A Chorus of Fools

[Jove]

*CAUTION!: I have no writing ability!*

A Chorus of Fools
Chapter 1

   The beautiful landscape of Mount Fuji is truly a sight to behold. Rising endlessly into the sky, it's snow capped top has been a goal for many adventurers. This journey can be a treacherous one, however. Especially if one wishes to conquer it in the winter season...

"Just a little further! It has to be around here somewhere!"

   Trudging through the waist-deep snow, a determined young man gestures to a small band of annoyed individuals.

"Remember!", he shouted over the howling, snow filled winds. "We're looking for a large cave marked with the sacred symbol!"

**WHAP, WHAP, WHAP***

   Pelted with countless snowballs, the young man takes a moment to spit out the one that landed in his mouth.

"Thank you for your continued support!"

<Maybe I should have timed this expedition a little better>, he thought with a scowl on his face. <Oh well...no matter.>

   Pulling out a scroll from his backpack, he reread the legend for what seemed to be the hundredth time:

~~~Within the sacred cave, beyond the countless trials, lies a treasure which gives it's possessor a power beyond imagination.~~

   After that bit of script, a long incantation was written in a strange, warbled language. He assumed it was necessary at some point in the sacred cave. On the opposite side of the scroll was a map of the cave's location.

   Re-rolling the ancient parchment, Jove stuffed it into his pack once again.

<Once I have this mysterious power, I'll somehow use it to exact my revenge on Eslington...>

"Mwa, ha, ha, ha, ha!"

**WHAP, WHAP, WHAP***

((To be continued?))

[Clefo]

Chorus of Fools
Chapter 1.322


Meanwhile, in a small cabin on Mt. Fugi, A young man plots on how to get rid of an unwanted tenant.

"Look, Grover. You can't just stay at my cabin and try to smoke everything in sight without some dough!" Said the man.

"Dude." Said Grover, who was obviously high, " I just need to find the treasure man! Lemme crash!"

The young man sighed, then picked up a shovel and whacked Grover over the head with it. Grover was clutching his head in pain, but he managed to stand back up and say, "Diese Scheiße verletzt." Grover was shocked at what he said, he spoke again "Geck!" He blinked again, "Geck! Ich kann Deutsches sprechen!" The young man proceeded to throw Grover out on the cold, literally.

This young man was named Clefo, just cause we don't wanna call him "young man" anymore.

Anywho, Clefo noticed a few peices of parchment fall out of Grover's pocket, he picked them up and read them.

~~~Within the sacred cave, beyond the countless trials, lies a treasure which gives it's possessor a power beyond imagination.~~ said the first one.

~~~You can get the power, but beware the Easter Bunny~~~ was written on the second one

There was one more: ~~~ Made by Kinkos~~~

"Hmm, maybe there is a treasure, maybe he wasn't stoned off his ass all the time." Clefo looked outside

"Angegangen, Mann! Lassen Sie mich Innere..., Whoa, Geck werde ich entsteint" came the muffled cry of Grover

"Then again.." Clefo shook his head. He decided to go look for this treasure. He got his warm clothes on and Took a Fireplace Poker to subdue Grover from coming in.

Clefo began to follow the map, unbeknowst to him that he was about to embark on a voyage to hell...

To be continued

[Eslington]

Meanwhile, many miles away...

"At last... it is mine."

Eslington cackled evilly, reaching into the chest where his prize was stored.

"It's been a long and difficult journey. Over thousands of miles, weeks of hardship... I have stepped over the bodies of many a man just to get here. But now..."

He paused a second, pressing the play button on his portable CD player.

"IT IS MINE!"

The CD player blazed to life with a dramatic organ chord, track 4 of "Evil chords for all occasions."
(Yours for only $5.99! Order now!)

"And with it, I shall reshape this world," he slipped the artefact of power onto his right hand, balling it into a fist. "A WORLD OF-" he paused to sigh, breathing out his last word.

"beauty..."

"Um... What are you doing?"

Eslington turned around. Facing a bespectacled man in a blue shirt and khaki jeans.

"I am taking this artifact, so I can remake the world."

"... With that?" he pointed at Eslington's hand.

"YES! THE SOCK PUPPET OF THE GODS!"

"That's not the sock puppet of the gods."

"...Oh. Well... I HAVE YOUR SOCK PUPPET!"

"It's a sock."

"... SOCK!"

"My plaid green sock."

"GWAH!" Eslington tore the sock off his hand, threw it to the ground and stapped on it until he was sure it was dead. Then he set fire to it for good measure.

"That was my sock..."

"Curses... the ultimate power is not a sock puppet. Nor a sock. What could it be?"

"You owe me a sock."

"Oh, be quiet."

***

Later, Eslington trudged back up the ramp to the elegant and mighty airship, the Elvis.

"I've got to rename this thing some day..." he muttered to himself as a random crew member rushed up to him.

"Sir! We have recived reports of rumours of the ultimate power being located neat Mt. Fuji."

Eslington's eyes flared with zeal.
"Excellent! Set a course for Japan, underling."

The underling rushed off and did just that.

"Soon... Nekojin Earth shall be a reality..." Eslington stepped up the bow of the ship, hair streaming in the wind as the Elvis rose into the air.

"Soon..."

[Jove]

Chorus of Fools
Chapter 4

   Anxiously rubbing his hands together, Jove did his best to ward off the cold. Standing alone, he looked through the thick blanket of falling snow to a blurry point in the distance. This was the fourteenth cabin they'd come across, and he'd sent his small group of men to investigate. Ten minutes had passed since then, and he was starting to get impatient.

“If I freeze to death, I’m docking their pay,” Jove quietly muttered to himself.

   As though responding to his thoughts, the men appeared through the curtain of white, trudging their way back.

"Well?”, Jove asked through chattering teeth, “What did you find?”

"Same as all the rest,” one answered, sounding a bit depressed. "Just a half-naked couple with only a single, worn blanket to share between them."

"Again?! Curse it all! Did THEY know anything about the sacred cave?"

"No, they didn't...hey...listen...we're going to go home now, okay?"

“All right then, just be quick about it. Wait...what? What do you mean you're going home?”

“Well, it's really cold and those couples made us kinda homesick. Sooooo....we all decided to go back now. Good luck with your thing."

   Staring after them with disbelief, Jove watched his crew disappear back down the path they came.

“Fine!”, he shouted, “I can do this on my own!”

   Gathering his things, Jove turned to find that the snow had begun to clear.

   Revealing a sheer cliff face of ice, towering before him.

[Clefo]

Chorus of Fools
Chapter 6 or 5, doesn't really matter

Clefo sighed. He was trapped in the dense cold of Mt. Fugi, with blinding snow from every direction.

"Maybe I should have just stayed with Grover. Wait. What am I saying?" He smacked himself in the forehead a few times then shook his head.

Clefo started wondering: Why did he go on this hopeless crusade? Why did he leave his comfy cabin? Why? Why? Whyyyyyyyy??

Suddenly, the snow cleared up. This suprised Clefo, because it was ALWAYS snowing on Mt. Fugi.

"Something fishy is going on...." Clefo said. He noticed something on the ground, it was a wooden fish

"I DON'T APPRECIATE THIS IRONY!" He yelled up into the sky.  Suddenly a hideous voice rang out, one that would haunt him forever.

"Geck, trashed Sie mich total zurück dort! Ich bin zum Placebo jetzt addicted!"

"AHHHH!" Clefo picked up his Fireplace poker.

"DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!DIE!" He yelled maliciously. After severely pummleing Grover, again. He noticed something in the distance. It looked like a small figure below a towering glacier. Clefo decided to take a closer look, not heeding the warning on the wooden fish:

~~~Read me, the glaciers here, they sometimes like to fall kapeesh? So watch yourself!~~~


Clefo took no heed of this and so he started marching towards the seemingly catatonic figure gazing at the glacier... A cryptic noise is heard in the background...

TO BE CONTINUED BWAHAHAHAHAHA

[Ran]

A Chorus of Fools
Chapter 6

It had looked good in the Paper: "Wanted: Two Guardians of Ultimate Power. Must be quick, strong, powerful, and have too much time on hand. Super villains and Psychotic Sailor Senshi Need not Apply." But who knew it'd be so damn BORING? Or COLD? Until they found the hot spring that is. ^_^

Currently the two aforementioned Guardians were lounging about, eating bowls of Ramen they had delivered. Man, that Cat Café would deliver ANYWHERE. Thank, Kami. ^_^

The two Guardians were named Jewel and Ranokami McCloud. They were twin sisters of unknown age, who  still looked  like teenagers.

Jewel (or Jewi) was the Hot blonde in the Purple String bikini. Ranokami (or plain Ran) was the androgynous dark haired one in the black-with-a-green-stripe wetsuit,  short sleeve-shorts style.

Remember that. ^_^ Confuse the two and they'll hurt you (after calling you stupid of course ^_^)

"You know, this gig isn't so bad after all." Jewi remarked, as she sipped on her bottle of rootbeer. "I'll admit I was a tad worried when we had to climb a snow covered mountain to get here..."

Ran nodded, slurping her noodles. "It DID make me wonder what we were getting ourselves into THIS time." she agreed.

"Eh, I figured it couldn't be any worse than some of the shit That Taylor puts us through" Jewi grimaced.

"How true THAT is." Ran nodded sagely.

Jewi nodded as well, and cringed a bit more. "Like remember when we had to dress up as Cat Girls then played strip poker with that pervert so we could steal his shorts?"

Ran blinked. "I think I blocked that out.."

"Count yourself lucky." Jewi stuck her tongue out, glad THAT particular mission was over.

Ran nodded. She could imagine. "You know, these dumplings are really good." She popped a large one into her mouth. "Tasty."

"Oh yeah" Jewi agreed. "Try the Sweet and Sour Chicken, is yummy.”

The dark haired girl poked around inside the delivery box until she found the chicken. "MmM, you're right." She used the back of her hand as a napkin.

Jewi, meanwhile was tugging at her drooping bikini top. "Stupid thing, how does this thing support me, anyway?"

"Probably enchanted with some anti-gravity spell." Ran commented, going back to her ramen. "Taylor WAS the one who gave it to you, ne?"

"Yeah." Jewi nodded. "She also supplies the outfits worn by Kai, Yuri, Lum, and Naga, too. Go figure."

"Indeed."

"Speaking of which, has Taylor talked you into the new Hunter uniform she proposes yet?" Jewi couldn't help but grin, imagining her tomboy sister in what could only be described as a "belt."

At that, Ran frowned in rather severe disgust. "Yes. I'd told her I'd sooner kill myself than wear that!"

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me" Jewi smirked. "Ah, well, we were never out to win many fanboys to our show anyway, that's what "Without Ranma" is for."

Ran had degenerated down to grumbling to herself about damn puny leather straps riding up.

Jewi shrugged and went back to finishing off her rice. "Oh, by the way," She swallowed. "Have any clue what this "Ultimate Power" we're guarding is?" She asked, indicating the object wrapped in brown paper and duck tape (yes DUCK tape, it was pastel blue with little yellow duckies all over it), that was sitting on a pedestal at the top of a high staircase. It emanated an ominous glow (the package, not the staircase).

"I dunno.." Ran answered, dropping the other subject. "Forgot to ask."

"Ah, kay." Jewi nodded. It was at this point where the guardian should start to feel the need or curiosity to open the forbidden box, so to speak, but Jewi didn't feel like it. Besides getting out if the hot spring and climbing all those stairs was too much work.

"That and it'd just be irritating trying to pull off all that duckie tape." Ran said, reading Jewi's mind. (They’re telepathic by the way. ^_^)

“Oh yeah.” Jewi nodded sagely.


~To Be Continued~

[Jove]

A Chorus of Fools - Chapter 7

--------------------

   Meanwhile, several miles down the mountain...

   Digging his figures into the sheer cliff face, Grover did his best to mumble in displeasure. It’s awfully difficult to complain in German with a ball gag in your mouth. Tied around his waist was a rope that hung down several meters, leading toward two figures calmly suspended in the air, drinking hot cups of coffee.

“Clefo was it? It’s a good thing we came across each other”, Jove commented while taking another sip. "My climbing gear would have been useless if I was alone."

“Think nothing of it”, said Clefo rather casually.

"Also, thank you for the coffee. I had some tea, but I was starting to miss a good brew. Mmm...fine blend."

“ARGHHHH!”

"Hey! Quiet up there!“, Clefo shouted above him, toward the offending noise. “Thank you. I grind my own beans."

"You know I suspected it, but I wasn't quite sure. By hand or do you have a machine?"

"You can do it by hand?"

"Oh yes. It takes a bit more time, but you can really tell the difference”, Jove replied.

"I'll have to try that someda.....errr....hold on."

*whoosh CRACK!!!*

   Their progress had started to show signs of slowing, but Clefo's bullwhip quickly fixed the problem.

"Anyway...what were we talking about?"

"Um...“, Jove pondered for a moment before answering. “You were....telling me why you were climbing this mountain."

"Er...I'm soul searching. Trying to find my center and all that stuff. Heh, heh.  Why are you?"

"Me? I....I....um...I'm a door to door insurance salesman! Yeah, that's it! My final stop is at a temple on the top of the mountain. Gotta have insurance when you live on top of a mountain!"

   Staring suspiciously at each other, Jove and Clefo continued their arduous climb to the top. Such hardship they face!

[Eslington]

Over the slopes of Mt. Fugi,  the Elvis flew on, heading unerringly towards it's goal. Eslington was still standing at the bow, posing dramatically and letting the wind blow through his hair.

It also let the snow and hail blow into his face, and the wind was biting cold.

"Maybe I should go and review my plans," pondered Eslington. He turned and slowly made his way down the side of the ship, carefully stepping over patches of ice and moving around the snow men his crew had built while his back was turned.

As he made his way down the port side of the ship, he noticed three figures on a cliff face, clearly struggling to make it to the top.

Eslington, being a kind soul at heart, was touched by the climbers' determination to reach their goal, so he turned to one of his crew members.

The crewman stood in a light blue uniform, a helmet covering his face and a large "V" symbol sewn to his shirt. Eslington had long given up trying to identify his almost identical underlings by sight and now relied on the unique letters sewn to their uniforms.

"V?" asked Eslington, pointing over the side. "See those climbers on that glacier?"

"Aye, sir," responded V.

"Send some hot food down for them for when they reach the top."

"Aye."

With a nod to crewman V, Eslington returned to his cabin to review his plans.

***

Crewman V entered the kitchen, where Crewman S was busy at work preparing dinner for the crew.

"What is it?" asked S looking up from his Pan of Penne Pasta.

"Lord Es wants us to make some food to give to those poor starving travellers outside," V pointed out the window at the great glacier outside.

"Ah, will we be landing?" asked S.

"Nah, I assumed we'd just throw it over the side or something."

"With a parachute?"

"Hmm... Nah. No sense in wasting them."

"Right, lets see," S walked over to the meat freezer and opened it. "Looks like all we have to spare are these twelve hundred pound frozen cows. Think they'll do?"

"Yeah. And they'll shatter when they land so they'll be easier to cook."

"What if they don't have anything to cook it on?"

"Good point. Hm..." V stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I know! We could napalm the area. That'll give them plenty to cook on."

"Perfect!"

And so V and S set to work, hauling the whole frozen cows up to deck and preparing a drop of napalm.

***

Meanwhile Eslington was sitting in his cabin, reflecting on his charitable act, and considering whether he should word his instructions more carefully to avoid any accidents.

"A Vincent Valentine x Naga x Sephiroth x Felicia Dojinshi! How much should I bid..."

Or no, he was actually trying to buy Hentai Dojinshi online. Sorry, our mistake.

[Clefo]

Chorus of Fools- Chapter 9

This was the way to travel, having your whipping boy climb the huge crevice for you, while you and a newfound companion drank coffee and talked about various issues.

"... That is where you are wrong, my friend, It tastes great, but it is NOT less filling." said Clefo.

Jove snorted, he was about to retort but suddenly their acsent was halted. They both looked up, it appeared that Grover had reached the top of the glacier. The 2 men climed up the rope, politely stepping on Grover as the climbed. The top of the glacier had endless fields of ice, and no direction seemed to be the right one.

"So..." Said Jove clapping his hands, "What do we do now?"

"I don't know, I can't see anywhere to find my center, or anywhere to sell 'insurence to a temple' "

There was a longish pause. Suddnely, Clefo noticed something flying overhead.

"Hey is that an airship?" He said, just before a large bovine plummeted to the earth and shattered to a million tiny unedible peices

There was another longish pause before a barrage of Napalm hit the ground, making a huge explosion that knocked Grover off the glacier. Hellfire ensued everywhere and no one knew what to do except die a horrible fiery death....

To be continued

[Ran]

A Chorus of Fools
Chapter 10

The whole cavern shook as if from a massive explosion of napalm. The water of the hot springs rippled slightly.

"What's that?" the blonde McCloud sister gasped.

Ran looked up from the big red circle she was staring at. "I dunno.. Sounded like an explosion."

Jewi stood up. Water dripped down her nice round... eyes. "Sounded like falling cows to me.."

"That too." Ran reached over, straining. She barely managed to reach it. "Left hand green."

Jewi's left hand went down to the green circle while her right hand went back to the blue circle it had been on before they heard the noise.

Ran crossed her arms, putting her hand on the green circle between Jewi's legs. "Your turn." She kicked the spinner over to Jewi.

Jewi nudged it with her nose. "Uhm.. think we should worry about the sounds outside?" She asked. "Right foot yellow."

Ran put her foot up by her face. "Nah, didn't seem too terrible."

"Darn." Jewi pouted, before giving the board back to Ran. "It's starting to get harder and harder to keep ourselves entertained in here. We already played two whole rounds of roller hockey, a game of Bingo, Tiddly Winks, and even Duck, Duck, Mousse!"

"Not to mention every card game we could think of." Ran tried to get the spinner, but she finally couldn't take it longer. Three hours straight of Twister had taken it's toll. She collapsed to the ground.

Jewi happily fell over, too. "Owee..that hurts my arms!"

"Yeeow.." Ran rubbed her sore rear.

“I feel like beating something up.." grumbled Jewi.

Ran stood up and brushed herself off. "Alright, let's go check it out then."

"Excellent!" Jewi said, happily. "Oh, wait.. forgot something."

"What?"

"There's a required uniform for this job.." Jewi looked sheepish, as if she didn't want to be the one to inform Ran of this.

Ran shook her head. "Not in THIS lifetime." she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

"No?" Jewi revealed a pair of bunny ears.

Ran shook her head. "Definitely NO." she stated with all certainty.

"But it says on the map to this place to 'beware the Easter Bunny' That won't make sense if we don't look like bunnies.."

"It says Easter BUNNY, not Easter bunniES." Ran pointed out. "Singular. NOT plural. YOU can be the bunny. Not I."

"Me?? Why me??" Jewi looked indignant.

"Because you look so much better in the bathing suit than I do." Ran rationalized.

Jewi couldn't think of a way to argue with that.

So Ran helped her squeeze into the excessively tight and VERY revealing, black bathing suit-esque outfit.

Complete with bunny rabbit ears, cottony tail, bow tie, cuffs and four inch heels.

"How am I supposed to fight in this thing!? I'll FREEZE to death!" Jewi did not look happy, especially as she watched Ran put on her leather jacket, WARM leather jacket.

"Don't worry." Ran said as she zipped up the jacket. "I'm sure those fishnet stockings will keep you nice and toasty." She grinned, rather enjoying the situation.

Jewi stuck her tongue out at her.

Ran laughed and returned the gesture. "You know.." she said, pausing. "Didn't it say EASTER bunny, not PLAYBOY bunny?"

"What do they want me to do? Throw eggs at them?"

"Mousse does."

"I'm not Mousse!"

"Oh I dunno.." Ran mused, giving Jewi a look over. "You DO bare an uncanny resemblance to an amazon."

"You know, I get that all the time, it's kind of funny.. really.."

"Oh?"

"Oh, yeah," Jewi nodded, forgetting about her goofy get up for a second.

Ran grinned. "S'not surprising."

"I guess not" Jewi grinned, back. They then heard another explosion outside, reminding them what they were supposed to be doing.

"Oh, right.. the falling cows.." Ran pulled on her gloves and they headed for the exit. (Which, by the way, had a neon green sign over it saying 'EXIT'.)

"Don’t forget to lock the doors in case someone tries to sneak in," Jewi reminded Ran, before she grabbed her own leather trench coat, just in case.

Ran nodded and after they left, she clicked the lock button on her keychain. "Be-beep." said the lock.

A giant adamantium wall, a steel wall, a wall made of bricks, a wooden wall, and then a wall of duckie tape then went up after the lock clicked.

Ran pulled a cord and a curtain that had a rock pattern on it fell over the duck tape.

"Geesh, what the heck are we guarding anyway?"

"Ultimate Power?"

"I guess... so.."

Ran shrugged. "S'what the want ad said."

Jewi nodded. "Well, whatever it is, we'll do a good job guarding it!" Jewi said, determinedly, just as another cow landed a few yards from them.

"Eeewww.. Cow guts!" She paused. "FROZEN cow guts!"


~To Be Continued~

[Jove]

A Chorus of Fools - Chapter 11

   Peaking out from under a huge rock that landed on him during the barrage, Jove listened for any more insanity from the sky. Seeing no signs of further attack, he painfully squeezed his way out and stood to his feet.

"I heard the weather was bad this time of year, but....Hm?"

   Looking around him, Jove noticed that a huge shadow was starting to cover the entire mountainside, casting it into darkness. Glancing skyward he detected a large object amongst the clouds, currently blocking out the sun.

“What the hell is...?,” Jove muttered to himself, until suddenly an intense look of fear entered his eyes. “No...it couldn’t be. Oh god, it is!”

   With a grand flourish the Elvis majestically floated out of the direct sunlight, allowing it’s glory to be seen without obstruction.

“That must mean HE’s here, too!,” Jove growled, balling his fist. “And on top of it all, he chooses to mock me with that damned ship again!”

~~~~~~FLASHBACK~~~~~~~

   Burning down the road on a sleek, brand-new hovercycle, Jove nervously attempts to keep his hair from getting too messed by the wind.

“This new cycle cost me a bundle, but it‘s worth it”, he said to himself, taking a deep, anxious breath. “Maybe this will give me the confidence I need to finally ask out Sayuri-chan...”

   Moments later, Jove spotted her as she walked down the sidewalk with several of her friends. Waving his hand to draw Sayuri’s attention, he missed the bored expression that crossed over her face as she noticed him.

“Oh...Jove...it’s you,” she muttered.

   Gathering his courage, Jove twiddled his fingers as he tried to find the proper words.

“Um...Sayuri....I was thinking that maybe...well...you’d like to take a ride on....um...”

   Suddenly, just as Jove was about to finish his sentence, a huge gust of wind blew through the streets. Out of nowhere, the Elvis lowered from the sky, hovering just above their heads. Leaning over one side of the airship, Eslington popped into view.

“Jove! There you are!,” he shouted. “Listen, I came to warn you about that hovercycle place you’ve been stopping by! I heard from a friend that they sell defective vehicles there!”

   Stepping off the sidewalk and into the street, Sayuri gazed up at Eslington with stars in her eyes.

“Wow!,” she exclaimed, a faint blush across her face, “I think airships are soooo sexy. Do you mind giving me a ride home?”

   Shrugging obliviously, Eslington tossed over a rope ladder for her to climb, never one to turn down a lady in need. After she boarded, the Elvis soon rose and vanished into the horizon.

“How long will you continue to haunt me, Eslington?!,” Jove screamed, shaking his fist in the air. “I will have my REVENGE!!!”

   Then without warning, Jove’s hoverbike broke apart, leaving him to sit amongst the individual parts.

~~~~~END FLASHBACK~~~~~

   Gritting his teeth, Jove considered the horrible possiblity that Eslington somehow found out about the sacred cave and it’s treasure.

“Curse him and that damned airship.”

   Glancing around him, Jove had just noticed that Clefo and Grover were nowhere to be seen.

“Maybe the attack vaporized them both,” he thought to himself. “Oh well, it wasn’t like I was about to share the treasure with them or anything.”

   Before he had time to ponder any futher however, Jove noticed two figures approaching from the distance.

“Guess I spoke too soon.”

   Squinting his eyes to better make them out, something struck him as being odd.

“That’s funny. I don’t remember either of them wearing bunny ears...”

[Clefo]

Chorus of Fools
Chapter 12

Clefo was dazed and confused. A large Napalm explosion had sent him and his German stoner companion flying. Jove was no where in sight.

"Poor dope, the napalm must have gotten him. Don't you think Grover?" There was no response.. "Grover?" He went over to Grover... He seemed to be decapitated by something

"Ooh gross, there's blood and stuff everywhere! What the hell did this?" Clefo then remembered a first aid tip from long ago:

"In the event of decappitation, sit the victim's body in a chair as best you can, balance the head on top of the shoulders, and walk away nonchalantly. " He recited to himself, and he did just that even though no chair was nearby. He remembered one other tip:

"If you did all you could and the victim still dies, pat him or her down for a snickers bar, its not like you don't deserve one." He recited again.. Grover had some paraphinelia on him, but no candy..

"Ah hell... I guess I'll wander aimlessly and DIE now." Clefo started heading in a random direction, unaware of the dark figure behind Grover's body."

"I shall give you life again!" Said the dark brooding voice... He waved his hand mythodicly and Grover's head magicly reattached and he came to life again.

"Now you shall DO MY BIDDING BWAHAAHAHAHAHA OH GOD, ASTHMA ATTACK!" And the dark brooding figure, who forgot to bring his inhaler, died a horrible painful death, but Grover still lived, and it seems the German brain damage had worn off..

"Dude! Lets get that treasure!" He called... Clefo looked back, a very dejected look filled his face... He kneeled in the snow and weeped openly... Grover noticed something else, which was suprising by the fact he was stoned 9/10ths of the time..

"Hey look! Its a bunny dude!" Grover said, pointing in the distance.

Clefo, still weeping, knocked Grover in the head with his Fireplace poker.

"Scopi il tizio, why'd che lo colpite ancora?" said Grover

Clefo sighed then noticed what grover saw too..

"Hey... the Easter bunny is hot." Clefo then wolf whistled.. Unbeknowist of another cow flying over him... It landed on him

"Son of a bitch..."

To be continued

[Ran]

A Chorus of Fools
Chapter 13

Majestically, Ran and Jewi stood on the mountain. Too bad the bunny ears kind of killed the mood.

"Hey, you alright?" Ran called to Jove. She hadn't realized there were people out there while the had been falling.

"Wait a minute, Ran.. doesn't that guy look familiar..?"

"I dunno.." Ran shaded her eyes with her hand (even though she was already mirrored shades) "Can't tell from this distance."

Jewi threw on the trenchcoat, giving up on expecting the bathing suit thing to keep her warm. "Let's get a closer look so we know what we're dealing with."

Ran looked at the trenchcoat that now covered most of Jewi's outfit. "But you looked so darn cute!" she teased.

"Won't be cute once my skin becomes blue from the cold." She paused. "Unless you have a thing for Smurfette."

Ran rolled her eyes. "Gimme a break." she said. "C'mon, let's go see if the guy needs help."

The two girls then started casually hopping down the mountain. Jumping from rock to rock with the precision of mountain goats.

As they came closer they could see the guy better. "Hey!" Jewi stopped. "I really think we've seen this guy before..but where?"

"Who knows?" Ran shrugged. "We see so many people, faces blur together."

"Wait a minute.." Jewi held her hands out in front of her, forming a box around the guy. "Bingo! It's that Jove guy!"

Ran blinked. "Who?"

"Jove! The guy that was always on that screen thing, the one who had to use an exercise bike to keep his ship going.. the one who made us steal those shorts from that hentai, remember yet?"

"Nope."

Jewi shrugged. "Oh, well."

The pair continued hopping down 'til they got to Jove. "Hey, you ok?" Ran asked him.

"And what the heck are you doing on Mt. Fuji, stuck under a boulder?" Jewi added.


~To Be Continued~

[Jove]

  As the two figures continued to approach him, Jove still had trouble making out their faces. From what he could tell though, they were both female and speaking with one another.

"Great,” he grumbled, “More unwanted guests."

  Reaching to his side, he fumbled around for a small pistol he always kept around for emergencies. After a moment's search however, it was nowhere to be found.

"Huh? Did I drop it when the attack hit?"

  Jogging back to the boulder, Jove dropped to his hands and knees, digging away at the snow. Finding nothing, he slid an arm into the small crevice he had originally squeezed out of.

"Err....maybe....damn it, where...Ah! Here it is!"

  Just as he found his weapon however, the boulder rolled forward, pinning his right side to the ground.

"Wow, this isn't my day," he thought to himself, his face shoved into the snow.

  Suddenly, a pair of voices called out from a few feet away.

"Hey, you ok?"

"And what the heck are you doing on Mt. Fuji, stuck under a boulder?"

  After 20 seconds of desperately attempting to wiggle his way out, Jove gave up and growled to himself. Turning his head toward the two newcomers, he could only see as high as their knees. Was one of them wearing stockings under her trenchcoat?

“Well, you haven’t robbed or killed me yet, so would you mind helping me out?,” he asked as politely as possible, considering the situation.

  Waiting for a response, Jove couldn’t help but feel he’s heard their voices before.

“Oh well,” he thought to himself, “Maybe they’re cute...”

[Eslington]

The Elvis slowly stopped in mid air, hovering high above the ground, and then floated gently towards the ground.

On board, plans for the acquisition of the ultimate power were in progress.

"That's NOT what I meant!"

"Well it was a pretty open ended command sir," said V. "You told us to give the climbers food and we did."

"Frozen cow shards and napalm for cooking does not count as a charitable food drop."

"Yes it does!"

"Fine. You'll be eating defrosted cow shards for the next week."

The sound of wailing and the gnashing of teeth could be heard over the rotor blades as the Elvis gently landed on the snow covered mountain. The gang plank was lowered and Eslington walked down, a walking staff in one hand and a picnic basket in the other.

[I'd better find those climbers and give them some real food,] he thought. [Then, I shall resume my quest to find the ultimate power.]

By an amazing coincidence, the airship had landed right next to where the other characters were gathering.

Or and amazing contravice. Pick the term you prefer.

Eslington blinked, attempting to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. Then looked at the gathering again.

[BUNNYEARGIRLWAI!] thought his brain in an explosion of thought. [And isn't that Jove under that boulder? I wonder what he's doing here.]

Eslington raised his hand to wave and called out.

"Hello! I brought food!"