton Rand]

Atton: Gasp! A person who doesn't like Brickolini's pizza?! BLAMSPHENY!

OOC: I couldn't resist a chance to poke fun at this whole depiction of the Brickolini's pizzas as being "Universally Delicious". Also a chance to poke fun at our different ways of looking at this world.IC: Kate looked in shock as Sarah ran toward her accompanied by Pierce, who was clutching his mouth with his hands. They ran toward the pizzeria, where Mama Brickolini was playing her piano, as usual."Mama mia!" Mama Brickolini shouted. "A-what happened to your friend?""He tried eating one of your znapping pizzas!" Sarah shouted angrily."A-what's-a going on here?" Papa Brickolini asked as he stepped out of the restaurant."My husband here ate one of your awful pizzas and now his mouth is burning up from the inside!""Oh-a-my," Papa Brickolini said. "I must-a-have given him-a-one of my super-hot-spicy-tounge-melting-jail-cell-door-opening pizzas!""WHAT?!" Sarah shouted. "WHY WOULD YOU MAKE SUCH A PIZZA! YOUR FOOD IS BAD ENOUGH AS IT IS YOU SHOULDN'T MAKE A PIZZA THAT CAN BURN PEOPLE ALIVE!""QUICK! A-CALL THE HOSPITAL! GET ENTER AND RETURN DOWN HERE NO-!"Fortunately, Pierce was spared that further torture. He noticed a familiar face, a young woman with a cross around her neck. She quickly turned toward him, noticing something was wrong."Is he okay?" Shaw asked nervously."He ate an extremely hot pizza," Sarah replied. By this point, Pierce had stopped screaming, but it was clear the pain was intense. "GET ME SOME WATER!" Shaw said. "ICE COLD!"Papa Brickolini quickly came back with a glass filled with ice cubes, Shaw forced Pierce's mouth open and poured the water and some of the ice in."HOLD IT!" Shaw said. "DON'T SWALLOW!"Pierce struggled to do as she said, holding him tight. Just as he had comforted her when she was scared in that basement, she was now comforting him in this bizarre unpredictable occurrence. After a short time, Pierce couldn't take it any more and spat out the ice cubes, the ones that hadn't already melted. He took a moment to catch his breath. "What the megablockland do you guys think you're doing making pizzas like that? What you trying to kill you customers?""We-a-get orders like that all the time!" Papa Brickolini shouted. "Yeah," replied Sarah. "Who orders these?""Oh, we usually get them from the jail for some reason," replied Papa Brickolini. Sarah just rolled her eyes. "You never made a connection there?" Shaw asked. "You never thought that maybe that was how the Brickster kept breaking out of jail?""Oh-a-no!" Papa Brickolini said."I'm getting the police," Sarah said angrily. "You could be joining him in prison for this!"Sarah quickly ran down the street and spotted a dark-suited man with a badge."Hey, officer,""Brick," the officer replied. "Nick Brick.""Nick," Sarah said. "You never gave much though to the pizza joint down the road did you?""Not really," replied Nick. "They serve great pizza.""They serve pizza hot enough to set your mouth on fire!" Sarah said. "What?" Replied Nick. "That's how I like it.""My husband could have died," replied Sarah."A bit excessive, isn't it?""We had to shove ice cubes down his throat!" Replied Sarah.Brick's expression faded. "Alright," he said. "Anything else?""They keep delivering pizzas explicitly called super-hot-spicy tongue-melting-jail-cell-door-opening pizzas to the jail.""That's how the brickster got out?" Nick said. "Interesting. Let's take a look."Nick followed Sarah to the pizzaria. He picked up a menu and took a look at it. Sure enough, super-hot-spicy-tongue-melting-jail-cell-door-opening pizza was listed there."You keep getting orders for this from the jail?" He asked, holding out the menu and pointing to the questionable product."A-yes," replied Papa Brickolini. "The Brickster-loves those. For-a-some reason he always gets out immediately after we send him one-""I'm afraid I'm going to have to put you under arrest," replied Nick. "For repeatedly aiding in the escape of a convicted criminal and for withholding evidence!""Mama mia!" Replied Papa Brickolini as he was handcuffed and let away by Nick. Sarah couldn't help but smiling at the though of not having to eat one of those terrible pizzas again."She turned toward Pierce and put her arm around her husband's shoulder. "You alright?" She asked. Pierce smiled and kissed her in response.Elsewhere there was quite a bit of dancing going on. Rotor stood proud on top of a platform holding a large mug of beer. Everyone cheered as he carefully chugged down the glass, and lowered it, half-empty. Cabin looked at him in amazement, slightly drunk herself.OOC: There we go. An interesting deconstruction of the Brickolinis' life on LEGO Island.

[Jacks]

OOC:

Though on the flipside, the person in your post could just be the guy who set up that competing pizza place that I mentioned waaaaay back during the LEGO Island arc when I had the "Andrew hits a Mutant T-Rex with a giant brick hammer" scene. He sells poor quality pizza that either tastes horrible or recreates the super-hot-spicy-tounge-melting-jail-cell-door-opening-pizzas so badly that it becomes an actual health hazard.

</ENDQUOTE>I was about to throw my support onto this interpretation, given that we've never once seen anyone react that badly to a uper-spicy-tongue-melting-jail-cell-door-opening-hot pizza, but it looks like Atton nixed that. I guess Pierce just has an extremely sensitive mouth.I do have to say, though, that considering the sort of atmosphere that LEGO Island has, it makes very little sense for Nick to arrest Papa Brickolini. Seems to me he'd be more likely to simply tell him to stop sending the Brickster super-spicy-tongue-melting-jail-cell-door-opening-hot pizzas. Edited December 20, 2012 by Jackson Lake

[Andrewnuva199]

OOC: Jackson said this already. But being the LEGO Island fan that I am, I have a more emotional reaction. *ahem*YOU WHAT?!?!?? ARE YOU CRAZY, ATTO-*Stops, forces himself to calm down for a second*Atton, I know you like realism and deconstruction and "[poking] fun at our different ways of looking at this world" to an extent, but that's going way too far. You do not take the game seriously enough to decided that the LEGO Island police will arrest the Brickolinis for falling for the Brickster's tricks. It's way out of line!Did the police arrest Pepper for actually giving the pizza to the Brickster in LEGO Island 1? Or LEGO Island 2? No they didn't. They understood that they had been tricked, taken advantage by the trickster's ploys. They were never at fault, and deciding that "Oh hey, the police should arrest them for being so stupid as to keep giving the pizza to the Brickster."Nick Brick has known the Brickolinis for years, has even delivered some of their pizzas for them. He's friends with them. Good friends. You think he'd arrest Papa without a second thought?!And for the record, the Brickster has never been officially given super-hot-spicy-tongue-melting-jail-cell-door-opening pizza by the Brickolinis. The first game, it was some other pizza that the Brickster used to heat the lock of his cell open. The second, it was a normal pizza that he enhanced. The thing has mostly been a joke we've invented.I understand wanting to have a person who actually doesn't like Brickolini's pizza. That's a little funny in itself, what I said earlier was part of a joke. But what you're doing is going way. Too. Far.

Edited October 7, 2012 by Andrewnuva199

[Atton Rand]

Did the police arrest Pepper for actually giving the pizza to the Brickster in LEGO Island 1? Or LEGO Island 2? No they didn't. They understood that they had been tricked, taken advantage by the trickster's ploys. They were never at fault, and deciding that "Oh hey, the police should arrest them for being so stupid as to keep giving the pizza to the Brickster."

OOC: If they'd done it once, maybe, but consider that they've apparently done it at least twice. And the Brickster loves pizza, so whose to say that they haven't fallen for his tricks multiple times, or maybe learned that giving the Brickster pizza in the first place is a bad idea. Then again technically the police should be argued to be at fault for a few things (You'd think they would have found all those spices the Brickster was hiding, it's generally common procedure for cells to be inspected regularly specifically to prevent the inmates from doing this kind of thing). Of course there's also the fact that Papa Brickolini is actually making pizzas that are practically designed to break the Brickster out of jail (it's even in the name, super-hot-spicy-tongue-melting-jail cell door-opening- pizza).Then again, technically I never actually said Papa Brickolini was going to jail (even if I half-implied it). It may just be that with something like this Nick Brick is just temporarily detaining him for questioning until he can get all the facts straight. That is technically proper police procedural but I don't remember seeing anything in LEGO Island saying that they didn't occasionally detain people for questioning if by some chance a disturbance arose- and just because it doesn't happen on-screen in the games doesn't necessarily mean it's never happened).Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to write the scene where Pierce convinces a court to revoke Enter and Return's medical licensees. Then we'll write the scene where Edited October 7, 2012 by Atton Rand

[Andrewnuva199]

OOC: If they'd done it once, maybe, but consider that they've apparently done it at least twice. And the Brickster loves pizza, so whose to say that they haven't fallen for his tricks multiple times, or maybe learned that giving the Brickster pizza in the first place is a bad idea. Then again technically the police should be argued to be at fault for a few things (You'd think they would have found all those spices the Brickster was hiding, it's generally common procedure for cells to be inspected regularly specifically to prevent the inmates from doing this kind of thing). Of course there's also the fact that Papa Brickolini is actually making pizzas that are practically designed to break the Brickster out of jail (it's even in the name, super-hot-spicy-tongue-melting-jail cell door-opening- pizza).Then again, technically I never actually said Papa Brickolini was going to jail (even if I half-implied it). It may just be that with something like this Nick Brick is just temporarily detaining him for questioning until he can get all the facts straight. That is technically proper police procedural but I don't remember seeing anything in LEGO Island saying that they didn't occasionally detain people for questioning if by some chance a disturbance arose- and just because it doesn't happen on-screen in the games doesn't necessarily mean it's never happened).Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to write the scene where Pierce convinces a court to revoke Enter and Return's medical licensees. Then we'll write the scene where

OOC: I hope for pete's sake you're kidding with the last one...Geeze, you're doing it again, Atton. LEGO Police don't act typically act like actual policemen, and the police of LEGO Island are even moreso of a case. They're a parody that's obessed with doughnuts, put police phrasing into even basic conversation, and really only serve to be the Brickster's jailers. And we like it that way! Nobody wants or cares to see them do real police stuff, it isn't fun!I just... egh, what you're doing is driving me nuts! I wrote this LEGO Island party thing so we could just kick back and fool around for the wrap-up of the RPG. This is not the time for you to start bringing up more conflict. It's a znapping island-wide party! Let your logic go and just have fun with it! Just retcon away your last IC and let us forget this ever happened.

[Atton Rand]

OOC: If they'd done it once, maybe, but consider that they've apparently done it at least twice. And the Brickster loves pizza, so whose to say that they haven't fallen for his tricks multiple times, or maybe learned that giving the Brickster pizza in the first place is a bad idea. Then again technically the police should be argued to be at fault for a few things (You'd think they would have found all those spices the Brickster was hiding, it's generally common procedure for cells to be inspected regularly specifically to prevent the inmates from doing this kind of thing). Of course there's also the fact that Papa Brickolini is actually making pizzas that are practically designed to break the Brickster out of jail (it's even in the name, super-hot-spicy-tongue-melting-jail cell door-opening- pizza).Then again, technically I never actually said Papa Brickolini was going to jail (even if I half-implied it). It may just be that with something like this Nick Brick is just temporarily detaining him for questioning until he can get all the facts straight. That is technically proper police procedural but I don't remember seeing anything in LEGO Island saying that they didn't occasionally detain people for questioning if by some chance a disturbance arose- and just because it doesn't happen on-screen in the games doesn't necessarily mean it's never happened).Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to write the scene where Pierce convinces a court to revoke Enter and Return's medical licensees. Then we'll write the scene where

OOC: I hope for pete's sake you're kidding with the last one...Geeze, you're doing it again, Atton. LEGO Police don't act typically act like actual policemen, and the police of LEGO Island are even moreso of a case. They're a parody that's obessed with doughnuts, put police phrasing into even basic conversation, and really only serve to be the Brickster's jailers. And we like it that way! Nobody wants or cares to see them do real police stuff, it isn't fun!I just... egh, what you're doing is driving me nuts! I wrote this LEGO Island party thing so we could just kick back and fool around for the wrap-up of the RPG. This is not the time for you to start bringing up more conflict. It's a znapping island-wide party! Let your logic go and just have fun with it! Just retcon away your last IC and let us forget this ever happened.

OOC: If everyone really thinks that's the best option I could do that (though technically the whole thing could easily be resolved simply by having someone persuade Nick otherwise). However, I am going to need an alternative outcome for what happened to Pierce. I mean the original plan was to wait for the next person to post but nobody seemed to really acknowledge Pierce's situation so I had to make up something on the spot.

[Andrewnuva199]

OOC: If everyone really thinks that's the best option I could do that (though technically the whole thing could easily be resolved simply by having someone persuade Nick otherwise). However, I am going to need an alternative outcome for what happened to Pierce. I mean the original plan was to wait for the next person to post but nobody seemed to really acknowledge Pierce's situation so I had to make up something on the spot.

OOC: Just have Enter and Return come in and take him to the hospital. They (Or Dr. Clickitt) will handle it.

[Jacks]

OOC:

Of course there's also the fact that Papa Brickolini is actually making pizzas that are practically designed to break the Brickster out of jail (it's even in the name, super-hot-spicy-tongue-melting-jail cell door-opening- pizza).

</ENDQUOTE>Two things that should be noted:1. There is really no evidence to suggest that super-spicy-tongue-melting-jail-cell-door-opening-hot-pizzas even existed prior to 2010. The first time it was ever mentioned in any medium at all was in this very RPG.2. I don't recall when it was decided that the super-spicy-tongue-melting-jail-cell-door-opening-hot-pizza was created by the Brickolinis -- though I can see why the assumption makes sense, given that they are the planet's finest pizzasmiths, and it was they who inspired PeaSam to make up the super-spicy-tongue-melting-jail-cell-door-opening-hot-pizza -- but upon review, this is actually incorrect. The super-spicy-tongue-melting-jail-cell-door-opening-hot-pizza was discovered by Vladek and the Brickster in a pizzaria in LEGO City. Edited December 20, 2012 by Jackson Lake

[Brikman McStudz]

OOC: As a huge LEGO Island fan, I'll throw my own opinion (and LEGO Island facts) in the ring.There were only two times (out of the four big canon times) when the Brickster used pizza to break out of jail. The first game had Brickster impersonate Nick's voice and convince Papa into sending Pepper to the jail with a Jalapeño Red Pepper Anchovy Double Garlic Pizza (the official name of the pizza, I might add). The second game states they learned their lesson from the last escape and only sent a pizza with one chili, not knowing the Brickster had been hoarding spices from presumably previous deliveries to create his patented Brickster Dragon Breath (I suddenly wish we had used this during the fighting). Island Xtreme Stunts shows he's already been freed (by this canon, he convinced everyone except Pepper, Nick, and the Infomaniac of his innocence after returning from his Soccer/Football Mania plot.) The fanmade LEGO Island 3 simply has his Brickster-Bots breaking him free.So in all honest, I think they stopped feeding the Brickster hot pizza of any way shape or form and their apparent cluelessness over how the Brickster escaped in 1997 and 2001 makes no sense. Though Atton perhaps has a point with the Brickolini's selling dangerously hot pizza - they have the Hotsy Totsy Supreme Hot Pizza Times Two that apparently melts almost anything. Then again, Mama did say almost - perhaps it doesn't melt Minifigs? Regardless, they said they'd never deliver it to the Brickster.But basically, it makes no sense for Nick to arrest Papa. At all. In anyway, shape or form. On any planet. In any universe. Ever. So you should retcon that bit. As Andrewnuva said, you could easily have Enter, Return, and Pete Bog (since he's in the ambulance as well) arrive and help Pierce.And avmatoran, I assume your addressing me: you had Dr. Cyborg going to Zach and co. on December 24. I'm done there. My one or two remaining IC posts take place on December 31. Perhaps this sounds rude, but I don't really want to write some small post about my group interacting with Dr. Cyborg at that point. December 31, for most part, is this present time of the RPG.

[Jacks]

OOC: Great, now it looks like we're ganging up on him.Atton, the other thing I feel compelled to mention is that I really do appreciate your drive to deconstruct and rethink things. Taking it down off the wall and examining it from a different perspective, and all that. The only issue is that some of the instances when you've tried that in this RPG haven't come at the proper time or place for it. So please, I hope you don't interpret this as an attack on your ideas, because those are generally pretty good.

Edited October 7, 2012 by Jackson Lake

[avmatoran]

OOC:That's fine. I really didn't expect it. It was just a way to end the post. (Although, to be completely honest, I'm kind of hoping a character besides one of my own will wish him happy birthday!)

[Atton Rand]

As Andrewnuva said, you could easily have Enter, Return, and Pete Bog (since he's in the ambulance as well) arrive and help Pierce.

OOC: Oh, the cruel irony, Pierce being subjected to torture by sharks, trees, and umbrellas.

[Andrewnuva199]

IC: It was the best party Andrew had ever experienced.So much crazy fun was had that night. The streets were wild with crazy drivers, from the giant pizzas to mad firetrucks to the hospital ambulance. Pepper Roni was also skating across the streets, over buildings, and alongside the tracks, often with the likes of fellow skaters Luna Rom, Gnarly Bones, and Shugu. Much of it was done for both Brickolinis pizza delivery and impressing the Dino Attack agents, though there was one point where he was skateboarding like mad to get away from a red-haired girl in pigtails dressed in a white pizza shirt.“Dontask,longstory,gottago,pizzasgettingcold!” he told people who inquired during the delivery runs.There was plenty to eat. The Brickolinis, as usual, were the main caterers, and their pizza was just all over the place, mostly thanks to Pepper’s experienced delivery skills. But there were a few hamburgers, hot dogs, and pieces of bread around the place as some people (like Red Greenbase) set up some cookouts around the residential area. Besides that, there were plenty of coolers full of soda and water, so there was plenty of ways for people to quince thirst or burnt tongues. And at least two Dino Attack agents had brought a few packs of beer, and the drink made its way among the ranks, though the LEGO Islanders would have none of it. If offered one, they usually threw it to the sharks.Nearly the entire island became a dancing hotspot, though it often depended on what tunes you prefer. Plenty of Minifigs got their groove on, especially when a 70’s obsessed visitor had set up a disco ball somewhere around the skateboard park. Both islanders and agents went crazy in their dancing, and at least a few of the locals took advantage of some of their separation abilities, much to the surprise and shock of some of the Dino Attack agents who weren’t quite used to such abilities on display.Andrew definitely let himself let go, almost spastic in his all-over-the-place dance style. But then again, he was a sucker for the “Brickster-Bot-Buster” tune. Laxus was a little more controlled, preferring to do something that was similar to a “stiff-joint” dance. Though he had to say Bluetooth and Vinyaya stole the show in his eyes. When “Asteroid Mega-Mix” by Lair of Rockwhales came on, the Space Police and Futuron operatives decided to give a dancing-together a shot. Somehow, either by chance or having been fueled by the very space-themed tone of the music, they managed to pull off some fantastic moves.“I dunno,” Bluetooth said to Andrew when it was all said and done, “It just felt so natural to me. Guess the right music just really helps. Man, that tune was awesome!”Of course, being a partial Christmas party, gifts were no exception that night. The LEGO Island inhabitants had, for the most part, exchanged their gifts on the actual date for Christmas, but that didn't mean they had some last minute surprises for each other, or gifts for the Dino Attack visitors as well. Andrew was surprised when he was gifted a fancy new laptop from Technician Bob, as well as some nice new bricks to consider putting into a new vehicle from Nubby Stevens. Even Laxus surprised him with giving Andrew his own Martian viewpad.“Shows maps, handles calculations, gives technical readouts,” Laxus explained, “and just recently we gave it a feature to accept apps. Lets see the tablets your Earth tech manufactures compete with that!”In a similar line, there was a “white-elephant” style gift exchange the island inhabitants called “Dirty Brickster,” where they got several gifts together, let people choose them, and then had others either get their own, or steal somebody else’s. Zach and Frozeen were among the participants gathered at the bank, mostly consisting of islanders, but Joike had managed to come and bring a little something for the game as well. The Brickster himself had wanted to join, but everyone knew he might try to run off with the whole pile or something, so he was banned from the game. When the wrapping paper settled and the game was done, Nancy Nubbins had ended up with her own collection of Dino Cop movies (taken from Snap Lockitt), Frozeen had gotten himself a scale model of the legendary Yellow Castle (taken from both Red Greenbase and Rhoda Hogg), and Zach had gotten a plush of a pink pony Luna Rom had told him was called Pinkie Pie (which nobody had taken from him).“Have to admit,” Zach told Andrew later, “didn't see that one coming. Aw well, beats the Clickits purse pack I got last year.”And the promise of movie riffing did not come to pass as a hopeful guess. With the help of the local LEGO Studios crew left over from the shooting of Xtreme Stunts, Joike managed to arrange for a light-hearted riffing of the local-shot hit at the studio lot. While most of the island enjoyed the film for seeing themselves and their neighbors on the big screen (plus showing the Brickster getting outsmarted, which never got old), the near non-existant plot and odd character behavior didn't slip past the more jokey citizens, and the people had a good time cracking jokes and remarks throughout the film. Andrew enjoyed himself there, pulling off a few nice jokes about Sky Lane’s role in the film (or lack thereof).Around fifteen minutes to midnight, Andrew left the lot and went over to the pizzeria. He had agreed to meet up with everyone in his and Zach’s groups there to socialize a bit before the end of the year proper came. As he came in sight of the dining tables, where Zach, Minerva, Zelda, Vinyaya, and Bluetooth had already gathered, “Explore” by Lorin Nelson came on the speakers.“Ah, what’d I tell ya, Zach?” he said as he sat down at the table. “Back when we were about to duel during the camp attack. Told you we’d be spending the last few days partying hard on LEGO Island.”“Indeed,” said Zach, raising a slice of pizza to his mouth. “Glad we never took bets over it. Granted, I wasn't exactly in a betting mood as a Stromling, but still.”“Eh, just glad it went just as good as I had hoped it would,” Andrew said as he took a piece of pizza himself. “So what now? Thinking of just settling down, or returning to a fighting force?”“Probably just kick back for a while at home sweet home. After all, Minerva here does need someone to keep helping her through the madness of living here.”Minerva snickered along with everyone else at the table. “Ridiculous or not, it’s definitely going to be more fun than what my life’s been like. I’m just glad things are looking up.”“Good to hear,” said Laxus, arriving at the table. “Though admittedly, the island is a little too silly for my living preferences. I’ve always preferred quieter spots, like rural towns and underground towns like on Mars.”“We’re in agreement then,” said Zelda. “Though I guess would more prefer a place by the sea, given my history.”“Now there’s a classic favorite living location right there,” said Andrew. “Everyone loves a beach house.”“I suppose I would support that,” said Bluetooth, “if we remember space as an ‘endless ocean.’”Everyone got a bit of a kick out of the joke. “Yeah, space is a pretty fine place,” said Vinyaya. “Granted, I spend most of my time in it chasing down criminals, but the in-between time cruising around the cosmos is pretty relaxing. Especially now that Bluetooth’s been giving me copies of Carl Sagan’s works to read & watch.”“Makes me more excited for getting to go out to see some of those wonders out there myself.” said Andrew as he took a look around the pizzeria “Hmn. Looks like Pterisa’s still taking her time coming along. She went off to check out the residential area when I was seeing Xtreme Stunts. Hope she didn't get lost over there.”Zach eyed his fellow LEGO Islander with a mischievous look. “You have been spending a lot of time around her, I note. Granted, with her condition, she likely needed someone there for her, but I’m wondering if it could be someone more…”Andrew eyed his friend with bewilderment. “What, first you played matchmaker with Ryan and Holly here, and now me?”“Well, he does have a bit of a point,” said Bluetooth. “Laxus told me about how you’ve spent plenty of time together in the off time back at LEGO City and here. To quote a song from a lame teen movie, ‘it could be the start of something new’.”“Oh, c’mon, it’s nothing like that.” Though as Andrew said that, something in the back of his head nagged him about how he had been feeling around her as of late. And not just the need to help and protect from cool dudes like French Fries. But he shoved it aside and focused on the present.“Well, hey, can’t blame a Minifig for trying,” said Zach. “I've found romance, Vinyaya found romance, Zelda… eh…”“Your point stands,” Zelda told him, “just continue before it gets too awkward.”“Sorry. I mean, after all that I’m surrounded by, why shouldn't I think of my friends finding their own special somebody?”“Oh, shut up and play with your pony,” Andrew said, gesturing to the plush that Zach left under the table. The table burst out in laughter as Zach light-heartedly shook his head in disapprovement. “Low bow, man, not cool.”“Actually,” said Laxus, holding up his Martian viewpad, “I did some quick web research on that plush when I heard about your prize, Zach. Seems there’s a show based around those ponies that some people are actually finding interesting. You should look into it.”“Eh, it’s probably not going to be anything big,” said Andrew. “But considering the general attitude around here, it might not be too badly fitting for some of us. Oh, hey, here comes Pterisa.”Everyone turned to greet her as she approached the table. It was a little noteworthy to Andrew to consider her dressing style tonight. Most of the Dino Attack people had abandoned their uniforms and were dressed casually. Pterisa, when she had dropped the Hybrid armor, had decided to simply go without clothing. It had initially surprised him, but as her biology was not unlike that of certain alien species that went around without clothes, there was no real bother to her decision other than one’s own opinion of modesty. And in Andrew’s case, he didn't have a problem with it.“Enjoy the residential area?” Laxus asked.“Yes, it was quite a fun place to explore,” the Hybrid answered as she sat down. “The barbecues were pretty interesting to drop in for brief visits, though I would've preferred some food with a bit more fish in it.”“Well, I hear Papa sometimes uses sharks in some of his nightly specials,” said Zach. “Hold out long enough, and you might find some delight in that.”“Shark meat in pizza?” said Bluetooth. “That sounds a little odd.”“Hey, no matter what they put in their pizza, the Brickolinis have never failed to make someone dislike it.”“Unless you’re Sarah Bishop,” Andrew remarked. The group snickered, the news about her rejection of the pizza having spread fast. Though some guessed that she might’ve just fallen for the pizza from the one guy who had tried setting up a competing pizzeria on the other side of the island, the news was quite a surprise to many.After a few more minutes of banter, the Infomaniac came in on the radio to tell everyone there was only five minutes left until midnight. As everyone began cheering as the anticipation for the New Year really began, Pterisa tapped Andrew on the shoulder and gestured him in close.“Ehm, do you know of somewhere we could have a little privacy?” she asked. “I want to talk a bit about my plans for the future, and with things kicking up here, I don’t feel like we’ll be able to talk properly with all the noise.”“Oh, um…” Andrew said, a little taken aback. He thought for a moment, then pointed out across the beach from the pizzeria. “There’s a bit of land stretching out from around the residential area over there. We could go over there, if you wish.”“Sounds good.”The two got up from the table. “Eh, we’ll be back in a few minutes, guys,” Andrew told the group. “Pterisa and I just want to have a bit of conversation.”“Oh, go right ahead,” said Zach, a sly look on his face.Andrew made a mocking face at him and turned to follow Pterisa out of the pizzeria grounds. He noted that she was walking towards the beach rather than going towards the residential area. “Uh, are you planning to swim over there or something? Because it’s not the way to walk.”She turned to him with a bit of an amused look. “Why take all that time walking when I have these?” she said as she spread out her wings and flew over to behind him. Andrew had a second to realize what she meant as she picked him up by the waist and began flying over to the peninsula of land across the water.It was a curious little place, the “deserted island” peninsula. It was named as such for pretty much looking like the stereotypical cartoon deserted island: A circular landmass of a few yards long, with a single palm tree upon it. Exempting the stretch of land connecting it to the island proper, it pretty much looked like something out of comic strips and the like. It was isolated, devoid of any constructions, and perfect for a private conversation.When Pterisa landed upon the island, Andrew took a moment once he was let go to get his bearings. As he did so, he took note of the view. The entire length of LEGO Island could be seen from here, from the residential area to the police station. And as no lampposts and speakers were around here, the only light came from the glow that the lights were casting all over the island, and the music was almost like hearing a radio inside someone’s house from the outside. It was quite a wondrous atmosphere.“You know, I never really have come here too often,” the young Dino Attack veteran said. “Definitively not in the nighttime. It feels so peaceful here.”“Indeed,” said Pterisa, sitting down under the palm tree. “It’s an excellent environment to reflect in.”Andrew sat down beside her. “So… Now that the war’s over, and the New Year’s almost upon us, what are your plans?”Start playing Amy Pond's theme from Doctor Who here!Pterisa put her hand under her beak. “Well… I don’t really know. When I was still with Dr. Einstein and the prototypes, I figured my place might be with any fellow surviving, peaceful Mutant Dino brethren. I thought of settling down on a private island, creating something of a refuge for my kind. But now… I’m not so sure, anymore.”“What do you mean?”“ Isn't it obvious?” Pterisa said as she looked at him. “It’s because of you. Inviting me to tag along with you and Laxus, showing me around your headquarters and letting me get to know your various comrades, introducing me to movie riffing and Brickolinis pizza and the like. You've shown me that as grotesque as I may look, there are people who can overlook it and be accepting of whom I am as a person.”Andrew smiled. “It’s the least I can do for any ally under stress. Seeing you in such a state after Baron Typhonus unmasked you, turning from a confident anonymous samurai to a distraught Minifig/Mutant Pterosaur Hybrid who felt no one could help, I couldn't stand for that. I had to help you. And now look. I’ve been watching some of the online reactions to that interview you had last week. There are a few ignorant morons, but overall people have been reacting positively and supportively.”Pterisa sighed with a smirk. “I never could’ve imagined such things could be before I entered the Maelstrom temple. You can’t imagine how grateful I am for your part in all this. It’s given me a chance at a life I never thought I would have. I thank you so much for this.”Andrew felt himself blush a little and rubbed his neck. “Heh. Well, you’re more than welcome. I've been happy to help so much. You’re a very nice person to socialize with.”Pterisa smiled. “You think so?”“I know so. You’re intelligent, curious about life, and just want to get along with others. All traits that I feel I share to some extent, and enjoy in people I get to know.”The two sat there under the palm tree, looking at each other for another minute or so. Finally, Andrew said; “If it helps, I don’t think you should worry too much about what might happen to the remaining Mutant Dinos. There’ll probably be a few last missions to clear out the remaining hostile ones, but knowing Specs and Digger, they’ll probably find a way to preserve the peaceful ones. There is at least two Dino Islands that I’m sure can accept new neighbors. Or a guy wanting to create his own Jurassic Park.”“That is a little reassuring,” said Pterisa, “knowing that not focusing on my kind will leave them endangered.”“Then I suppose we do have to think now about what’s next. What do you think you want to do now?”Pterisa looked to be in thought for a moment, and then looked back to the island. “I suppose settling down with civilization now is a good option. The people here are very welcoming and fun-loving, there’s so much to see and do, and the atmosphere is unique in a way that I don’t see anywhere else. I suppose there are some troubles around here, mostly from what I've heard about the Brickster, but overall, I couldn’t think of a better place to live, especially with you around.”“Can’t argue with that,” Andrew said, but in his mind, he was feeling a little worried about the last part. “But…”“But what?” Pterisa asked, her face looking quite curious.Andrew looked up at the night sky through the palm tree branches. Even with the light pollution coming from the party, there was still a lovely view of the stars. “Well… I suppose you might’ve heard once or twice, but Laxus and I have been talking about perhaps leaving Earth for a while. Going off to go take a trip around the galaxy or so. Space has always fascinated me, and I’d really like the chance he’s giving me to see the universe up close…” the LEGO Islander sighed, “…but knowing how much you enjoy my presence, given our history… I wouldn't want to leave you behind or anything by heading off planet.”Pterisa was silent. Andrew felt nervousness bottle up inside him, and started to worry about a negative reaction from her. The moments of silence didn't help his tension.Finally, she spoke. “If you were to go with Laxus, does it have to just be the two of you?”“Uh…” Andrew said, taken a bit aback. “Er, no, I don’t think there’s a limit. Laxus has his ways, and if there’s strains, I’m sure Bluetooth or Vinyaya could help out as well.”“Then how about I join you? Hearing what Laxus has told me about the galaxy and how there’s so many strange creatures and odd beings who can live in harmony who wouldn't even give a second glance at my looks, I’m curious about what it’s like out there. I’d be more than willing to follow you along up there.”“Really?” said Andrew, a grin returning to his face, “you want to go to space too?”She nodded.“Well, that’s great to hear! We could travel to places like Mars, Ice Planet 2002, the asteroid colonies, Ninjago, the peaceful parts of Crux’s remains… and return here when we feel tired and miss the zany fun you can’t find anywhere but LEGO Island! It sounds brilliant!”Pterisa smiled, and scooted over closer to Andrew. “It does, doesn't it? And in particular, I think I like the fact we’d be doing it together.”Andrew was a little surprised by this, but in a moment, he shrugged it aside and scooted over himself. “You know what?” He said as he took her hand with his. “I like that idea, too.”The two Minifigs sat there under the tree, looking into each others faces and smiling. Then, a sudden burst of commotion came from the rest of the island, and they looked to see a mass of bricks forming a large, multi-colored, translucent sphere over the Red Power Brick on the top of the Information Center.“That’s our own New Year Ball-Drop tradition,” Andrew explained. “And it may not be extravagant as New York’s, but our own style makes it a bit more superior to it, I think.” He shifted to push himself up, thinking they would head back to the pizzeria but Pterisa put her arm around his shoulders.“Let’s watch it from here,” she said. “This place has a great view. Let’s take advantage of it.”Andrew felt a bit like disagreeing, wanting to be with his friends while shouting out the final countdown, but he realized the moment he would be disrupting. “Sure,” he said, settling back down and putting his own arm around her shoulders.The two leaned together, their heads resting on each others. With smiles, Andrew and Pterisa watched as the crowds began to count down and the ball began to lower down the Center’s antenna.So it was the end. 2010, one of the LEGO Planet’s darkest years, was coming to a close.“Ten…”With Pterisa at his side, Andrew reflected one last time on all that had happened this year. All that had happened between that horrible day in April and the final battle ten days ago.“ Nine…” From partying at Red Greenbase’s house to shivering in the initial refugee facilities in Antarctica… reading about Dino Attack team’s exploits and wanting to join… but never working up the courage until just after the power station fight…“Eight…”So he joined the team, and not too soon, as LEGO Island became their next mission focus. There he met the likes of Semick, Bluetooth, Stranger, Raider, and fought alongside such notable agents & allies like Kat, Sauro-Hunter, B…Then along came a spider, and the island was literally torn out from under his feet… he was reunited with his favorite LEGO car, a Titanic car, but the prize was nothing compared to his despair at the loss of his homeland…“Seven…” But then he met Laxus, and his troubles started to settle as he found a close friend from among the team members. And eventually LEGO Island came back, and he felt strong and happy enough to continue the fight, to help make sure nothing was lost like LEGO Island almost was…“Six…”So off to Adventurers Island, where he wrestled with oddly emerging desires, fighting alongside Rex, Reptile, and Zenna, and met a new close friend: Zachary Virchaus. He bonded with him, saved him from corruption and chaos, and through Mutant Dino swarms and Maelstrom fog, he helped the team overcome darkness and save the planet from an even worse threat than mutant dinosaurs.“Five…”And in the process, he met Pterisa. He helped her get back on her feet when she was most distraught, helped her accept and be accepted as a part of their team, and helped her learn what it was like to live a (relatively) normal life among Minifigs.“Four…” And at last, there was the final battle. He faced an unbelievable horde of mutated monsters, brushed with death so much he should’ve started giving high-fives when he passed, managed to help his team stay motivated and keep up the stand-off, and finally, help with the final procedure that ended the Mutant Dinos’ leader for good, and win back the planet.“Three…”Andrew was now more than a citizen of LEGO Island. He was a Dino Attack Elite Agent, a savior for many of his comrades (like Zorrik, Zach, Pterisa), a combat veteran, and a hero of his world. Life had changed so much for him, and it would ever be the same as it had been. He was going places, for sure.“ Two…”He had allies he would never forget, friends dear to him who would be able to help him see the universe like he had wanted to, and a certain someone he felt would be a happy part of his life for quite some time. He couldn't welcome 2011 in more happier circumstances.“ One…”The ball touched down on the Observation Deck’s roof, and exploded in lights and color as fireworks rocketed out across the island once more. Even over that noise, the voice of LEGO Island rang out in three loud words:“HAPPY NEW YEAR!”“To a new year,” said Andrew to Pterisa, gesturing a toast with an imaginary glass.“And to a new beginning,” Pterisa added, gesturing a toast as well.OOC: I wanted to write a little epilogue part telling about what happens to everyone in my cast, but after realizing I had no real ideas for what exactly they do next, I figured it best just to leave everyone here with the implements left by their conversation and character.So that's that. That's the end of Andrew's story, and the story of his direct companions and comrades. It's been a fun romp, and while I hope this isn't the last I see of any of you guys, I'd say this is where I draw my dino-fighting adventures to a close. I hope you've had fun reading it, as awkward, weirdly-written, and semi-interesting as it is.I've had fun writing all this. I feel we've crafted a great story here, and I'm proud to have played a sizable, 3-year part in it. I thank people like PeabodySam who initially took notice of me browsing the old topic and convincing me at last to join in the fun. I think it's been beneficial to all of us.I'll keep an eye on the topic to see how everyone else ends their stories, and will likely start contributing to the wiki at my own pace to fill in my character biographies (We all know they need some serious patching up), but, unless I feel a real need to comment on anything, this shall be my final post in the Dino Attack RPG.To quote Bea Arthur, "Goodnight, but not goodbye."

[that guy from that show]

OoC:It's been a pleasure playing with you Andrewnuva, during this RPG you've always been a good example and a player to look up to. When I first joined, I respected you and your judgement and for some reason I've seen you as the most influential player among us. You've been a great-role modal for all of us and I'm hope my final posts are as pleasing as yours have been.I'm embarrassed to admit I've been slacking writing my conclusion. I feel like that since this RPG is finishing I should be working harder to get everything wrapped up. You have all nearly finished your epilogues and I have not even begun mine. I imagine that you'll all be waiting for me when this story is in it's final phase. I'm going to work much harder to get my ends tied up. Even if I have to rush I won't allow the end to drag on because of me. Once I finishes my English Paper I will work diligently to complete my obligation to you fine gentleman. Once again, it's been a pleasure writing with you Andrew.PS. it's Dust's birthday on January 1st. He would have turned 34

[Atton Rand]

I'm embarrassed to admit I've been slacking writing my conclusion. I feel like that since this RPG is finishing I should be working harder to get everything wrapped up. You have all nearly finished your epilogues and I have not even begun mine. I imagine that you'll all be waiting for me when this story is in it's final phase.

OOC: That's kinda happening to me as well. There's a part of me that just doesn't want to write the end to my story. To quote Doctor Who "I hate endings".IC: Carrie Enderson limped calmly through the street, her leg wrapped in bandages, she eventually found what she was looking for- the bar, Enderson's. Reconstructed to her surprise. Along the street were numerous buildings in varying degrees of quality. Some were still in ruins, others were surrounded by scaffoldings and workmen trying to collect all the necessary parts and figure out what went where, or in some cases waiting for a replacement for a part they could never find.But the one bar, Enderson's was mostly intact. Some work still needed to be done on the upper floor and the roof, and a couple workmen were busy taking care of that, but the building itself was mostly intact. Obviously, someone had access to a lot of good workers. Then she thought of something, and smiled. Quickly she worked her way through the door, and then she saw a familiar face at the counter, a man she recognized all too well. He was busy wiping a glass before he looked up. "Ah, hello Ms. How can I help yo-"There was a moment of silence as Carrie approached nervously."You alright?" The Bartender asked. Despite the pain in her leg, Carrie was still smiling. "Bart?" She asked.Bartholomew Enderson smiled as he stepped out from behind the counter and ran toward his sister, giving her a big hug.

***

"You okay?" Asked a voice from behind. Sarah quickly turned to see a familiar face, a young woman with shoulder-length hair, and a cross around her neck."No," replied Sarah. "Some 4+ just gave him insanely hot pizza!""There's a hospital down the road!" Shaw said."No way!" Replied Sarah. "YOU ARE NOT BRINGING HIM TO ENTER AND RETURN!""I can do it," Shaw said. "I just need the right equipment."Sarah nodded. Shaw quickly helped her carry Pierce down the street to the hospital. Once there they ran inside. Clickitt was there already. "Hello," he said. "What's wrong?""My husband ate some ludicrously hot pizza," Sarah replied annoyed. "Oh dear," replied Clickitt. "This is serious. ENTER! RETURN! Get in here we need you?""It's alright," replied Shaw. "I can do this. I'm a doctor." She quickly rummaged through her clothes before pulling out a card and handing it to Clickitt."What's this?" Clickitt asked."My medical license," replied Shaw."Medical license?" Clickitt asked. "Whoever heard of something so ridiculous?" He quickly threw it away."You mean you don't have a znapping medical license?" Sarah asked. "How are you qualified to perform medical tasks?""Easy," replied Clickitt. "I just wear this hat."At that moment, the two identical paramedics entered the room."Incoming""Outgoing""Hey that's mine.""No, it's mine!""Since when do you wear that colour?""We have a serious emergency here!" Clickitt shouted. "Pierce here has eaten a super-hot-spicy-tongue-melting-jail-cell-door-opening pizza."The two paramedics immediately grabbed Pierce, dragging him out of Shaw's arms and carrying him away into the next room."Don't worry," Clickitt said. "They'll have it all under control.""I think I should go in there with the-" Shaw was about to say only to be cut off by Clickitt."They'll get their act together. They always do!""Yes, but the methods they us-""You had to watch them, didn't you?" Sarah asked."Yes, Wade had me do that," replied Shaw."Did they do the job?""I don't know," replied Shaw. "I fell asleep. When I woke I couldn't tell if the patient had recovered or not."Sarah rolled her eyes in frustration.

[Jacks]

OOC: So, I would have posted an IC last night, but one of my friends sent me a link to a blog containing a collection of pictures of abandoned places. The time I would've put into posting, I instead spent going like this:...Okay, now I'm done posting memes here. Srsly.PeaSam, have you really no plans to confirm or disprove our ideas as to Ben Gunn's identity?IC: Hotwire would've danced had he been able to. However, missing leg aside, he was now confined to a wheelchair. According to the doctors who'd cared for him after the final battle, he'd put far too much strain on his body by behaving as though the prosthetic was his actual leg. He'd have to learn how to walk all over again, they'd said. And he was doing his best. He'd already been to a physical therapist once, and would be back again in a few days. It was quite laborious, though.As hard as he was trying not to let this bother him, it was casting a slight pall over his perception of the festivities. There wasn't much he could do but just sit around. He watched all the dancers with amusement -- Zach pulling Minerva along with him and both of them laughing, Vinyaya and Bluetooth, Helm and April, who'd just arrived from Antarctica two days prior, and Wright and Shiller swaying close together and occasionally kicking one another in the shins. Hertz and Naomi strolled past arm-in-arm and gave him a friendly wave. He withdrew one hand from the pocket of his hooded sweatshirt and touched the brim of his cap in response.He thought back over the past week to distract himself. It had certainly been a good one, he had to admit. It was wonderful to hang out with Kat, as well as Ben and Lucy, without worrying that the war would take one of them away. The blasted war had already taken his sister and many good friends -- Kotua, Blade, Databoard, possibly even Fullmetal, and now Rex -- and there was no feeling that could compare with the relief that he, and everyone, felt now that the conflict was finally at an end. Cheered, Hotwire smiled. His smile grew when he heard his name called, and turned to see Kat hurrying towards him.Since the twenty-first, Hotwire had become accustomed to seeing his comrades out of uniform, but with Kat, it was always a surprise. For the first time, she was truly a civilian, and she didn't seem sure how to react in terms of dress. Right now, she was wearing an olive green military jacket complete with epaulets and heavy brass buttons, a flowing black skirt that brushed the ground, and what appeared to be Roman-style sandals over striped socks. She'd let her hair down for the party -- literally. It fell to a point just between her shoulder-blades, and she pushed a strand away from her face as she slipped a backpack off her shoulder and dropped it onto the table. "Hey, Davey.""I was wondering where you'd gone," Hotwire responded. "What's with the bag?""Have you seen Zachary?" Kat responded. "He's on quite the rampage.""That's an interesting way of putting it." Hotwire had indeed noticed Zach's handiwork -- Vinyaya and Bluetooth were happily socializing side by side, and Andrew and Pterisa had just strolled off together. Mort and Larson appeared to be almost inseperable as well, though Hotwire wasn't sure whether Zach had anything to do with that. "And I couldn't help but wonder why he decided to spare me.""He probably thinks we're a thing," Kat said with a snicker. She unzipped the backpack and began removing its contents."Oh, right. I keep forgetting about that rumour. What does this have to do with the bag, though?""We're going to beat Zach at his own game," Kat responded. "I've got all the necessary supplies: respirator masks, gloves, phosphorus sesquisulfide gel, and half the toothpicks from the Brickolinis' Pizzeria." She smirked at Hotwire's confused expression. "Basically, we're going to have a go at matchmaking."------------------------The crowd raucously counted down the last moments of 2010. When the ball dropped, Hotwire couldn't help but chuckle as, just in front of him, Wright and Shiller began playfully pummeling one another with light blows -- extra light in Wright's case; Shiller was quickly recovering from his injuries, but still had to take care not to exert himself -- and Kat leaned down next to his wheelchair and muttered, "I say ten seconds until they start tongue-wrestling.""Knowing Ben," Hotwire muttered back, "I give them seven seconds."They laughed and cheered along with the crowd, friends and comrades all, and for the first time, Hotwire found himself not just thinking of the future, but looking forward to it.OOC: Two more ICs to go, and then I am completely freaking done. I'll try to get them both in tomorrow.EDIT: Though given Atton's and that guy's delays, I might very well be able to spread them out a bit more after all.EDIT #2: Why the crud does this forum seem to have a problem with the word "exp<b></b>ression?" >.<EDIT #3: I was thinking about avmatoran's request to post the last IC. My thought at this time is that perhaps the final IC ought to be the latest chronologically. Have any of you got an IC planned that takes place after mid/late March 2011?

Edited October 8, 2012 by Jackson Lake

[avmatoran]

OOC:Yes or no. I'm not quite sure when it is, but I think it should take place in early to mid-spring.IC:It was late evening, December 31st. Dr. Cyborg was wandering around the party, never staying in one place long. He had stopped to participate in a Setroid Prime 2: Echoes multiplayer tournament with some Lego Islanders and Dino Attack agents. The prize was a Wii, four remotes/nunchucks, and a copy of Setroid Prime Trilogy. He now had the prize deposited in the Iron Predator. He had beat everyone, without using his electronic control. He had simply used experience with an arm cannon to win.He remembered his encounter with Bane and Screech.OOC:I'm out of time, I'll edit in the rest later.

Edited October 9, 2012 by avmatoran

[Brikman McStudz]

OOC: Alright, folks. I'm writing my last two ICs consecutively so I have everything in order. I think, for the most part, I'm happy with the penultimate post and still have to write the last one. My biggest problem is that I'm so conflicted on how to end it. I've rewritten these last two post multiple times already, but I think I finally have it down. Hopefully.In the meantime, I'll respond to at least this, since I was meaning to before my post got eaten.

Finally I'll reveal two projects I've been distracted by. The first is my continual effort to cast the dino attack RPG, it's not quite finished and well I'm not happy with some picks I think I nailed some others. After doing a search on the topic I positioned the characters in order of billing.

Alright, now I'll respond to this. I don't have much to say about the character that aren't mine, but I will say that when Robert Pattinson was on the list, I got a real good laugh. It was just so mind-blowingly silly in my head. I'd also say, regardless of your earlier reservations, that Geoffrey Rush should be Greybeard. Barbossa is who I hear as Greybeard, regardless of whether he is a slight expy of him or not. Barbossa is just the epitome of "pirate" to me.On to my characters, I'd probably share my sentiments with PeabodySam and Jackson Lake in that I can't really see most of my characters being played by actors/my characters are rather ordinary looking. I can kind of see Zach being played by Josh Hutcherson based solely on his role as Peeta in The Hunger Games, though obviously he would need to dye his hair red, wear glasses, and be completely over-the-top as a Stromling.Physically, I could see Lily Collins as Minerva. As for playing Minerva's character, I can't say for sure, based on only seeing her in The Blind Side. The only other person I ever thought of (briefly) as Minerva was Emma Stone while watching some movie she was in (either Zombieland or Easy A), but I digress.My opinion on Nazareno/Neeson is obvious (I did pick it). I can't really say much for Elizabeth Mitchell being Holly Vinyaya, being that I've only seen her in The Santa Clause movies and that new JJ Abrams show Revolution.

OOC: I wanted to write a little epilogue part telling about what happens to everyone in my cast, but after realizing I had no real ideas for what exactly they do next, I figured it best just to leave everyone here with the implements left by their conversation and character.So that's that. That's the end of Andrew's story, and the story of his direct companions and comrades. It's been a fun romp, and while I hope this isn't the last I see of any of you guys, I'd say this is where I draw my dino-fighting adventures to a close. I hope you've had fun reading it, as awkward, weirdly-written, and semi-interesting as it is.I've had fun writing all this. I feel we've crafted a great story here, and I'm proud to have played a sizable, 3-year part in it. I thank people like PeabodySam who initially took notice of me browsing the old topic and convincing me at last to join in the fun. I think it's been beneficial to all of us.I'll keep an eye on the topic to see how everyone else ends their stories, and will likely start contributing to the wiki at my own pace to fill in my character biographies (We all know they need some serious patching up), but, unless I feel a real need to comment on anything, this shall be my final post in the Dino Attack RPG.To quote Bea Arthur, "Goodnight, but not goodbye."

Good playing with you, mate; I certainly enjoyed reading your posts. I'll honestly say that out of everyone else, I worked closest with your characters and you in general and see that you and me are alike in many ways. It's been fun and, even with my general silence on the internet as much as I am in real life, hope to keep in communicating.

"We're going to beat Zach at his own game," Kat responded. "I've got all the necessary supplies: respirator masks, gloves, phosphorus sesquisulfide gel, and half the toothpicks from the Brickolinis' Pizzeria." She smirked at Hotwire's confused expression. "Basically, we're going to have a go at matchmaking."

Probably because I first read your post at 3 AM, I had no idea what you were talking about. When I read it twelve hours later in the middle of play practice, I had to stop myself from laughing when I finally realized what you were going on about and how I'm such a moron.

I was thinking about avmatoran's request to post the last IC. My thought at this time is that perhaps the final IC ought to be the latest chronologically. Have any of you got an IC planned that takes place after mid/late March 2011?

Even with my mind changing just about everytime I finish writing out the posts, I pretty sure my posts are set on December 31 and January 1.So there, I did everything I wanted to do. The next time I dare post (unless it's urgent), there will be an IC!

[Atton Rand]

Finally I'll reveal two projects I've been distracted by. The first is my continual effort to cast the dino attack RPG, it's not quite finished and well I'm not happy with some picks I think I nailed some others. After doing a search on the topic I positioned the characters in order of billing.

Alright, now I'll respond to this. I don't have much to say about the character that aren't mine, but I will say that when Robert Pattinson was on the list, I got a real good laugh. It was just so mind-blowingly silly in my head. I'd also say, regardless of your earlier reservations, that Geoffrey Rush should be Greybeard. Barbossa is who I hear as Greybeard, regardless of whether he is a slight expy of him or not. Barbossa is just the epitome of "pirate" to me.On to my characters, I'd probably share my sentiments with PeabodySam and Jackson Lake in that I can't really see most of my characters being played by actors/my characters are rather ordinary looking. I can kind of see Zach being played by Josh Hutcherson based solely on his role as Peeta in The Hunger Games, though obviously he would need to dye his hair red, wear glasses, and be completely over-the-top as a Stromling.

OOC: Actually, in regards to this, I did have one other idea for casting. Sarah Bishop was never really intended as an expy (even if she does have some similarities to a certain other fictitious mother in an Apocalyptic Scenario), but for some reason Linda Hamilton (Sarah Conner) occurs to me as a good choice to play Sarah Bishop.

[PeabodySam]

OOC: Anything that can be said about the incident with Papa Brickolini and Nick Brick has already been said and better than I could have said myself. Heck, when you think about it, Jacks, Andrewnuva, and Brikman captured the ethos (catching that I never actually said that the super-spicy-tongue-melting-jail-cell-door-opening-hot pizza was a Brickolinis' pizza), pathos (the emotional bond long-time LEGO Island fans have to these characters), and logos (using facts from LEGO Island canon to point out other flaws and inconsistencies), respectively, so all grounds of literary analysis were covered. I'm just glad that this is out of the way and we can resume our celebration.

but is as strong as Pepper and Luna Rom over here.

PepperxLuna is canon in this timeline?!

Blame PeabodySam. He's a bit more believing in it, plus he doesn't feel Sky Lane could make it back to the island in time for the party due to the timing of the LEGO Universe "Return to the Venture Explorer" mission.

To elaborate, while Pepper and Luna obviously shared a close partnership in the LEGO Island Comic Adventures, in hindsight I never really got that same impression from Pepper and Sky. They were friends, sure, but during Island Xtreme Stunts, Sky and Pepper were also hanging out with Snap Lockitt, so it wasn't so much a dynamic duo as it was a power trio. And, from what I hear, in the Island Xtreme Stunts game, Sky Lane is basically treated on the same level as all other LEGO Island citizens.To be fair, while I do personally believe that Pepper and Sky share a close bond, I didn't think it was so strong that Sky Lane absolutely needed to catch the next 10-day-express-flight spaceship back home just to reunite with Pepper. And even if it was... well, considering that Johnny Thunder's appearances in April had to be retconned so that he could believably be in Nimbus System by October and that Sky Lane was involved in the return to the Venture Explorer in early December, it didn't seem (gasp!) realistic enough for such a 10-day-express-flight spaceship to exist. At least, not without Wenn Wuzzit's help, but he didn't build his Time Twister until the following February... but then again, it's a Time Twister, so once built, it could potentially exist at any time... argh, this is why I hate Timey Wimey Balls!

OOC: I wanted to write a little epilogue part telling about what happens to everyone in my cast, but after realizing I had no real ideas for what exactly they do next, I figured it best just to leave everyone here with the implements left by their conversation and character.So that's that. That's the end of Andrew's story, and the story of his direct companions and comrades. It's been a fun romp, and while I hope this isn't the last I see of any of you guys, I'd say this is where I draw my dino-fighting adventures to a close. I hope you've had fun reading it, as awkward, weirdly-written, and semi-interesting as it is.I've had fun writing all this. I feel we've crafted a great story here, and I'm proud to have played a sizable, 3-year part in it. I thank people like PeabodySam who initially took notice of me browsing the old topic and convincing me at last to join in the fun. I think it's been beneficial to all of us.I'll keep an eye on the topic to see how everyone else ends their stories, and will likely start contributing to the wiki at my own pace to fill in my character biographies (We all know they need some serious patching up), but, unless I feel a real need to comment on anything, this shall be my final post in the Dino Attack RPG.To quote Bea Arthur, "Goodnight, but not goodbye."

*raises glass*It's truly been a pleasure working with you, Andrewnuva. I'm really going to miss writing Dino Attack RPG with all you guys. And if you see me on BZPower, Steam, or that-site-which-must-not-be-named, don't be a stranger and feel free to say "Hi!"

PeaSam, have you really no plans to confirm or disprove our ideas as to Ben Gunn's identity?

I tried to come up with a response to this question, but found myself in a strange position where, no matter how hard I tried, I could not put it into words. But, seeing as you have pointed out that, occasionally, memetic images can universally represent that which we cannot put into words, I think there's one particular meme image that best suits my response:Seriously, though, I'm still debating whether or not I'll reveal Ben Gunn's identity. The two big questions are "how?" and "when?"IC: Frozeen sat with Shannon Grimton, Greybeard, Mary Rose, and Sam Throramebi, glad that he was able to find a group of familiar faces in the massive crowd of people that had gathered in the LEGO City park. Frozeen knew that, very soon, he had a party to attend at LEGO Island, where he was supposed to make an honorary appearance for being a LEGO Island citizen who participated in the war against the Mutant Dinos. While he was not exceptionally fond of parties, a party at LEGO Island was never something that he wanted to miss out on.The entire crowd of people attending tonight's event was gathered around the newly-built open-air theater. The famed Lorin Nelson Orchestra was all set up and ready to perform, but first, there were a few speeches that needed to be delivered. Mayor Frictionfit delivered his own speech, which he erroneously referred to as "short and sweet" when in actuality it was long and dull, and then invited four figures onto the stage. Three of them, Frozeen immediately recognized as Shadow, Digger, and Viper."Who be that?" Greybeard had inquired when they were brought onstage, gesturing to the fourth Minifig. "I ne'er seen th' likes o' him while working fer Dino Attack Team, says I."Frozeen did not recognize the fourth Minifig either, but when he saw Shadow, Digger, and Viper, he quickly calculated the Minifig's identity. And when he made his way to the podium and spoke into the microphone, Frozeen's calculations were proven correct."Shiver me timbers!" whispered Greybeard. "I don't believe it - that be Specs?""Sure looks different when he's not wearing that balaclava, huh?" murmured Frozeen.For most of Dino Attack Team and its allies, Specs was a mysterious figure whose very identity seemed forever bound to that mask he always wore. Now that the war was over and he had to make a public appearance, Specs apparently saw fit to taking off his famous balaclava. To his fellow Dino Attack agents, it was almost as though everything they knew about Specs was changed just by finally seeing his face for the first time. But to someone like Frozeen, who was used to looking at things from an analytical point of view, he could hyper-focus on Specs's eyes, see the same qualities and strengths of a powerful leader who would never give up, and know that it was the same person after all.Specs's speech was a crowning moment of awesome and heartwarming, combining all the greatest elements of every speech delivered by himself, Semick, Greybeard, and other notable motivational speakers of the Dino Attack. He briefly summarized the struggles faced by Dino Attack Team over the course of the war. He commended the entire Dino Attack Team for such bravery and honor displayed throughout the course of the agents' service. He gave thanks to Dino Attack Team's allies across the globe; not just Alpha Team and Agents Defense Organization, which helped in battle, but also to sponsors such as Octan which gladly supplied Dino Attack Team's vehicles with precious fuel.Specs even gave thanks to the allied villains: Evil Ogel, Lord Sam Sinister von Barron, the Brickster, and Lord Vladek. However, only three of the villains showed up at the ceremony. The Brickster and Lord Vladek were both basking in their glory, which Frozeen imagined would probably be the first time they ever received such recognition from anyone aside from their own minions, and Lord Sinister proudly announced that, next year, he was going on an expedition to Egypt, where he would go on a quest to recover the legendary golden treasures of Pharaoh Amset-Ra."Should someone break the news to him that Archibald Hale and his team beat him to it by 87 years?" Shannon whispered to Frozeen.Amused, Frozeen shook his head. "Nah. He'll figure it out on his own... eventually."Although Lord Sinister's ignorance concerning the status of Amset-Ra's treasures lightened the mood, Frozeen was secretly concerned about the lack of appearance by Evil Ogel. Reports had shown that Evil Ogel was somehow killed three times by Dr. Rex over the course of the final battle. However, every Skeleton Drone claimed that Evil Ogel was, somehow, still alive. Alpha Team scouts had reported that, mere minutes before the Galactic Council's quarantine on LEGO Planet was ended, a red-and-black rocket launched from the Ogel Control Center on Ogel's Island. The Space Police were unable to track the rocket, but its course appeared to be set for Nimbus System. Frozeen shuddered to imagine what undecipherable plans lied behind Ogel's helmet... what dreams of power and control could possibly involve Nexus Force... or the Maelstrom.After the three villains had spoken their input, Specs resumed his speech and devoted a moment of silence in memory of all those who had fallen during the Dino Attack. Frozeen thought of Rex, Amanda, PBB, the alpha female T-Rex, Libo, General, and, of course, Kotua and Databoard... although neither were confirmed to be killed in action, there was still no word from either of Frozeen's close Mission Deep Freeze friends. After Specs wrapped up his speech with a grand conclusion, the audience erupted into applause for Dino Attack Team's leader."Huh," grunted Greybeard. "What hogwash. A moment o' silence? That be it? That be all th' due t' th' dead that he be payin'? What better time t' honor th' sacrifice o' those like Rex, an' instead he does not even say Rex's name!""You do realize how many Dino Attack agents died during this war," murmured Frozeen. "It would be impractical to list them all, here and now, or else we'd be here all night long.""Peter's right," added Shannon. "Besides, even as we speak, there's a memorial being built that will have the names of every Dino Attack agent who died engraved in stone for all to see. Don't worry; the name Rex Alexander will not be forgotten."Shadow, Digger, and Viper gave their own speeches; while they were all well-written and excellently-delivered, none of them held a candle to what Specs had to say. It was likely that they knew what their audience wanted to get to, and they were not going to stall for much longer, for once the speeches were finished, Mayor Frictionfit handed it over to the famous Lorin Nelson Orchestra.The Lorin Nelson Orchestra performed old classics like "Sunny Hill Park" and "Baroque in Brick", and Frozeen relished at the sound of the latter's clarinet solo. The audience was in for a great surprise when Annie Wallis herself showed up to perform her famous song, "Think I'm Gonna Build Me a Bridge Today". One can only imagine how wildly the audience cheered when "Brick Barrel Polka - Baja On The Bayouu" started playing.But the highlight of the night was definitely the final piece performed by the Lorin Nelson Orchestra: the "2010 Overture". According to rumors Frozeen had heard, Lorin Nelson himself had been writing the song over the course of the entire Dino Attack, with the orchestra named after him learning it bit by bit, and he had not finished until he was struck by great inspiration while listening to J. Theano covering Dino Attack Team's exploits during the final battle on December 21. If this story was true, then the Lorin Nelson Orchestra certainly did not show that they had only a few days to practice the finished piece, for what they performed was one of the greatest orchestral performances Frozeen had ever heard.As someone who had seen the entire history of the Dino Attack with his own eyes, Frozeen was surprised by how well the "2010 Overture" served as an overture for the Dino Attack. It began slow and dark, even a little sinister, but then a more patriotic motif that seemed to represent the Dino Attack Team was introduced. From there, there were fierce and intense bursts of orchestral hits representing the battle against the Dino Attack; a rather adventurous-sounding section that sounded like it could cover the Adventurers' Island mission; there was even one part where Frozeen swore that he could recognize Lorin Nelson quoting some of his earlier works, such as "The Jail", and it most certainly had to represent the LEGO Island mission. At the end, the song painted a picture where it seemed that evil had triumphed and all hope was lost, but then the Dino Attack Team's motif returned in full force to conquer evil and save the day in the greatest orchestral climax Frozeen had ever heard, backed spectacularly by a full fireworks display over the LEGO City bay. When the "2010 Overture" ended, the audience erupted into so much noise, Frozeen thought he would go deaf.The "2010 Overture", and the events and people that inspired it, would go down in history. Feeling a tear come to his eye, Frozeen was just happy that he could have been a part of it all.

[that guy from that show]

OOC: Two more ICs to go, and then I am completely freaking done. I'll try to get them both in tomorrow.EDIT: Though given Atton's and that guy's delays, I might very well be able to spread them out a bit more after all.EDIT #2: Why the crud does this forum seem to have a problem with the word "expression?" >.<EDIT #3: I was thinking about avmatoran's request to post the last IC. My thought at this time is that perhaps the final IC ought to be the latest chronologically. Have any of you got an IC planned that takes place after mid/late March 2011?

Pharisee's epilogue is going to happens at least 3 months after the events of December 21st. Hertz and Solomon's will also be around then. I was thinking April but the date is irreverent. If March is more convenient for you guys it won't effect the story if I change it.I'm so sorry for the delay guys. Right now, Pharisee's epilogue is around 4000 words now so it would explain the lengths I've taken writing it. I don't intend my other epilogues to be near that long. It will probably be posted relatively soon (I've been saying that for weeks now).No one is in a hurry right?

[avmatoran]

OOC:Not really. I'm taking my time planning my stuff. I don't want the last impression I leave on you fine folks to be a bad one!I'll continue the previous IC later tonight or tomorrow.

[Atton Rand]

OOC: The strange thing is that this RPG's actually given me a few ideas for some independent works. I've considered retooling the whole Trigger/Silencia story into an original Usual Suspects-eque screenplay.The concept I have so far is it would begin with a bride being brutally murdered on her wedding day. The two seemingly small-time thugs are arrested for the crime. During their questioning, they begin to tell the story of their work for a major corporation, and a series of events that lead to the deaths of five of their partners, along with two major corporation heads, and number of innocent bystanders. However, there is a twist, and since I can't find the spoiler tags I'll have to write this one in the open, so skip this paragraph if you don't want to find out what happens. In the end, the two thugs (Trigger and Montoya, basically, though they'll probably have different names) are released on bail. They get out of the police station, walk away, and a getaway car approaches driven by Debbie (Montoya's girlfriend/wife). Just as it seems that they've gotten away, Montoya suddenly pulls out a handgun and shoots Trigger dead. He then gets in the car with Debbie, who drives away- the implication being that the seemingly morally grounded Montoya is in fact the real Silencia Venemosa, and his seemingly innocent girlfriend is in fact an accomplice.I've also thought up two possible fanfics based off this RPG. The first is a concept for a TF2 fanfic. In this story, Pyro would finally be unmasked, and would be revealed to be the most beautiful woman in the world- but that is counterbalanced by her possibly incurable and ridiculously ludicrously extreme insanity, much of the plot would be the way the characters play off of each other, shifting between the real world and Pyro's fantasy.The other idea was for a LEGO Island-based fic. This one would see a health and safety inspector come to the island. Hilarity ensues as he gradually discovers the many problems with the island's services (Enter and Return's methods, the Brickster being kept in an isolated cell on an inlet instead of under twenty-four-hour surveillance in the police station or being moved off the island to a maximum security prison specifically designed to hold prisoners nasty enough to warrant life sentences, not to mention that whenever he breaks out, the police rely on a kid to save the day, etc.), eventually forcing him to close the entire island.I'll probably write some more stuff on LEGO Island later. I was considering writing one last encounter between Snake and Plastic Serpent, where Solid Snake finally gets his due for everything he stole from Snake Plissken. I'd also thought about maybe writing some stuff with Dude going bowling somehow (maybe the Infomaniac decided the island needed a bowling alley). Oh, and of course a bit more of Rotor and Cabin. I'd also thought about maybe having Scott run around reporting on the party, but that might be a bit of a stretch.

[Jacks]

OOC: I've been trying to think of ways to write more with my characters as well. I briefly considered making a novella out of the road trip Hotwire and Shiller took in 2004, but it's really not that interesting. It would be nice to be able to work with Hotwire and Kat more as well, but they kinda resist being transported to other media. I dunno.And I think you've abused Plastic Serpent quite enough. I recommend an encounter between DA Agent Snake and Snake Plissken in which Agent Snake finally gets his due for being an expy :PReturning to the question of 'who posts last,' after thinking some more, I'm not sure chronology would be the best way to go after all. My epilogue is only significant for my own characters. I'm now thinking that the final IC should actually have something to do with the Dino Attack itself in some way.Maybe, then, it should fall to PeaSam, but he's already wrapped up all his stories.Maybe we should just stop worrying about who gets the last post and just write our dang ICs.

I tried to come up with a response to this question, but found myself in a strange position where, no matter how hard I tried, I could not put it into words. But, seeing as you have pointed out that, occasionally, memetic images can universally represent that which we cannot put into words, I think there's one particular meme image that best suits my response:Seriously, though, I'm still debating whether or not I'll reveal Ben Gunn's identity. The two big questions are "how?" and "when?"

Well, you could always do something like HTTYML. It wouldn't be out of place -- I for one have a scene from Hotwire's and Shiller's teenage years, as well as some very...interesting details about ShadowTech that I plan to reveal on the Wiki.This next IC contains what is possibly the most obscure continuity nod I have ever attempted. IC: New Year's Day, 2011There was a foggy gray light seeping through the windows when Dave O'Neal awoke suddenly. He sat up and glanced at the clock on the wall -- 7:30 AM. Lying back down on the couch, he attempted to relax again.It had been an interesting night. As the party began to wind down around 3, he and Kat had caught the attention of a peculiar fellow who introduced himself as Ben Baseplate, and explained that he'd noticed that Dave was wheelchair-bound, and it just so happened that he'd replaced his front porch with a boarding ramp two years back because wasn't that just the coolest thing ever, and would they like to crash in his living room? That was how Dave now found himself on a sofa in an unfamiliar house. It was then that his observational faculties finally cut through the blur of fatigue, and he realized that the other couch was empty. Not only was Kat gone, but all the possessions she'd had with her the previous night had been removed as well.Dave heard a car door slam outside and sat up again, this time with a sinking feeling in his gut. He hauled himself to his foot and, with something between a hop and a shuffle, ended up in his wheelchair, then rolled to the front door as fast as his tired arms could propel him, kicked it open with barely a stop, and coasted down Mr. Baseplate's prized boarding ramp to the sidewalk, where Kat had just tossed her backpack into a taxi and was in the process of getting in herself. She stopped when she saw him. They stood and sat silently for a few moments, unsure what to say. It was Kat who first broke the silence."Look, I'm...I'm sorry...""Is it because of all the rumours?""No, it...well..." Kat sighed. "I had a long talk with Katerina last night, and there are some...things I have to do.""What things?""You won't like it, I think.""Is that why you're sneaking off like this?" Dave asked, more confusion in his tone than accusation."Look, you know how many times Katerina cheated death, right? And Loop? And me, for that matter?" She sighed again. "It would be absurd to think that Cane didn't have a contingency plan of some sort."Dave's eyes widened. "You're leaving all of us to chase after a guy who might or might not still be alive?" She nodded. "And I can't at least come along? That's assuming it's even necessary for you to go.""I couldn't ask you to come, nor could I let you even if I wanted to. You're stuck in a wheelchair, just starting out a physical therapy program -- your first priority right now should be yourself.""I could say the same thing to you! This is the first chance you have to live something like a normal life, and you're dashing off on some quest to--""This is for me, though. Even if I could live with the possibility that Cane is still on the loose, Katerina can't, and if she and I can't reach an understanding, there's no way in MEGABLOKLand I'd ever be able to live this 'normal life' you speak of. She's still up here," Kat said, gestering at her head. "And he's still out there." She waved her other arm at the rest of the world. "Given that, there's no way I can just stay put. I'm sorry."Understanding began to grow in Dave's eyes "Please..." he said quietly, "don't die or anything."She smiled faintly. "Oh, don't worry. I'll be fine." She pulled the taxi door open again. "You'll hear from me again soon. I'll send you telegrams or something. Oh, and a birthday card." Kat ducked into the taxi and began to close the door, but hesitated, stepped back out, walked back over to Dave's wheelchair, and ruffled his hair.And then she kissed him.It couldn't really be described as a romantic gesture. She simply leaned down and pecked him on the nose so quickly he was left unsure whether he'd just imagined it, and wondering why he'd imagine such a thing to begin with.Then Kat climbed back into the taxi and rolled out of his life, with the morning fog swirling after her. Edited October 10, 2012 by Jackson Lake

[avmatoran]

OOC:Well, it looks like everyone is finishing their story. I'm being lazy and dragging out mine for two reasons: One, I want to make it great. Two, I don't want this to end yet :(This comes right after my previous IC.IC:He remembered his most recent meeting with Bane and Screech. He had found them giving rides to people from Lego Island and the Dino Attack Team. He had been okay with that, until he found what they were charging....Flashback"Twenty dollars!!! You're charging them twenty dollars a ride! That is nowhere near a fair price! That is simply thievery!" he had exclaimed in surprise and anger."But sir, we had a good reason for the price," Screech told him."Really. Do tell," Dr. Cyborg said, his voice dripping with sarcasm."We need to save money for the future," she replied. Bane was wisely staying out of this, knowing better than Screech not to antagonize Dr. Cyborg, even though she knew Dr. Cyborg for longer."And why would that be?""We, ah, revealed we like each other. So, we need money to build some sort of residence and to raise little Mutant Dinos of........some breed, we're not sure what would happen with our genetics. Basically, we need money," Screech told Dr. Cyborg.End FlashbackDr. Cyborg smiled and shook his head. He still couldn't believe they liked each other. They had also asked to come with him wherever he went. He told them they could. He still needed to talk to Solomon in private to iron out the details of the departure.OOC:Yeah, I think my last post will be the last chronologically.On another note, I set up an email account for communication with you fine fellows: avmatoran@gmail.com

Edited October 10, 2012 by avmatoran

[Brikman McStudz]

OOC: Well, folks. With this post, it means I have concluded writing my ICs. This is my penultimate and sometime later (possibly tomorrow, possibly in a few days), the final IC will go on. As I finished typing it up, I admittedly had some chills go down my spine, knowing that I was done writing the story of my characters.I like the reference to the Ogel NPC that never appeared in LEGO Universe, btw.IC:Zach dipped Minerva’s head low enough that her hair brushed against the ground, both laughing giddily. The New Years ball then exploded upon touching the Information Center’s central tower. Deafened by explosive cheers, chants, laughter, and kabooms beckoning the new year and blinded by the literally explosive fireworks erupting from the ball, Zach leaned in and kissed Minerva for several long, wonderful seconds. As they pulled themselves back on to their feet, Minerva laughed again, her face bright red.“I guess dancing isn’t so bad,” Minerva mumbled loud enough for Zach to hear over everyone else, clearly embarrassed. “And I think I’m getting better.” After Andrew and Pterisa had left their group, Minerva had been the one to pull him into another dance for the last few minutes of 2010.“Yeah,” Zach said, rubbing his chin. “I think you only stepped on my feet three times now.”“Heh, yeah. Sorry.” Minerva said with a sly grin. Her face seemed to turn a brighter shade of red as she pushed her lips into his again. Surprised but not extremely upset, Zach returned the gesture for several seconds. “Maybe sometime again tonight?”“Rather sudden change of heart on dancing,” Zach said as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek.“I’m just...happy, I suppose,” Minerva stated simply, looking at him with a more curious smile. She seemed unable to find the words to properly describe her feelings. “Really happy.” She kissed him again. Her cheeks were extremely warm and she seemed intent on staying in this position forever. Not that Zach had too much issue with it.“Alright, you two,” Vinyaya said sternly. Zach and Minerva broke away from their embrace and turned toward the Space Police commander sitting at the Pizzeria, whose own face was bright red with a sort of crooked smile on it. Beside her, Bluetooth’s face was red as well, a look of happy surprise on his face. Zelda and Laxus were grinning from across the table. Zach and Minerva quickly realized what had happened and high-fived, laughing as they went to rejoin their companions.***********************2010 was finally over. One of the most interesting, dramatic, and horrific years in the history of the LEGO Planet. If Zach was to boost the planet’s ego, he could even extended the declaration to the entire LEGO Universe. Friends and enemies alike had joined forces to save their home from destruction. It had been a long haul with the loss of many of place, property, friend, and family, but they had done it. They had won.Tonight managed to make those eight months worth it to him. A massive, island-wide party filled with not only old friends and neighbors but new friends and allies that Zach had met and interacted with in the last months from the Agents to the Dino Attack Team. It felt wonderful to be with them all again one last time, even if they never directly spoke to each other.It was pushing one o’clock and the island still showed no signs of halting their party. Zach had relocated to the beach with Minerva, Holly, Zelda, Andrew, Ryan, Laxus, and Pterisa. Based on how Andrew and Pterisa were sitting with each other, Zach decided not to interrogate them for the full details. He only to smile knowing that both Andrew and Pterisa were happy and he had been correct. I think I’m done with the ‘real-life’ shipping for awhile. The only people who I think should probably still get together are Hotwire and Kat, provided they aren’t already together. And that might be overstepping my boundaries, considering I’m not particularly close to them. So they had resolved to simply sit on the beach in talk. It was simply yet happy occasion. They shared some laughs and stories and overall had a good time. Minerva leaned against Zach’s torso, holding Zach’s new pony toy with mild amusement in her eyes. It was far from the only gift he had received this evening, including a new MP3 player, a set of bricks, a free fuel card to the gas station, and a Brickster-Bot head (you could guess who the last one came from). However, Pinkie Pie the pony from Luna Rom seemed to be getting the most use.“It’s kind of cute,” Minerva said with a chuckle as she mocked galloped Pinkie Pie across Zach’s leg. “I used to have a yellow one with long pink hair when I was younger. I thought these things were the greatest.”“Then maybe we’ll watch that show Laxus was talking about,” Zach said with an amused shrug. “Relieve your lost childhood or something.” He grimaced as Minerva landed a sharp jab on his stomach.“Don’t try and act like a big tough guy,” Minerva said with a faint grin. “I’ve gotten to know you enough these last few weeks that you aren’t. You’ll probably like the show.”“How manly someone is doesn’t really decide whether they like a show, regardless if the subject matter,” Zach stated as he playful jabbed Minerva’s sides, causing her to jump. “I’ll give the show a chance, I suppose.”“Good.” Minerva turned her head to Zelda, Vinyaya, and Bluetooth, who were chatting about something related to space travel. “So what’s the plan tomorrow? Or later today, I suppose? How long are you guys staying on the island?”“We’ll discuss it later. When it’s daylight again,” Vinyaya said with a smile.“Unless we’re all still awake by then,” Zelda added in quickly. “Then we’ll probably take a nap.”Zach chuckled. “I suppose I’ll count on a discussion at breakfast or lunch.” Vinyaya and Zelda nodded. They sat there for several more minutes chatting with the group until the upbeat “Happy Roaming” faded into a simple and slow piano piece by Mama Brickolini. Zach felt himself almost begin to drift to sleep before Minerva suddenly stood up and grabbed his hand and slowly pulled him up.“Just one more quick dance?” Minerva said, an awkward smile forming on her face.Zach shrugged. After the first dance he had with Minerva, he had managed to convince Holly and Zelda to dance with him as friends. After a heavy amount of insulting his dancing skills, he was just about tired of dancing. He was willing to go one more time for Minerva. “Might as well.” They both climbed out from the beach and stepped onto the road. The party had quieted down significantly. Fewer couples danced slowly on the street, among them Marco Martinet and Rosalie Mercedes. Zach wrapped his arms around Minerva’s waist while she draped her arms over his shoulders and they slowly swayed to the music.Minerva looked at him with warm eyes and shuffled herself closer to him. He looked down at himself and her. While the Dino Attack uniforms had a certain cosmetic appeal, he was certainly happy to be back in casual clothes. He himself was wearing dark colored jeans and a pale blue shirt with a black vest over it. Minerva was in jeans as well with a half zipped red jacket over a white T-shirt. Zach sighed quietly, content. “So, you really like LEGO Island?” he asked.Minerva showed a small smile. “It’s over-the-top and crazy in every sense of the word. But I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Compared to a few days ago, the good kind of insanity here is just what I need. This is my home now.”A chuckle escaped from Zach’s lips as he pulled Minerva closer to him. “I’m glad to hear that.” He paused before continuing, “I suppose that’s why you’re in such a good mood.” Minerva smirked, but nodded.They swayed to the music in silence, Zach resting his head upon Minerva’s chest for a bit. Then Minerva spoke up again. “Your hair gotten really long.”Zach lifted his head and gave her a curious smile before she tugged at the hair that curled at the back of his neck. He hadn’t looked particularly close at his hair in a few days. “I suppose it has. Considering its only been two weeks or so since I last cut it, that’s impressive. It doesn’t grow particularly fast normally.”“And you’re growing a bit of a goatee,” she said, running a careful finger down from his lower lip to his chin, before plucking a single hair from his chin, causing him to flinch and her to giggle in amusement. “It’s kind of cute. Until the whole whole beard from earlier comes back in. Then its just sort of...eh?”“Is my hair purple too?”She ducked his head down and looked at the top of his hair for a brief second. “Just a little. You need to color again.”“Great,” Zach said with a hint of annoyance. Trying to figure out how to dye his hair the last time in Dino Attack Headquarters had been a pain and had hoped to have more time before he had to do it.“I can help you dye it back,” Minerva said with a grin. “I think your Maelstrom experiences is making your hair grow extra fast.”“Either that or my body is aging quicker than it should because of the Maelstrom,” Zach said with slight shudder as he remembered watching Rex’s final moments. Minerva gave him a look of concern. “If that is the case, I’ll flush the remaining Maelstrom out of my body in a heartbeat. My Creative Spark is powerful enough and my body has a level of immunity to it. Hopefully rapid hair growth is just a side effect of becoming a Minifig again.”“Hopefully. Speaking of which, I was meaning to ask you something.”“Shoot.”“I know you said you were going to hang out around here for awhile. I’m all for that. But what do you plan to do later? For some reason, I can’t see you just hanging around for ever.”Zach paused to think. He remembered Raine Dashworthy’s offer about rejoining the Agents. While it seemed like a good deal, it wasn’t something he had real interest in now, especially after his own personal experiences. No, what he wanted to do was bigger than the Agents. Bigger than the LEGO Planet.“I was thinking of joining the Nexus Force,” he said finally. “It makes sense to me, seeing as how personally invested I’ve sort of become in fighting the Maelstrom. I know what’s its like to be a Stromling. I have half an idea what Baron Typhonus still want to do to the universe. After suffering through that, I want to stop it from happening to anyone else.”Minerva nodded in quiet understanding. Zach continued. “I’ve been...mulling over it the past couple of days. If I were to get accepted, I would join Paradox.” He briefly remembered the offer Carolyne Provencal and Michelle Glados had made him in the Maelstrom Temple. “I’d probably let their scientists get a look at me because, as far as I know, I’m one of two Minifigs that have ever been a Stromling and been able to return to a normal, functioning Minifig. And after that, I’m going to do whatever I can to stop the Maelstrom and the Darkitect.” Zach paused again. Minerva didn’t say anything. “I want you -”“I’m coming along,” Minerva snapped quickly. “I don’t know if I’ll join Paradox, but we’re going to join together. I want to defeat the Darkitect once and for all just like you. For what he did to you, Zelda, J.D., Mom, Oswald, and more.” Zach remembered hearing about Minerva and Holly’s brief confrontation with Dr. Rex and Baron Typhonus during the battle. “Besides, after your last big experience with the Maelstrom, do you think I’m going to let you run off to the Nimbus System by yourself?”Zach laughed. “I fully expected you to come along. I just wanted to make sure. If there’s anyone I’d want to be by my side fighting the Maelstrom, it’s you.” He pecked her cheek and rested his forehead against hers. “Thanks for being there these last few weeks. For saving my life multiple times. For being a great friend.”Minerva’s cheeks brightened under the dimmed lights that were scattered around the island. “I suppose I could say the same to you. I’m glad you were there to help me through what happened with my family. You being there has made it a lot easier to deal with. And thank you for offering a chance to start over and give me a new home.”They both moved lightly, their heads staying close and not saying a word. Finally, as the song came to an end, they pulled their heads away briefly, only to return with a long kiss. They pulled away finally and looked at each with smiles on their faces.***************Holly Vinyaya smiled as she chatted with Ryan Radcliff and Zelda Frodongan about nothing in particular as they watched Zachary and Minerva dance. For the first time in a real long time (since even before she got involved with the Dino Attack), she was at complete peace. Complete relaxation. She’d decided as she snuggled close to Ryan that she would have to take vacations more often when she returned to space.Minerva suddenly broke away from Zach and jogged quickly back to the beach and picked up the plush pony. Vinyaya decided to speak up out of curiosity. “What are you doing?”Minerva’s cheeks brightened. “Zach was going to show me something cool in the Residential Area. An easter egg left when the Infomaniac last redesigned the island, I guess.” Her voice never skipped a beat. Vinyaya raised an eyebrow and looked past Minerva to Zach. He remained in the street and gave Minerva a look of confusion.“Um, okay?” Vinyaya said, looking from Minerva to Zach repeatedly.“We’ll be back later,” Minerva continued, smiling awkwardly before turning and jogging back to Zach. Vinyaya smiled slyly in sudden realization as Minerva gripped Zach’s wrist and started walking with a brisk pace toward the Residential Area. Zelda shuffled toward Vinyaya and leaned in close.“Told you,” Zelda muttered in a matter-of-fact tone, grinning smugly as she watched Minerva and Zach’s retreating backs.Vinyaya closed her eye and smiled. “It seems pretty likely. What’s the payment again?”“I think paying for whatever we’re eating tomorrow should suffice.”“Sounds good to me.”

Edited October 12, 2012 by Brikman McStudz

[Atton Rand]

IC: "YEAH!" Walter shouted as he rolled a solid strike on that bowling alley that the Infomaniac decided to build on LEGO Island. "Man, I tell you. This bowling alley was a great idea.""I know," replied Donnie."Yeah man," replied Dude. "Isn't this like, you answer to everything?""Yes," replied Walter."You went bowling in the middle of a znapping dinosaur apocalypse, man!""So?" Replied Walter."You could have gotten yourself killed!""That is not a problem," replied Walter. "There is nothing to worry about. There is not a znapping thing to worry abo- OVER THE LINE!""Hey, calm down buddy," replied the man, a dark-haired fellow with sunglasses and a blue mechanic's uniform. "I'm just trying to relax.""You're over the line buddy. It's a foul.""Calm down man," replied Dude. "So what, Nubby Stevens put one toe over the line. So what?""Yeah," replied Nubby, walking over toward the notepad that served as a scorecard- they obviously hadn't yet gotten around to installing electronic systems. "I'm marking this one down as an eight.""Hey," replied Walter. "You're entering a world of pain." He quickly reached into his bag and pulled out his handgun, and promptly aimed it at Nubby. "MARK IT ZERO!""I'm marking it eight." Replied Nubby."YOU THINK I'M ZNAPPING AROUND HERE!" Walter said, cocking his handgun. "MARK IT ZERO!""Walter, they're calling the cops," replied Dude."Calm down, buddy," replied Nubby. "Alright, I'm marking it as zero."Walter slowly lowered his gun. "That's better," he said.

***

Kate Bishop stood alone watching a group of dancers near the pizzeria's jukebox. Someone had swapped out the usual tunes, and instead replaced them with some Kate Bush, which a number of people were busy dancing to the awesome tune of "Running Up that Hill."Lance Williams was among those dancers. He was clearly drunk, probably having had a couple beers, possibly also mixed with some drugs of some kind. She couldn't quite pin down which. Papa Brickolini walked up to her with a tray containing a few slices of pizza. "A-would-you-a-like some pizza?" He said. Kate nodded, reaching for the tray and picked up one slice, and took a small bite out of it. She took a moment to chew, almost as if she enjoyed the taste, and then started gagging. "You alright?" Papa Brickolini asked. Kate nodded. "I go get Enter and Return!"Within a few minutes, Kate was on her knees, coughing up the small bit of pizza she'd already eaten before wiping her mouth. "This is the worst pizza I've ever had!" She shouted after taking a moment to catch her breath."Oh mama mia!" Replied Papa Brickolini. "You're the second person to say that here!"Kate slowly got to her feet in embarrassment.

[avmatoran]

IC:As the big ball hit the top of the Information center, Dr. Cyborg sat against a tree and smiled. It was 2011, a new year. The smile was not completely sincere, though. He was alone. He had nobody to talk to. Everybody was with their friends, but he had nobody that seemed to consider him a true friend. He supposed that it was subconciously because he was a cyborg. Everyone claimed they had no prejudice, but experience claimed otherwise. The ball started to light up as colored lights shone into it. Dr. Cyborg sighed, and mouthed "Happy New Year."

[Brikman McStudz]

IC:He hated it when this happened. Whenever he wanted to just sleep in, it always seemed a little person slapped his consciousness multiple times while yelling at him to wake up. Today’s case was double negative; not only was it a Saturday, it was New Year’s Day.Zach rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he glanced at his bedside table. Beside Pinkie Pie the plush pony the alarm clock read ten thirty six AM. Zach groaned quietly. After one of the most interesting jaunts to the Residential Area in his life with Minerva, they had returned and continued to hang out with their friends until three AM, when they all decided to hit the sack. He knew there was no chance of going back to sleep. Irritated, he laid back against his pillow and looked up to the ceiling of his recently reconstructed house. He shifted uncomfortably, having slept in his jeans, t-shirt, and vest.He barely lifted his head and saw Minerva’s head laying on his chest. She hadn’t bothered to switch into sleeping clothes as well. She was curled up next him, breathing slowly and clearly at peace. Looking at the edge of the bed he saw the lumpy dark green blanket laying alone and forgotten, barely touching Minerva’s sock. He wouldn’t have been surprised if Minerva had hoarded it away during the night and then discarded when she grew tired of it.Zach carefully shifted Minerva’s head to the pillow beside him and climbed out bed slowly. He turned to saw Minerva stir briefly and adjust to not sleeping on him. Chuckling, Zach walked out of the room and traversed the short hallways before reaching the living room. Vinyaya was sleeping quietly on the couch, a blanket over body and her blonde hair covering much of her face while Zelda sat into a recliner, snoring softly. Holly and Zelda had taken up his offer to crash at his house after it was rebuilt and didn’t seem to particularly mind sleeping on the couch, floor, or recliner. Seeing them reminded Zach of his current lack of privacy in his home and led him to hastily return to his room to grab a new set of clothesHe then shuffled over to the bathroom, slowly undressed, and climbed into the shower. As the water splashed against his face, blissful memories from the last week flooded his thoughts. Returning home after eight months of constant fighting, rebuilding his house (whose Constructopedia page had not been saved) with the aid of Minerva, Holly, Zelda, Bill Ding and more, reuniting with his family as they passed through on their way back to the States with promise of heading to their home in a few days with Minerva, and getting acquainted with the citizens of the island. That doesn’t even include the party, one of the best days of Zach’s life.He washed up slowly, dried himself, and dressed. As he combed his hair down, he saw Minerva had been right about earlier; his hair was getting rather long already. It concealed his forehead and seemed to stop at his eyebrows, where the locks began to curl upward. It covered his ears and curled at the back. And there indeed was evidence of a new beard growing in. Ironic, I suppose. Can’t grow a beard to save my life, the Maelstrom comes in, and suddenly I have hair shooting out of my ears. Just another thing to see those Paradox scientists about at some point.He trudged out of the bathroom, past the sleeping Zelda and Holly, and entered his bedroom to see Minerva sitting up, a computer in her lap with his glasses on her face. She squinted at him and grinned.“I don’t know how you see anything with these,” Minerva said, glancing around the room before taking them off and tossing them to him. Zach jumbled the glasses in his hand before securing a grip and placing them on his face. “Why did you wake up?”“Good morning to you, too,” Zach replied, leading Minerva to roll her eyes. “I don’t know. I just woke up. It happens. What about you? Why are you up?”“You were my pillow. You woke up and moved and ruined my whole sleeping experience. Now I’ll never forgive you,” she teased. “Are we doing anything important today?”“We were going to have a meal with Zelda and Holly.”Minerva rolled her eyes, set the laptop down and jumped out of the bed. “Then I guess I’ll take a shower.” She shook her unkempt brown and white hair from in front of her face, grabbed a pair of jeans and a orange t-shirt. and jabbed Zach playfully in the stomach as she passed into the hallway. Zach smiled at her rather carefree mood as he took a seat on the bed and picked up the laptop. A webpage full of popular and memetic images was on the screen. Zach glanced at the page for a few minutes before he opened a new tab to surf the internet while he waited for Minerva to finish her shower.She eventually walked back in with a new pair of clothes on and her damp hair simply resting on her shoulders, appearing to have been barely combed over. “Are they still asleep?” he asked.“Yep. I think that cancels out playing LEGO Kart Wii or Super Smash Bricks Brawl or completing World 4 in New Super LEGO Bros., Wii in the meantime. Good thing, too. I’ve played enough of the original Smash Bricks and LEGO Kart 64 with my brothers that I could kick your sorry butt to the moon and back.”“Is that so?” Zach shot back with a wide grin. “You know, the original and sequel can be two very different games.”“Pfft!” Minerva snorted as she jumped onto the bed. “You’re just afraid that I’m going to win. Because I will.”“Well then, tonight we’ll take that challenge, won’t we?” Zach challenged. “What’s going to happen when I prove you wrong and I win?”Minerva scoffed, shoving Zach off the bed. “Keep dreaming. In the off chance that you do win, I’ll find something neat to give you.”“I’ll count on it,” Zach replied with a smirk, rising back to his feet. “So what do you want do? Zelda and Holly are still asleep, presumably moving that breakfast Holly mentioned back to lunch.”“Let’s go explore a bit.” Minerva slid her feet over the bed and began to slip on her shoes. “Seeing as I’m not particularly hungry. You?” Zach shook his head. “Good. Let’s go.” Zach shrugged and pulled on his own shoes and headed out of their house.The island had become mostly quiet. The party was over, that much was certain. All around the island were tents where Dino Attack agents had stayed the night. Some just slept out under the stars with a sleeping bag and that was it. Agents shuffled quietly to the Pizzeria to pick up some breakfast before packing up their things and prepare to live the island. In between all this, the agents communicated with both each other and the citizens, expressing their thanks for the party. A strange sense of finality washed over Zach. After today, they would most likely never see these agents, the people he fought alongside for months, again. It was a rather morbid thought.Minerva and Zach walked through the relatively small chaos in the town, simply talking. At one point, it was about current events involved with reconstruction and rumors of trials for members of XERRD. Regardless of whether they switched sides in the end or that they were manipulated by the Darkitect, people wanted to see punishment. Their conversation slowly drifted into pop culture and began to discuss menial things like music, movies, books, and video games. Ever since the end of the war, he found himself enjoying just simple conversation more than before. Especially when conversations a few weeks ago were almost always related to the war in someway, shape or form.“I was looking around on the internet while you were showering,” Zach began as they drifted by the radio station. “Now that the war over, analysts think that pop culture is going to take over the history of the Dino Attack.”“I’m not terribly surprised. Find anything to prove these guys, right?”“I found a rumor from a supposedly credible website that those guys who make the Call of Duty video games are going to adapt the Dino Attack into a first-person shooter. Or two. Their supposedly trying to get into contact with big-named vets to voice characters based on them. Then there is supposedly a TV show and a movie being made and even more video games based around it. No toys or other merchandise, other than the ‘Dino Attack Vet’ shirt or something of that like. I’m waiting for a power metal concept album telling the big story of the Dino Attack with Christopher Lee narrating it, personally.”Minerva smirked. “Interesting. I suppose if it sells.”“Regardless of the ‘Too Soon’ rule, I guess. Then there’s the less-vain documentaries and TV specials aimed to inform people about the true horrors of the war and of course the multiple memorials being erected all around the world. There’s always good and bad. There are also ways to make the bad good.” He paused. “What an interesting slice of social commentary.”“Way to be self-aware,” Minerva said with a laugh. Then she added, “Christopher Lee?”“The guy loves heavy metal and he's narrated albums for the band Requiem of Ice, what can I say? And I love his voice about as much as Morgan Freeman’s...”After a short debate of whose voice was better to listen to, Christopher Lee or Morgan Freeman, their conversation drited away from pop culture to immediate future events.“When are we going to States?” Minerva asked as they walked past the bank.“I was personally thinking within a few days, more or less. We’re probably help with rebuilding their house before holding any Christmas festivities.”“Alright. Hopefully any other family of yours that will be there will be as excited as your mother when she met me.”The back of Zach’s neck grew warm. Erika and James Virchaus and their two youngest children, Desiree and Kayla, had stopped on LEGO Island long enough just to reunite with their eldest son and brother. Zach had been tearfully and happily embraced by his mother, clearly happy to see her son alive. Surprisingly, she had apologized for giving him up to the Infomaniac to live on LEGO Island. He hadn’t particularly cared about growing up on LEGO Island, considering how much he loved LEGO Island, but he accepted it nonetheless.And then Erika, upon realizing Minerva was ‘the girl he talked about’ in the letter he had sent her, embraced Minerva tightly and was very keen on getting to know her son’s girlfriend. And then Desi and Kayla had seen fit to make fun of him privately from the sidelines. In between the both of them embracing him, thankful for his survival as well.“Oh, heh,” Zach mumbled. “I think she was a bit fearful I didn’t make it. She was listening to Theano’s and Scott's reports on the radio and didn’t hear anything really about me besides a passing mention from Andrew about ‘fighting witches’ and ‘deconstructing a Teleport Pad’. She just about blew my eardrum out when I called her and told her I was alive.”Minerva smirked. “That doesn’t explain why she was so keen on seeing me.”“Oh. Yeah. I suppose all those times of hounding me about when I was going to get a girlfriend lead to that. Okay, enough.” Zach said, crossing his arms as Minerva laughed openly. “I told you she would react that way.”“I thought you were being sarcastic like always!” Minerva chortled. “I don’t realize you were telling the truth.” She laughed again. Zach smiled half-heartedly as Minerva punched him on the shoulder. “Is your mom eccentric? Cause that’s the impression I get. No offense.”“None taken, and not really. Like I said, she was probably a bit hysterical over the whole 'me going to fight a war against super-powered dinosaurs'.”Minerva paused. “You get along with them rather well for them leaving you on this island when you were a baby.”Zach scratched the back of his head, unsure about how to go around the subject. “They were afraid, simply put. Probably like I would be a target of random zombie attacks or something. Mom was pregnant with Desi at the time, and they were both torn up on how to go about it before deciding that I was ultimately safer under the Infomaniac’s eye and that living on LEGO Island would ultimately help face this destiny, which it kind of did. They’re both guilty about it now while I’m just sort of ‘meh’ on the subject.”“Hmph. You’re family’s weird like mine. A different kind of weird, I suppose, but weird.”Zach laughed. “I suppose that’s a logical assumption.” They continued to Brickolini’s Pizza, where they saw Mama and Papa Brickolini speaking to the Infomaniac. As they passed by, the Infomaniac turned and his head seemed to pop off his neck. He walked briskly to the duo, grinning happily.“Good to see you two again!” The Infomaniac cried out happily. “I hope you are getting acquainted to the island quickly, Zachary?”“Oh, yeah, definitely.” Zach said, grinning as he took the Infomaniac’s hand. “It’s great to be back.”The Infomaniac beamed before looking to Minerva. “Superb! And Minerva Fabello, our brand new citizen! Once again, I must welcome you to LEGO Island! How has living here treated you so far?”Minerva smiled nervously at the Infomaniac. “It’s really great. I love it here. Thanks for opening up a spot for me.”“You’re welcome!” The Infomaniac exclaimed, clapping Minerva’s hand. “The citizens of the island are more than happy to welcome in a new face, regardless of your...eh...previous situation.” Minerva had elaborated on her past for the Infomaniac upon being greeted by him a week ago, primarily to explain half her reason for moving to the island.“Yeah, I-”“Hey, Zach, Minerva!” Pepper Roni called out as he rolled up to Brickolini’s on his skateboard. “You should get back up to your house. I just delivered a couple of pizzas to that space dudette that’s been crashing with you.”“Be on your way,” the Infomaniac said as he turned to Pepper. “I need to get Pepper up to date on the current Brickster situation. Now that the party is over, that blockhead will surely do something dastardly or try escape the island.”Zach and Minerva nodded their heads and quickly made their way back up to their home. They found Zelda and Holly outside at a picnic table, a stack of pizza boxes surrounded by snacks, and large bottles of soda.“How often do you eat pizza here?” Minerva asked as they approached.“A considerable amount. Not to say that other food isn’t around, but pizza is LEGO Island’s big thing. We won’t be having pizza seven days a week, three meals a day, if that’s what you’re wondering.”“There you two are.” Holly said, clapping her hands. She was in a black AC-DC shirt with jeans and appeared to have freshly washed hair tied into its regular ponytail. “Sorry that the breakfast plans fell through. Lunch will suffice?”“I think so,” Zach replied, taking a seat at the table. Minerva sat herself down beside him and they both took slices of pizza.“At least it’s still relatively early,” Zelda said. She wore her regular black jacket over a World City University t-shirt. “I imagine you both realize this will be our last meal together. For awhile, at least.”Zach and Minerva nodded. They knew it had been coming. They all knew they would part eventually. Now that it slapping him in the face, sadness started to consume him. While he would still be with Minerva, he had become such close friends to Holly Vinyaya and Zelda Frodongan. Bonded together by war and the events immediately following, he could almost see both as sisters and, at least in Holly’s case, a cool aunt or something. “Are you both leaving after lunch?” Zach asked. Silently, the two nodded. “Then let’s make this last meal a good one.”Their final lunch was filled with food, talk, laughter as it always was. The laughter seemed to be extra loud this time around, knowing that their time together was slipping away. They mostly discussed the strange and humorous scenes from the party the previous night. At some point their laughter became so hysterical that soda had come out Zelda’s nose, igniting even more laughter.At some point they managed to calm down. The inevitable discussion of their own futures came up. “I really can’t see both of you just ‘settling down’,” Zelda pointed out to Zach and Minerva, dipping a tortilla chip in salsa. “Yes, we’re all a little tired of fighting after the war, but you both are young, strong, smart, and talented. I’m sure some fighting organization wouldn’t mind having either of you.”“Well,” Zach began. “Minerva and I decided that around May or June, we’re going to catch a ship to the Nimbus System and join the Nexus Force and help them defeat the Maelstrom once and for all.”Holly closed her eye and nodded slowly. “It seems rather appropriate, considering how much the Maelstrom affected you both personally. Any idea of what faction you want to join?”“I was thinking Paradox. Between its whole ‘studying and using the Maelstrom against itself’, their somewhat darker outlook, and the fact they are led by someone who used to work under Baron Typhonus, I figure me, the former Stromling, outta fit right in.”“I’m not really sure about myself,” Minerva said. “I was looking up the factions earlier this morning. None of them really define me. Right now, I’m leaning toward the Venture League or Paradox. I’ll probably make decision when I’ve had more time to think about it.“Whatever faction you chose to align to,” Zelda concluded. “you’ll both do great in the Nexus Force. The Darkitect and his army of slaves won’t know what hit ‘em.” They all chuckled in agreement and raised their glasses to this sentiment. “So what about you, Zelda?” Minerva asked.“I’ll be heading to World City and celebrate with my friends and family with a bit and help them rebuild. Then I think I’m going to go out into space. Explore every corner of the universe. Hone my skills. Maybe find that space ninja temple and see what I can do there. I was kind of thinking of doing what Nazareno did concerning Vherestorm on a wider-scale. A vigilante, I guess.”“So you can be the Batman to Holly’s Gordon, right?” Zach put in. “Because that would be cool.” Minerva and Zelda snickered at this remark.“I guess you could say that,” Zelda shrugged, still chuckling“I - we - wish you the best of luck on that,” Holly said, tapping Zelda on the shoulder. “With a little training, in a few years you will be greater than Nazareno and Darkling combined.”“He’d be proud, Zelda,” Minerva added. Zelda smiled and bit her lip, nodding in agreement as they raised their plastic cups to Zelda as well.“What about you, Holly?” Zelda asked. “Head back to Space Policing?”“I believe Ryan and I will swing by my hometown and reunited with some old friends like Zelda,” Holly explained. “Help with rebuilding and the like. Maybe see any of his Earth friends if he’s up for it.” She then pointed to her eyepatch. “Then we’ll head up into space and I’ll probably get a new eye. As interesting an experience it was going with one eye, I’d much rather have two, considering my line of work. Hopefully, with technology today, it’ll resemble a regular eye. Maybe get it in a color different from my left eye to mess with people.”Everyone snorted at this. Zach decided that when Holly was relaxed, she could be a rather amusing person. “Then what?” Minerva asked.“Take a vacation for a bit. Relaxing here on the island has taught me I need as much. Read Carl Sagan, date Ryan, and so on. Then I’ll get back to work with the Space Police. As emotionally, mentally, and physically charging this war was, nothing could stop me from working the best job in the universe.”“What about the scars?” Zach asked. Holly stopped and thought for a moment. Finally, she continued speaking.“I’ll keep them. The imagination fallout from the Einstein Device helped eliminate most of the pain. And I could use these scars to tell varying war stories to Space Police cadets to spoke them.” Everyone snorted again. “Most importantly, the scars will remind me what happened on this planet in 2010 and the friends I made fighting here.”Zach, Minerva, and Zelda nodded in absolute silence, once again raising their glasses. It was almost two thirty PM. Finally, Holly spoke up again. “We should probably get going, Zelda. Don’t want it to be too late.” Zelda merely nodded.They all rose from the table and headed to the path. Zach felt a small tear form in his eye. He knew Zelda and Holly were better off heading down their own paths, but he so wanted them to stay on the island with him and Minerva. As they reached the path, they began to say their goodbyes before they found Bluetooth and headed off.Holly and Minerva embraced tightly and so did Zelda and Zach. "I am glad we got to bond for a bit. You are now that cool older sister I never wanted but am glad to have," Zach said to her. "Now you go and be the Batman of space."Zelda laughed airily. "I'll keep that idea in mind. You better design me a batsignal or something." She squeezed Zach tightly. “I really wish none of us had to leave each other. You guys are the best friends I've ever had. At least you and Minerva get to stay together. Judging by the way you to acted around each other last night up, your 'visit' to the Residential Area with her, and the stories about you two from the war, you guys are going to be hard to split up.""Heh. We pretty much decided before the final battle that only death was going to split us. Though it would be nice if we could all be together, fighting bad guys. Though considering we'll all be off this planet eventually. And you're traveling all over the universe. Hopefully we'll cross paths in the Nimbus System at some point. Maybe Holly will drop by on some routine check-up or something."Zelda smiled as they pulled away from each other. "Maybe. A bit unlikely, but you never know." As Minerva went to share one more embrace with Zelda, Zach went to Holly. To his surprise, Holly pulled him into a hug as well.“Hugging me, Holly?” Zach asked with amusement.“You’re a sarcastic and annoying person, Zachary,” Holly said, somewhat exasperated. “Regardless, you're a good kid. Both you and Minerva are. A bit too emotionally invested in things for my taste, but I see that it is both a flaw and a perk.” Zach chuckled, causing Holly to crush him briefly in her arms before they pulled away."Thanks, I suppose. And just so you know, if you ever end up getting hitched to Bluetooth become Holly Radcliff or something, you'll always be 'Vinyaya' to me."Holly snorted, grinning. "I'm counting on that, Virchaus." She slapped him on the back, causing him to flinch before they pulled away at last. The four of them stepped back, looking at each other with faint smiles.“I suppose this is it,” Minerva said.“The true end to the ‘Dino Attack’ chapter of our lives,” Holly noted. They all nodded slowly, none of them speaking for almost a minute. Zach swallowed painfully. He really didn't want to put meeting Holly or Zelda up to chance. Yes, they could communicate with typed messages and video chat thanks to today's technology, but they would all certainly grow busy in next several months and prevent any proper communication. Maybe...We should all get together sometime,” Zach said finally. They all turned their glance to him. “Once a year, around this time. We all head back for Earth and hang out, whether here, LEGO City, or wherever. To remember old memories and to create new ones. I don't think I'm quite ready to let us all part ways with only a passing glance being chance of us seeing each other.” The three women looked at each other.“That sounds great,” Zelda responded.“I’m all for that,” Holly added.“I like the sound of that,” Minerva concluded, grinning. Zach smiled.“I love you guys - er - gals,” Zach said. The three women nodded, obviously sharing his sentiment with each other. “You guys are the greatest friends I’ve ever had. Thanks...” He drifted off, letting his warm emotions wash over him. Even through the chaos, the betrayals, the corruption, and the horror he had witnessed, he felt thankful he had been apart of saving the planet and getting the oppertunity to meet the friends he had. Minerva, Nazareno, Holly, Zelda, Andrew, Laxus, Thaddeus, Bluetooth, Pterisa, Raider, Semick, Raine, Marco, J.D., and more had all become apart of his still-being-written and story and left an impact greater than he would ever fully realize.“Thanks,” Zach said with long, final sigh. "For everything. For being with me in the greatest ride of our lives."OOC: And that's a wrap.Woo boy. I'm still not entirely sure I like how I ended it, but I saw no other way, really. Though you can consider a lot of Zach's thoughts at the end equivalent to my own (sort of where I was going with it). I had a blast writing this big, epic story with you guys. It was good knowing you. Maybe we'll meet again in sequel Dino Attack RPG 2: The Search For More Money [/endspaceballreferences]. Or at least the Alien Conquest RPG. I'm thinking I'll head over there after a month or two break. I don't think I could stay away from my new found love or Play by Post RPGaming for too long.So yeah, that's the end. Or as far as I'll explore with Zach, Minerva, Vinyaya, and Zelda in the RPG. My characters will probably make cameo appearances in my brickfilms, but beyond that...I don't know. Fan Fiction sequel? I don't know. I'm not sure if I'll ever give these guys truly.I suppose I'll toss out one shout out to Mr. that guy from that show, who without trapping Dust in a temple and calling for help, I probably wouldn't have gotten into the RPG at all. So rock on, that guy. Rock on all of you.I think that's everything I needed to say. Good playing with you all. Like Andrewnuva, if something needs to be addressed, I'll show up, but this is it. Time to finish my wiki pages and edit those other, unfinished ones.Adios amigos. *puts on sunglasses and rides into the sunset.*

[avmatoran]

OOC:There goes somebody else. Goodbye, Brikman McStudz. It's been an honor to work/play with you. See you in the Alien Conquest RPG. [/waves goodbye with tears in eyes]Well, somebody else left. Man, this is getting depressing. I'll finish my story once I devise a fitting end.

[Atton Rand]

Well, somebody else left. Man, this is getting depressing. I'll finish my story once I devise a fitting end.

OOC: I know, it's hard to believe we're really done. I mean I know I for one won't be totally cut off from everyone else, since I do still have Andrew and PeabodySam on Steam, plus you and Brickman on a certain other website, but still.

[avmatoran]

This takes the place of an edited post.

Edited October 18, 2012 by avmatoran

[Andrewnuva199]

OOC: Okay, I'll break my customary vow of silence just to address that post of yours, avmatoran. Do you have permission to create that backstory of Pterisa's? She is PeabodySam's character, after all, though given my recent takeup of her, I have more or less gotten a lot of control regarding her.For the record, though, I'm.... not really comfortable with it. I know PeabodySam brought up the possibility that she was altered from a pre-existing Minifig, but he did say he prefered to leave it up to our imaginations. I always prefered the "born from scratch" theory, but in general I agreed that I wanted to avoid really addressing that issue. Better to focus on the now and next in regards to her.And the truth is, I do find the sudden revelation a bit problematic in my intents for the implied outcome for Andrew and Pterisa. Being told of a past like that would make her likely want to focus on that at least a bit in investigation, have a possible identity crisis, and might cause even more inconviences related to the whole half-Mutant Pterosaur thing. I just wanted to simply have them journey off into space in a quest of exploration, and this development would, realistically speaking, kind of interrupt that. Plus it reminds me a bit of the relationship of Swerve and Septimus, and how I was a little disappointed to see the humorous, ditzy self-aware Skeleton Drone become his former Alpha Team Agent identity pretty quickly after he discovered his past. I really don't want to imagine the same possibly happening to Pterisa.In all honesty, I'd prefer that you do with that idea what you did with the idea that Dr. Cyborg and Dr. Rex were brothers.

[avmatoran]

OOOC:In my defense, Pterisa is listed as a Story Hook on the wiki, meaning anyone is free to develop the character. But, if you're not happy with my whole thing, I'll just find edit it out.