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I'm ignoring some really important work that's due by the end of the day and reading this instead—gently caress it. The lego diorama's are awesome 
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Dec 9, 2022 21:23
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| # ? May 6, 2024 04:01 |
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Battle Cat thanks you for shirking your professional responsibilities, friend. Johnny Dangerous would do the same so you are in good (?) company. I meant to have it all done last week but had some problems, including my computer crashing. The last 2 chapters were lost so I plan on rewriting those this weekend.
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Dec 9, 2022 21:51
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Really enjoying it man. Keep it up!  
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Dec 10, 2022 02:01
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Chapter 17 Deconstruction https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRCz3srlsmQ With about 48 hours left out of the 3 days before Hondo would unleash his wrath, he called me. "Sam, the clock is tickin'. Have you come to your senses?" he asked. "You really don't want to do this. You don't want to cross me." Before hanging up on him, I replied with a snarky "Oh, but I do, Hondo. I really really do." "Do you really want to be riling him up like that?" asked Johnny Dangerous. "gently caress him," I said. "I'm not scared. In fact, I think I want to end this sooner rather than later. I don't want to wait around. I'm ready to call him out and burn his world down." "Hell yeah," Poodle said excitedly. "What do you have in mind? Just spare us your horrible drawings, please." "Are we just gonna brute force this to an ending?" asked T-Man. "That's not my favorite strategy." "Nor mine," I said. "But the longer we wait, the more time Hondo has to close in on us. I say we go out guns blazing. Figuratively, of course. Although... I know Hondo will be armed. But... I hope I can appeal to his sense of bravado and get him in a one on one. I'd love to kick his rear end." "Ok," said JD. "Where and when?" "I think I've got an idea for where to set up a meeting with Hondo. There's plenty of cover for you guys, and we might be able to set a trap for them there. If I know Hondo, he'll arrange for his crew to get set up at the meeting location well before I arrive." Gesturing to the Battle Cat guys I added "But y'all will already be in place." Poodle said "Ooooh! An ambush! I like it!" "Well, more than an ambush," I said. "We're gonna stage some stuff at the site... do a little battlefield prep." "Ok," said T-Man. "I like the sound of that. So where is this gonna go down?" "We're going to the construction site I worked at when I first met Hondo," I said. "Is there security at the site?" asked T-Man. "I've made arrangements for that," I replied. The project is on hold for now, and I reached out to the current security guard. I asked him for a favor... to let me pick up his shifts this weekend. He agreed and cleared it with the boss, so we're golden. JD and T-Man, y'all are gonna have to spend the day there, out of sight. I'm certain Hondo will send at least one person there hours before we meet, to get a lay of the land." I told everyone my idea. I planned to call Hondo Saturday night before his deadline expired, tell him I was willing to deal, and that I'd return the items in exchange for assurance that they'd leave us alone. I knew that was a weak bargaining position. That was fine; I knew I couldn't trust him to honor any agreement anyway. With Dean and the feds unable to help at this point, I just wanted everything to be over. With family and friends backing me up, I didn't fear for my life, but I did fear they might get hurt. The Battle Cat guys would follow me to the ends of the earth, but I knew they were eager to put an end to this and get back to their lives. Since T-Man and JD were the only ones Hondo or his crew hadn't seen, I asked T-Man to pick up a few things that I needed. He took Ray's motorcycle since we figured the bounty hunters would be looking for the truck. While he was gone, everyone else helped me hash out our plan; it was pure-strain Battle Cat. In other words, it was ill conceived and ridiculous. T-Man came back a couple of hours later. Pointing to some items in his backpack, T-Man said "That... was not so easy to get. Well, it was easy, but I had to make it quick. I just ran into the pool hall and snatched as much as I could. I threw a fifty-dollar bill onto the bar and told the bartender thanks. He looked at me like I was crazy, but seemed okay with me taking what I needed. I'm still not sure why you want it but I guess I'll find out. The pool players aren't going to be happy, but gently caress 'em." "Late tonight, we'll take a ride to the meeting site and work out what we need to do," I said. * * * * * We went to the construction site at around midnight. I had told the security guard that I'd be coming by with some friends, and gave him fifty bucks to keep quiet. He had no idea what we were up to, and the minimum wage he was getting didn't do much to make him think twice about letting us roam around. The site covered a few acres, and was fenced in with roads and gates at both the north and south sides. Work had barely begun before the project was put on hold, so the area was mostly clear except for some heavy equipment like bulldozers, a backhoe, a 100ft tall crane, and a couple of pickup trucks. At the eastern side, a trailer was set up as an office; the security guard was stationed there. Portable lights powered by a couple of generators flanked the trailer, and a few more lights were set up near the gates and on the western side of the site. Piles of gravel, dirt, and random debris were near the center and the northern gate. Next to the trailer was a row of storage lockers, and a fire hydrant with a hose already attached was nearby. T-Man remarked that the area provided a lot of good cover, and while the lights across from the office were lit, he suggested we turn those off before the meeting went down. The five of us walked the site several times, and positioned ourselves in various ways to figure out lines of sight, concealment options, and so on. After a couple of hours, we felt we had a pretty good handle on how we'd set everything up. Poodle and JD moved a few things around, so Hondo and his crew would be forced into specific positions that were advantageous for us and bad for them. I was confident in our plan, for the time being. Unless Hondo brought more people with him, we outnumbered his crew and would have the terrain advantage. My only concern was that I knew they'd be armed. Through all of our adventures together, Battle Cat never rolled with firearms. I've never liked guns except for hunting, T-Man had his share of getting shot while he was in the Gulf War, and he wouldn't allow his two younger brothers anywhere near a gun. Even faced with a group of psychos that would have weapons, we instead relied on what had gotten us through so many tough situations before. T-Man was not afraid of anything, was strong as an ox, and had stared death in the face more than once and prevailed. Johnny Dangerous and Poodle were agents of chaos, who, when not getting in each other's way, were always able to accomplish their objectives. It was hard for any group of adversaries to deal with those two- they were like a pair of cracked out capuchin monkeys. Early on in our friendship I realized any attempt to reign them in would just make matters worse for everyone. As for me, I relied on brute force and dumb luck - way more of the latter - and I was just smart enough to occasionally have a good idea. Luckily for us, we always found ourselves aligned with good people, and this time it was my brother. We weren't the A-Team; hell, we weren't even the B or C-Team. I don't even know if the alphabet holds a place for us. We were Battle Cat, pure and simple. And that was all we needed to be.
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Dec 10, 2022 20:22
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isaboo posted:
I was trying to figure out what all this is and my phone stopped scrolling right there otherwise tldr but I hope you enjoyed your erotic fanfic op
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Dec 10, 2022 20:38
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Chapter 18 Ride The Lightning https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We_DLCYDaYw "Get yer dicks out, boys. We got some assholes to gently caress." I woke up to those words from T-Man the morning of Hondo's deadline. JD and Poodle were raring to get started, and Ray was trying to get in touch with his federal agent friend Dean but to no avail. I called Sunny, who was staying at a friend's apartment, to let her know we were gearing up to put an end to all this nonsense. "Be careful, Sammy. I know you have people around you that you trust, but you're up against an unpredictable group of shitheads," Sunny said. "I know. But they've riled up something in me that I didn't even know I had until I went to Oklahoma. We can't fail and we won't fail," I replied. I was trying to reassure both her and myself. I knew this ridiculous plan could go south in any number of ways. The crate with the fossils was in my storage unit and I needed to prep it for the plan, so we all piled into T-Man's truck and drove there. I had the bag of stuff that T-Man grabbed from a local pool hall a few days prior, but I felt like I needed more. On the way to the crate, we stopped at a Wal-Mart and I bought even more of the same. Once we were at the crate I took the fossils out. "Okay, take the stuff from the bag and put it all in the crate," I said. "I... still don't get what this is for," said T-Man. "It's a joke for Hondo," I replied. "He'll get it. And he'll be loving pissed. It'll be glorious!" After we were done making the switch, we loaded up the crate and the ivory into T-Man's truck. The crate was a hell of a lot lighter, so I was able to manage it myself. I put the ivory in a pillow case and laid it in the passenger seat. We left the urn and paintings in the storage unit. By this time it was around 4pm, and we needed to get to the construction site so T-Man, JD, and Poodle could get into position. They would hang out in the office trailer all day, keeping an eye out for Hondo and his cronies. I fully expected Hondo to send at least one person to check out the area. In the meantime, I would head over to where Sunny was staying and spend some time with her. I just hoped that T-Man could keep his brothers in check and out of sight; I figured they'd get restless from spending hours in a trailer with not much to do. The security guard's shift ended - and mine would begin - at 6pm. After I took over the security guard duties, T-Man would switch out with me and patrol the grounds, so if anyone was watching it would like normal activity. Ray went to Dean's office, in an effort to get him to listen and hopefully get involved. We needed all the help we could get. I left Sunny and headed to the site. A few minutes before 6, I called Hondo. "Hey, rear end in a top hat," I said. "I'm ready to deal. I want this to be over." "Agreed," he replied. "I really didn't want it to come to this, Sam. We could have made a lot of money together." "I'm not interested in your money. I just want you to leave me alone. And don't ever let me see you anywhere near Sunny." "Bring the crate to my house," he suggested. There was no loving way I would ever even consider walking into enemy territory, and I told him so. "I'm not playing your game, Hondo. You're going to come to me." He argued with me for a bit then finally relented. I told him where and when to meet- 1AM, at the construction site. "You better be alone," he said. "It wouldn't be a good idea for you to have any friends with you." "I'll say the same to you," I countered. He pledged that he would come alone, but I knew he was full of poo poo. He knew I was full of poo poo, too. With the stage set, I left the Battle Cat guys at the office trailer and told JD and Poodle to behave. T-Man promised he'd keep them on a tight leash. An hour or so later, I got a call from T-Man. "Yo, Sam. We just had someone come by. It looked like Oscar and Hondo's wife. I didn't see Hondo anywhere." "Ok, we expected this. How long were they there," I asked. "About 45 minutes, I reckon. Oscar stayed in the car while Mouse wandered around the perimeter, looking around. I went to the north gate and asked her if she needed help. She said, no, that she was a representive from the contractor and was just checking things out. She did ask if 'Sam the security guy' was around. I lied and told her no, that Sam's shift starts at 12am. She seemed to buy it." "Ok, cool," I said. "We'll be ready for these fuckers. Let me know if you see them come back around, but don't do anything if they do." "You got it, Chief. This'll be over soon," T-Man said. He sounded calm and confident, which is exactly what I needed from him. He said JD and Poodle were behaving and were just sitting around beat-boxing, terribly, and playing dominos and dice games. "Ah, they're playing the bones. That's appropriate," I said. At 10pm, I headed to the site. I hadn't heard from T-Man, so I assumed the bounty hunters hadn't been around since earlier that day. We had two hours to make sure everything was in place. All we could do was wait. On the way there, I was certain I passed one of Hondo's agency cars parked near the north gate. I figured it was Oscar, but I couldn't see anyone inside. That wasn't a good sign, but I expected as much - I knew Hondo would have someone watching. If they saw me show up early to my shift, they'd likely think something was afoot. I turned around and parked in a nearby lot for a few minutes. Ray called me, and told me about his progress. "Well, Sam, I've spent the entire day in Dean's office being questioned. I kept my mouth shut about most of what we've done and planned, but I had to tell them something to really get their attention. I gave them the marked bills that Hondo had given you. After they ran a check on the serial numbers, they found that the money had been stolen from the Atlanta PD about a year ago. Dollars to donuts it was Oscar who took it, so that's a bit of leverage in our favor. What do you want me to do now?" "Alright, I guess now's the time to lay it all out on the table. Take Dean and his people to the storage unit, and show them everything," I said. I just hoped that the feds wouldn't immediately snatch it all up and arrest us all. "Will do, brother. And I'll meet you at the site soon. One way or the other, I'll be there. With or without backup, I'll be there." "I know you will, brother. See ya soon," I said. A few minutes before the start of my shift, I passed through the gate and did a quick check of the perimeter. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. I was anxious, but felt confident that it would all be over soon. Hondo called me. "Sam, it's almost time. Have you got the goods?" "Yep, I do. It's here, I'm here, and I'm ready. Oh, and tell your friend Oscar that he's not as good at surveillance as he thinks he is. And, gently caress you for lying to me. You said you'd be alone. But whatever. I expected as much. You're a liar and a thief." He didn't acknowledge anything I said, but told me he would be heading my way shortly and to have the crate out in the open, on the ground. I agreed, as having it all out in the open is exactly how I wanted it. I rushed into the office trailer and told T-Man, JD, and Poodle to get into their positions. I placed the crate on the ground in front of the truck, and covered it with a tarp. Now all we had to do was wait. * * * * * At 12AM on the dot, Hondo pulled up to the north gate and honked his horn. The gate was remotely operated, so I walked to the control panel and opened it. The south gate was already open so we could get out quickly if needed. I had already parked T-Man's truck in the middle of the compound, with the crate several feet in front of the truck. I ran to the truck, opened the passenger side door, and took cover behind it. I gestured to Hondo to pull forward, and then signalled him to stop. With all the debris piles and equipment around, there weren't many places for him to park. JD and Poodle had done a terrific job of moving stuff around to make sure Hondo would be right where I wanted him. Hondo opened his door and stepped out. He yelled "Show me the crate!" I said "Show me your hands. Put them on the hood of your car. I don't trust you, not for one second." He did as I instructed, and I pulled the tarp off of the crate and opened the top. Only two of the portable lights were on, strategically placed by T-Man to create shadows around the area. There was just enought light for Hondo to see that the crate had something in it, but not so much that he could see exactly what. "Good boy, Sam. See, this can come to an amicable ending. Or, well, it could have." He pulled a walkie-talkie from his back pocket and I heard him say "The crate is here, get in here now!" gently caress. Another car came racing through the north gate, and stopped alongside Hondo. It was Mouse, Oscar, and Sally. I was afraid of this, but we were prepared. Hondo started yelling at me, talking about how we could have done such great things together, blah blah blah. I wasn't paying much attention to him, because I could barely make out T-Man's shadowy form moving about several meters behind Hondo's vehicle, near the big crane. The moon had been shining through some storm clouds, but suddenly disappeared behind them. Thunder boomed, rain started falling, and lightning briefly lluminated the area. A storm was brewing, and it's name was Battle Cat.  Oscar and Mouse yelled at me as well, while Sally stood there quietly. The rain and thunder grew louder, and I could barely hear what they were saying. It didn't matter. I didn't give a gently caress what they were saying. I was ready to unleash hell. I grabbed a flashlight from the truck and beckoned Hondo to come forward to the crate. Another flash of lightning revealed T-Man, still behind everyone. He was inching closer to Hondo's truck, with a big chain in his hand. The other end was attached to the crane. I couldn't see where JD or Poodle were. I just hoped they were ready. Hondo slowly walked to the crate. Oscar and Mouse stood next to their car; Sally got back inside to get out of the rain. Hondo stopped about 10 feet away. I could tell he was starting to realize that the crate did not contain fossils. I backed up a bit as he inched closer. I wanted to keep a bit of distance between us, knowing he was likely going to be enraged once he saw the contents. "What the gently caress, Sam?! What have you done?" The crate was full of chalk. Boxes and boxes of chalk- chalk for chalkboards, chalk for pool cues, and large cylindrical pieces of hand chalk that T-Man took from the bar a few days prior. "Eat that, motherfucker," I yelled. "You ain't getting poo poo!" Hondo was stunned- absolutely frozen in shock that I would do something so brazen. It was like he had never been crossed before. It took him a moment to react. And when he did, he pulled out his handgun. I loving knew it. He waved it about, still keeping his distance. His eyes darted around, looking for anyone who might be with me. My friends were still well hidden. He went on and on about how he regretted how this all turned out, and said he didn't want to kill me, but would if I didn't give him what he wanted. He demanded to know where the fossils and art were, and pointed his gun at me. "You're never going to get it back, Hondo. Never. You're done here. Get the gently caress out of my life." At about that time I heard the faint roar of a motorcycle just outside the south gate, behind me. Ray parked his bike next to the office trailer, and took cover behind it. "Well now, who is this" asked Hondo. "Another red savage?" "It's my brother, rear end in a top hat." Hondo fired his gun into the air. "Let's not do anything wild here, Sam" he yelled. "Too late, motherfucker. My whole life has been wild. I'm used to it. I revel in it," I yelled back. Hondo raised his gun one more time, and pointed it at me. I was ready for this, and ran behind the truck as he stepped directly beside the crate. He continued to wave his gun around, yelling at me. I heard a faint "thwip" from Ray's direction, then a "thunk" - an arrow pierced the side of the crate. Another bolt of lightning flashed, and Ray yelled "Drop the gun." He was behind his motorcycle, with his custom made bow in hand. Holy gently caress! I thought. Ray was not playing around. Hondo hesitated, not wanting to lay down his weapon. At that point, Mouse and Oscar started moving toward me and Hondo. I heard another arrow fly, and Ray yelled again. "Put down the gun or the next one goes into your neck." Hondo realized he didn't have a choice, dropped his gun into the crate then rushed straight for me. gently caress yeah, I thought. I wanna beat this guy with my own hands. For a brief moment, right before Hondo reached me, I had a crazy thought. This whole affair was about ivory and dinosaur bones, and I was about to go to war among their modern day mechanical equivalents. The short lived flashes of light gave the construction equipment an eerie look- the big crane reminded me of a brontosaurus, the bulldozers were triceratops and other armored dinos, and the smaller pieces of machinery were various other prehistoric critters. It was a weird thing to be thinking at such a time, but it absolutely registered that way in my brain. Meanwhile, Oscar was still heading my way. Unfortunately, Oscar was about to run into two angry Battle Cats. Oscar ran past Poodle, who was hidden just behind the fire hydrant. It was already on, with the fire hose attached. Poodle opened the valve on the hose just as Oscar ran by, blasting him with a torrent of water. It knocked Oscar down, and as he tried to get up he slipped in the mud. Poodle yelled "Get some, bitch!" and threw his arms in the air, triumphantly. BOOM! KA-POW! Thunder rocked the area, and a bolt of lightning reached down from the heavens and struck poor Poodle, standing next to the still flowing hydrant. It sent him flying, but his shoes remained where he stood. I couldn't believe it.  T-Man saw what happened and ran to his brother. Johnny Dangerous was still in his position, sitting in one of the bulldozers near the north gate. The plan was for him to block the gate with the dozer if any of them tried to leave, but after seeing what was going on he abandoned that idea and ran straight for Oscar, who was up and running toward Hondo and me again. Mouse jumped into Hondo's vehicle and started it up, hoping to get ready to make a getaway. She didn't get very far. The car lurched forward and abruptly stopped, with the sound of tearing metal filling the air. T-Man had attached a heavy chain to the rear axle, and the other end to the crane. I was engaged in a pretty brutal fight with Hondo. I've been hit both in and out of the ring by a lot of very good fighters, but Hondo was strong. To this day, I can only think of one other person who hit me as hard as he did, but that's a different, and even crazier, story. Hondo rocked me with a hard right hook to the head. It dazed me, and he used that brief moment to throw me against the side of the truck. He started pummeling me in my body, his well-trained boxer hands doing some damage. I had to cover up and shield myself, or he was going to take my breath away, and that would be the end of the fight. Ray was on his way to us, and when I saw him coming I waved him off. I wasn't done just yet, and I wanted to beat this motherfucker myself. While I contined to struggle with Hondo, Johnny Dangerous caught up with Oscar. He pushed the red-headed rear end in a top hat from behind, knocking him off balance and to the ground. He kicked Oscar while he was down, then continued heading for the truck. By this time, Hondo and I were fighting around the crate. I knew his gun was still there, and my first priority was to keep him from getting his hands on it. Oscar had a gun as well, and pulled it out as he got up from the ground. JD saw the weapon, and dove into the passenger seat of the truck. Oscar passed close by - close enough for JD to slam the truck door into him, knocking him around again. JD grabbed the pillow case with the ivory in it, and started swinging it, aiming for Oscar's head. Mouse and Sally were trying to get into Sally's car, but Ray was on his way to intercept them once he saw I was beginning to turn the fight around in my favor. I was able to put a little distance between Hondo and myself, and threw a perfect left-right combo that knocked him backwards. I followed up with a nasty kick to the inside of his leg, which broke his posture. He was bent over slightly, right in line to eat a knee to his face. I was surprised when that didn't stop him. He stood up, smiled, and shook it off. Blood poured from his mouth, just as blood was pouring from my nose. My ears rang, and one of my eyes was starting to close from swelling. We circled each other, catching our breath for a moment. I heard a loud crack, and glanced over to see Oscar's unconscious body on the ground. JD was still swinging the ivory in the pillow case around his head. He puffed his chest out, and strutted around Oscar, screaming in victory. I'll never forget the next thing he did, that crazy fucker. JD slowly walked over to us, and began beat-boxing freestyle while we fought. Hondo and I squared off again, and we both knew this last tussle would likely be our last. Neither of us could take much more damage. I cracked my knuckles and Hondo did the same, and we collided. My normal go-to in a fight is the liver shot. Punch, kick, knee, I didn't care. I could usually stop anyone with a good shot to the liver- I was good at it. It didn't faze Hondo. So far he had shrugged off a knee to the face, and now a really solid left hook to the liver. gently caress. T-Man was still tending to Poodle, who was conscious but not doing too well. T-Man called 911; everything had gone off the rails at this point, and Poodle needed medical assistance pronto. A couple of cars came screeching through the north gate. It was Dean and a couple of his federal agent friends. The lightning continued to flash, and as I looked in Dean's direction I could see that Sunny was with him. That was all I needed. I remembered Hondo's threat against Sunny, and seeing her there yelling for me instantly snapped me into the present and steeled my resolve. Hondo was done for. He had no chance now. I danced around on my toes and beckoned him to come forward. I wanted him in my house. He moved forward and threw a big, looping, hook right at my head. The problem was, he didn't set it up with anything else first. I saw it coming, and ducked under it. He pressed on and advanced, but I bobbed and weaved my around his huge hands. I was in the zone, and he couldn't touch me. I kicked him square in his chest, knocking him back a few feet. I kicked his leg again, and that time it really hobbled him. He couldn't do anything but try to grab me, and that's when I ended the fight. With his arms a bit too wide, his center line was wide open. His head was in the perfect position for a downward slicing elbow. I spit in his face to get him to react and blink, and landed my elbow right on the bridge of his nose. That was good, but it wasn't quite enough to put him down. Before all this nonsense, before I even met Mouse in Thailand, I had been fortunate enough to spend a little time in Myanmar studying lethwei, a relatively unknown martial art. It was not unlike muay Thai, which I had been doing for years, but it had one huge difference - headbutts were allowed in competitive bouts. A headbutt in lethwei could be brutal - it wasn't a ramming motion so much as it was a whipping motion. Stunned from the elbow, Hondo wasn't able to react in time. I grabbed his wrists, pulled them down, and launched the crown of my head right into his face. He crumbled and collapsed right there. The upper part of his body slumped into the crate - his face fell right into the pile of chalk. Feeling like the avatar of revenge for my elephant friend, I said "Daisy sent me, fucko." I picked up his gun, tucked it into my pants, shoved his body onto the ground with my foot, and collapsed beside him. I was beat, but Hondo was beaten. Johnny Dangerous stopped his terrible beat-boxing and screamed "That's how we do it, bitch!" All that was left was to get Poodle taken care of, get Dean and his friends up to speed, and get the gently caress away from Hondo's world once and for all. And I still had to keep a promise I made to a friend. isaboo fucked around with this message at 17:57 on Jan 17, 2023 |
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Dec 12, 2022 22:26
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Chapter 19 Aftermath https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CdFBfKMAU4&t=32s I laid there, slumped halfway against Hondo and half against the crate. I didn't want to let him out of my reach - out of my house - until I was sure he was no longer a threat to anyone. Sunny ran to me first, followed by JD and Dean. Ray helped T-Man comfort Poodle. The ambulance was on the way, and Poodle was already feeling a little better. The first thing I heard Poodle say to his brother was "Did it look cool? Did it look badass? Did I light up?" I was surprised to see Sunny there. Later, Ray told me that he had Sunny come to Dean's office with him, both to provide more information and to keep her safe. Sunny hugged and kissed me, and the rain stopped falling. The storm had passed, and I was sore but okay and with friends and family. I'd call that a victory any day. Dean got right to business and started asking me a million questions. The agents he had with him questioned Sally and Mouse first, then turned their attention to Oscar, who had regained his wits. Hondo was still out of it and on the ground. They took his gun that I had picked up, searched his car and found other weapons, and even found more bills that were likely marked. Hondo was going to wake up to a world of poo poo, and I couldn't wait to see it. More law enforcement types showed up, and Dean told me another group of feds was at my storage unit looking over the fossils. Yet another group was working on getting a warrant to search Hondo's home and office. The Battle Cat guys and I were in handcuffs at this point, but that was reasonable given the circumstances. The cops had no idea who was who or what had really been going on. Dean eventually had our cuffs removed, and we all sat on the ground, exhausted. Hondo woke up and after getting checked out by a paramedic, Dean started questioning him. Hondo was so out of it that he admitted to things he shouldn't have. He brought up Gina - Sally's partner in the smuggling - who had so far not been involved in the night's events. Dean said he'd have someone pick her up. Suddenly, Oscar asked anyone who was listening "Who are these people?" T-Man looked over at his brother. "Who are we?" he asked, prompting JD. Without hesitation, JD said "I'm Johnny fuckin' Dangerous. And We. Are. Battle Cat!" By then, Hondo fully realized what was going on. Looking at me, utterly bewildered, he asked "How did you do all this? How did... I don't ... How?" Hondo - the adventurer, the hunter, the climber, the thief - had been bested by a loving nitwit cadre of goofballs. That had to have been extra humiliating for him. I was one trophy he wouldn't be adding to his collection. Sunny said "Well, Hondo, you can - heh - chalk it up to the fact that my Sammy is smarter than you. Stronger than you. Better than you. He's as wise as the hills..." Sunny gave me a sly wink. I said "Yeah, Hondo. You could even say..." "I'm the mountain. Toya ma numitu." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_k1y8pymrF4&t=484s
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Dec 13, 2022 01:09
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Chapter 20 Daisy's Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSQ1qmNxahE In the following weeks and months, those of us involved spent many hours being questioned, giving depositions, and talking to lawyers. The Battle Cat guys and I got off pretty easy - probation and some other penalties but nothing that wasn't deserved and fair. Hondo and the others didn't fare so well. All of them got pretty significant prison time, and had almost all their assets seized. Fragile Frank - the dinosaur fossils - along with the urn and painting, were returned to China. I was happy they found their way home, but there was still one outstanding matter I had to take care of, and it was the most important one to me. With all the legal stuff over, I worked out a deal with Dean to let me escort the ivory to Cambodia. Sunny worked with her sister Summer, who was still in Bangkok, and some Cambodian and Thai officials to facilitate the handing over of the elephant tushes. I really wanted the Battle Cat guys to go with me, Sunny, and Ray, but it took quite a bit of convincing. T-Man was down for it, but Johnny Dangerous did not like flying - especially for such a long trip - and Poodle was deathly afraid of snakes. I guess he thought snakes just crawl out of every little hole in Thailand. I lied to him and told him we'd be in the city or in a hotel all the time, so he didn't have to worry about any creepy crawlies or slithery things. He had no idea we would be heading deep into the jungle to visit my friends. Once in Bangkok, we got everything set and had a couple of Thai officials accompany us to the border to make sure the ivory was safe. Once there, Sambath and the other elephant riders picked us up in their truck and drove us to their camp. Poodle fumed and fussed the entire way once he realized that we were in fact going to the jungle. At Sambath's camp, he told everyone but me to hang back and let me go first. He had a huge smile on his face, and I wondered why he was so excited. Just before I stepped out of the dense brush into the clearing, he whispered "Someone is very excited to see you. She was been singing since I said your name." I slowly walked into the camp, and heard their grumbling and snorting before I spotted Jasmine and Violet. They stood motionless, as if waiting for the okay to move forward. I heard some rustling of leaves to my left and Daisy burst from the jungle, trotting toward me with her ears flapping and her tail spinning in circles. She cooed and grumbled, then trumpeted as loudly as she could. I couldn't hold back so I ran to her. Before I could grab her, she coiled her powerful trunk around my waist and pulled me close. She released her grip and lowered her head, allowing me to touch my forehead to hers. After a couple of minutes the other elephants joined her, surrounding and carressing me with their trunks. Sambath led my companions into the camp and got them situated in tents that had been prepared for their arrival. Poodle was beside himself, constantly on the lookout for snakes. Sambath eventually got him to calm down by telling him that the elephants keep the snakes away. I introduced Sunny to Daisy and Daisy immediately took to her. Sambath did remark that Daisy might get a little jealous, though. We all gathered around the bonfire that night, and we told the entire story to Sambath and the other elephant handlers. I told Sambath that he was right about Mouse, that I should have stayed away from her. "Ah, but then, you would probably not be here now, among your elephant family," he said. "And I'd say that the journey has been worth it, wouldn't you? You made new friends, found lost family, and learned your true name." I couldn't argue with that.  The next morning, we traveled to an area that was sacred to Sambath, and to Daisy as well. A small creek wound through the jungle, and the banks were open enough for us to gather there. Sunny had brought a package with her, with something inside she hadn't let me see before, and began unwrapping it. Slowly, deliberately, and solemnly, Sambath led Daisy to the creek. Sunny followed, and I could tell that this was something she and Sambath had planned in advance. Sunny opened the box and pulled out a large wreath made of daisies, just like the one Daisy wore. Sambath shocked me by telling me that the spot we were at was where Daisy's mate had been found dead years before. I burst into tears, and Daisy immediately hugged me with her trunk. Even the stoic T-Man had to wipe his eyes. JD and Poodle were silent and respectful, and bowed their heads. Ray said a Comanche prayer. Knowing that this was a special place, and knowing that the ivory was safely back where it belonged, I laid the wreath down beside the creek on the spot where the bull elephant was killed. I'll never know for sure if the ivory we returned once belonged to Daisy's mate, but I like to think it was. Either way, the sweet elephant seemed happy, and I was too. With my head against hers, I began singing to her just as I had done the first time we met. Only this time it was a different song - "I've Had The Time Of My Life" from the movie Dirty Dancing. She swayed back and forth and sang with me for a bit. My friends and family looked on, happy to see me so happy. Glancing over at my friends, the elephant got a mischievous glimmer in her eyes. Daisy took a drink from the creek, then snorted and sprayed me with water. The end. isaboo fucked around with this message at 18:29 on Dec 15, 2022 |
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Dec 13, 2022 01:10
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You're getting a new cover if you want it. That was awesome. There's a lot of good stuff in the story.
Darth Brooks fucked around with this message at 07:45 on Dec 13, 2022 |
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Dec 13, 2022 07:02
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Wonderful! Thank you so much. I could see all that you were describing as I read. You have a real talent and hope that you tell more; I'll look forward to that. Thanks again!!!!
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Dec 13, 2022 10:08
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Aww, gee, Thanks so much! That means a lot to me and I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm going to clean this one up and get started on the book layout so I can self-publish again. I do have one more story I really want to tell, and it's the craziest one I have - the time I was trapped by a pretty hosed up cult in an ancient, strange, and terrifyingly dark place. I legit thought I was going to die there. I gotta figure out how I want to do the art - if anyone wants to collaborate, let me know! Darth Brooks posted:You're getting a new cover if you want it. That was awesome. There's a lot of good stuff in the story. Sure!! I trust your creativity, so do whatever you think would be cool.
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Dec 13, 2022 18:03
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I will never forgive my husband if he doesn't buy me your book for xmas this year. He hosed up last year.
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Dec 13, 2022 19:47
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Tristesse posted:I will never forgive my husband if he doesn't buy me your book for xmas this year. He hosed up last year. I am not above sending Poodle to your home to set your husband straight. He'll annoy your hubby to death.
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Dec 13, 2022 22:53
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seasonal labor is the fulcrum on which capital breaks the working class. please don't buy or mail anything during the month of december
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Dec 14, 2022 00:08
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^^ y'all wouldnt believe what I had to go through with this guy to get the lego stuff done
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Dec 14, 2022 00:21
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This is the new cover. I've already sent Isaboo an image properly sized for printing. This one is smaller so it will fit on the page.
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Dec 14, 2022 21:45
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It's awesome I love it thank you again!
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Dec 14, 2022 23:19
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    if I weren't so lazy and indifferent, I'd make a greasemonkey script to stick those in where they belong. y'all wanna see the color proofs, then you'd better start posting about how excited for the book you are
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Dec 16, 2022 03:31
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