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If you have a friend or friends who would also be interested, so we had a group of several men and several women that could be great. We could go to practice sessions or other dances as a group, which most advise is good while learning.
Most of the class members will be years old, so I'd like a partner Housewives looking casual sex Reagan Tennessee group well over that age, to dance with "mostly" and maybe at some additional practice sessions included free with the class. If you just want more information, I will be happy to share that with you. If they have classes like last year: The formal announcement has usually come out days before classes start.
Age, race, height, weight, etc are not important, and married or in a relationship could be OK too. If you are under 30, you can probably fit in to the class without me, as eRagan do have a few grad students.
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I have some experience, and have been through these classes, but without a regular dance partner, have forgotten most of what i have learned.
What they teach varies from quarter to quarter anyway. But even if you are new, I should be able to lead you through some basic dancing.
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text:
Weitzen and Manza consented to entry of the final judgments without admitting or denying the allegations made by the Securities and Exchange Commission that they engaged in fraud and other violations of the federal securities laws in connection with Gateway's recognition of revenue in the third quarter of 2000. So, the final judgments were entered against Jeffrey Weitzen, former CEO of Gateway, Inc., and Robert D. Manza, former controller of Gateway.
The SEC alleged that the defendants falsely represented Gateway's financial condition in the third quarter of 2000 in order to meet financial analysts' earnings and revenue expectations. Among other transactions, the SEC alleged that the defendants caused Gateway to record $47.2 million in revenue from a one-time sale of fixed assets to Gateway's third-party information technology services provider in violation of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), and that Manza and defendant John J. Todd, then Gateway's CFO, caused Gateway to recognize an additional $21 million in revenue from an incomplete sale of computers to a second entity, also in violation of GAAP. The SEC alleged that absent either of these transactions, Gateway would not have met analysts' expectations with regard to its third quarter revenue.
Weitzen consented to a final judgment permanently enjoining him from violations of the antifraud provisions of Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and payment of a $110,000 civil penalty. Manza consented to a final judgment permanently enjoining him from violations of the antifraud provisions of Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and from violations of SEC Rule 13b2-2, which prohibits making misrepresentations and omissions of material fact to company auditors, as well as from aiding and abetting the issuer reporting provisions of Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act and Rules 12b-20, 13a-1 and 13a-13 thereunder. Manza further consented to be barred for five years from acting as an officer or director of a public company, and to pay disgorgement of $85,150, constituting his salary and bonus for the relevant quarter, together with prejudgment interest thereon of $75,551.43 totaling $160,701.43, and a $110,000 penalty.
Previously, on March 7, 2007, a jury had rendered a unanimous verdict finding Manza and defendant Todd liable for fraud, making false representations to auditors, aiding and abetting issuer reporting violations and other violations following a three week trial. On May 30, 2007, the Honorable Roger T. Benitez overturned the jury verdict as to the fraud and certain other claims. The SEC appealed that ruling, as well as the District Court's prior August 1, 2006, grant of summary judgment to Weitzen dismissing the SEC's case as to Weitzen. On June 23, 2011, the Ninth Circuit reversed those rulings and remanded the matter to the District Court.
The case remains pending as to defendant Todd.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Viktor & Rolf
Bonbon Eau de Parfum Spray
Style Number: L4721900
Delivery time frames - Covid-19
Delivery time frames - Covid-19
A note on dispatch times:
Please note that Airpoints Store suppliers may not be able to dispatch orders until April 25 or while the Covid-19 threat is at level 4. Please understand that delivery may be delayed during this time.
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She who wears Bonbon, dresses herself in perfume whilst creating her own story. She is empowered, beautiful and complete.
Caramel characterizes the scent's evolution. From inception to completion, the caramel notes mature from a sharp, edible top note to softer and milkier in the middle then darkening to add depth to the base note. A pure delight, a haute confection.
Fragrance Notes:
- Top Notes: Mandarin, Orange, Peach
- Heart Notes: Caramel, Jasmine, Orange blossom
- Base Notes: Cedarwood, Guaiac wood, Sandalwood, Amber


text:
by Cloverine
Rated: 13+ · Campfire Creative · Appendix · Crime/Gangster · #1444534
We don't like to be called thieves.
We are an organized group of teenagers with special powers particularly used in aid of robberies. Although hard to contact, our service is highly popular and greatly appreciated in the world of criminals.
We call ourselves Methamphetamine because no one can get enough of us. It is every criminal's dream to some how tame us to have us for himself, and the cops spend days and nights restlessly digging up every little piece of information they can find about us in hopes that one day, it might actually lead them to us.
We're not completely the bad guys, though. We're not evil, just misguided.
When we rob you, you know we do it out of love...
----------------The following section is only for those who wish to participate-----------------
It would be cool if we can have a variety of personalities. We live in the same house so everyone is basically family. You don't have to play nice, but if you say something that offends someone in real life, you'll just have to live with the guilt for the rest of your life.
We really need someone to be the leader of the group, so if you want the part, please tell me when you accept the invitation and I'll love you 'till death.
Our real names are kept secret, so in your bio, put the nickname you want to be known by.
I'm really impatient, so you have three days to post. lol. Other than that, you can do whatever you want. Feel free to cuss.
If you kill someone in the campfire, the rest of us are going to jump you in the story.
Last thing, I get to be the youngest.
Nickname: Scrippy
Age: 14
Power: Scrippy has the ability to retrieve and transfer information from one piece of technology to another. She works almost like a human flashdrive. She can also mentally duplicate the functions of some machines.
Ex: if Scrippy wanted to immitate the functions of a laptop, a computer screen would appear in her head and she would be able to surf the web if there was internet connection in the area.
Appearance: her slightly disheveled layered hair is a mixture of ruby red and orange (Dyed). A torn, black and white plaid hat is usually worn over it. Her dashing emerald eyes are strangely radiant, as though lit by electricity. Scrippy is light skinned and stands at around 5'ft. Her wardrobe consists of only black and white clothes.
Personality: Scrippy has always been daring to a dangerous degree. She's never afraid to take risks and is always extremely open to trying new things. Therefore when she was offered alcohol a few years back, she took it willingly and now has to face the challenges of restricting her addiction from getting the better of her.
Scrippy is very insightful, she has no problem reading others and allows others to read her. When she loves someone, she does it with all her heart. She would die for anyone in Methamphetamine any day.
Other: From childhood, Phantom, Scrippy's brother, has been her number one hero. He has always been an inspiration to her. She could come to him with any problem and he would have the solution.
|Name: Phantom
Age: 18
Appearance: Phantom has medium length chocolate brown hair (this means it ends just before his eyes.) that in the sun has a tint of orange which is often confused to be a gold color, outlining his face sometimes giving the illusion of divinity. Phantom has emerald green eyes much like his sister, with the exception that hers are radiant were his are deep. Phantom stands at about 5'11 with a lean build and light skin. Phantom wares earth toned clothes like browns, greens, blacks, whites, and golds. He is always dresses to kill although he tends to make anything look good.
Personality: Phantom hides all of his problems behind a warm smile and a playful laugh. The only person who is able to tell how he really feels is his younger sister Scrippy. This doesn't mean t hat Phantom is a closet emo or anything. Its just that he doesn't like to worry his friends with his problems, its also because he feels a leader needs to always be in control even after a heist. Phantoms main weakness is he loves to flirt he just can't help it, sometimes he doesn't even notice he's doing it. This isn't always a bad thing though it has gotten the group out of countless sticky situations.
Power: Phantom can create illusions and when he concentrates really hard makes those illusions real. Exp: If someone was cut by a knife in one of Phantom's illusions then when the illusion is gone they will still be cut. Or if there are no doors to a room Phantom can create a door and it's usable until the illusion dissipates.
Other: Phantom is always worrying about his little sister, although he tends to not show it in front of the others for fear of embarrassing her. He has discreet ways of warning his sister about dangerous situations, when he found out that she had tried alcohol it took everything he had not to murder the people who had given it to her. The only thing that stopped him was to this day he doesn't know who it was.
|Name: Shadow
Age: 16
Appearance: Shadow has black hair and fairly long bangs that require him to constantly push them out of his face. He has dark brown eyes, tan complexion, and lean build. Generally wears skinny jeans, skater shoes, and a regular old black jacket. 5'8
Personality:He is pretty of quiet, and is never one to start an argument. Not unless your being really dumb. When you do get him mad though, you had better watch out.
Power: Shadow has super strength, which is a little ironic, if you consider it, because he's so short and un-muscly. The angrier, or more fearful he gets, the stronger he becomes. (Like the Hulk, 'cept for he doesn't turn green or get huge) He also has semi-impermeable skin, but he can still be injured. Luckily he also seems to heal at a quick rate. (not anything like Wolverine, but faster than a normal person)
Other: He's the brawn of the group. While the others powers are mostly to keep them all away from confrontation, if it happens, thats why he's here.
|Name: Zap
Age: 16
Appearance: Standing 5'2" 115 lbs., Zap is petite, yet shapely. Full Korean, her eyes are brown, and her hair, cut blue-black, with the tips dyed pink. She has bangs all across her forehead framing her face and hair that reaches to her shoulders. Her style can vary from a punkish look to a more nerdy or preppy look.
Personality: Very energetic, Zap can get very hyper and wind up a handful sometimes. Sometimes she can even be a little clumsy. She is a total optimist and, being sensitive to all types of energy, is very empathetic toward everyone. She is very emotional, almost to a superhuman level. Sometimes she can lose control of them, which may even cause her to randomly expel unpredictably powerful amounts of unstable energy. Despite all of her spastic-ness, she is highly intelligent, always willing to learn and having an exceptional love and appreciation for reading and knowledge. Not only the group spaz, but the group nerd as well.
Power: Everything, matter itself, expels some sort of energy or an other. Zap has a heightened sense of this energy, which allows her to not only sense it, but absorb it, manipulate it, and can generate an energy much stronger than that of a normal human. These abilities allow her superhuman endurance, meaning she can go for long periods of time without food, water, or sleep. She can use energy in various ways, even telekinetically. Also, she is able to lend this energy of her to something or someone. There are limits to her power, however, and there is a possibility, as there is for anyone else, to use up too much energy, and possibly die.
Other: Though the group is hardly suffering money-wise, Zap can sometimes save them a couple bucks, and -where microwave ovens are concerned- exposure to radiation, by taking care of their various energy needs such as popping the popcorn or charging a cellphone.
|Name: Storm
Age: 18
Appearance: Storm is very tall, due to her long legs. She is also lean, because she has a high metabolism, but she can pretty much eat whatever and not get fat. She has dirty blonde hair that goes down her back, which usually hangs down. Her bangs are long and she is constantly brushing them out of the way (she also has a special clip she brings with her everywhere so that she can concentrate and not have to do that). Somehow her nails are always perfectly painted (dark purple) and she wears all black, purple, and on occasions green.
Personality: Storm is the most emo in the group. Before she came into M (I'm going to call it that because I can't spell the long word), she had cutting and drug problems, which got her thrown out of her dad's house after her mother and sister died in a car accident. before that, though, she was a really smart kid, so she sometimes uses weird words, either big ones or usually unused ones like 'shall'. She is also a Christian, though probably a pretty bad one at that.
Power: Storm is considered the distracter in the group. She has the power to transform her looks just by thinking it (like Tonks in harry Potter), which is good for the group because the description anyone gives the police won't look like her at all. because of that she is also the one who goes out, to get groceries or whatever is needed. She has other small powers, like being able to pick a lock extremely well, and she can cook better than pretty much anyone else, which serves well when there are no more microwave dinners. her other major skill is that she is an exeptional hacker of all things electronic.
Other: Phantom was the one who picked her up off the street when she was a cutting addict and convinced her to quit and join M. Therefore, she has always harbored a small secret crush on him. She also loves everyone in M like a family and would do anything for them.
|Name: Blaze
Age: 22
Appearance: Blaze stands at just under 6 foot. He is built, from constant training. He has light brown hair, and gray-blue eyes. His eyes turn red and yellow when he activates his power. He usually wears khakis and a collared shirt.
Personality: Blaze acts as the mentor of the group, usually taking the orders and informing the others of the missions. He tends to stay on the sidelines, unless he feels his experience would greatly help the group. He has been doing the job since he was Scrippy's age.
Power: Blaze has pyrokinesis, or the ability to create and manipulate fire. He also has a small ability to clone himself, but its more like astroprojection than actual cloning.
|Nickname: Dox (short for Paradox)
Age: 17
Appearance: Dox is a hair over five and half feet tall. Her hair is straight, mousy brown that barely brushes her shoulders. Her eyes are almost brown although they grow darker when she's angry; her eyesight is also limited requiring her to wear thin, black-rimmed glasses. Dox is ordinary looking in both features and looks. If you passed her on the street you'd forget about her in the next five seconds.
Personality: There's a reason when everyone calls her Dox for her behavior is in complete opposite of what she looks like. Instead of a gentle, shy girl with a nervous side, Dox is a lethal weapon that moves with a confidence and assurance that's usually seen only in older, more experienced people. She doesn't talk much, which would leave one to believe she's unfeeling, but she is a very emotional person that chooses to keep everything bottled inside. The only way to get a glimpse of her mood is by the music she listens to.
Power: Dox has the abilities of invisibility, night and microscopic vision, and the ability to cling to objects or surfaces. Because of her abilities this makes her the best recon and scout of the group.
Other: Dox has anger issues. There will be times when she'll leave the house mysteriously to deal with her problem so it doesn't harm the others. Methamphetamine is her family, Dox would rather die than bring any pain to them.
|Name: Gunner
Age: 19
Appearance: He has short honey colored hair and large brown, puppy dog eyes. He's about 5'10 and fit as he exercises a lot (not because he obsessed with looking good; he just likes to move around). Also he has a small goatee that he strokes when he's in deep thought much to the hilarity of his peers. Gunner's a cowboy so he usually wears a black Stetson, cowboy boots and blue jeans, a button up shirt that he leaves only half buttoned up and a white undershirt. He also wears a necklace with a single tooth of a mountain lion hanging on it. He calls it his good luck charm.
Personality: Being a cowboy, Gunner is rough and raw. He tends to think most any problem can be solved with a fistfight and kiss (punch the guy, kiss the girl). Though he'd never admit it, he believes himself to be a strapping young hero like Wyatt Earp, which is somewhat ironic because he's criminal. He has a soft spot for the helpless, the needy, and anything crying, especially girls. He takes it upon himself to resolve all there problems and, maybe in the process, snatch their affections as well. But Gunner has a major downfall; he detests authority figures, so he and Phantom do not get along sometimes. Mostly he's just a nice guy to be around, kind, jokey, even witty at times, but always with a touch of raw country.
Power: Gunner is super fast. So fast he could steal your sunglasses right of your face and you'da never saw him.
Other things: Gunner knows how to use guns and he plays the guitar. He'll often stay up late, crooning some country song of lost love, but he's a good singer so the group doesn't mind…too much. He's also very good with animals.
|Name: Flux, A.K.A., The Defiance Wonder.
Age: 25
Appearance: With dark pitch black hair, piercing cyan eyes, a medium build, and focused small nose-rim glasses, Flux is about the creepiest person you'll ever see in a dark alleyway. His skin has a glowish like appearence that shines bright in moonlight, if it can be seen over his huge robe like obsidian cloak. It feels that if he looked at you too long, he might stare into your very soul, and freeze you up from the inside.
Personality/History: Flux is a lone wolf, a drifter, and a master criminal. He hunts for treasure not only for the sheer joy of breaking society laws, but to prove he is the greatest thief ever. He is one of the special few who has no feeling of remorse or regret. If something is in his way, he will not hold back to either destroy it, or get rid of it. But, he wasn't always this way. A long time ago, he had a family, and he cared for them. But, with the discovery of his powers, they cast him aside like the freak he was. That one traumatic incident left him scared deep. He decided that if he wasn't going to get attention from them, he'd get attention from everyone else. He formulated plan to become the greatest criminal ever, and become a living legend, to never be frogotten. He became an ego-maniac. But even though the jobs he pulled were stunning, he wasn't world renown. Flux then learned of others like him, the very mysterious, Methamphetamine group. Known in the underground criminal network as one of the oddest of all criminal groups, they pulled jobs no normal criminal could do. For this, even other criminals dispised, even loathed them for being so blessed. Flux included. After all, he was alone in the world, so why should they get all the attention? Why should they have each other to fall back on, when he was alone? So, with anger at his back, and ego-mania in his head, he made the sollem promise to wipe out his competition forever, and to go down in history as the greatest thief ever.
Power: Flux has the amazing power to be at one with the universe, and it's four most basic forms. He can do a few spectacular things only thought of in the minds of the most futuristic. He can bend time, shred space, alter matter, and defy gravity. Examples must be included to truly understand his power. By bending time, he can move forward, or backwards in time, but only as far as a day each. And when he does, he does it in spirit, meaning he can't actually change anything there. He also needs to meditate before using this power, so it is almost unusable during a hiest. But there is some tangible use of this power, for he can also stop time for a minute and do anything with nothing holding him back except for his own will. By shred space, he can create small wormholes, teleporting him anywhere within a few miles of his current location. By alter matter, Flux can make any non-living thing change it's form from a solid, to a liquid, or a gas. So, he could make steel a gas, and wood a liquid if he willed it. Finally, by defy gravity, he can increase, or decrease gravity's effect on anything. He can make gravity not affect him and use the low gravity to create make-shift flying, and could even, if he tried very hard and used most of his power reserves, create a black-hole like density. All of his powers though, are lessened by each other, meaning having so many powers drastically reduce the control and ultimatly, the effect of each. He's the jack-of-all trades, but the master of none.
Other: Flux must rest for at least two full hours without using any powers after depleating his energy store, which is lost easily between using four different abilitiys, or he'll go unconsious. Flux, since he is at one with the universe, is actually very calm during any situation. Even if he is incredably angry, he will still look calm. Flux enjoys the music of only one instrument, the sitar.
A U-Haul moving truck pulled up in the driveway of a run-down looking ranch house with a seperate double garage. The destination was well isolated from civilization, located on some far off countryside.
"Eeww, what is this?" Scrippy asked. She narrowed her eyes, sizing up the house. "It's fugly and cheap looking."
Phantom put the truck into park and unbuckled his seatbelt.
"We're mainly here to retrieve some- wait, 'fugly' as in effin' ugly?" he asked, amused.
"To retrieve some vitally important documents," he continued, "but we can grab some other valuables while we're at it. The profits won't be that bad."
Scrippy hopped off the truck and briefly scanned the area while her brother opened the back doors for the rest of the crew.
"What the hell," Gunner muttered bluntly at the sight of their pitiful target.
Scrippy laughed. "I thought you would like this place. It's so country."
"How are we gonna get good money robbing a place like this?"
"Blaze wants us to take it easy for a while. He believes that the cops had sucessfully cracked our latest codes and can possibly contact us, so the big and important missions that are offered to us are all potential traps," Phantom explained, pulling on his gloves. "We'll just have to rob small places that Blaze approves of until our communication crisis is solved."
"Why don't we just pick coins off the street for living, then?" Scrippy grumbled.
"Hey, it's nice to be away from the city for a little while," Zap said enthusiastically, despite everyone's gloominess.
The crew spread apart to inspect the house for any openings. Scrippy followed her brother, as always, so she could learn more from watching him.
They stood at the windows on the front porch, looking into the living room.
"The windows are bolted down," Phantom said after a swift glance. "See that right there?" he asked, tapping the glass to point out the little white machine that hung on the wall opposite from the window.
"Motion detector," Scrippy said, certain.
"This one covers the living room and windows and that one over there covers the front door. You think you can find a blind spot?"
Scrippy concentrated on the motion detector until she felt the familiar connection of the machine and her mind. With the functions of the device set up in her head, she adjusted herself so that she stood directly across from the real motion detector before she began to activate her power, that way she could get the correct range of the machine. (Did that make sense?)
An exact replica of the living room appeared in her mind, but she could only see 3/4 of it. The motion detector did not cover anything from the couch over. She quickly shut down the functions and withdrew the mental connection.
She walked over to the far side of the house. "You can make a door in this area."
|**********************srry its so short, i had two mins to do this************************
Phantom sighed and closed his eyes as the space around the house began to shimmer. Makeing illushions was easy makeing them real was the hard part, but he was getting better at it. Phantom only had to close his eyes when starting up the illushion after that it was becomeing a second nature to him. As soon as the door appeared Zap excitedly shot forward. reaching for the door-nob only to close her hand around nothing. Confused Zap reached for the Nob again, when nothing happend she pushed at the door. When she was done she looked up at the group with a confused look on her face. Everyone had a look of silent amusement on there faces, Phantom was the first to say something.
"You might want to wait for me to make it real first..." He said as he took hold of the nob and swung the door open.
Before stepping into the room Phantom set up another illushion just in case there were any cameras that made it look like the room was still empty. Ok you each have two minutes to collect whatever valubale you can find, After those two minutes the illushion I have in this house will be comepletly gone. Reavealing our identitys...you know the drill. "Storm i need you with me on this one, i think its safe to assume there going to have important information locked up, And i dont know anyone better than you at these kinds of things." Phantom said as he headed into the office looking room. Although there wasnt much light it was clear Storm was blushing...
|With Phantom's orders everyone split up and headed their own ways throughout the house. Shadow was the last to step out of the truck, and the last to enter the house. He liked to observe the situation before he made a move. He smiled when Zap had attempted to open the door that wasn't there, but he hadn't made a sound. He rarely laughed, even if he was happy. It just wasn't his nature. Not anymore.
He went upstairs first, just to look around. Phantom and Storm were going after the information, everyone else was free to take whatever they wanted. He didn't want anything, just his friends. And every "mission" they did was a chance that they could be discovered.
He walked into a bedroom, apparently the master, and drifted over to the dresser. On it was a picture of a man and woman, embracing each other and laughing. He wondered who they were, where they were, and more importantly, how would they react when they got home to find it pillaged. Were they happy?
Zap walked in, asked if he had found anything good, then promptly moved on to the jewelry box where she proceeded to empty it.
"Hey, check it out!" She cried triumphantly, holding up a sparkling wedding ring.
"You should leave it." He said.
"Why? If she isn't wearing it, then it must not be important."
He made eye contact for a moment then turned away to look back at the picture.
"Whatever." Zap shrugged and put the ring back before heading out of the room, her quick mind already thinking about something else.
He hated stealing.
He knew it was wrong.
But he'd had a family abandon him before, had it torn apart.
He wasn't going to let it happen this time.
|Zap let Shadow's words fade from her mind as she slipped into the hallway, curiosity pressing her to explore further, not all too reluctant to leave the box of jewelry behind, though she did plan to return later while he wasn't there. Cheap, threadbare carpet gave way to weathered hard-wood floor, which comfortably creaked and squeaked beneath her black and yellow Nike high-tops.
It was a small house, very small, one floor, low ceilings, with possibly a small attic and cellar, with about seven or so rooms in all, maybe less. A worn, tired, old house, but one of, Zap sensed, character, love and comfort, though her assumptions had little to do with the house's energy levels. She could tell simply by the warm, simple, casual manner in which the house was decorated and organized. She could sense emotional energy, but this sort of energy didn't always leave its mark. It faded, dulled, went away along with the being it was attached to.
The hallway was narrow, quiet, and empty, except for the pictures which hung about on its maroon walls, images of smiling faces, elderly faces, younger ones, windows opening up to scenes such as graduations, vacations, birth-day parties. It was a claustrophobic space which served as little more than a path into a master bedroom, another bedroom, bathroom, and a sizable linen closet, and reasonably isolated from the rest of the house. However, in those close quarters, Zap could easily hear her friends milling about elsewhere in other rooms, and the sounds were only magnified by her heightened senses. Not that they were trying to be quiet. They hardly need to be careful here. In fact, they could probably be as loud as they wanted. The next neighbor was miles of farmland away from this house. They wouldn't hear a thing.
Two minutes… Phantom's words echoed in her mind, reminding herself. Two minutes sounds like a short time. But it wasn't all that short. There was a lot you could do in two minutes.
She opened the room across from the master bedroom, where she immediately saw Gunner. Standing idly, rim of his black cowboy hat tilted over his brow, he seemed to be intently doing nothing, thinking perhaps. Zap could sense little from him. Only calm. Thoughtfulness. Perhaps, reverie. She surveyed the room, trying to identify its purpose. With bed, closet door, dresser, and bed stand, the room had all the makings of a bedroom, but reasonably smaller than that of the master. You could tell it was still yet unused. A guest room, perhaps, only occupied by visitors. Otherwise was an empty room, quiet, desolate. It had an air of obscurity, a motif which appeared to have been designed to appease varying tastes, filled with soft neutral colors and subtle ornamentation, cream colored walls and a similarly colored, quilted bedspread which matched nicely with its lace curtains. Nothing which lay about in it possessed any true fasinating traits. But, Gunner presented a new source of interest for Zap.
She flew swiftly into the room, happy that her foot steps were so wonderfully muffled by the surprisingly soft, thick carpeting. As she tried to fight back a giggle, an enormous grin finally emerged upon her small, fair face. She knew it was stupid to mess around during a job. She'd gotten scolded countless times for playing around during a heist. But this was different wasn't it? This was hardly "heist" status. They weren't even required to take much. They were only here for "important information", as Phantom had called it. This was nothing. More like a small errand than an actual job. Besides, she couldn't get into trouble here. Phantom was with Storm in the study next to the kitchen, well enough away. Zap could feel her body tense, fingers tingling, enregy pulsing her veins, crawling all about her back. Closer… closer…
Finally, she pounced. Thrusting her feet down against the ground with an enormous amount of kinetic energy, she launched her body upward and attached herself to Gunner's back, grabbing his shoulders and charging it with an energy similar to static electricity, but still more equivalent to the sensation generated by those fake "last-piece-of-gum" buzzers. She let out something of a roar, for effect and extra scariness, though it was probably very much less impressive than she might have hoped.
It had worked though.
Gunner let out a pronounced yelp, and spun around rapidly. Zap knew when to let go, and landed with a quiet thud on the carpet. She scrambled away, snickering, while Gunner spewed a curse or two. Zap hadn't taken into account the volume of his voice. She knew how sound traveled. And if she was correct about the way sound would carry in this small, quiet house, Phantom probably heard that. But she hardly cared. He'd played a joke on her, hadn't he? He had a sense of humor. And further more, this wasn't a heist. More like an errand. Not even a real job at all.
"What the hell did you do that for, Zipper?" grumbled Gunner, whispering now, but probably out of habit mostly. The southern twang in his voice was especially present in his dulling state of surprise. Zap liked his accent. It was funny. Cool.
Zap was still laughing, while she tried to get back onto her feet, though it took effort. Finally, standing again, she forced her expression to change, frowning as best she could.
"Hey, its Zap, Gunner, not Zip, not Zipper either," she pretended to act bothered by Gunner's alternative names for her, but she honestly didn't really care.
Gunner was trying not to smile, while he leaned against the dresser, crossing his arms. He was pretty tall, about eight or so inches taller than Zap, around the same height as Phantom. He was three years older than her, made her feel like a little sister, but he respected her as if she was an adult. Not that she deserved it. There was nothing adult about Zap.
A nice guy, a humble guy, but he was always acting like a tough guy, when he wasn't messing around, and she could tell he was trying to pretend she hadn't scared him that bad. His act was useless though. She had felt his energy levels jump to double there comfortable zone. She'd felt a little bit of violence in him, as well. She was sure he could very well have slugged her, had her size and weight had not so obviously suggested that she was no threat, and only little ol' "Zipper". He had been scared intially, though, no doubt. Or more specifically, he'd felt threatened.
Finally he laughed, with a shrug, and began to stroke his honey colored goatee, just as he always did.
"Why do you always call me that?"
"I donno'… I just like calling you that… er, hey yur gunna' get us into trouble. Go make yourself useful."
"Well," Zap didn't want to leave yet, "What are you doing in here? Can I help?"
He shifted his weight, standing back on his feet again.
"Naw. I 'aint doing much in here. Just…" he hesitated, "thinking I guess…" His look was distant.
He gave another shrug.
Zap was getting antsy. She was anxious to go look about the rest of the house. She hadn't taken anything yet.
"Hey I'm gonna' go look around some more, k? Cool. Bye," she said simply, and quickly, skittering quickly out of the room and down the hall.
She wasn't sure how much time they had left, and she wanted to make sure she saw everything, before they left. She liked it here. It was nice. Humble. Not intimidating like all those other mansions the team usually tackled. They were like huge, complicated puzzles, made of glass and iron, monsters that needed to be approached carefully. There was so much complicated planning involved in trying to break into those kinds of houses. Getting into this one was almost as easy if they owned the house.
She decided to head back to the foyer. She glanced at the imaginary door Phantom had made, in the wall on the far side of an adjoining room. Its presence made her feel a little bit more secure. It meant they still had a way to escape. It meant they had time still. Time to "visit", look around, and fill their pockets if they still felt like it. She glanced up at a hall tree near the door. She lazily checked the pockets on a large jacket, picking at an ugly sweater, when something caught her eye. A hat. A trilby hat. She was pretty sure that was what it was called. Grey, plaid, with a black band, Zap found its vintage, vaudville sort of look attractive, interesting, cool. So, not particularly wanting to reach for it, she caused the molecules in the hat and the molecules in the hat stand's wood to oppose each other and ram against each other, pushing the hat off so that it fell squarely on her head. It fit nicely, though possibly a little big on her. She tweaked it a little, making it fit comfortably, while she watched herself in a round mirror, pleased with what she saw. She flicked her black shoulder length hair, watching the pink tips flutter like a colorful banner. She smiled and posed, giggling to herself.
Then she glanced to her left. The living room. Empty. How come no one was in there, looking? Surely there'd be something valuable in there. Suddenly she felt someone's energy close by.
"Hey, Zap, so what have you found?" whispered a calm voice, even, emotionless.
It was Paradox. Zap glanced at her face, which was unchanging, cold, as usual. Paradox. Zap knew what that word meant. She knew what a lot of words meant. Like Storm. A contradiction, an oxy-moron. Paradox. And she knew why she called herself that. Zap alone, knew Paradox's emotions. She seemed so timid and feeble on the outside, quiet, shy, but inside, she was something else entirely.
"Eh nothing much…" Zap answered, still fixing her hat.
Suddenly she noticed a change in the solemn girl's expression, as if she'd just noticed something peculiar that she hadn't noticed before.
She gave a funny smile.
"Nice hat," she said, shaking her head.
Zap beamed.
"Thank you."
Zap began to walk about a bit in the foyer, eyes seaching a buffet-side board for anything particularly special looking, wandering in the direction of the living room. Suddenly, a feeling stopped the petite girl cold, shuddering as a whole new sort of energy came to her attention, showering her with different sorts of tinglings and pulses. The living room was not unarmed. It was guarded. She could feel the electricity pulsing in its hot copper wires, still repeating the same functions which made the devise work. The sensors were still set up all about the room in wires of energy, triggers, ready to set of an alarm and notify the police. She could see the wires now. Actually see them. Hot, red, streams of energy, invisible to anyone else. Her body began to tense again, with super-charged, raw, hyped-up energy.
"It's… its still armed," Zap piped.
"This room is still rigged. If someone had decided to go in there and poke around... we would have been toast."
"Hadn't Scrippy taken care of that? Didn't she shut it down?" Paradox's voice remained even, but more thoughtful now.
Suddenly Gunner emerged from the guest room, slowly walking down the hall, opening the doors and giving them a quick look before moving on. He stopped at the linen closet and stopped apparently interested in something. He stared at it silently.
"Hey, Gunner," Dox called, "You know where Scrippy went?"
"Huh? Uh… I think I saw her… with Shadow… down the hall."
"Do you think you could tell her to get over here? She still hasn't disarmed this thing over here," she said, indicating the living room's security system device.
Zap felt suddenly very excited.
"Hey, I'll handle it!" she almost yelled.
She loved this kind of stuff. Usually, Scrippy handled all the technical, computer type things, but Zap knew almost as much about that sort of stuff as Scrippy did, and her abilities were just as sensitive to it. There was a definite difference though. Zap used pure energy, like electricity and such. Scrippy could just make a computer do what she wanted, coerce it. Zap had to use a more unstable sort of force. She was more useful with locks and vaults and blowing things up, but they usually tried to avoid that sort of thing. However, even that was a last resort, a less discreet option and one Phantom preferred to avoid.
But Zap really loved to blow things up.
And Paradox knew that. She gave Zap a look.
"Uh… I don't know. You might trigger the alarm…"
"Aw, come on," she whined, "I can handle it."
"No, Zap, don't!"
|Storm's heart rate went up when Phantom had called her to go with him. Yay! Oh God was she blushing? Shut up, she told herself as she followed Phantom. he led her into a few different rooms before indicating a stainless steel safe. "Do your stuff, Storm," he said. Storm knelt down and put her ear to the safe, twisting it slowly so she could hear the clicks. After about half a minute she had it open. "Good work," Phantom told her, reaching inside to sift through the papers. He grabbed a stash of them and shut the safe. Storm twisted the knob a few times, just to erase any evidence of them being here. "let's go, we've got less than a minute." Storm followed Phantom, sure that if she stuck with him she'd be in the clear. As they neared the fake/not there before door, They heard a small boom, still enough to attract attention. "Damn, Zap," Phantom muttered. he opened the door. "Wait for us out here, distract if anyone comes and hope no one heard that," he instructed. Storm nodded and waited outside.
|Blaze sat at his computer, monitoring everything he could within the confinement of headquarters. He hated being here alone. He also hated not being back in action. But ever since the new kids started showing up, he took to the sidelines. Hell, he had trained most, if not all of the new crew himself.
He had ordered that until the job was done, or something went wrong, that the group not contact him. He didn't need every cop and fed from here to Timbuktu to know what was going on. He had even told them secret passwords to use so they wouldn't let on to what they were doing. The only things they had to say was "all clear" when they were done and everything was a success, or "not clear" meaning they were in trouble, meaning Blaze would jump into action.
He continued working his reports to his superiors, anxiously awaiting news from the others.
|Boom! Poof! Gunner held his arm to his mouth as a giant billow of smoke took the air, along with a loud crack and a yell from Zap. Using his hat, he tried to wave away the smoke, but it was rather thick and found its way to his face anyway.
"Oh boy…wups," said Zap nervously who was now on the floor, the ends of her hair floating with static electricity. "Didn't mean to do that."
Shaking his head, Gunner offered his hand and pulled her too her feet. Putting his hat back on, he raised an amused brow, but didn't say anything. It wouldn't really help; Zap would always get in trouble. She had a profound sense of curiosity which had gotten them in this sort of stuff more then once. Gunner didn't care; he actually found it rather entertaining, mostly because it made Phantom sweat.
"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!?" yelled Phantom, stomping into the foyer full of smelly smoke. His emerald eyes fell on each, only lingering on Zap who coughed, smiled and waved innocently.
"She's gone dun it again," explained Gunner with a smirk. "Dox tried to tell her, but you know Zip…"
"That's Zap…" The little Korean folded her arms.
"…She just can't help herself."
Phantom glared at him. "Now every cop in the county knows we're here…You're enjoying this aren't you?"
In response, Gunner only grinned bigger and leaned against the wall, tipping his black Stetson back with a finger.
Sighing, Phantom said, "Well, we better get out of here. At least we got what we needed."
"Aww, man," whined Scrippy coming out a nearby room. "Leaving already? I haven't found anything worth a scent yet."
Gunner took this opportunity to further tick off Phantom. "Don't worry, Scrippy, we'll knock off a gas station on the way home, I promise."
"No!" Phantom grabbed his sister's shoulder, pushing her toward the fake door. "Get in the truck and wait for us."
Muttering angrily, the girl started to obey, her shoulders dipping. He ran to her rescue. "C'mon, I'll race you."
"Oh har har, Gunner, do you really think I'm dumb enough to race you?" She rolled her eyes as Gunner zipped by.
He was the first one out and the first one to see the flashing red and blue lights of the police cars zooming down the dirt road toward them. Stopping with a wince, he yelled, "Um…guys, we should probably get goin'."
"Damn it!" muttered Zap as she walked out, and then smiled when everyone looked at her. "I was just trying it out."
"Well, don't try it again," Gunner chuckled. "Leave the swearing to those who are good at it…Me."
"Okay, people, we need to get out here and without a trail of cops on our butts," stated Phantom, walking toward the truck. Suddenly he closed his eyes, concentrating, and a shimmer of light surrounded them, the truck and the house. "Okay, now it looks like there's no one here. It'll confuse them, but they're still coming, so let's go."
When they got to the SUV the cops were almost upon them and Phantom had to admit something had to be done.
"We need a distraction," said Zap, fingering her lip thoughtfully.
Then without a word, Shadow stepped forward, cracking his knuckles and rolling his head around to loosen his neck. Question was in everyone's eyes. They all knew what was going to happen: Shadow was going to throw something. The puzzle was what…? Almost casually, he crossed the yard to a big, yellow broken down tractor. His little muscles flexing, he gripped the side of it and grunted as he lifted it over his head. Gritting his teeth, he tossed it like it weighed nothing.
The tractor soured like a bird through the air till it landed right in the middle of the succession of police cars. It rolled a few hundred feet across the ground, taking out everything in its path and leaving a corridor dust clouds in its wake. It stopped, rocking back and forth.
"That'll do."
Everyone jumped into the car and off they went.
|Just above them, on a deserted hill in the backdrop of the landscape, a sneer of a cloaked man watched the SUV pull away from the encroaching police.
"Run cowards, run..." He whispered to himself." They may be able to avoid the cops I called, but they won't defy me long...Their hideout must be discovered for my plan to succeed!" Flux silently watched for a moment to divulge the SUV's direction. He analyzed the coordinates of the sun with the time of the day to figure out they were headed south by southeast. "Towards the city eh? I knew it wouldn't be too far from here, but that's a bit ridiculous." Flux joked to himself. Just then, a lone stray bull had wandered up to where Flux was standing. It must have wandered form it's pasture a while ago. Flux could tell from the bull's flaring nostrils, and its swiping hoof that it was pissed, and was ready to charge anything. Namely Flux him.
"Bring it. I look forward to having you for supper in a few weeks time." The bull lowerd it's horns and made a dash towards Flux. He made no move but the swipe of his hand. "Grav reduction." He spoke with a smile. Within seconds, the bull rose from the ground, and started to float in the air! Flux sat back on the ground and watched the bull flair wildly around, as if it could come down. After a few minutes, Flux grew tired of watching his spectacle.
"Enough. Grav attraction." Flux commanded with another swipe of his hand. The bull crashed to the ground with a thud. It reluctantly tried to lift itself up, but the force of gravity was too strong. "As they say. Curiosity killed the cat. You should never have crossed my path. Goodbye." With that final command and a clenching fist, the gravity around the bull spiked to around one hundred times its normal force. Instantaneously, the bull was crushed into oblivion, as if it had never existed at all. "Used a bit much of my power on that. Oh well. Better follow the Methamphetamine." Flux decided. The flatland of the area and the suitable sunlight made catching up with the SUV relatively easy. What with control over space and all, he could just warp twenty yards or so behind it then divulge its next location while conserving power to teleport again. Simple.
* * *
It was twilight before the van pulled up to a run down apartment building in a majorly deserted part of the city. Flux watched the members pile out of the car from a nearby tree, carefully hidden in its branches... "Let's see here. One, two, three men and one, two, three, four women. One woman is defiantly very young. Maybe 15." He spoke to himself, carefully analyzing the situation. He did not want to dive head first into a fight he could not win. Just then, another man, an athletic young man around six feet tall marched out of the building. "So, they leave one behind for emergencies? Clever rodents." Flux whispered. He watched as the tall man yell at another young man, just a bit shorter than him. Then they proceeded to yell at the Korean girl together. "Interesting. Underdeveloped group dynamics. Clearly a weak link in the chain. But eight verses one is horrible odds. I'll need to even the score. But I don't know much about them, their powers could be anything. This calls for operation Gopher." Flux stated to himself. He always felt better and calmer after speaking. He watched the group a while longer as they scolded the girl, then went inside the apartment. "Now is the time." Flux jumped down from the tree while using his gravity manipulation to ease his fall. He dusted himself off and removed any sign of hiding in the tree.
"If you cannot beat them, join them. I certainly can't beat them yet. To dispose of these nuisances, I'll have to get inside their inner workings." Flux walked up to the apartment with no fear at all, and knocked swiftly three times at the door. A man with light brown hair and gray-blue eyes opened the door.
"Yes may I help you sir?" The tall man asked Flux. It was the man from before! He drew up from within him what LOOKED like a happy grin, but Flux tried a bit too hard and it ended up looking like he was mentally unstable.
"Are you Methamphetamine? I've heard all about you in the criminal underground. As a fellow criminal and power user, I wish to join your Organization." Flux asked the man politely, without feeling. The tall man stared intently at Flux, carefully observing him.
"Hmmp. You'd have to be legit to know about us. But we just don't let anyone in wily nily like that. Prove to me you have a power."
Flux's temper flared underneath his body at his statement. Flux had robbed seven banks in one hour in one city, and he still wasn't as renown as these guys? Flux would have gone berserk at that very moment had he not been at one with the universe and had infinite calmness. Flux felt deep inside him to check his power reserves. Only five percent full. Enough to do a trick or two.
"Watch." Flux commanded. He decided to show off his space power, as it required the least amount of power. "Port." Flux commanded sternly. He warped several feet away, and then warped to atop a building, then above the tree he hid in before and then back at the stoop of the apartment. "Well?"
"Ehh. It's neat. I guess. Is that all you can do?"
Flux was VERY close to punching this man in the face. "I am at one with the universe. I can bend time, shred space, alter matter, and defy gravity. I could show you more, but my power is in desperate need of replenishing before anything else is done."
"Uhg. Alright. Phantom! We got another one!" The tall man called out.
"Another one what Blaze? If it's another girl scout go ahead and set her on fire." The other young man from before stomped to the steps. "Who's he?"
"Flux." Flux interjected.
"K...and what does "Flux" want?"
"He's a power user. He is at one with the universe or something. He did this neat space teleporting thingy. He says he can do way more than just that. He seams legit too."
"Right." Phantom replied, looking over Flux. This Phantom was obviously the leader. The other guy, Blaze, must have been second in command or something. "Alright. Come in Flux. If Blaze says your okay, then I'll trust him." A smirk grew on Flux's face. Phase one of operation Gopher, complete. Phase two, anyalyze the group's inner dynamics, and determine best possible soulution to compleat problem, defeat Methamphetamine, initiated.
"Thank you. I shall enjoy our cooperation."
"Guys!" Phantom called. "We got a new member to the crew."
"This is Flux," Phantom introduced when everyone was gathered in the airless living room.
There was a moment of stunned silence. The guy looked like something that was ripped straight out of a horror flick. "Hi, I'm Zap, this is Scrippy, Shadow, Dox, Storm, Blaze is at the door, and the hottie next to you is our leader Phantom," Zap said animatedly, grinning broadly and offering him a handshake. "Oh, and this is Gunner."
Everyone muttered their unenthusiastic hellos before occupying themselves in some useless activity to kill time.
"Have you guys seen my baby?" Scrippy asked, addressing her precious MacBook.
Gunner kicked back in a tattered and discolored armchair and pushed on the earphones of his iPod. "Nope. Can't find nothin' round' here, the place is a big ass trash can and we all live in it."
It was true. Everything was dumped onto the floor. There was hardly any room to walk. Useless junk, important documents, expensive pieces of technology, you could find them all on the floor. It was amazing how Meth could completely trash a place in such little time. They never stay in one place for too long, but they're sure to leave every place they've stayed in looking like it has been inhabited by wild animals.
"Wouldn't be that way if you would get off your ass and clean this hell hole every once in a while," Blaze muttered.
"And why can't you clean the place? You sit here all day on your high-tech computers. We're the ones doing all the hard work."
Blaze narrowed his eyes. "Who's gonna stay here and keep you guys out of trouble if I was in the field with you guys then, Gunner?" He turned and made his way to his room, not waiting to hear Gunner's answer.
Gunner put his iPod on shuffle and pressed play. The roaring rap music that blasted from his earphones startled him. He swore and tugged them off.
Scrippy and Zap sat side by side on the pull-out couch, highly amused. They started singing along, the volume was loud enough for them to hear. Gunner had left his iPod on the kitchen counter earlier that morning and Scrippy overwrote his songs with hers.
"I hope you got my country songs saved somewhere, Scrip, or I'll be a scared lil' girl if I were you," Gunner threatened.
Scrippy got up to get herself a glass of alcohol. "I'm quaking in my Converses."
Storm was starting on dinner and Shadow stood around to help, Dox sat at the counter, making pleasant small talks.
Phantom strode from his room, all dressed up for his dinner date with a random girl that he got the number from after one brief meeting at some Starbucks. He had skills.
"You look hood," Scrippy complimented.
"Good, you mean," he corrected.
"No, hood."
He had on black and red plaid shorts that went way passed the knees, and a black polo with a red undershirt.
She gave him a good luck hug before he left, it was a typical routine she did to give him confidence and to check to make sure that he smelled good because girls are very uncomfortable around stinky guys. O_o
When she came back to the living room, she sat beside the new guy on the sofa. He seemed strangely relaxed. Most people would be uncomfortable in a new environment.
"Do you drink?" she offered him her glass of wine.
"I wouldn't stomach the poison even if you forced it down my throat."
She nodded slowly, scooting away from him to expand the distance between them.
|***sorry its so short ill be back in a week and ill have more time for my additoins***
"Gunner how many times have I told you keep this stuff away from Scrippy" Phantom scolded taking the bottle from Scrippy and making it disappear.
"Hey man that aint right, I actually paid for that." Gunner shouted back angrily already unhappy that his music had been changed.
"Next time, make sure it stays away from my sister." Phantom finished as he closed the door behind him. But not before he heard some one ask… "How do we get it back?
Phantom didn't like the idea of leavening his team alone with some guy they just met, but he was confident the team was capable of taking care of themselves. Still Phantom was going to have to do a little research later....
|Shadow didn't mind helping with meals. Especially when it was something that he liked. Tonight it was spagetti, which was something he liked, meaning that he had no objection whatsoever. No one else seemed to volunteer much anyway. He tried to look past Dox to the stranger that was sitting on the couch. He looked ... interesting to say the least. Shadow found it sort of strange that he had found them so easily. I mean, not alot of people knew where they were. No one seemed to find that threatening, however. But really, who was he to judge? He'd been new here at one time, no matter how long ago it had been. So he made the decision to try to make this person welcome. It was how he would want to be treated, afterall.
"Dinner's almost ready guys." Storm called. "Anyone want to set the table?"
Zap ran up. "I will!" And before Storm could say otherwise she was already grabbing the plates.
"Alright, just don't brake anything this time. Glass isn't cheap you know."
"Yea. Cause we have to worry 'bout money." Gunner said with a sort of a smirk as he walked past.
Storm just gave him a look.
Suddenly Dox jumped down from her seat at the counter and got on her hands and knees on the floor. He thought he heard her swear, but he wasn't sure.
"What is it?" Scrippy asked, looking back over the couch.
"I was fiddling with my necklace and it broke. I don't know where the charm is." She said, obviously annoyed.
"Ah, found it." She said craning her kneck to get a good look under the desk. "I can't reach it though." The space it had fallen under was too small.
Shadow walked over to the desk and lifted half of it up.
She grabbed it and stood. "Thanks." She said smiling.
He didn't say anything but hurriedly put the desk down. She walked away and he thought that that was a good thing considering he felt he was blushing.
He liked her. Well, he technically like everyone, but it was sort of different. He couldn't explain it and even thinking about it was awkward.
Curse puberty.
|Zap had taken Storm's warning as a challenge. After that little –well, perhaps "little" isn't exactly the most appropriate word to use-- mishap down at the country house, she was determined to prove to someone that she could do something right, even if it was something as small as setting the table. She took meticulous care, holding fast to the tall, neat stack of plates cradled in her right arm, while, with her left hand she lifted each one delicately from off of the top of the stack and carefully placed them down into place. The motion became fluid and steady, falling into a monotonous, rolling rhythm, and she found herself completely absorbed by the simple action as she listened contently to the sound of glass slipping against glass then settling down with a quiet thud against the table cloth.
She'd been working steadily, but paused at the mention of Paradox having lost a charm, ready to drop what she was doing to join the search, when she'd seen that Shadow had beat her to it. Lifting up a desk, which sent a few unimportant notes and crinkled papers flying off onto the already less-than-visible floor, he'd successfully removed the obstacle which had kept Dox from retrieving her little wayward pendant. Problem solved. Satisfied, Zap turned back to her work, but not before picking up a burst of hyped-up emotion jump forth from Shadow, and quickly disperse as Dox walked away.
Head down as he walked passed, she shaded a knowing smile behind the glossy shield that was her shoulder-length hair.
Despite her scatter-brained tendencies and her short attention span, Zap picked up on more than she let on. No secrets escaped her knowledge. And what made is so fun, was that no one seemed to take notice.
She'd known about Shadow's little crush for only a week or so now. His emotions were usually pretty even, never all to expressive, but whenever he got close to Dox, she could feel his pulse jump, the rushing of blood in his vein, the nervous energy he'd radiate. What she'd always found so peculiar about Shadow, was how quickly he could suppress his own feelings. She rarely felt extreme emotion from him, but when she did, it was strong and it did not waver, that is, until he, all at once, would eliminate it.
Finally, Zap laid down the eighth plate. Done.
She quickly looked up from her finished accomplishment, ready to turn and ask Storm if her assistance would be needed in laying down the silver where, when she was stopped cold by a pair of cold piercing bluish-green eyes staring intently behind small, rectangular black-rimmed lenses. Startled, Zap felt her heart give a little jump, sending static electricity up her rib-cage and into her fingers. She'd almost dropped what plates still remained in her arms.
She quickly composed herself, successful in not fumbling a single plate. She looked back up again at the man who stood across the table from her, his pallor more noticeably pale without his long dark cloak. She hadn't noticed him there, hadn't sensed his presence. His emotional level was so even, so indifferent, and so calm, that her senses had overlooked him completely. It was as if he weren't even there. She felt herself swallowed up by his unnerving gaze and dared to stare back for only so long before quickly pulling her eyes away and setting their focus on something else.
With a nervous half-smile, and a nervous titter, quickly remembering that this man was to join them for dinner, she set one more plat down at the foot of the table with a hollow, heavy thud.
"Huh-huh… forgot about… uh…"
"Flux," came the man's clear, even voice.
"Flux," Zap repeated with a more natural smile and the usual trill in her voice.
|"Guys! Dinner! Get over here if you want to eat," Storm called. The crew settled themselves around the table, busily piling food on their plates. Storm closed her eyes and said a quick prayer before scooping some spaghetti onto her own plate. Someone had brought out a bottle of Scotch and they were passing it around. Storm took it and poured herself some. "Nice job on setting the table, Zap," she complimented. "Thanks," Zap accepted the compliment. Dinner was finished quickly, it seemed. Storm was the first one to leave. "I made the food, you guys clean it up," she called, walking over to the corner of the room. She grabbed her brown backpack and retrieved her notebook and a mechanical pencil. She settled herself on one of the couches and opened to where she had left off. Someone had gotten out a football and sent it ricocheting past Storm's head. She jumped and erased the line she had just made. "Dammit guys, watch where you're going!" she called. She didn't notice someone standing over her. "Watcha writin'?"
|Dox walked out of the living as the others began their game of football. Personally, she didn't understand the game. You throw something back and forth and get... what? There was no benefit from it, nothing to be gained. Stuff like Storm's drawing was understandable. She sketched pictures and received the finished product in the end. Plus, Dox could only imagine, she gained some added peace as well. Kind of like her music or martial arts practice. All football left was broken lamps and angry bystanders.
She walked purposefully into the kitchen only to find Shadow at the sink cleaning dishes. Part of her smiled while the other shook her head. He was the only one who seemed to care that the place was clean. Deathly quiet, Dox stepped deeper inside taking a dish towel from the oven handlebar and positioning herself to Shadow's right so she could dry while he washed.
It took him a second to notice her presence.
"Aahhh!" Shadow jumped inches in the air, nearly shattering a plate he accidentally threw in the air. Dox caught it deftly in hand, but chose not to say a word. It would be easier for him to hear once the pounding of his heart died down.
Shadow sucked in a mouth full of air, trying to gather his breath. She could have sworn she heard him say something akin to "good grief." It made the corner of her mouth twitch.
Dox dried the plate in her hand and set it on the counter to start a pile. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," he said quickly, stealing a glance in her direction before turning back to the sink.
They washed and dried in silence for a while, developing a nice rhythm to things. There were times Dox would see his hand tremor slightly if they were too close and touched. She also noticed the flush of his cheeks, the perspiration on his brow, the rapid beat of his pulse. The signs weren't noticeable to anyone except to her through the magnified vision. What odd gestures, Dox thought. Especially since Shadow is so controlled most of the time. Interesting.
"Have you broken anything yet?" came a voice from the kitchen doorway. Dox found herself turning in unison with Shadow to see who it was.
| "Dear lord..." Flux muttered to himself as he stood amongst the filth dominating the entire of the shoddy apartment. There was barely room to walk without stepping on some sort of paper, plastic, or rotten food item. Flux begrudgingly kicked a small spot clean by the dinning room table for his nightly mediation. Just as he was about to relax and unwind...
"Hey, new guy! Watch out!" A voice yelled as the football some of the other members were playing with hurtled towards Flux. It took no more than a few seconds for the ball to slam Flux right in the back of his head.
"Oops. Sorry." The man with the Midwestern accent shouted, Gunner, watching Flux stand up. Flux picked up the rouge pigskin, and tossed it in his hands for a minute. All the while looking right at Gunner, staring into his eyes.
"It's alright...I'll throw it back..." Flux said indifferently, as he tossed the ball towards him. But, just as he went to catch it, Flux snapped his fingers. Suddenly, a small portal opened, caught the ball, and disappeared.
"Hey! Where'd that ball get to?"
"Sorry. Here it comes." Flux snapped his fingers again, and just behind Gunner, the ball flew out, smacking him right in the head.
"Ouuuuch!!! That 'urt!" Gunner exclaimed, rubbing his hands against his sore head. Flux stared at Gunner, with a small, sly smile.
"Well, maybe you should have thought wiser before letting one such as myself get knocked around by your little game."
"He sure showed you up Gunner!" Scrippy laughed from the couch.
"Whatever. So, who's goin' wit me to that party I told yall 'bout the other day?"
"You know I'm always willing to crash a part Gunner. I'm in." Scrippy nodded while sipping from a wine glass. She drained the glass and set it one the ground. "Anyone else wanna come?" The rest of the group, aside from Storm who had gone to her room, Shadow and Dox who had also went to bed, and Flux, readily agreed. As everyone left the apartment, Scrippy called out one last time, "You sure you don't wanna come Flux?"
"I'm not one for parties. I'd rather enjoy the solitude while it lasts." Scrippy just shrugged as she closed the door behind her. Flux stood very still looking around the horrible excuse for a living room. "My lord...is this someone's eggs?" He questioned, picking up a plate that was covered in a crusty yellow substance. Now that mostly everyone was gone, the vulgar smell had been obscured by the other's presence took over Flux's sensitive nose. "I can't live like this...let alone spy!" He proclaimed with his hand pressing his nostrils together to avoid smelling the putrid smell. "This is going to take hours to clean...in theory." Flux waved his other hand in front of him as he focused for a few moments. He had enough time from since he got there to recharge most of his power. "Time, stop before your master." He uttered, and with a swish of his hand, time froze around him. "Better get started...this will be a long few minutes...
As the others left the safety of their hideout, a shrill voice among them shouted, "I forgot my purse!"
"Aww Zap. That's the seventh time this week." Gunner scolded.
"It'll only take a sec. Be right back!" Zap ran back up to the apartment building. As she fumbled her key into the slot and twisted the door open, she forgot about her purse. "Guuuuuuuuuuuuys...come here..."
The rest of the crew ran up to her. "What now Zap? What's up...?" Blaze strolled off as he looked into the building. It was spotless. The floor, that was at least three inches thick with dirt and grim, was no more, and the papers that were strewn everywhere were pilled neatly on a desk that was buried amongst the piles and piles of junk. Flux sat on the sofa, one of his legs dangling from the end, a book in his hand.
"You guys like it? Took a bit to clean though. Two whole minutes." He stated bluntly, not looking up from his book.
|Name: Dual (Short for Duality)
Age: Ace 17, Deuce 18, and Dual 20
Appearance: Tall, standing roughly over 6'0, Dual has long dark brown hair, with handsome features; he has grey/green eyes and an slightly more then average body build. Ace on the other hand has long reddish brown he keeps tied back in a pony-tail with pure emerald green eyes, he always has a cocky smile on his handsome face ready to talk to anyone, his body is more toned then that of Dual. Deuce, he has cold calculating grey eyes, with hair that's black with only a hint of brown in it, and his body is more slim yet he possesses the strength of someone bigger.
Personality: Chaos, due to the suffering of multiple personalities his thoughts are erratic. Only stable when all three are focused on the same thing, then they work like a well-oiled machine. For example; Ace, being the charming type of person, knows just how to talk to women, and has an overall cool and calm demeanor. He is a people person. One of his sayings that he picked up from this grandfather is, "I'm the Ace of many, but master of none." Deuce, on the other hand is not a people person he just likes to stay to himself, and only tolerates Ace because he cannot get rid of him. He is cold toward others when he can be though Ace does not let him have his way often only when he does not have the energy to fight is when Deuce gets what he wants. Total solitude, but he will occasionally give someone the chance to get close to him, well, as close as he wants to be. Duality, he has the cool, calm of Ace while he has Deuce's cold demeanor towards those he does not know. He can talk to people to get them to trust him while at the same time he does not trust anyone except, himself though he does give people a chance to earn his trust and respect.
Power: Ace, uses his charming voice to get what he wants through the power of persuasion, while Deuce, can change his body into that of anyone or anything if given a long enough look at him or her normally about one to two minutes including, but not limited to their jewelry. With combination of Ace and Deuce, Dual is born; he has the ability to absorb the powers of others around him. Depending on how many are around him with special abilities he can combine their powers to use for his own, but this only lasts for a few days depending on how many times he uses the said powers. The only power that he has, that he didn't get from anyone else is his ability to split himself in two making an exact copy of himself that can absorb the powers of others as well. But this power drains him completely unless he keeps the split short, and afterwards he needs to rest, but depending on how much power he uses and how much he needs to restore he switches to Ace or Deuce. Ace being the lowest though his ability is powerful
Other: He got his name from this grandfather who was just like him though he had more control over his personalities, and told Dual that in time he would be able to do the same. He just needed to find that special something that they could all focus on all the time or just think about and things would be infinitely easier.


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With my new Thinkpad T490, it appears that the pointer / trackpoint occasionally behaves oddly.
When holding down the center button and moving the trackpoint to scroll, I expect that the pointer would stay in-place on the screen and any vertical movement of the trackpoint results in scrolling. This is mostly the case, however, occasionally the pointer would "slip" on the screen making scrolling very annoying. This is even though the middle button is firmly held down and not being released.
Is this expected behavior? I don't recall this happening on my old T460p, so I'm not sure if I have a defective unit or just buggy software/drivers.
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Awful theme. Create a world of issues including extreme slowness
237 Reviews
It requires a lot of other pulglins. Poor customization!
does not integrate at all with elementor
It's awesome theme
you dontget any help from seller
The demo designs are showing, made specially for AA-Team clients. The theme demo is rubbish because after you import can't make it like theme demo. Features are not working as theme is Not RESPONSIVE for mobile devices. Support can't help, just wasted my time. For beginners/newbies theme is ok to play, but for WP professionals there's a lot to FIX to bring on track. I asked for money back & since then no reply or Refund at all. Not recommended to anyone, buy at your own risk and then face problems with theme, support and the issues.
Really a good theme for affiliates
Good product and easy to customize and feature compatibility
very good themes.
So many error and very slow customer service. Literally waiting for days to get a response, especially if it's a weekend.
Errors on almost every step.
Menus CSS is hard to customize.. anyway.
I paid money, so I will simply use it, though it will take days to get this things running properly.
visual builder so buggy no comment worst theme I've purchased.
lots of stress setting installation
not working?????????? ????????????????????????????????
Author response
Our theme is working. Can you please tell us what issue did you encountered?
by tagoo 1 year ago
I bought this theme only for its toy store theme.
1/ demo file is not downloadable (error)
2/ support is inaccessible
3/ documentation is a shit
4/ i have now a lot of plugins i don't want and who ask me for premium
First time themeforest. Nevermore.
Loose of time and money
the footer is so ugly, and you have no way to customize it. im so frustrated.
kingdom theme give my money back.
never buy it again
Author response
We are sorry that you don't find our theme suitable for you but you can edit your footer with Customiser and in the appearance menu under the Widgets submenu.
by cbp70 1 year ago


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It's my birthday! Did any of you get me a banana?
Now not having a cake pan is no excuse for not making a cake. Just bake them in little cans and you have adorable mini cakes!
Books are for reading, not eating! Silly bakers, don't you know that serious Harry Potter fans won't be able to bring themselves to harming these precious books?
Some people might look at this cake and think "Wow, someone needs to lay off the foundation!" but I can tell you, being a former MAC employee, it's addictive stuff. There was a time when I, who currently needs to make a real effort to put on mascara every day, would have DIED over this cake. I could have told you the names of the exact shades of every product shown because let me tell you, any MAC freak worth her salt (or sugar) would DEMAND authenticity in color here. Oh the memories.
You guys, what happened to Daydream Bear's nose?! Pay attention, silly bear! You're always losing things while you daydream! Oh wait, my bad, I ate your nose in the car on the way to this party. I just couldn't resist!
Is that little bear holding a strawberry a hint about what is hiding inside this lovely cake? Ohhhh Nikol, your first birthday is going to be really something special.
Eli Squarepants! Okay so I'm not really a Spongebob fan, I'm a little old for that one, but I do think the show is cute and my nieces and nephews love it. This cake is a masterpiece topped off with those little jellyfish, I'm smitten. It makes me want to watch the show just because someone was so masterful with fondant. Hey baker, are you being payed by Nickelodeon?
Who needs 101 of these precious little guys when even just one is so adorable? Treat it like a wedding cake and keep that puppy in the freezer to eat a year later!
I know this isn't the most perfect cake we've ever seen around these parts but you guys, it was made for a dog's birthday! It's meatloaf and all the icing is colored mashed potatoes!
The best part is a little story the submitter told. Apparently one year she brought a slice of doggy cake to give to a coworker to take home to their pupper. A fridge-sneaking boss thought it was a real cake and took a big ol' bite! That'll teach you to steal food!
Even if you didn't catch the snitch yourself, it's still a honor to have one on your birthday. I wonder if this one only opens up when your mouth touches it like in the books.
Something tells me that Dominic is really energetic. The way the party owl is bouncing all over the place, I bet the birthday party is a crazy fun time.
That settles it, I need to have a farm-themed birthday this year with hay bales and apple bobbing and DEFINITELY an Applejack cake. Done.
I hope you've got a bunch of friends to share your birthday with. Otherwise someone is just out to ruin you.
You guys are kind of hilarious with your debates over old school and new school My Little Ponies and their hairstyles. I'm an old lady so I'm firmly old school and have no idea what's up with these newfangled skinny ponies. Tell me friends, why should an old lady like me bother with these new horsies?


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Due to COVID-19, the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Programs will be working remotely and may be reached by at (217) 581 - 3967, firstname.lastname@example.com or firstname.lastname@example.com. We apologize for any inconvenience.
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If I am only speaking for myself I have no responsibility for being true to your experience or needs. And the more pain there is, the more the anger will turn on the Jews. No one was happy.
These are not the only possible effects, and some of the effects may not be pernicious, but all the effects must be taken into account when evaluating the discourse of "patriarchy.
In the time since the ruin of the Temple, many sages recognized the absolute necessity of unity for the Jews and for the world.
This is simply what less-privileged persons have always had to do for ourselves when reading the history of philosophy, literature, etc.
Analyze the authoritative bloggers in your niche and define what all of them have in common. We might try to delimit this problem as only arising when a more privileged person speaks for a less privileged one.
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