| Johnny meets Sammy | ||
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You walk into a well lighted room, it's high ceilings lit by dozens of fluorescent lamps hanging from the ceiling. To the south and west are windows, which you would normally expect to see the outside world from, but looking out of them, you see only a misty gray haze. On the walls to the north and the east of the inn are an eclectic collection of paintings, photographs and even holographs of many cheap 1970's to 1980's B-movies. The bar on the east side is made out of hardwood, it's surface polished and shiny. Behind the bar, the various beverages that are served here are kept in relatively neat containers on wooden shelves. There is a large stage in one of the corners of the restaurant with a impressive sound system and a few microphones strung about it. Multiple round wood tables are in this room, near the north wall, is a double swing door that leads to the kitchen. On the east wall is a door leading to the UR's dance club and on the west one leading to the Gym. To the south, is the exit to the outside. A recent addition to the UR is a large fireplace against the west wall, it matches well to the rest of the restaurant and looks like it should have been there all along. Johnny walks in with a confused look. Glancing around, he goes wide eyed and quickly turns around to look out the door again. Looking back into the room he shakes his head and stumbles over to the nearest seat. Nuku-Nuku is sitting at the bar, drinking down some milk and absentmidedly humming to herself. ^_^ Johnny, looking a bit more pale than usual, keeps glancing around the room suspiciously. Every few seconds he looks out the windows again. Quietly, he says to himself, "What the hell is going on???", then drops his head onto the table with a loud thud. Samantha has been sitting at the bar, gazing thoughtfully into nothing. As Johnny speaks her ears twitch and she glances over her shoulder, smiling faintly, "Huh?" She looks the boy up and down and riases an eyebrow, "Oh. You okay?" Johnny leans his head over to glance at the voice without actualy having to lift up his head. "I don't think so..." The slender nekogirl grins, "Just got here, huh? Wanna talk about it?" Johnny slowly lifts his head up, brushing his two long bangs out of his eyes at the same time. "Here? Wait... what do you mean, here?" He looks around the room again, "The UR? What's there to talk about? It's the only think that my screwed up head will keep from screwing around on me..." Samantha giggles softly, "Baka. I meant here as in Metropolis." She grins and beckons the bartender over, smiling over at Johnny, "What's yer poison?" Johnny glances at the bartender, ordering a cherry cola, before responding, "Metropolis? They changed the name of the UR?" Samantha waits for the drink to be poured, then picks it up and carries it over to Johnny, setting it down in front of him as she slides gracefully into the chair opposite. "Not exactly.. you were a resident o' NeoTokyo, right?" Johnny nods his head. "Were a resident? Am I dead again?" Samantha tilts her head, giving an amused grin. "Nope. Though, er, to go by the way I've seen some others act it might be feelin' like y'are. Best way... well." Her tail curls around the back of her seat and drapes itself over her shoulder. The nekogirl settles back, idly fingering the tip of her tail as she talks, "Remember when ya arrived in NeoTokyo for the first time? The same thing just happened again.. but, uhh..." she shrugs faintly, "There was some kinda battle first, and a few complications that seem t'have caused.. memory loss, among other things." Johnny shakes his head. "Um... Why do people always assume I got 'magicly teleported'? That's crap. That kinda stuff just doesn't happen. I got on a plane. The plane landed. Big fucking deal. I'm screwed up in the head, not stupid..." Samantha blinks, "Um... okay, then. -This- time then, you've been 'teleported'. As y'put it.. but trust me. If you think what's happening to you is weird y'should how I came to be here." She shrugs, then offers a slender hand, "I'm Sammy.." Johnny stares at the offered handed a moment before shaking it, "Johnny C, my friends call me NNY..." Samantha smiles as she withdraws her hand, "Nice to meetcha. So yeah.. this place," she waves her hand to take in the general area, "This'd be Metropolis.. pretty much the same idea as NeoTokyo... and far as I c'n tell pretty much anyone you knew back there'll be here, too." Johnny perks up a bit at that thought, "Really? So, Terry, Crux, Emi, and all them will be here too?" Smiles, staring off into space a second, "I was really starting to think my mind had gotten the better of me. Especialy after that whole thing with the wall exploding..." Samantha stiffens, wincing a little as she looks off to the side, "Oh..." Johnny doesn't notice Smantha's wince, "Yeah, it was just like last time! The wall bended and the thing behinded started pushing it's way through!" Jumping to his feet he pulls out his two daggers and slashes at the air infront of him, "So I tried to stab it! But this horrible little troll thing came out and tried to eat my leg!" Slowly he sits down again, "...so I ran outside and this big blue thing opened up, the next thing I know I was here... I really thought I was going crazy again..." Samantha swallows and looks back at Johnny as he gives this speech. A deep frown creases her brow, "What..? What are you talkin' about?" She glances upwards thoughtfully, then smirks, "Some kinda nightmare or somethin'?" Johnny shrugs, "Huh? Um... yeah... something like that..." He calms down quite a bit, obviously his feelings are hurt. "So are you from uh... Metropolis? I don't remember seeing you before..." Samantha shakes her head, smiling, "No.. no, I'm from NeoTokyo originally. That's where I was born." Her tail slips from her shoulder, flicking rhythmically behind her now.. as is more usual. "Actually.." she laughs softly, "It sounds like you knew my pop..." Johnny blinkblinks, confused, "Your pop?" He takes a long drink from his soda before continuing, "Crux is your dad? Wow... you think you know a guy..." Samantha blinks right on back, tilting her head and putting a finger to her lips, "N-nooo. No.. I dunno who Crux is, but he ain't my pop. Put it this way.." she grins, twitching her ears to emphasise her next words, "How many of y'friend's were known for bein' married to Felixians?" Johnny thinks for a long moment, "Flex-ee-ans...? I don't know of anyone who's married to an arobics instructor..." Samantha almost chokes on the laugh she gives at that, the nekojin throwing a hand up in front of her mouth as she swallows and blinks a few times, regaining her composure. "No, Johnny.." she shakes her head with a sweet smile, sitting back again, "Felixians.. cat-people. Like me, but covered in fur?" Johnny looks down at the table while he tries to think, "Hmmm.... like that robot-cat-girl? Are you a robot, too?" Only Samantha's sense of style and good taste keeps her from facefaulting onto the table. She raises her eyebrows, then giggles suddenly and leans forward, lifting a hand and ruffling Johnny's hair, "You're cute. But no.." she sits back once more, this time kicking her legs up under her and wriggling niftily into a half-lotus. "My daddy's Terry Bogard." Johnny was begining to lean back in his chair after having his hair ruffled, but upon hearing the name, he fails to stop himself and falls flat on the floor. "WHAAAAA-?" Johnny pulls himself off the floor once the stars clear from his eyes, "Terry had a kid? With a cat?? Oh my god... no wonder no one ever told me..." Samantha *springs* up onto the tabletop, keeping herself steady with one hand as she places the other to her open mouth, "Oh!" She stops gaping and peers down at Johnny, "You okay?" Johnny picks his chair up as he sits back down. "Huh? Yeah... um... so he must have been like in his late teens or something, huh?" Samantha giggles softly, leaping neatly backwards and folding back into a half-lotus on her seat, "Nope.. by your time I was born two months ago today. The twenty eighth of December, two thousand and three." She smiles sweetly, "It's complicated, but it's true." Johnny nods his head, "So it's like, cat years or something? You age 7 years for every month or something...?" Samantha grins, shaking her head, "Nuh uh. I got kidnapped, whisked away to daddy's world... the portal screwed up and threw us all in separate directions an' I went back five years. My race ages kinda.. weirdly. I've been the way I am now for almost three years now." Johnny nods, not comprehending her words at all, "Ahhh... I see... so now you live here? Boy I bet your gonna be glad to see your Dad again, huh? Maybe the three of us can go see a movie or something..." Casualy he glances at the floor and adds under his breath, "...as long as no ones yelling or kicking my seat again..." Samantha blinks, "Oh.. I, er..." she glances off to the side for a moment then looks back with a soft sigh, managing a smile, "Johnny, my pop's back on his world. Him an' his buddy Jack came to rescue me and.. well.. only me an' Jack made it here." Johnny jumps to his feet with a look of urgency on his face, "He's still in Neo Tokyo?? With that wall-thing? We have to find a way to save him!!!" Samantha flinches, "No.. no, Johnny, he's back on -his- world. Before he even came to NeoTokyo." She smiles though, eyes filled with hope, "But once Jack's powered up we're gonna see if we can't go back. He might come here yet..." Cale walks into the restaurant, coming from the kitchen. Johnny stares down at Samanatha, barely comprehending her words, "Oh..." Slowly he sits back down again, "he better come back... I gotta have someone to fight with, heh.." Dragonmaster Cale comes out of the kitchen, yawning as he heads over behind the bar, pushing some loose hair out of his face with his hand. o O ( Bleehg... ) Samantha grins over at Johnny from where she is sat, cross-legged, opposite him. "Yeah, well, I'm gonna miss that too.. I only knew him for a coupla days, but, well... I got nothin' on him." She shrugs faintly, "Still, if y'ever wanna practice martial arts then I'm game? I -was- in the King of Fighters tournament.. got to the finals too." Johnny leans his head to the side, "Is that like Mortal Kombat or something? I'm not much into games, but I can kick ass with Scorpion..." Dragonmaster Cale waves his hand lightly to the two people, he didn't think anyone would be out here at this hour, but that's okay. He starts mixing himself a strawberry italian soda, then wonders at what Samantha says...his memory trying to brush the dust off itself and remember where he's heard that before. Samantha blinks, "Mortal what-now? I, er.. well, it's the big tourney back home. In which my pop was practically a legend." She shrugs again, tail curling around one of the back legs of her chair, "It doesn't matter really. Point is, if y'ever want someone to spar with I'm always around." She holds up a finger, "-When-, I'm not out in the Badlands or on the walls o' course..." Johnny eyes her suspiciously, "I dunno... I try not to fight with girls after the whole Devi thing..." Dragonmaster Cale finishes mixing himself a soda and leans himself against the bar lazily, yawning again as he looks towards Samantha, then over at Johnny. Ah, okay, another person from Neo Tokyo...he needs to throw that party soon. He takes another sip of his soda. Samantha glances across at Cale, tilting her head as she regards him for a moment, "Heya!" She then chirps, smiling and sending a small wave in his direction. Then she looks back to Johnny with a soft giggle, "Devi thing? I dunno about that, but don't tell me your afraid to fight girls? I'm not weak, y'know.. y'don't have to worry about hurting me.." Dragonmaster Cale mm's and rubs at his left eye, nodding his head, "Gr--" His voice cracks and he clears his throat, "Greetings! Eh, welcome to the Usual Restaurant, eh heh...sorry, wasn't here when you came in so, ya know, it's a late welcome n stuff." Johnny, looking very serious replies, "Devi kicked my ass... bad... I'm not afraid of nothing... except maybe circus folk. They're creepy..." Hearing Cale he waves and takes another drink of his soda. Samantha blinks, "Oh." She is about to say something else when Cale delivers his welcome. The slender catgirl looks across to him and waves again, grinning, "Heh.. thanks! I've been in a few times actually.. seems to be a good place ta find out about where I came from. I'm Sammy, by the way." Dragonmaster Cale mm's and nods his head lightly at them both, taking another drink of his soda. "Ahh.." Introductions. He sets down his soda so he can do a proper bow, "I am Dragonmaster Cale Charis, 41st Prince of Atlasia, keeper of the Blue Star, protector of the goddess Althena, friend of the four dragons, former resident of Neo Tokyo that was, and owner of the Usual Restaurant, nice to meet you." Johnny's face suddenly lights up. You can almost imagine a giant exclamation mark above his head. "Wait... is that why the UR is here? I'm not crazy!!!" Samantha laughs, a much deeper and more mature sound than her more usual giggle. "O-ho! Proper introductions, huh?" With a friendly grin she braces her hands together and bends at the waist.. bowing rather well considering she is sitting in a meditative position. "In that case.. I'm Samantha Li-Bogard, Shiranui ninja and practicioner of the Li-Bogard School of Martial Arts, um.." she pauses, tugging on her lower lip as she tries to think of more, "No, that's it! Sorry I can't think up anythin' better.." She giggles and then offers another casual wave, "Nice to meetcha anyway!" ^^ Dragonmaster Cale straightens up and looks over towards Johnny, he blinks, then grins fangedly, "Ah, yeah, heh heh...as soon as I saw Neo Tokyo's dimensional stability was basicially unwinding and imploding on itself, I portal'd the UR over to the destination point of the giant rift that opened up." He lets out a slow breath and pats the bartop, "I got the restaurant, but my home and all of it is stuck inside one of my portals...not sure if I can find a way to shift it out, plus...there's not a lot of open land in this area, eh heh..." He then looks over to Samantha, "Ah, hmm..." He taps his finger on the bartop, his memory trying to work again, "..something about that sounds familiar, eh heh...probably because it's a new dimension or something. One of those side effects, mm..you end up meeting people you've already met that have never met you..n stuff...eh, nevermind.." Johnny tries in vain to comprehend Cale's words, "So like, I might meet that girl I borrowed some comics from and she might not know she met me to let me borrow the comics yet, so I can borrow them again and have two copies?" Samantha grins, shaking her head, "Nono.. like I said, I was from NeoTokyo originally. I was born there... ended up back on my pop's world, grew up there and then.. well." She smiles and looks around, then back to Cale, "I came here." She slips from her chair, unfolding her legs as she does so, and bounds over to the bar, hopping up onto a barstool. "You mighta met me as a baby or somethin'.." Dragonmaster Cale eyes Johnny for a moment and then looks over to the catgirl as she bounces up onto a barstool before him. "Ah, oh yeah?" He grins fangedly, "Good, the more Neo Tokyoians the better, eh heh. Ehhh..." He pauses for a moment, looking at her in silence. He's dealt with the whole child coming back from different dimension older thing because of Akiya's family troubles. "Ahh, I see. Eh, who was your dad then?" Samantha smiles, "My pop was Terry Bogard, Meilin Li was my mommy... I have a picture somewhere." She looks down and starts to rummage through the pockets of her body-warmer. Dragonmaster Cale furrows his brow, then snaps his fingers, "Ahhh! Terry! Ha! I know him!" He gets a big fanged grin, "There was gonna be this big fighting tournament happening before Neo Tokyo's dimension destroyed itself! He he, ano...wow...you were only a born a few months ago, eh heh..." He sweatdrops. o O ( Didn't know Meilin was a cat-girl...but, then..that house was full of them when I accidentally teleported in there that one time... ) Johnny thinks for a moment and digs out a folded up piece of paper from his pocket. He flatens it out on the table and turns it towards her, "Here! How's this?" The picture is a pencil drawing of Johnny, Terry, and Crux sitting around a table in the UR talking to each other. It's actualy a pretty acurate drawing. In the background is a blury image of Emi serving drinks... Samantha grins, nodding, "Uh huh! Two months ago today.. twenty eighth of December." Her grin falters a little, "Well.. pop won't be makin' it to this city anyway. I, er, left him behind back on-" she pauses and turns to Johnny, "Huh?" Her ears twitch as she turns her attention to the picture, smile returning to her face as she looks at it, "That's a great picture, Johnny.. you're not a bad artist!" ^^ Johnny grins, "Thanks! I was gonna add Mr Quack-head in on the table, but I never got around to it... You can keep it if you want..." Dragonmaster Cale raises an eyebrow at Samantha, "Ano..." He then glances to the picture, oh yeah..Crux..he hopes he makes it here too, even if all he did was pretend to be asleep in here. He looks back to Samantha, "Mmm, Terry's not coming here, eh? That's a bummer...he was a nice guy...he's okay though, ne?" Samantha blinks and considers asking who 'Mr Quack-head' is.. but she thinks better and smiles, "No.. that's okay, I've got a photo of my pop. Y'should hold onto drawings n' stuff anyway.. never know when you might wanna compare 'em with newer drawings." She turns back to Cale with a faint shrug, "I.. I dunno. I feel like he's alive, but truth is I have no idea. He was fightin' his own brother when I left him. It's all pretty complicated." Dragonmaster Cale raises an eyebrow as he finishes off his soda, "I see..." He sets the empty glass down behind the bar. "...hope he's all right then.." Johnny lets out a sigh as he takes the drawing back and folds it back up. He can't stand keeping his drawings anymore, but he's afraid to just throw them away.... Samantha nods, "I do too..." she murmurs, falling silent for a moment, then she looks up with a smile. "Anyway, enough o' that. I'm tryin' not to let it get me down.. he wouldn't want that. Can I get a drink?" Dragonmaster Cale ehhs, "Sure, heh, what do you want?" He asks as the wings on his back fold up tightly, a feather falling down to the floorboards from them. Samantha grins, "Surprise me. All I ever drink is water, see.. it's about time I tried somethin' new." Johnny grins and excitedly calls out, "Giver her something with cherry in it! Cherry soda's the best!" Samantha grimaces at an inward thought. (Apart from that time I tricked the bartender into serving me alcohol. That was just.. foul.) Dragonmaster Cale sweatdrops at Johnny, "Eh, I have a better idea..." He mixes up a strawberry italian soda and sets it before her, "Here, these are the -best-, he he he." He yawns suddenly, rubbing the back of his head. Johnny eyes Samantha's drink suspiciously, "Eh... I still say nothing beats a Cherry Fiz-Wiz..." Samantha tilts her head, peering at the drink.. "Mmm.. it looks niiice. How many calories?" She asks the last as she pulls the glass towards her, licking her lips a little. Dragonmaster Cale blinkblinks, "Ano, calories...? Ehh..I don't think there's any in it...mmm, unless that's like the colors in it or something, in which case, just red! He he." Samantha blinks, then laughs, "Sounds good to me." She lifts the glass and takes a tentative sip, eyes widening before she takes a huge gulp. Lowering the glass again she looks across to Cale in mute disbelief.. staring for several seconds before she breathes, "Wowie..." Dragonmaster Cale gets a big fanged grin on his face, "He he he, good, ne?" He folds his arms tightly across himself, "It's my favorite drink, I don't make them as good as Bean does, though. If you -ever- see him in here make sure he makes you one." Samantha takes another gulp, "Damn good." She lowers the glass and pushes it away for a moment (Gotta watch my hips..), though she can't resist swirling her finger around inside and sucking it clean. "You've converted me, Cale!" She grins, "Think they'll make these in the Merc Exchange?" Dragonmaster Cale ummms, "I, er..don't really know, eh heh...what's the Merc Exchange...? Gomen nasai...I haven't really seen the city from ground level yet, just above." Johnny pulls out one of his daggers and twirls it around in his hand casualy... Samantha raises an eyebrow, "You don't know the Merc Exchange? Oh.. well.. 'Merc' bein' mercenary, it's basically like a clubhouse for hired guns. I joined up in a team with this girl Xue Qian and Zelgadis Graywards - maybe you know him?" Dragonmaster Cale gets a big fanged smile on his face, "Ha! I know -both- of them, actually! Good, they made it over as well. Awesome...tell them to stop in here sometime and say hi to me, ne?" He yawns again, then glances back at Trinune who glows a soft blue, "Gomen...I need to head into the back, I'm practicing different magic here to make sure everything is complatible with this dimensions specifications, so far so good, but, eh, have to check on them sometimes. It was nice meeting you though, and good to see you again." He says towards Johnny. Samantha nods, smiling, "Sure! I'll see ya soon, Cale, great to meet ya!" She waves. Johnny waves at Cale, "Nice seeing you again too!" Cale heads into the UR's kitchen. Johnny sighs, "I guess I'll be heading back... Will I be seeing you around, Sammy?" Samantha nods to Johnny as she reaches for her soda again, "Sure, Johnny.. I'll be around. Er..." she hmms, then shrugs with a soft giggle, "I'd give ya my number but it's gonna be another week 'fore I can get me a phone. If you wanna look me up, I'm in Old Okinawa number 404. For now, anyway... OR the Merc Exchange." Johnny nods, "Alright... I don't know where I am yet, or I'd tell you... I'll probably be in here everynight though..." He laughs, "...so you can probably find me here..." Samantha grins, "Uh huh. I'll be stoppin' by between workin' and training. Seeya soon, huh?" Johnny nods and smiles, "Yeah, deffinitly... plus you owe me a sparing match...." Samantha clicks a finger at Johnny, "I do, too." She pauses to gulp some soda, then smiles, raising an eyebrow, "I just thought. You -do- have a place to stay, right?" Johnny stands and shrugs his shoulders as he resheaths his blade. "Um... yeah... I know what it looks like... I can get there and back, but I'm not sure where it is yet..." Samantha blinks, "Huh?" Samantha ohs and nods, "Sorry.. heh..." she grins, rubbing the back of her neck. "Misunderstood ya. Gotcha now. That's cool.. just checkin' you weren't gonna be sleepin' on the street or something." Johnny grins, "Nah, first thing I did was find a place that'd let me stay there... oddly enough it looks just like the last place I stayed at..." He dwells on this a moment before shaking it off, "Oh well, that's probably just my mind playing tricks on me again..." Samantha giggles, "Probably... don't worry 'bout it." Johnny nods in aggreement, "I'll try not too. Nice meeting you..." Slowly he heads out the door, looking a bit less confused than he came in... Samantha waves as Johnny leaves, then resumes sipping her soda.. inbetween looking off into the distance and humming a lullaby to herself. | |