Second Annual Quistis Ball

He quickly found that he was not the seasoned veteran that Pete and Meier were when it came to drinking. He trailed behind the two as they pushed the keg across the soft, moist grass, making sure they didn’t lose it. Every ten feet it seemed that they stopped to lighten the load, so to speak, until they got to the ballroom.

Polk was surprised to hear a small voice greet them at the door. “May I announce who’s here?” the tiny moogle asked.

“No you may not.” Pete responded to the small, injured moogle.

Polk poked his head through the doorway, trying to scope the situation out. “From what I can tell, they already know.” He responded with a chuckle. Inside, employees rushed around, scattering to prepare Final Fantasy style drinks and food, for the guests inside, who whispered to each other under their breaths, sending accusative eyes towards the trio.

“Holy shit, I can’t believe this keg is already kicked.” Pete said, staring at the keg mournfully.

Polk grinned as he responded, “Well, we did stop to lighten it every ten feet.” He turned his head as Meier let out a hearty “Damn right we did!” obviously proud of the accomplishment. Polk unscrewed the tap from the keg as if it were Excalibur, and he King Arthur, its silver exterior shining brilliantly. The American flag sticker under the handle remained a constant reminder of the resilience of the American spirit, as it was worn by now from use, but still held proudly to its position.

“It looks like he’s wearing his communion suit!” Pete bellowed out, pushing his way past the moogle, interrupting Polk’s pondering session. His eyes were now focused on the young man, moving as if he were a secret agent across the dance floor, his eyes focused on the three.

Meier leaned in towards Pete and Polk, and sarcastically added “Don’t look now, but he’s coming over here.” The young man made his way to the dance floor, cutting between an awkward dancing couple, snatching the pretty woman in the red dress from her date. Her date, whom Polk didn’t recognize, confronted Secret Agent Jr. and they looked as if they were going to fight.

“My money’s on the dumb one.” Polk said to Pete, elbowing him in the arm jokingly.

"Dude, you are going to have to be a LOT more specific." Pete responded.

Meier, looking mournfully at the now almost empty keg, declared to the two, “We’ve got a bigger problem. The keg’s done.”

Polk couldn’t help but turn his attention to the music. A small orchestral arrangement belted out a tinker-toy arrangement of, gosh, he didn’t know, something lame. Shit. Isn’t this supposed to be a party? It sounds more like a funeral in here. “We can fix that. For now, let’s work on this music. What is this crap anyway?” Polk focused on the band, and noticed something next to them. It was a DJ booth. He looked lustfully at the booth, knowing what he had to do to liven this graveyard up. He turned back to look at his companions, each now busy with their own tasks. Pete was on the phone. Probably calling Joe for a supply drop. he thought to himself. Meier was finishing a conversation with Andromeda II, and was now heading towards a room with the CPC8 insignia adorned above it. These were unimportant matters to Polk, however, as he now had a mission on his mind. He made his way through the crowd, feigning polite greetings as he walked by. Polk was about to greet the conductor of the band as Andromeda II took the stage, making a short introduction to a song from Final Fantasy VIII. As he finished, he tossed the microphone, and the lights dimmed, showcasing a video of the game on the ceiling. Polk held his mouth shut, covering it with his hand, for fear that vomit would come spewing out, caused by the lameness of the moment going on around him. He knew he had to fix this. He waited patiently until the song was over, then put his hand on the conductor’s shoulder.

“You and I have to talk.” He said to the old, mustachioed man. “Look, I know you guys got paid to play a bunch of Final Fantasy music, but let’s be honest, this shit is boring. If I wanted to hear game music, I’d just play the game, right?”

“I don’t know… I guess, but I rather like several of the pieces. But this is a themed ball, and Andromed-“

“I know, I know. And believe me, you guys are doing great. But how am I supposed to burn the roof down if you guys are playing cute little waltzes, and marches and whatnot?” The old man gave him an inquisitive look, before looking up towards the ceiling.

“You’re going to, what?” he asked.

“It’s just a figure of speech, old man. Keep up.” Polk grabbed the baton from the hand of the old, confused man, and held it between his right thumb and forefinger. “Let’s just say, I, President James K. Polk, am now giving you guys the night off. Go have fun, eat lots of food, and get stinking drunk. I hear Andro has some good booze in the back. We have a couple more kegs coming, too, if you’re into that sort of thing.” The old man continued to stare at him, and Polk handed him back his baton. He looked at his band, who returned an excited look back at him. He shrugged, and left the stage. They followed in suit, back to what he assumed to be their dressing room, to put their instruments away. Polk let a sly grin across his face, and turned around, rubbing his hands together, unaware that he had let a couple of minutes go by without any music playing. The crowd stared at him, as if they expected an answer from him. He let out an awkward chuckle, and made his way to the DJ booth. Conveniently, it was still set up from whatever event had happened the night before. All he had to do was turn it on. He took the microphone in his hand, and switched the power on, and tapped it a couple of times.

“Test, test… Hello, is this thing on? Okay. It’s on. Heh heh. Hey, uh, everybody. I know you guys were enjoying the lovely orchestra, and believe me, they were GREAT. However, that shit was boring, so I gave them the night off. I’ll be playing DJ for the rest of the night, so if you have any suggestions that aren’t God awful, I might consider playing them. But for now, LET’S BOOGEY!” Polk pulled his Ipod from the pocket of his shorts, and swiftly scrolled through his large selection of tunes. He couldn’t find anything worthwhile at first, but remembered his go-to at any party mix, named “Fiesta time.” He pulled it up, and let the first song on the list play. The booming orchestral beat of 50 cent's "In da Club" shook the rafters of the ball room, and Polk was rather surprised at how good the sound quality was. He looked up into the crowd to see how they would react to his not-so-hostile takeover.

Govinda was sitting on a train. It was trapped under the Channel.

'****ing Eurostar,' she muttered.

The hours went by. The air conditioning died. Somewhere, she knew that there was a TFF ball happening; somewhere she had planned to attend. She thought about it for a second, eyes straining to see her face reflected in the window in the Eurostar's particular grey-yellow light. Her eyes looked dull, and her skin looked jaundiced. Somewhere further down the carriage a child had discovered a first aid kit and the gels held therein. Govinda sighed.

'****ing English,' she muttered.

A man walked by exclaiming things in three languages; his tone was vibrant, his steps strong and full of direction. He sounded French. Govinda could tell that he was all for getting the **** off this dead train. Some old English started muttering to themselves about this stupid impatient Frenchman, preparing an argument. The man came to Govinda's seat.

She stood up. 'On y va?' she asked, tilting her head to the side. The man grinned in response.

'On y va!'




(*On y va means 'we going or what?')

Ann's alarm clock bleeped on at an extremely loud pitch. She fumbled out of bed, muttering things under her breath as she went to turn it off. Standing there for a few seconds, she tried to remember what the alarm had been set for. After much looking around and trying to wake up, it suddenly hit her. "Ah damn, the Quistis Ball.." Time flew by and this wasn't the first time the alarm had gone off. She was late.

After taking a quick shower, she slapped on some makeup and rummaged through her closet for something to wear. A few days ago, her friend had brought her some hand-me-downs, which came with two nice dresses. This is what she decided to wear-- the black dress with gold print. It was simple and came down to her knees. With this, she wore her black sandals. As for her hair, she just brushed it and flipped up the ends. Before leaving the room, she took one last look in the mirror and gave a nod. "Good enough."

Grabbing her purse, she flung open her cellphone and gave Telegraph a call. "Hey, I completely forgot about the ball. I just got ready really quick. I'm gonna go, I don't give a damn how late I am. I'll come pick you up, so you better be ready. If you aren't, you're coming to the ball in your pajamas!"

After hanging up, she jumped into her car and zoomed off to Telegraph's house, hopefully not running over any pedestrians.

"Eh? Huh? What's goin' on?" Telegraph muttered into his cell phone as he tried to continue to play his hand held video game. "Some kinda ball? ...oh yeah. That TFF thing." In his closet hung a black suit jacket, black dress pants, a white button up shirt and a black tie. The only trouble were these damned shoes that he'd worn to death... and the fact that he wanted to grind for another couple hours in his RPG, and do nothing else. It suddenly occured to him that Ann had claimed she was driving. This was great! It meant he could continue to play his game while they rode in the car.

"Just gotta get in the bathroom, clean up a bit... how does my hair look? ...great." Telegraph threw his nice clothes on, put some gel in his hair, and walked out the door. Out of his pocket came the hand held once again, which he played until he saw Ann's car come around. "...did she say we were late? ...meh."

While Rocky was chatting it up with his fellow CPC8 and sister Sorority PRK9 members, the twenty-one year old heard a ruckus of sorts that originated from the stairs. Shortly after, Rocky saw his date in the gorgeous peach dress speedwalking towards the crew.

"Sorry I am so late... well you see my heel got caught, and then this gremlin thing...

Gypsy was averting eye contact with everyone, half mumbling her adventure at a high speed, which only allowed for everyone to give her confused looks. Gypsy continued talking and started to blush.

"Glad you could make it!" Rocky stepped in as he held her wrists. Gypsy smiled and followed Rocky arm-in-arm as he asked her if she would like something to drink. "You look cute when you're all flustered you know." Gypsy gave him a playful elbow to the ribs.

As they walked around for a bit, they watched Meier and crew unroll a rather large keg that Rocky thought for sure had plenty of PBR inside. Rocky also saw a fellow friend from the sheepland aka New Zealand wave at them, so they invited Alpha over and talked to him for a bit. "Nice shoes!" Rocky proclaimed when he found out that Alpha was rocking a pair of nice all-black Vans.

Next, Rocky heard the music pick up a bit and saw the Andromedas breaking the ice on the dancefloor, so Rocky excitedly pulled Gypsy down the stairs and the two started to slow dance to Eyes On Me, a secret favorite song from the FF series that Rocky appreciated. In fact, Rocky didn't care too much for Final Fantasy 8, but he did believe that it had some of the best scores of all the Final Fantasy games. As the two were dancing, some shenangians happened between that one Keyblader guy, Kisuke, and Dodie. Rocky found the whole ordeal pretty entertaining, so he slowly danced him and his date to where all the action was.

"Mind if I cut in pal, the lady appears to be sick." Keyblader sheepishly gave Kisuke back his date and walked off the dancefloor. Rocky giggled but was still kind of annoyed by the nerve that Keyblader had for doing something like that. What was his motive?

After dancing for a little bit, the two took a break where at that time Rocky went looking for his CPC8 brothers. When Rocky met up with Pete and Meier Link, both of them looked slightly disappointed, probably due to the keg being all dried out. Pete was also trying to get ahold of someone on his phone, so Rocky asked Polk for the keys to the car. Polk threw him the keys and Rocky jogged out to the car.

"Let's see... where is it... ah here we go!" Rocky found what appeared to be a 2-liter bottle of Mountain Dew, however the liquid inside appeared to be a dark red instead of the usual lime green hue. Rocky called this self-made brew "Red Drank". Inside the 2 liter bottle was mountain dew, mixed in with some cheap Hawkeye Vodka and some Fruit Punch kool aid. It didn't even have the alcoholic taste, but too much of the concotion at once could cause quite the adventure.

By the time Rocky came back to the ballroom, it appeared that Polk took over as the new DJ and started playing some "Yeah" by Usher. Gypsy found him and excitedly pulled him to the dancefloor. "Wanna dance?" Rocky frowned a bit and said "Um I'm not sure how to dance..." Gypsy smiled "It's like falling off a log, come on let's go!" Gypsy pulled him into the crowd as Rocky put his Red Drank away and got down to dance.

The night was still young. However, this young woman and her lover ran late to the Ball event. She spent an hour getting ready for the event. She made sure her skin was as soft and clean as can be, as well as having the most sparkling dress she could find, as well as the matching heels to go with it.

She hurried along out the door and waited for her lover to come out as well. She locked the door behind them and got into the reserved limousine, heading for the Ball.

What seemed like over another hour passed as they finally reached the parking lot for the Ball event. The limo pulled up onto the curb entrance as the two ladies emerged from the car.

Victoria smiled inwardly as she had a special something for her lover tucked into her cleavage.

-----------------
IC Attire: Black mini-dress with a layer of glitter and a pair of black 5” stiletto pumps and fishnet thigh-highs. Spider-web gloves that ran along to her upper arm.

Gemma didn't have to look at the clock to know her and her lover were running late. The sunlight hadn't licked the walls of their bedroom for a couple of hours now, forcing the ceiling lights to cast their warm, orangey glow around the room.

The hair-dryer had decided not to work when she came out from their on-suite bathroom from her shower. It wasn't anything major - it simply needed a new fuse. Finding said fuse took longer than she thought, but with her hair finally dry, it was time to search the wardrobe for her clothes for the evening.

Finding something to wear in a wardrobe full of clothes for two women is much harder than it sounds - you're given much more to choose from. Victoria, who by this point has already chosen her clothes now lay on the bed watching her girlfriend rummage through their clothes, and calling out suggestions as she applied her make-up.

Finally finding that perfect black cocktail dress she bought just a few months ago, Gemma jumped and giggled in excitement. Slipping it on infront of the mirror, she admired herself. Her naturally curly hair hung around her face, and bounced with every move. Her dress comfortably clung to her curves as she smoothed it down over her hips. Her feet...

"Shooooooesss!" Gemma exclaimed, and immediately started running back and forth around the room tying to find her black pumps. Why is nothing where it's supposed to be when it is needed? thought Gemma angrily, when she heard the limo Victoria had hired horn at them. She was about to give up, and pick another pair of shoes when she found them at the foot of the bed, concealed by a pile of clothes that had fallen from the bed during some shenanigans earlier that afternoon.

Racing down the stairs to meet Victoria at the front door, she grabbed her clutch purse and fitted leather jacket. Once her lover had locked the front door, Gemma took her hand with a smile and walked her to the black, shiny limousine. Their uniformed driver for the evening opened the door for the two young ladies with a smile.

The drive was pleasant, but too long for Gemma's liking. By now, she had spotted the time through the drivers window. Victoria appeared to be more relaxed than her about them being late, but Gemma decided that she only felt nervous because it was her fault. Sitting next to her girlfriend in a soft embrace calmed her down. Leaning on her, she watched the glittering stars pass by through the sunroof.

Everything was set for a perfect evening. Gemma had a good feeling about this evening, and was looking forward to spending time with Victoria and their friends at the ball.

Once pulled into the driveway, the driver once again opened the back doors for them. Emerging from the back seat, Gemma looked up at the manor in amazement, just as she did the year before. Near the front door, she could see her little moogle friend from the previous year too, hovering by the entrance. She blushed slightly, and wondered if he would remember her.

She felt Victoria's arm around her waist, and smiled as they both made their way up the stone steps which lead to Stiltzkin and his check list. She gave him a shy wave on their approach. For a moment, Gemma thought he was going to scream and fly away, but instead he welcomed her with a cute grin.

The blue Saturn car pulled into Telegraph's driveway, just barely missing the mailbox. Ann unlocked the passenger side and let him climb in.

"It appears we're going to be late, but I doubt they'll make that much of a deal of it. OH! What game are you playing?!" She leaned over and snatched the device from his hands.

"OooOoooh," she exclaimed excitedly, "Final Fantasy 6!! I love this game! Want to take over?" She gestured towards the steering wheel.

Telegraph looked displeased, and it just so happened that he had been in the middle of a boss fight. The Game Over music started playing.

"..Uhoh..oops." She laughed nervously, quickly returning the game and shifted the car into drive. They fought over the stereo on their way to the ball, turning it off and on. After pinching Telegraph's hand extremely hard, Ann got her way and blasted Another One Bites the Dust by Queen.

Once they arrived, she swerved the car into the closest parking space and hopped out of her seat. "Not the best parking job.. I grade myself a C-!" She grabbed Telegraph by the sleeve as he played his hand held console, and they strolled over to the entrance.

Stiltzkin looked his usual wary self as he scanned his list for 'Violet' and 'Telegraph'. "Don't break down the door this time, kupo. That cost us quite the amount of money last time!" "That wasn't me, that was Silver." "Ah. Well, you two try to be on your best behavior, kupo!" "You don't have to remind me, moog." He nod his head to let them in, slightly taken aback. The two finally went in.

The ball was very crowded. The lights were dimmed with spotlights flashing everywhere and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Fortunately, the awards hadn't been announced yet. She wondered if Gypsy was there yet. The music was extremely loud and different. She'd been expecting the usual orchestrated songs from the FF series. This was much better. "Screw dancing. Let's go have some drinks!"

The Eurotunnel is not just one tunnel; it is eight tunnels running parallel to one another, fed by highspeed lines close to Dover and Calais. At peak times it carries 20,000 foot passengers every day, and thousands of lorries, cars, and vans. Ever since the days of the tunnel fire disaster, there have been accessible walkways running along each track and connecting each tunnel to the others. The idea behind this was that, in the event of a fire, it would be possible for people to walk to a fire-free tunnel without having to wait for emergency services.

Govinda watched as a member of Eurostar staff continued to insist that these walkways did not exist. The emergency lighting flickered beneath the overhead luggage racks, making the carriage look like a bizarre orange and grey disco. Electrical problems had knocked the whole train out; there was no air conditioning and they were trapped beneath the sea. The heat inside the train was intense, the air thick with moisture and human smells.

At this point there were five other passenger trains trapped in the tunnel, but nobody knew that. As far as they were concerned only their train had broken down, and they'd been left to their own devices for the six hours since that had happened. Why was no-one coming to rescue them? What had happened up above? There was no mobile phone signal at all; people were tense, worried, on the verge of panic. It was amazing that the train had lasted six whole hours with no information and not taken to the walkways yet. The smell was awful.

Govinda fondled her cigarette tin and considered sniffing her tobacco to drown out the stench of the carriage. She decided against provoking her nicotine addiction and put the tin back in her pocket with a grimace. She couldn't stop thinking about a magical little plan she had in her head; it went cigarette, sip of orange juice, ham baguette, cigarette, juice, cigarette, fresh air, magical flushing toilet not filled with children, cigarette, cigarette, cigarette...

The ardent Frenchman from before was arguing with the staffer, waving around an evacuation plan that clearly showed the walkways. 'Is this not an emergency?' he asked the staffer. 'Have we not been stuck under the Channel for six hours now? Have you restored the electricity so that we can have air again? Have you magically restocked the emergency water supplies that ran out two hours ago?'

The staffer shook his head. 'Listen to me,' he said slowly, holding his hands up and showing the whole carriage his palms, 'If you go outside, it'll slow everything down. Trains won't be able to move because there might be people on the tracks. You can't just - '

'Can't Eurostar tell where their own trains are? Say we bugger off there into Tunnel B and stay put, wait for the shunt in a place where we can breathe. Can't you tell Eurostar that we're there? Or if we just go to that walkway right there, yes, that existential-ass piece of engineering that we can somehow see despite your insistence that it is not, in fact, there, can't you just not start this train til we're all back on?' Govinda asked, feeling brave and fed up.

'No,' said the staffer, shaking his head. 'We can't tell where the trains are from down here. When the shunt comes it won't wait for anyone, and we can't tell Eurostar to ask it to wait for passengers to get back on the train.'

The French-speaking members of the carriage fell silent. Hasty whispered translations into English and German followed, and then everyone was quiet.

The leader of the would-be escapees stared at the staffer. 'Excuse me?' he said.

'What? Didn't you know that? We can't talk to Eurostar down here. Only Eurotunnel, the freight operators.' The staffer seemed to think that this was common knowledge. A woman started wailing somewhere behind Govinda.

'So you're totally okay with sending 800-capacity highspeed trains under the sea and then relying on someone else to make sure they don't get lost? That's totally alright by Eurostar?' Govinda said.

'Yes. And that's why you're not going out onto the walkways.'

'The walkways that you said didn't exist?' said the ardent Frenchman.

'Yes, those ones. Now please excuse me,' the staffer announced, bowing slightly. 'I must go and speak with the driver. I'll be back with more information.'

The staffer left the carriage. A German to Govinda's left reached above his seat and pulled down an emergency escape hammer. 'The doors are locked anyway,' he said, attracting the attention of the Frenchman. 'Here.' He tossed the hammer lightly across the carriage, and the Frenchman caught it easily, smiling.

Govinda started rolling a cigarette. She wondered about the internet ball she was missing. Had someone tried to give everyone the shits yet?

The first hit cracked the glass, and the carriage held its breath. Someone shouted from the back that the Frenchman should stop, he was going to ruin things for everyone! A shouting match began. Shit was getting serious.

Govinda looked at her cigarette and sighed. She put it back into its case and sank back into her seat. This was going to take a while.

Ruin was making his way through the crowd, Insufficient Mage following him at his heels. As he shifted through the crowd, it seemed to part at the exact moment, allowing Ruin and Mage to pass before it the gap closed off. It's like we're splitting the Red Sea open. Ruin thought, grinning to himself. He turned his head as the thought occured to him, wanting to share the idea with Mage, when the music suddenly stopped, and something completely different started playing.

Facepalming, Ruin had a very good idea as to who abducted the stage. Looking up, he was indeed correct--- Polk had designated himself as the night's D.J., and was now currently playing a random mix of music from his i-Pod.

There goes the moment, haha. Ruin thought to himself. I can't fast dance to save my life.

Looking around, he seen that Violet had turned up, and that the CPC8 group was slowly making it's way to the Fraternity's Section. Meier, Rocky, Pete, and Alpha were already on their way upward, and Gypsy was somewhere nearby.

"It looks like things are under way." Ruin spoke to Mage, indicating the group as a whole. "I'd dance, but I'm too much of a clutz to dance to fast songs, so want to wait until something slower comes on, and join the group until then?" Ruin turned to face her, grinning. "I want to give a five to Meier, just for old times sake, and before he gets to hammered to remember the rest of the night."

Twenty-two miniature sausages later, Ocean went in search of beverage. Once he'd been let in on her quest, Djinn immediately suggested tequila. Ocean groaned at the thought of hard liquor. "Are you kidding? I just ate twenty weenies!"

Upon uttering the words, there was silence in the room as one Polk-classic ended and the ball-goers waited for another to begin. It had been perfectly timed. The pair stood still, looking out at the dance floor.

The music picked up again and those who had noticed the outburst seemed to return to their business. Djinn cleared his throat and smiled at her. "Twenty-two weenies."

Ocean laughed, "It's cuter when you say it, British." One of her nicknames for him, you see. Because he is British.

CPC8 and PRK9 seemed to be gathering, and Ocean hadn't said hi yet. Djinn was making himself a martini and offered to make one for her. "I'd love one once my stomach settles," she said, "but I'd like to say hi to the cool kids first. Do you mind?"

Djinn indicated that he did not and said, "No promises on how strong your drink will be if you're not around to supervise." He winked.

"You're too much of a gentleman to take advantage of me." She winked back. With that settled, she walked over to the CPC8 boys to ask Pete for a two-armed hug.

The night had begun to push on and turn over to the guests, a fact that was giving Andromeda heart trouble if she had not been accompanied by Andromeda II. He had been working to steel her from the sidelines. It had pulled her out of the center of attention and left them at the side of the large ballroom.

“Hey, it’s already past the time you know!” he said trying to console her by reaching for her sense of obligation and duty. It managed to pull her up to look at him. He gave her a warm smile glad to see her face again. “You know if you keep acting on every little thing they’d going to think you don’t know how to have fun. They’re going to think you’re uptight or something.”

“What!? How can you be so insensitive?!” she said pushing him away from her.

“Aw, becoming shy now? Come on it’s just a little teasing.” He tried to patch things over with his smooth voice, but it only seemed to make her angrier.

“You don’t understand me at all!”

Andromeda II could not help but shrug to himself. “Aren’t you, we taking this a little too far. I mean we’re the same person. Don’t you think this is a little played out this point?” Unfortunately, his casual manner did not help things either. “Eesh, I guess this is what happens when we leave the roleplayer inside the female half.”

Matters only became worse for Andromeda as she stood up with a serious look of determination in her eye. It made Andromeda II back up a little not liking the look that she had marching off. He followed behind her half off out fear for what she was going to do and half curious. She made it over to the table still fuming and slammed her hands down. Then she whipped her hand out grabbing a bottle quickly that was labeled ‘Elixir’ and she fiercely threw off the cork top and downed the entire thing in a single gulp. After, she turned around looking straight at Andromeda II. “I know how to have fun just like anyone else! See!” Her hand came from away from the bottle and a second word was revealed saying ‘Auron’s’.

He could not help but slap his hand to his face as he knew that she knew what it was. However, he also knew that she was not thinking about the consequences. “I guess I pushed it a little too much.”

“Now let’s do that awards show!”

Andromeda started to turn to march off, but suddenly turned red in the face before collapsing to the floor. “Ugh…You should have remembered that you have zero tolerance for alcohol. And that was hard liquor too… I guess if it was anyone else they’d be saying ‘such a waste’ right about now. I’m going to be feeling this in the morning…” He let out a long sigh and carried her over to a chair to sleep in. “Guess I’m flying solo now!”

Andromeda II walked up over to the front of the stage. Music was still being played and people dancing or chatting between each other. He turned on the microphone which cut through the noise bringing everything to a quiet hum. “Hey all! Glad to see everyone’s been enjoying themselves! This is all for you, for without you we couldn’t have such a fine community. So let’s do a little honoring and perhaps embarrassing of our fine members by getting the awards portion of the show started! This is nothing too formal. The way it’ll work is that I’ll announce the winner and runner-up if there is one and you’ll come up to the stage to get your award. Speeches-ah!” He nearly jumped being interrupted by an unsettling breathing on his neck. As he turned to look around he found Andromeda staring down at him with a look in her eye that he started to immediately regret. “Andromeda!” He turned his eyes back towards to the crowd trying to smile. ‘I could have so much fun with this, but she’d never live it down. She’s pretty drunk… surprised she can still stand…’

She had a giddy look on her face still heavily red with intoxication. “Heeey~ Why’d you behind me leave?!”

Trying not to let it distract the progress too much he walked her back to the side of the stage and returned back. “Sorry about that! Well let’s try to get this started-ah!” Andromeda was back next to him with her chin resting on his shoulder looking at him longingly. He had to quickly to shift her around behind him. “Best Sta~ff! Member!” She was making it difficult for him to talk straight even hiding her. “Best Staff Member~!” he repeated trying to get it out smoothly. He pulled out a folded paper looking at it to find the name he had to announce. ‘Why am I thinking of Police Academy right now?’

Andromeda jumped up behind him resting her head on his shoulder looking over from his back at the paper. “Aw! Why didn’t Tyrbane Silverhand win! He was the best staff member we ever had always telling the newbies off with his fancy words.”

“Shh! Andromeda! Nobody even knows who you’re talking about, just be quiet!”

“Oh Gingersnap!”

Andromeda II did not know what to make of that last comment, but pushed through. “Well ignoring that! The winner for the Best Staff Member of 2009 is Meier Link! Congratulations! It was a pretty close race this year and we have a runner-up!”

“Gingersnap!”

“Er right…anyway! Off by one vote OceanEyes28! Come on up you two!”

(OoC: Alright! The show has begun! The way it’ll work is that I’ll send out a PM to the winner(s) notifying them of this so that they can come and be present to accept their award. If I get a declined response, meaning that they don’t want to come here and accept it I’ll just move on. I’ll be in contact with the BAU to get links for your awards! After this is all completed Ocean will be making a posting with the entire list available in the GC. You have the stage to have your fun and embarrass yourself in whatever way you wish, enjoy!)

'Note to self, cheesy British humour and Americans don't work' he thought to himself as Ocean walked away to meet up with the resident CPC8 and PRK9 members.

After witnessing the great weenie-fest of 2010 he quickly turned his attention to the alcohol problem he was having. The problem being he didn't have a drink, but more importantly neither did his date!

"Leaving me alone to sort out other people's drinks? Not such a good idea." He muttered to himself as he looked towards the selection of liquor on offer. "I'm sure i can make something interesting here!"

After quickly making same rather strong martini's for Ocean and himself he picked up a few bottles from a shelf. "Gin, rum and vodka! Perfect... i think." He exclaimed as he began pouring them into a large glass, adding some pineapple juice for the finishing touch.

He took a sip of his newly invented drink, immediatly he took a step back and placed the glass back down. "Wow, that shit will melt steel!" He said, coughing, trying to look like he wasn't phased by the strength of it.

After regaining his composure he began pouring the drink into shot glasses and placed them across a table, then went back to his martini.

"Lets see what happens with those" He smirked, as the first award was announced by Andromeda.

(Ooc: Sorry i've not been very active, work has been a bitch the past two weeks. On leave again now though! XD.)

Meier made his way through the crowd and back over to Pete, as expected Meier heard the sounds of the band come to a halt and saw a confrontation between Polk and the band leader pursuing.

As the music switched over from a traditional ball setting to a nightclub in the city Meier felt an ease come over his self and knew it was time for some fun.

Coming to the harsh reality that the booze they had brought had run dry Meier decided it was high time to check out the fully stocked bar that Andromeda II had hinted at. As he turned to head to the bar Rocky appeared and rejoined the group to congregate and merrily drink to pass the time until his date appeared.

Meier couldn’t leave his friends there boozeless so he walked to the bar and jumped across the marble bar top; the sound of the cherry wood that supported the top could be heard distorting as Meier slid across to grab a few glasses and a few bottles of what ever he could find that sounded decent.

Meier picked up a bottle that looked familiar but could put his finger on where he had seen it before. The light was dim behind the bar but he could vaguely make out the label, “Auron’s Elixir”. It sounded interesting enough so Meier popped the top and took a few quick gulps, its taste was bitter but it went down smooth and crisp. The bottle was quick to empty as Meier was one of the elders and a pro-drinker in the CPC8 house.

“Not to bad” Meier thought to his self as he grabbed 2 more bottles of the elixir and headed out and a few other miscellaneous bottles.

Meier’s arms where to full for him to make it back across the bar top so he decided this time it would be better to just go through the opening located 3 feet away and headed back over to the main area where his friends were located.

As he made his way back he saw Andromeda and she seemed to be a little on the down and out side so Meier snuck by her, unnoticed, and sat one of the bottles of Auron’s Elixir on the closest table to where she was located. Meier made it back to his friends and put the rest of the booze down.

He quickly pulled the tops off of the famous four, Jim, Jack, Jose’, and Mr. Beam and poured some of the contents out into a strategically placed row of shot glasses. He the reached into his pocket and pulled out a flask and added a couple drops of its contents into each of the shot glasses. The mystery liquid had an eerie glow to it, such that it looked like it was on fire. Meier then took a drink out of it and put the flask back into its hiding spot.

“Hey guys come and get it” Meier shouted to his friends “I call this one Ifirit’s Hellfire Surprise.”


Meier was to consumed with getting things ready that he hadn’t noticed that the music had once again stopped and that some other people had made their way up to the area where the CPC8 boys where standing. An important announcement had been made and Meier had missed it.
‘
Oceaneyes rushed up and grabbed him by the arm, “What are you deaf” she said and pulled him away as she mumbled something else.

Meier then realized he was being pulled to the stage. Curiosity got the best of him and he stopped resisting and just followed in Allys footsteps.

“Are they kicking us out already?” Meier thought to his self as he made his way through the crowd. The crowd parted like the red sea as Meier trudged the distance to the stage.

As he made his way around to the side steps to the stage he noticed the Andro’s standing there in the middle, II was holding the mic and Andro was looking at him hiding behind II’s shoulder. Meier could see the discontent in Andro’s eyes.

“Great they are kicking us out” He thought to his self again “I should of got to the bar quicker and at least caught a buzz.

As Meier walked on stage he looked at Andromeda again and realized there was no discontent in her eyes but the somber look of drunkenness.

As Meier and Oceaneyes made their way to center stage a spot light hit them blinding Meier. He stumbled for a second due to his eyes being sensitive to sudden changes in lighting but was quick to regain his senses. There was a loud applause as the duo made it to center stage.

“WTF is going on” Meier thought as Andromeda II reached out said “Congratulations” shook his hand and started to pass off the microphone.

Meier came to the grim realization that he had won something but wasn’t sure what it was. Was it the door prize? Possibly a raffle that he didn’t know about? He reached out and grabbed the mic from Andromeda II.

“Give us a speech” a voice said from the back of the room.

“Yeah a speech” said another.

Meier was hesitant but decided to do what he did best at a moments notice, improvise.

“Well I want to thank you all for coming out tonight, it is good to see so many familiar faces” he said as he pulled the mic to his lips. No sound came from the speakers. Slightly embarrassed Meier looked at the mic and realized it had been turned off to avoid feed back while he was on his way up.

Meier flicked the little knurled switch to the “on” position.

The crowd chuckled at his ignorance. Meier then look around for a second and saw a stack of awards on a table to the side of the stage and came to the realization that one of them was his, not sure which one he had won though.

“Well that was embarrassing” Meier said as he pulled the mic back up and into position.

“As most of you know, I am Meier and I am an alcoholic.” The words rang from his lips with out thought. He hesitated once again.

“Sorry for that; force of habit when I step in front of a crowd.” Meier said with a chuckle.

“I just want to thank everyone that voted for me this year, it has been a good year and I have enjoyed my time at TFF getting to know everyone. I think of TFF as a second home and some of you are like family to me.” He said with a slight smile.

“It has been a good year and I am glad to see so many familiar faces in the crowd. First off I want to thank Fuzz and the other staff members for putting up with my crap over the last 2 and a half some odd years. Crao Porr Cock8, you guys rock. And on a final note I just want to assure you that Meier and his amazing hair will be around for years to come.”

Meier then handed the mic off to Oceaneyes and received the award, he took a look at it.

“2009 Best Staff Member” was inscribed on it.

Meier’s eyes teared up a little upon reading these words. He felt so honored to receive the award knowing that he hadn’t been in his Mod position for near as long as the other staff members and to achieve such an award was a true honor.

He listened as Ally gave her speech and then took her arm as a true gentleman should, shook the hands of both the Andros and lead the fair lady off the side of the stage to regroup with the CPC boys and the CPC9 women.

(( OOC: sorry if I missed up and missed some parts of other peoples posts. Figured I needed to go ahead and get this posted so I rushed it a little. ))

With files on his desk, Chaos grew tired of the sight of paperwork and the 260th paper-cut he had to endure. He quickly got up, without hesitation, and rushed to the bathroom to clean his hands of dry blood and comfort his wounds.

"I'd have better nights working with 'Chrome Dome' downstairs for weeks on-end", he pondered to himself, rubbing water on his tiresome face.

Within seconds of drying his hands, with P.D.A vibrated with a firework ring-tone, justifying that a special event was being held...at this very moment.

"Well well, I suppose I can check it out after I'm done here. Lemme just grab my coat and I'd be honored to take flight."

Soon enough, as he exited the bathroom, rapid footsteps were approaching, and fast. With low reaction time, from being so tired, Chaos looked to the left and saw nothing, but stars. He seemed to have been run over by a big lady, with little time to waste.

"Oh my god", the lady responded. "Are you okay, Mister?"

Chaos only heard the jingle of ball music and drifted into a world of fine ladies drinking wine and champagne, having a good time. It lasted for a short time seeing that the worried lady never gave up on him.

"Chaos! Please be OK?! I have to be on my way if you don't mind!"

He staggered for a bit, then slowly began opening his eyes. He was up, but more tired than before.

"Whoa", he said with relief, "You're really pretty, lady..."

The lady blushed and smacked some sense into him.

"Ouch, what was that for?! And how do you know my name?!"

The mysterious lady pointed at his P.D.A that displayed a message stating:
"CHAOS, IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR ARSE DOWN HERE BEFORE THIS FOOL RUNS OUT OF MARTINIS, WE ARE GONNA HAVE A BIG SERIOUS PROBLEM!! YOUR SHIFT ENDED, BUT THIS PARTY DIDN'T!! HURRY!!" -Tank (SeeD Cadet)

"Oh. Heehee."

"Aren't you going? I mean, if you can even get up. I'm sorry about that by the way. I'm rushing to punch in for my first night-shift. I think I'm feeling in for you until morning."

Chaos had a enlightened impression on his face that shined even the darkest of ?Dark? (LOL).

"Oh! I remember who you are now! You're Diane Matios, aren't you? You were going to be my Assistant Manager. Did they finally give you the position?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, they did....finally... I've been working hard and waiting for about 3 and a half weeks now. Regional sure know how to work the suspense factor in these situations, don't they?"

"Yes, indeed. But, I'm sorry for taking up anymore of your time. You go and punch that card in! And Welcome to Rumble Bee's Weaponry! I'll see you tomorrow for training!"

Diane ran as quickly as she did in the first place, that ended in Chaos' (chuckles) downfall.
His phone rang again as a reminder, which alarmed him to quickly get on his feet, dust himself off, and run for his "Bike".
As he ran, he pulled out, what looked to be a remote, with two button. He pushed one and, without a second's delay, the sound of Jet Engines filled the air.
Excited by the sound of "WIN", he ran through the entrance doors and jumped as high as he can, onto a Sky-Rider 20XX (A hover bike powered by electricity).
He place in his neural confirmation code into the bike and rived the engines, forcing shocks to fly and light to shroud everything behind him.

"Now, Shiva, fly! We have a celebration to attend!!"

Without hesitation, he was off, resembling a shooting star, to the party of dreams...The Second Annual Quistis Ball.

Before she could get her hug, the announcements began. Knowing who had won the first award, and knowing he was probably impaired or distracted, Ocean went in search of Meier. Once she found him, she led him to the stage, where he made his speech. He then handed her the mic.

"I'll keep this short. This should be about Meier, not me. He has done a lot for the forum and I anticipate he will continue to be an asset to the TFF staff. He is certainly a worthy recipient. I'd like to thank everyone who voted for me. Thank you for the wonderful compliment." Ocean smiled at the onlooking ball-goers. "And that'll do it." She accepted her award and left the stage.

(OOC: it's short, written quickly, but I am busy busy and wanted us to be able to move on while still saying something nice about Meier))

Govinda woke with a start. Something was happening.

...movement?

She sat up in her seat, her torso shooting forwards, hands clutching the armrests on either side of her chair. Suddenly streams of beautiful, wonderful, fresh, clean, cold air came pouring from vents above her. She turned her head up to bathe in it, drink it in. It felt like the nicest shower she'd ever had. The vapid heat that had been pulsing through her legs was fading; her soggy top began to slowly uncurl and show signs of not being a drowned animal.

The carriage was sighing. Nobody was happy; they were just relieved. All escape attempts had been thwarted when the doors were locked down and the window alarms activated at the behest of a group of ardent English people who cited their belief in 'the proper way of doing things' as their reason for keeping Govinda from her cigarettes.

Govinda pressed her face to the cool glass of the window. Lights were moving outside. Was the tunnel moving, or were they moving? What day was it again? 2009, right?

Nobody noticed until they left the tunnel that something was very wrong. The train was moving smoothly along, running paralell to a motorway. All Govinda cared about was that the sky was blue and the air-con was working. Cigarettes, and soon!

The first person to notice the Thing That Was Very Wrong let everyone know by saying 'URGHGHHHHHHHHHH' really loudly and slamming something (possibly his head) off of his plastic tray table. Govinda looked over.

'The cars,' he cried. 'The cars. Look at the cars!'

Everyone did as instructed. Govinda regarded the cars for a moment. They seemed fine, driving along, as cars are wont to do. Around her people were slowly lowering their faces into their palms. It was at this point that Govinda noticed what was wrong. She, too, performed the Eurostar Facepalm.

The cars were driving on the left hand side of the road. The train had been heading for France. In France, they drive on the right hand side.

'Backwards,' she muttered. 'We're going backwards. Backwards.'

She slept until London, at which point she took out several fellow passengers and a tea trolley in her desperation to reach a legal (or at least a discreet illegal) smoking area. She charged down the platform, fixated on every 'exit' sign she could see. They would lead her to nicotine. They were the way. The polished floor was easy beneath her feet, and her suitcase rolled across it comfortably. The place smelled musty and vaguely of oil; for some reason, this reminded Govinda of cigarette smoke. She sped up.

A man stopped her on the way. His jacket bore the yellow Eurostar mark. 'Excuse me, Miss,' he said, walking towards her, 'were you on that Eurostar train, headed for Paris?'

Govinda glared. 'No, no, I just like skipped all the security fences and shit and then ninja'd my way through passport control because I thought coming into this station via an international railway line would be, like, the easiest way to get in here, generally,' she said, walking past. 'Where the **** did you think I came from just now? Or can you accidentally get into the secure area from the wrong side? Do I look like a ****ing French train to you? No, no really, check out my ****ing wheels. My bar buffet is in car 13, please have a pleasant - '

'If you'll calm down, I'll give you an expenses ticket.'

'A what?'

'Expenses ticket. Use it for anything you need to get home - taxis, hotels up to three star, meals. We'll track anything you shouldn't have claimed for back to you using your name and reference number. Ok?'

This was more than simply 'okay'. Govinda had seen them handing these things out in Paris. People were calling them Golden Tickets. Nobody at Eurostar thought to ask for ID and proof of purchase when handing them out. Oh, joy of joys.

'Oh, that'd be just great, thank you,' gushed Govinda.


****


One false name and fifteen cigarettes later, Govinda found her way back into the railway station. She'd have to find a way of getting to Calais to get home. Her new suitcase, boots and coat really were making the journey better. The sushi in Nobu had also helped. All of these things had been justified as 'travel essentials'. If a woman named Bumblesquat Ricenpeas actually existed, she was going to have one hell of a bill to pay. Govinda laughed at the musty glass roof, grinning.

She made her way upstairs to the St Pancras Champagne Bar. The barman looked at her ticket and asked what she'd write for justification of purchase. 'Essential medication,' she replied.

Midway through her third glass of Moet, something struck her. Hadn't she meant to be somewhere?

'Barman, I need road champagne!' she exclaimed, quickly pulling on her coat. 'Have you got a travel case for these fine bottles?' she asked.

The barman looked around before shrugging his shoulders and saying, 'Well, we've got cargo boxes, but their minimum hold is about 15 bottles - '

' - what's their maximum?'

'42, Miss,' he replied.

'That, dear sir, shall do just fine. One cargo box should suffice.'

'This all on Eurostar, yeah?'

'You bet.'

'Name again?'

'Dmitri Karama - I mean, Ms. Ricenpeas.'

'Uh, sure. I'll just get the box for you. Do you need some help taking it down to the car park?'

'Absolutely. Thank you. Take ten bottles on my ticket. Oh, sweet international trains.' Govinda sighed and smiled.


The barman helped her down to the taxi rank. They found one black cab just sitting by the kerb; his light was off, but was he waiting? Govinda went over and tapped on his window to check.

The driver was a burly Sikh with an expansive beer belly matched only by the size of his massive black beard. He seemed very pleased with himself. Govinda asked if she could hire his cab, waving her ticket. 'Of course!' he exclaimed, hopping out of his cab. 'No problem!'

When he saw the transport crate of Moet champagne he winked at Govinda and helped the barman load it into the back of the cab. It took up most of the space. The whole operation took about five minutes, which was enough time for another sweet cigarette.

Soon they were ready to leave. Govinda thanked the barman and got into the cab; it was at this point that she noticed that the driver's fare meter already read £145.60. A little light saying 'POB' was flashing.

'Sorry,' Govinda asked, leaning forward, 'but what is POB?'

'Passenger On Board,' grinned the driver.

'Since when?' asked Govinda.

'Since my last Eurostar ticket left, Miss!'

Govinda smiled. 'Good man,' she said, leaning back into the not-unpleasant faux-leather seat. The upholstery wasn't bad, and happily, the cab smelled vaguely of cigarette smoke. 'Now then,' she began. 'We have to go somewhere that doesn't have a name. It's on the internet and also probably in America but whatever, we can totally drive to America, yes? That Pan-Atlantic highway's been up for a while now, hasn't it? Oh, the innovations we owe to President Palin. Anyway! On y va!'

As Gypsy pulled Rocky on to the dance floor, he still had a slight frown on his face. Right as they were about to begin, Rocky started to have second thoughts "I'm not so sure if I want to to this..." he said in a nervous voice. Gypsy gave him a slightly angry look "come on, don't be a jerk" and just as she said that, the song had just finished and then changed to You're a Jerk. Gypsy laughed yelling "This is perfect" smacking her hands together with joy, since they always joked about teaching him how to do the "jerk",

"It's all in the Kankles" she said. Rocky laughed, which seemed to put him in a better mood. Gypsy walked an arms distance next to Rocky, and said "here's how you do it, it's easy. Just do what I do" She proceeded to show him, trying not to fall in her silver heels. "Start with your left foot she said, like this", Rocky followed. "Then when your left foot goes back, your right foot goes in front get it?" It took a few seconds for him to process and then he tried. "There ya go she said" with a smile on her face, "now just to that with the music." Rocky had picked it up faster than she thought he would. "How do you like that?" Rocky said in a victorious tone, "whatever I'm in heels" she said in a playful manner.

After dancing for a while, Gypsy looked around, "I wonder where Violet is?" she thought to herself...."She would probably be over by the drinks by now"....

Rooocccky, she said all silly , grabbing his arm, lets go see if any more of the girls showed up. As they proceeded to the special lounge, Gypsy spotted Violet in the distance wearing a cute black dress with gold print, "Sista!" Gypsy yelled, while waving her arms as they got closer.

Within minutes, Chaos arrives at the Academy, decked in sparkling lights and glimmering decorations. Overwhelmed by the site, he picks up his phone and begins his journey.

"Dude! Have you took a gander at how the Academy looks?"

"Yeah. I'd be dumb not to. I would of helped them, but I had training to do with Jace. You know how that is. Anyways, I'm guessing you're in the front. Want me to escort you in? I hope you're dressed for the party."

"If its not a bother on your part. Don't wanna ruin your current fun. I'll be out here, spiffing myself up a bit."

"Great, but don't stand out front for too long. Meet me by the fountain."

Chaos hangs up the phone and places it in his holster. Within minutes, he receives a video message from Diane:

"Umm.. Hi Chaos! I kinda had a question on the Propulsion Unit placed on the 90-4E Cannon. It looks weird... really weird. Whats worst is that your log says that you had to refill the energy caps... Is this the newest model? I don't have this in my data and I'm scared that something horrible would happen if I touched it. I understand you're busy at the party, so I'll leave that for last. Just wanted to let you know. K? Have fun!"

As he walks to the fountain, he thinks on how he feels about Diane.

"Man, she's a piece of work. May steal my heart if she had the chance. Nice to have such a beautiful woman to..."

About to finish his thought, Tank dashes through the doors with arms out, urging for a welcoming hug.

"YO!"

He grabs Chaos and the friendly spark ignited the two. They exchange words of wisdom, as expected.

"You're lookin' nice.", commented Chaos.

"Thanks. You look like you're been outing on some snacks before you arrived! Putting on some weight I see!"

"Same ol' Tank."

"HAH HAH! No, really. You look great. But, enough of this! Let us....HAVE FUN!!"

"I thought you'd never ask!"

They rush in like little children rushing to sit in front of the television to watch their favorite Saturday morning cartoon.
Judging from the amount of people passed the security gates, the party seemed packed. Loads of voices were heard from just 3 meters away. Chaos felt excitement flow through his veins.

"By Behemoth's Wrath! How many people were recruited this years?!"

"Don't count just them. Staff and Alumni are here too. Quistis got the hook up, if you know what I mean! Hey, you may even run into 'you know who' while you're in there. I heard she arrived about an hour ago."

"If she's here, doesn't matter to me. I've moved on, big time. You think I left because of her? I'm onto better things."

"If you say so. Come! The doors just passed the terminal!"

As they ran for the door, someone called out to them from the distance.

"HEY, TANK! WHERE ARE YOU GOING WITH MR. CHAOS!"

"Shoot...its Jace. You wanna chat with him, or not?"
("Too late...-_-")
"SUP, GUYS?!"

"Jaaaaaaaace~ How's it going maaaaan?~", replied Chaos, trying his hardest to be serious.

"I'm alright man. You know, working out...and stuff. HEY YOU GUYS HEADING IN?!"

"Yeah dude.", answered Tank, "We were, until you remembered Chaos' name and starting yelling out of nowhere."

"Well, sooory! Its been a while since I seen him. What have you been up to these days anyway?"

Trying to make better use of his get-away quotes, he replies with a cunning, yet mean response.

"Yeah...ummmm.YEAH! SEE YAH!"

They rush inside, with the door slammed behind him.

"That was close... I thought we'd never stop talking to that guy...WHOA!!", said Chaos.

"Yeah, and now the real challenge begins. The conquest to PARTAY!!!"

They hear the flaming-hot music and soon, begin to "get their groove on" the dance floor.

(OoC: Sorry, this is so late I made the mistake of not seeing Meier’s post until like a few days ago so I was waiting on something that had already happened. Afterwards work piled up and delayed me. But anyway, onwards to the next award!)

Andromeda II had hoped to shake Andromeda from him while he was out of sight between speeches, but he was not so fortune. She had only become even more incorrigible out of sight. Once Ocean had finished her short speech it was time for Andromeda II to return with his luggage. He gave a short clap to Meier and Ocean as they departed the stage and brought the microphone back up.

“Alright, let’s get to the next award! The next award is for Best New Member. In order to be nominated for this you had to have joined us within the last year. So—“ He was abruptly stopped by Andromeda playing behind him as it had reached a point that he could not take it anymore. “Stop it!” he whispered over his shoulder while pushing aside her hands back to her side. “2009’s Best New Member Winner is Dodie16!”

“It’s wolfie!” Andromeda exclaimed with child like glee. “I like wolfie!”

“Uh…thanks…And the runner-up by two votes Gypsy Elder! Come on up!”

Dodie felt as if she were about to hurl at any moment from all the spinning. She prayed for some sort of miracle to happen so she wouldn't embarrass herself. Suddenly, she heard a voice say "Mind if I cut in pal, the lady appears to be sick."

She recognized it as Kisuke's voice, and also heard the threatening tone involved.

'I hope there's not going to be a fight. That's the last thing I want to happen!' Dodie thought to herself while trying not to upchuck at the same time.

Luckily, the two gentlemen didn't exchange in any fisticuffs, perhaps to the dismay for a few guests that they did not.

Even though she had stopped dancing, the room still seemed to be spinning. She felt as if she were being led somewhere.

As soon as the room came back into focus, she saw that Kisuke had lead her to the bathroom. By this time, the sick feeling had gone away, and she felt normal again.

'Aww! What a gentleman!' She thought to herself.

The two headed back to the dance floor to resume dancing, but during the time that they were away, it seemed that the orchestra pit had been taken over. Hip hop music blarred out of the speaker system.

Not feeling particularly keen on the change of music at the moment, Dodie decided to relax and sit this one out. She spotted a nearby table that was unoccuppied, and headed in that direction. She sat down and took a load off of her aching feet.

"Damn these heels..." Dodie thought to herself. "I know I'll have blisters on my blisters before this night is finished." She took off her shoes so her feet could at least feel a little bit better. Kisuke made a face, and Dodie stuck her tongue out at him.

"Just you try and dance with these killers on and see how long you last!" Dodie teased.

The music played on, and she watched while all the party-goers mingled and danced.

Some time later, an announcement came over the loudspeakers. It seemed that the winners of the 2009 TFF Awards were about to be announced. Dodie sat back and listened while Andromeda II announced the winner of the Best Staff Member. Meier won, while OceanEyes was a very close runner-up. Dodie applauded for both.

After the acceptance speeches were finished, the next awards were announced. This time it was for best new member. Dodie listened as two names were called. First was her name. Dodie looked up and saw that there were party guests glancing in the direction she was sitting in. This came as quite a shock to her, to say the least.

Gypsy was the next name called, and Dodie saw that she was moving her way through the crowd to recieve her award on stage. Dodie made her way up to the stage as well, forgetting that she had removed her shoes some time ago.

As they both approached Andromeda II to accept thier awards, Andromeda II passed the microphone to Dodie. She was terrible with speeches, but she took a deep breath and decided to wing it.

"Wow, I don't know what to say. I guess the best way to start is to say thanks to everyone who voted. Not just for me, but for all the nominees. If it wasn't for your participation, the awards wouldn't be as exciting. I also would like to congratulate Gypsy as well. It was a close competition, and I'm glad to be standing up here with her."

With that, Dodie passed the microphone to Gypsy and gave her a hug. She then stood off to the side a bit, while Gypsy said a few words of thanks to the attendees at the ball.

Just Before Gypsy could get to Violet she heard Andromeda announce the next award "2009’s Best New Member Winner is Dodie16!...."And the runner-up by two votes Gypsy Elder! Come on up!” Gypsy was quite startled at first, since she was so focused on running towards Violet and waving her arms around like an idiot. It didn't help much that Rocky smacked her on the back to alert her at the same time. Be right back Violet!" she said as Violet gave her a quick wink. Escorted by Rocky, she walked up and pushed her way through the crowd, and waited silently for Dodie to finnish her speech. As soon as Dodie wrapped up her nice speech Gypsy approached her for a hug and whispered " You deserve to win because you're wayy nicer than I'll ever be" they both silently chuckled as Gypsy took the microphone.

Just before She began to speak, she looked up at the sea of people, which made her grow quite uneasy. Then she proceeded..." Erm..Thanks everybody who voted for me!, and as for the two people who could have voted for me and didn't screw you! hahahaha, Just kidding". She heard a few people laugh so she began to loosen up and feel a bit more comfortable. "I'm just glad to have even gotten an award at all thanks much guys! also congrats to Dodie for winning the big cheese and everyone else who won awards so far, you all deserve them." everyone applauded as She stepped down clenching her dress for dear life, trying not to fall on her face. That would be her number five dreaded fear,embarrassing herself by falling amongst a huge crowd of people, people she knows at that... even worse.

She managed to step down safely, and signaled Rocky to Join her again.

(OoC: On a roll now! ^^ )

Gypsy Elder had walked back off the stage and Andromeda II returned to the front. He still had Andromeda in tow with him. She had her arms wrapped out his neck barely kept from choking him. When he was back at the front she had started stroking his neck and jaw line with her finger almost as though she was bored. He had never thought that she could unnerve him so; it felt like payback for the rest of the night.

“Congrats to both of them! Alright, so the next award we’re giving out tonight is the Most Popular Member. Let’s see who it is…” He was playing it out for a little tension, though there also the fact that there was more tension around his throat too. A step into Andromeda to loosen the grip forced him to take a pause. The paper Ocean had given them suddenly disappeared from his hand. Andromeda II tilted his head back seeing that Andromeda had snatched it from him.

She tried to focus her eyes on the paper, taking an extraordinary amount of effort to not see five copies. “Oh, the squirrel won! It’s the squirrel everyone!” she shouted into the microphone leaving everyone a little silent in confusion. “Squirrel goes peep!”

Andromeda II pulled back the paper and readjusted himself. “Thanks for two more references that no one’ll understand. As I was saying…2009 Most Popular Member of TFF is…Rocky! Come on up!”

"Rooocccky..." Gypsy Elder said all silly, grabbing his arm, "lets go see if any more of the girls showed up." "Haha, okay okay." Rocky was slightly flustered at this point from the consumption of the Red Drank, but the pair managed to make it almost to the lounge before Andromeda got on the microphone. Gypsy spotted Violet in the distance and yelled "Sista!" while waving her arms as they got closer. Violet spotted Gypsy, but as the two began to converse, there was a booming "..runner up is Gypsy Elder, come on up!"

"Hey nice job you won something!" Rocky gave her a heavy but playful pat on the back as Gypsy startled. She was completely unaware and lost in her own world as to what was said until Rocky informed her of what happened. Gypsy excused herself from Violet and had Rocky escort her up to the stage, where Dodie was in the middle of a congratulatory speech. "Break a leg!" Rocky winked, and the both of them had a quick chuckle before Gypsy gave her speech. Rocky listened with intent while drinking his red concoction. The crowd was pleased at what was said and as she finished, Gypsy stepped down and rejoined Rocky. "You wanna go see where the ladies are now?" "Yessh, let's go."

Rocky and Gypsy got about halfway back to the lounge before once again the voice of Andromeda beckoned the crowd. "...Thanks for two more references that no one’ll understand. As I was saying…2009 Most Popular Member of TFF is…Rocky! Come on up!” "...Wait, what? I won something?" Gypsy helped steer Rocky back to the stage, where the young man found his footing and got up to the stage in one piece, dispite his obvious inebriation. Rocky took a big swig of his two liter and gave a passionate speech, similar to the crisp and energy that the Gettysburg Address had. "Thanks for the votes everyone, I love all of you. Except Fate and Ralz. KIDDING! I love those guys, I think they have some mancrush on me or something heh heh.. oh anyways, lets keep the party rolling so I'll keep it short, but thanks again. Beers for my bros and hugs for my honeys. Peace in the middle east."

Rocky gave the mic back to Andromeda and stepped down once again, giving a couple of high fives and hugs to his friends. Gypsy gave him a funny look. "Don't be jealous because you didn't get the first hug Gypsy!" Rocky smirked at Gypsy as she flicked him in the chest. The two finally got to the lounge, and Gypsy excitedly found Violet to talk to. Rocky was getting bored with the lull in action between all the CPC8 guys, so Rocky, in his drunk state shouted "HEY! All CPC8 boys, lets play some Strip Poker, first one in his underwear has to run through the middle of the dancefloor!" Things were going to get wild.

Andromeda II moved forward quickly hoping to keep the problems caused by Andromeda to a minimum. She had calmed a little only tagging along with him and poking him at infrequent intervals. It was like she was testing Chinese water torture with fingers rather than water. He just had to bear through it.

“The next award on the list is for Most Helpful Member!” A pause held his thoughts as he pushed on passed the annoyance in his back. “2009 Most Helpful Member is…”

“Oh! Oh! I want to see too!” Andromeda jumped up on his back resting her head on top of his head getting a decent look at it. “Hey didn’t he already win?”

“Go back to poking me…” Andromeda II smiled trying to focus back on the task. “2009 Most Helpful Member is…Meier Link! Congrats! Ready for round two Meier? Come on up!”

As things quickly settled down and the Award Ceremony continued, Chaos and Tank were stuck in awe as familiar names circled their attention. Even though Chaos once attended the SeeD academy, he was sure he was long forgotten by his once true friends, seeing that he was one of the earlier students.

"Meier Link? Hmmm...", questioned Chaos as he pondered on where he remembered the name.

"Ring a bell? You seem troubled by it. Everything O.K.?", asked a concerned Tank.

"Yeah, but its just that I can't really put my finger on where I met him before. Perhaps the times have left me since then."

"I sure hope so. You don't look so good. C'mon, let's go grab a drink. Maybe that'll freshen the old noodle."

"Good idea. Any ideas?"

"I was hoping you had a few. You're the working man here."

"Hah Hah Hah. Very funny. Let's give me another matter to think about. I might forget through all the stress."

"O.K. O.K. Fine, save your strength. I'll think of something. But, on that matter, you should just see him either after he's done bragging about his award, or after the ceremony. I'm sure you're not the lost memory you think you are. If you're troubled now, he'll more than likely feel the same way. I hope it's nothing bad, if there's a better way to put it."

"Maybe you're right. I'll drink to that!"

"Hey, have I ever been wrong? Heh."

"Ummm...remember the Crystal Mission we had near the Morin Mountains?"

"Oh yeah... Heehee... No one's perfect I suppose. But, what else would you have done?"

"We'll save that for another time."

As they began walking to the bar to request a few drinks, the room filled with applause and Meier Link, with a simply look began walking up to receive his award. Chaos turned around to acknowledge and felt a brief impulse of shock as he stared at his trouble memory.

"OH GREAT BAHAMUT!", he yelled, surprised.

Tank, almost spilling his beverage, quickly turned to Chaos.

"What?! What happened?"

"I remember where I seen him before... He was once... the Leader of Phoenix Expedition! He was the one who saved Quistis and her Cadets from... you know..."

"The...the Hellbound Titan...? No...that can't be right... I've been here the whole time wondering who that was... Was the result of that expo classified?"

"According to my recollection, yes. He was titled 'The Savior of Hope' after that day..."

"How do you know so much about this?"

"I was one of Quistis' Cadets picked for that expo. Meier was the only one picked to capable enough to watch our backs if any of the Minions or the Titan were sighted. We nearly came out of that hellish crater alive... he a hero in the shadows..."

"Wow. why do you think it was classified?"

"My guess...he didn't want the attention. Not to mention, to save the Instructor's life...and her Cadets... that's not something to be forgotten by anyone for a really, REALLY long time."

"You tellin' me."

"You have to promise me you'll keep this between us, Tank. I'd trust you with my life if the opportunity came along."

"You have my word. Knowing is better than talking about it anyway."

Simultaneously, they turned their seats around to the bartender, leaned on the table, and took sips from their drinks. The bartender, cleaning a glass cup commented on their conversation.

"I heard everything, if you must know. But, I'm just a bartender. Noting I can possibly do..."

"Good. Save me the tip."

"Oh no, you can still tip for my service, but consider that my token of silence. Nothing's worth yelling out in front of all these important people."

Chaos, overwhelm by the devilish words from the bartender's horrid lips, reached in his wallets, chained to his pants, and throw out some gil in front of her.

"Yeah. How right you are. Specially coming from a bartender. That would embarrass the crap out of me."

The applaused soon came to a halt and Meier Link was preparing his vocals for his speech to his well appreciated peers and co-workers, for what looked to be the second time.

“Hey didn’t he already win?”

The voice shot through Meier as he stood in the back drinking a sip from his newly found cup of brew. The suds hadn't had time to die down yet.

“2009 Most Helpful Member is…Meier Link! Congrats! Ready for round two Meier? Come on up!”

Meier got a little giddy with excitement and started to walk to the stage. He was not about to set his cup down because some members of the CPC8 house where sure to mess with it by the time he returned.

As he approached the stage he felt the crowds attention turn to him once again.

"Keep it together Meier and don't make an fool of your self again." He thought to hiself as he reached the stage. He climbed the steps: one, two, and three. He had made it this time and got prepared for the blast of the bright blinding light that was known as the spot light.

It came on but this time it was not on him, it was back on the Andromedas. Meier noticed Andromeda was still drunk and now blinded and unbalanced by the beam of crisp white light.

She stumbled.

Meier threw his beer into the air as high as he could and took off. A milisecond before Andromeda hit the floor, face first, Meier out stretched his arms and caught her and quickly got her back into the standing posistion.

Then as he had planned he stretched his right arm and caught the cup that he had strategicly thrown. Not a drop spilled and the suds finally had disipated.

Meier took the cup to his lips and drank a quick drink. Andromeda II handed him the mic once again. Meier looked it over this time to make sure the thing was on.

"Once again I would like to thank everyone that voted for me. I wasn't sure why I was voted this until about two seconds ago but thanks to Andromeda it cleared a few things up."

"I would like to thank Pabst Blue Ribbon at this time for making such a fine beverage at an afforable cost and would like to remind everyone that if you need a hand feel free to ask me and I wil see what I can do."

"Also to the owner of the bike outside the front door, I will be taking it for a joy ride and might not remember until tomorrow where I got it from. I will make sure you get it back though but I am not guarenteeing it will be in one peice."

The sound of a pin drop could be heard as the crowd hadn't made a noise and sat in confusion.

"Thanks once again, you rock!" Meier said as he finished up his speach.

He then turned to the Andromedas and gave a quick bow and a tip of the cup before heading back along his merry way.

He made it off the stage and found his friends once again. All the while he knew someone was eyeballing him in a rather peculiar way.

As Alpha stood watching the awards ceremony, deep in thought and not really listening, he suddenly got a ping of nervousness. Something was going to happen to his bike. He knew it, but wasn't sure why.

'Good thing I left a little surprise for any would-be thief', he thought, as he walked over to the bar to get a drink.

"Stella Artois, please."


Beneath the stairs to the Second Annual Quistis Ball, a red light was blinking on the handles of a royal blue bike.

(OoC: Sorry for the delay!)

The murmuring in the crowd slowly returned as Meier Link stepped off the stage. Andromeda II had to readjust himself with Andromeda tagging along with him. He had hoped she would be getting less drunk or crazy at things progressed, but it seemed to have the opposite effect on her. He was pretty sure she was actually getting drunker somehow.

Andromeda II let out a low sigh and resumed back to his duties. “On to the next award!” He forced himself to push on while she breathed heavily down his neck and giggling lightly every so often. “Most Intelligent Member… 2009’s Most Intelligent Member is…hmm…”

“Oh dear, I think they’re gone,” she commented over his shoulder.

“Well this is a little awkward. The winner is Govinda, but Govinda recently departed the community. The runner-up is Alpha by one vote! Congrats! We’ll find some way to get this out to Govinda.”

"Dude!", yelled Tank, nudging Chaos from starring too long.

"I still can't believe it...that's just it... It's unbearable to know that he survived."

"Well, not much can be done about it now, and I think that bike he's talking about...is yours. You did add that Security Spike and the Pulse Generator I sent you, right?"

"I'd be a fool not to. Not to mention, Meier Link was never the type to comment on something, then not leave it alone. Especially since he told you straight up what and when he was gonna do it. Didn't think I'd see him here, but now I kinda glad I did. I hope he realizes those days of fear are over... The bike has a 'kick' that you wouldn't believe."

"Any test?", asked Tank with a interesting expression on his face.

"Yeah. Random field test with a few Drakes and a pack of Bombs. Fried them all without moving an inch. You think I should warn him? He just won another award."

"Nah. Personally, I like to see legends fall under from a dreadful surprise. If you did warn him, it would take the fun out of everything. It won't kill him, would it?"

"I doubt it. We've been through a lot of battles with almost all the elements known to man. But, he'd sure as hell will feel that suckah!"

Clapping for Meier Links establishments, Chaos and Tank quickly turned around in their seats, sipping their beverages, undergoing, yet another interesting conversation. Meier Link seemed to be cherished a lot by SeeD, but apparently not by the Sky-Rider 20XX.