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 Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 11:51 am
"This is the most ridiculous holiday ever," Dixie complained. The kitchen counter was strewn with nearly every type of small, legal firework imaginable, and Archie was not being helpful at all. "They're not going to burst into flames unless you light them. The least you could do is help me carry all of this." Honestly, she didn't understand why they were going to all of this trouble over a day neither of them knew the significance of. It was just some stupid celebration from some defunct old world anyway.
Archie slid over and began hesitantly gathering some of the smaller explosives. "Just put them in the yard. I think there are some matches in the cabinet above the microwave." Actually, he knew the matches were up there, but he wasn't going to touch them. "I'll be outside," he added quickly, slipping through the door before Dixie could get him to assist further.
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Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 12:34 pm
 Kappa trudged through the neighborhood, taking shortcuts across several backyards. He'd parked his car on the other side of the block, not really knowing where his final destination was.
Dressed for the summer, he wore a white polo shirt and a pair of loose khaki shorts, and cap-toe Adidas with brown stripes. His hair was getting long, and it was hot. He'd been debating shaving the whole mess off, but he was particularly fond of the green streak in the front--the only thing that reminded him of being a piece of sushi. He'd been sad that the GoGo had been closed for so long, but he was finding other things to do with himself out in the big world of Gaia.
He'd become a DJ at a club in Gambino, and after he moved out of the GoGo Mansion, (Because he was far too big to live in a dollhouse anymore) he rented a small apartment close to his mother's house on the Isle. Occasionally, he'd babysit for one of her many kids, or she'd pay him to do chores around the house that the Furies refused to do.
Tonight though, he was carrying a crate of records, and he carried a messenger bag slung over his shoulder, filled with cables and wires. As usual, his headphones sat around his neck, even though they were making him sweat even more.
Summer was a horrible time of year, he couldn't help but think, as he headed for the house that he'd been told to go to. At least he thought it was the right house. He'd been hired to play a house party for one of his friend's friend's, and had shown up early to get the turntables going.
He practically stumbled over his feet as he made his way through the Saturn's back yard.
Was this the place?
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Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 2:43 pm
Archie rounded the corner of the house, just in time to see Kappa stumble across the yard. He dumped his small pile of fireworks in the grass and waved.
"Hey, are you lost?" True, the yard didn't have any fences, but most people stayed out due to the ominous painted bullseye on the grass. Maybe this guy couldn't see it under all that stuff he was carrying. It didn't really matter, actually. There weren't any landings scheduled for today. Archie tangentially wondered if this kid liked fireworks. One more hand to light them while he watched was bound to be a good thing.
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Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 3:05 pm
Kappa saw the man wave to him, and he walked over to greet him, hoping he was the host for the evening. "Hey, what's up?" he asked, sitting the crate down on the ground and extending a hand for a shake.
"Lost? Well, maybe. I'm supposed to be playing music at a house party tonight, and I was just cutting through backyards to get there. Though, now I realize there are no numbers on the back of the houses." If he could have sweatdropped, he would have. "I'm a genius, I swear."
"I'm Kappa," he added, finally introducing himself. "You wouldn't happen to be having a party tonight, would you?" His eyes wandered to the pile of fireworks that had been set down on the grass, and he couldn't help but remember what day it was. He'd forgotten all about the tradition of fireworks on the 4th of July. Sizzla had told him about the holiday once or twice, but he didn't remember much about it, preferring to remember it as "The Day-You-Can-Set-Stuff-On-Fire".
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Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 5:33 pm
"Oh, hey, Archie," he said by way of greeting. He shook Kappa's hand and looked at the box of records on the ground. "Nope, we're not having a party. Well, maybe we are if you consider two people and a bunch of little fireworks a party. I don't know who's really having one, but you're welcome here. We're not from this planet or that Earth place, so we're really just looking for an excuse to watch things explode." He should have thought of music. Maybe he could convince Dixie to set her stereo up out here, or at least point the speakers out of the window.
"Would you like to use the phone? Maybe you can find out who's having the party. I think we've got some soda too, if you're thirsty."
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Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 8:23 am
"Well, I've been to a party about that size," Kappa said with a laugh, scanning the yard and the others next to it for any sign of a party. And of course, there wasn't any indication of a party at all. Had he just gotten totally lost on the way from his car to the house?
"Not from around here eh? Where are you from?" He paused to let Archie answer before continuing to prattle on.
"Well, I've only heard of Earth through stories that my mom told me. We used to light off fireworks when I was smaller, but this year I wasn't planning on doing anything special--aside from taking care of the music for this supposed party."
Wiping a bead of sweat off of his forehead, he looked back at the pile of fireworks. "I do like to watch things explode..." he said with a smile. "Maybe I could hang around for a bit. A soda would be nice. It's friggin' hot out here!"
He waved off Archie's suggestion to use the phone rather quickly. "I don't have a phone number for them...It's a party for one of my friend's friend's, so I'm not really in the loop. Even if I do miss it, it's not like I'm getting paid for it. I just thought it'd be fun to do." Kappa was a music fan, and he took every opportunity he could to play good, decent music for other people. There was just too much CRAP out there that people subjected themselves to, and it made Kappa just a tiny bit angry inside.
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Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:11 pm
Archie shuddered. The Puppet Planet wasn't really something he wanted to remember right now. "It doesn't matter. My planet's not worth talking about. Dixie - she's my daughter - she's from a place where people's eyes glow and... stuff." He didn't really know much about where she hailed from actually. "Dixie! Where are you?"
"Here," she said, coming around the side of the house.
"Where are you from? Originally. And go back inside and get Kappa a drink."
Dixie ignored Archie's creepy demands and dropped her fireworks in the pile. "The sensor is on. Something's coming."
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Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 9:28 pm
"Wasn't a good place eh?" Kappa had noticed Archie's shiver, and he decided not to pry further. He probably came to Gaia to get away from a bad situation, he thought, keeping it to himself. "Glowing eyes are cool," he added, looking to the side of the house where his daughter had emerged with yet another pile of fireworks.
"Nice to meet you Dixie." He gave her a wave and turned back to Archie to answer his question, amused with his 'instruction' to his daughter. He didn't mind though. He was thirsty.
"I'm from here actually. I was born in my mom's apartment before she moved into her house in Gambino. I was originally a piece of sushi." It was something he liked to tell people. Usually they were pretty amazed that such a complex person could come from rice, seaweed and cucumber.
"Sensor?" He gave the Archie a funny look, and gave Dixie a look as well. "What's coming?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 8:46 am
Dixie nodded in acknowledgement of Kappa's greeting and turned back toward the house to get some drinks. It wouldn't do to be rude; if their stupid alert system was functioning properly, this guy might very well be in for a nasty surprise.
"Yeah, not good," Archie confirmed. But that was all in the past! He smiled. "I'm sort of glad I don't eat sushi now. Still, that is pretty cool." Archie's tail brushed the grass guiltily. The sensor. He could tell Kappa to run away now, or he could try to foist a possibly dangerous criminal on an unsuspecting former food item. He supposed attempting a combination of the two wouldn't be too taxing. He would just tell the truth, and Sushi-Man would be free to run at any time. "A baby's coming," he said. "We weren't expecting it, so we don't have a guardian picked out. It's kind of weird. We've always gotten an announcement about who they were sending before." He sighed, and he could swear he heard Dixie snickering as she disappeared into the house.
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Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 8:24 am
Kappa just nodded. Not all planets were as great as Gaia, he figured, not really knowing much else about the universe. Kappa didn't do much interplanetary travel...
"Yeah, you never know what you'll be eating," he said with a grin. "The only sushi-like thing left about me is this green streak in my hair," he said, plucking a few brownish-green strands from his bangs to show Archie. "Life was easy back when I was just a sushicreature though. My friends and I got to do all kinds of fun stuff. When you're only a few inches tall, it's easy to find stuff to do." He paused, and then was sure to add: "You can still eat sushi--just not at GoGo Sushi. From what I understand, they are the only place that uses the magical rice."
Kappa looked to Archie, seeing his tail swinging lazily behind him, not really considering being a guardian...at all. "A baby? Where does it come from?" It was then that he took notice of the giant bullseye in the back yard. He laughed and pointed to it as he made his first brilliant observation. "Does it land there?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 10:44 am
Archie smiled. "Yup. Right there. They come from space. It is kind of silly, I guess. I don't know how they do it, but they rarely miss by much. At least that I know of." Archie scratched the back of his hand absently. Not everyone in the galaxy had stellar aim. He supposed there could be kids landing in other places... nah. He shook his head slightly.
As if it knew it was being spoken of, a tiny black speck appeared in the sky. Dixie came around the side of the house again, a cup of soda in one hand and one of water in the other. She glanced at the pod before holding the cups out to Kappa. "Soda or water?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2006 10:55 am
"Well, the bullseye sure makes for uh, um, quite the landing target," he said with a chuckle. "So what exactly will be coming from space?" he asked, looking up into the sky, finally seeing the black dot that he assumed was nothing remarkable. A bird perhaps?
Kappa graciously accepted the glass of soda from Dixie. "Thanks. I don't drink much soda, but I must say, it's pretty damn good on a hot day like this." Taking a drink, he gave her an appreciative smile. "Thanks."
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Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2006 3:10 pm
"You're welcome," Dixie replied with a smile of her own. Every so often someone interesting showed up in this stupid yard. It was kind of a shame there was no reason for Kappa to stick around. Dixie brought her cup of water over to the pile of fireworks and set it next to them, dropping to the ground and separating them into piles.
"A criminal's coming," Archie said cheerily. "In baby form." Surely that was pretty cool, even for a former piece of food. "That's it," he said, pointing at the dot in the sky.
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Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 6:48 pm
Kappa watched Dixie sort through the fireworks, noticing that she had more than enough to put on a pretty spectacular display. "Like blowing things up, do you?" he asked her jokingly. "That's quite a pile of fireworks you've got there." He chuckled, and turned back to Archie, who was now pointing up to the sky.
He sputtered mid-drink, trying not to choke on the soda. "A--a criminal? A baby criminal? How can a baby be a criminal?" he asked, a look of confusion crossing his face. "I didn't know babies could commit crimes." He gave Archie a quizzical look, and looked up into the sky to see the black dot growing larger.
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Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 5:22 pm
Dixie nodded. "Yeah, I guess. I've never blown anything up before actually." She turned back to her sorting once Archie started being a drama queen again. Dropping out of the sky in a different body wasn't as cool as he tried to get people to believe.
"It's like... a punishment," Archie said, distracted by the now-visible text on the side of the pod. He couldn't read it and he wondered what it meant. He hoped it wasn't a notice of quarantine or something.
It probably wasn't important. "Well, the baby isn't the criminal. They are, but they're different too. Something about space and the pods changes them into children again. A second chance," he finished dreamily. "Dixie's a criminal," he said, failing to mention that he was one as well.
The pod's parachute snapped open. "We'd better get over here," Archie said, indicating a spot in the yard further away from the bullseye.
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