The scene is the large computer room of the house in Boogle.  Ed
is sleeping in a chair by the computer with his feet propped up on the
console and Charlotte, asleep, is on top of his head.  Suddenly, a large
pinkish orange circle opens up in the middle of the room.  A shape comes
out of the hole carrying a package under one arm.  Ed still is asleep.

	"Hey!!"

	"Huh? WAAAAA!!!"  Ed screams as he falls over backwards in the
chair.  Charlotte runs up to the figure.

	"BWEE!!!  Bwee, bweeee, bwee!"

	"What's that Charlotte?  What is it girl?  Did Timmy fall down in
the well again?"  @bap!  The figure falls.

	"Opps.  Sorry, Jordan."

	"That's all right, I'm getting use to that."  Jordan stands up. 
"Hey, where's Sam and Jay?"

	"Well, Sam is still recovering from what you did to him when he
hesitated in saving our life.  Dawn and Dusk are with him, I think.  I
think Jay went cruising through dimensions."

	"What makes you say that?"

	"He took two Die Hard car batteries with him."

	"Heh.  I go web surfing and he goes dimension surfing.  Does he
ever tell you what he visits?"

	"Not really.  What you bring?"  Jordan sets down some comics. 
"Wow, you found Ranma comics!"

	"About time too.  Let's see, there's this one where Ryoga learns
the Blasting-Point Technique, these two with Martial Arts Takeout, the
one where Happosai appears, the one where Ranma and Akane use that women
repellant on Happosai, the one where Akane gets to be Juliet in the
school play, the one where Akane and Kodachi make cookies, and the one in
which Mousse tries to turn Akane into a duck.  All for a buck, too. 
That's all they had unfortunately.  Now all I have to do is find those
graphic novels.  So, how are things around here?"

	"Pretty quiet.  Got nothing to do but practice and play video
games."

	"Speaking of which, how about a game of Ranma 1/2: Hard Battle?"

	"Sure, I've gotten so good on that game, I could beat you with
anyone."

	"Really, how about we make a little bet on that.  I pick the
players, and if I win, you do whatever I want for a day."

	"And if I win, you do whatever _I_ want for a day."

	"Deal.  Hey, Fluffy, set up the monitor for the SNES.  I must
say, hooking up the game systems to the computer was a good idea."

	"I'll say." Ed agreed.   A cat-women came on to the screen.

	"AHHHHHHH!!!!  Fluffy!!!  What did you do?!?!?!?"

	"Uh, well, um, you see...."  The AI stuttered.

	"You've been playing around with those image modifiers in the
computer haven't you."

	"NO!! Well, yes."

	"Didn't I say you shouldn't play around with that."

	"Well, um, thescreen'sreadybye."  Fluffy disappeared to be
replace by the Ranma 1/2: Hard Battle opening screen.

	"Errrr.  I'm going to have to talk to that AI."

	"Later, we have a game to play."

	"Oh alright.  Let's see.  I'll be............."  Jordan thinks. 
And thinks.  And thinks.

	"Will you stop wasting time and choose someone."

	"Okay, I'll be Ranma."

	"Fine.  And I'll be..."

	"Gosunkugi."

	"WHAT?!?!?"

	"Hey, you said I could pick your player."

	"whyyoulittle..Ioutta...errrr."

	"What was that?"

	"Nothing.  Fine, I'll be him."

	Various fighting noises and so forth come from the computer.  If
you ever seen or played the game, you know what some of the moves are. 
Finally, the winner is....

	"GOSUNKUGI?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?"

	"Heh.  Told you I was good."

	"Man, things must REALLY be quiet around here."

	"Well, yeah.  I really haven't had much to do since _she_ died." 
Ed seems to go into a sad daze as he remembers something.

	[Crap.  I hate it when this comes up.  He gets so depressed about
it.  Maybe I should let him know that......  Naw, too soon.]  Jordan
thought.  "You know, I found this new arcade game.  Well, at least it's
new to me.  I saw it up in Michigan when we visited my brother and I saw
it again at Tilt down at the mall.  I'm sure Fluffy could get us a link."

	Ed seems to snap out of it.  "Really?  What's the game."

	"I forget the exact name, but it was something like 'X-men vs.
Street Fighter.'"

	"Cool.  Let's see."

	"Hey Fluffy."

	"You're not mad at me are you boss?"  the AI's said, offscreen.

	"No, but next time, ask before using any of the computer's
programs.  Look, could you bring up this game for us?  I want to show it
to Ed."

	"I'll try.  Be right back."

	"Hey, Jordan.  What's the reason for the post.  I mean the title
may cause a little worry."

	"Oh yeah, got so wrapped up in this I forgot.  Well, I finished
the final revision of my fic's first chapter.  I was going to send it to
my kind, friendly, and all around nice people pre-readers to check for
any grammar or other small errors.  Then post it.  I guess I should give
people fair warning that the fic is coming out in the next week or so."

	"I found it boss.  Have fun."

	"Okay, I'll be Gambit, of course.  Let's see,  who else?"

	"I'm taking Ryu."

	"I can't decide between Rouge or Chun-Li."

	"I'm also taking Cyclops."

	"Well, I was good with Chun-Li in the Street Fighter games.  But
Rouge is pretty strong, and she can do that absorbtion thing."

	"Just pick one."

	"Eenie, meanie, minie, moe, catch a tiger by the toe......"

	"Will you just pick one!"

	"Fine.  I'll try Rouge."

	"Thank you."

	The sounds of fighting on the computer continue through the rest
of the night.

Jordan E. Sam (JesX)
jesx@juno.com
JesX@aol.com
All around bad speller (and my grammar ain't no good neither :))
Comic, Cartoon, Gaming, and TV fan who knows WAY too much useless trivia
"So THIS is a .sig!"
"Everyone's crazy.  It's just some are saner than others."