Well well, look who's back in action. Prepare for another story which will not die.

Kaz shook his head reprovingly at his companion, who clung silently to the railing of the balcony. The shifting shadow-shape became a large black-feathered hawk for a moment, then something more reptilian.
(You and she have known each other for a long time. She will listen to you should you speak.)
"I doubt it," the crimson avian sighed. It was his companion's turn to look at him reprovingly.
(She knows you have more brains than you often pretend, Kaz. You will not be ignored in this.)
"Then why don't you tell her, you old riddler?" Kaz challenged. The lizard-hawk mantled and became a winged feline.
(She does not know me. We have been through this before.)
"All right, all right, I'll try. But I can't guarantee she'll pay attention, Mehr," Kaz added sharply.
(The attempt will be enough.) The cat became a large albatross and stretched its wings.
"You hope."
(Coppertop is not a fool,) Mehr retorted coolly, apparently deciding that it preferred the albatross form. It spread black-feathered wings, eerily silent. (I have faith in you, my scarlet-feathered friend, which is not misplaced. The message will be delivered.)
Wide black wings opened and the shifter fell backwards off of the rail, righting itself in mid-drop. Kaz watched as it spiralled away.
"His faith touches me. Now to find Coppertop."

EDIT: I actually am looking for joiners this time round. Novelty, I know.

Yay Copper!

As always, as always, my seemingly limitless supply of characters is at your disposal. Just don't dispose of any of them too harshly.

...please.

You can use Risp, if you want. Unlike your last one, this one isn't well-enough defined yet that I can't see a semievil military commander being totally out of place.

Any of my characters are still up for grabs.

One thing troubles me: did you ever finish your previous story? I seem to not remember an end...

Neh, it died. Not worth the trouble of resurrecting it.

Not all things have to have an ending at least, or at least a good one, that's what continuations are for.

Hmm, haven't seen anything from you in a long while. It's only you and Slay that bring me back to WT.

Hi CT. Nice start. If you want to use my character, use away.

Kaz: Thanks.
Defal: I was hoping you'd say that =P

Coppertop was, at that moment, in an incredibly bad mood. She was glaring around herself indescriminately, cold green eyes hostile. Claw lurked behind her, idly inspecting his innate weaponry. Finally he pushed himself away from the doorway he had been holding up and focussed on her.
"What is it now, my overly volatile friend?"
"Everything! Nothing!" She spun and kicked at the wall in her frustration.
"Ah. I see." Claw paused, then went on. "Which most of all?"
"I don't know!" She turned and fixed her glare on him. He looked calmly back, meeting her eyes, his own crimson gaze revealing nothing.
"That makes things difficult," the smaller, trenchcoat-clad mercenary admitted finally. Copper hissed in frustration and looked around for something to vent her anger on. Abruptly she pushed by her partner and stalked down the corridor towards the hangar containing their ship. Claw smirked.
"Where are you going?" he called after her, knowing full well her destination.
"To put an end to some miserable raider," she snapped over her shoulder. Claw laughed quietly and followed her to where the Eclipse waited.

Coppertop's frustration was not unmerited. They had been waiting on the secluded Xahran station for close to a week, and their prospective employer had not shown up. Claw himself was feeling some of Copper's tension. They had intended to disappear from the public eye after what they termed the Kiyrenin Incident, and disappear they had; save for their assistance against Irinn Hariam and an escort job, they had had no offers since the Incident. Like many of their fellow mercenary pilots, the pair had chosen this lifestyle. To be ignored so obviously was frustrating in the least.
Copper fidgeted nervously while they awaited clearance from Station XJS-907. She was on edge as the controller briskly cleared them, and as the Phantom Eclipse shot away from the Station as though catapulted. She only really relaxed when they had passed the DEWs and were alone in the silence of space.
Claw looked at her curiously. She shot him a quick look and sat back.
After a moment of quiet, Claw ventured, "maybe we should just keep going."
"Eh?"
"Instead of returning to Xahra. We could head over to Firen, check on some old friends."
"What about Sivilnren?"
Claw snorted. "I'd say we more than gave Sivilnren time to show. He blew it, too bad."
"I like your thinking."
"Of course if you want to return to pick stuff up, I'm sure I can endure," he added, noting the comspicuous lack of weaponry on Copper's person. She smirked and reached under her seat, drawing Frostflame out.
"Not necessary."
"Oh, good. Where to then?" Claw eyed his parnter keenly."
"I don't care. Firen sounds good to me," Copper said with a shrug. "Let Sivilnren deal with his own problems." Claw grinned ferally, an expression Copper returned with satisfaction.
"Firen it is, then."

Acid blinked cautiously, then surveyed the soot-blackened walls of his lab, completely unaware tha this face was equally black. He shook his head to clear it, and viewed the flakes of ash drifting from his hair in surprise. Picking himself up amidst the shards of broken glass that now littered his previously-immaculate floor, Acid looked at the remains of his work with a little dismay.
"Oh, dear. Not again."
He felt his face, ensuring that this time his eyebrows had not been singed off. Electrik and Phish would never let him hear the end of it if his eyebrows had vanished again, so soon ... but he appeared to still be in possession of them. With a sigh of relief he turned back ot the scorched room. The initial blast had broken all the light fixtures and windows, and had left an Acid-shaped silhouette on the wall behind him.
Now his professional enthusiasm caught up with him. He began frantically searching for the formulae notes he had been taking. The explosion wasn't quite the results he'd been looking for, but definitely an improvement over last time. His singed whiskers twitched in reaction to that memory.
His lab notes were still relatively intact - charred on the edges, but legible, having been protected by being in the sink. If he could replicate the compound, other techs could take it further and worry about controlling it.
Clutching his precious notes to his sooty and stained lab coat, Acid hauled open the fire-proof, double reinforced metal door that protected the rest of Carrot Corp's labs from his experiments. He rushed down the gleaming white corridor towards the department director's office, leaving a trail of ash and soot behind him. The janitors silently curshed his passage.
Acid burst into the director's office, leaving a black handprint on the door. Director Daskelman, affectionately referred to as Fidget, beamed up at his grimy colleague's appearance.
"Acid! You're getting better! The aftershocks actually reached all the way to the Metallurgy department this time!"
Acid beamed back. "Wasn't it great? I'm a genius. I have the compounds right here for the techs -"
Fidget took the notes reverently. "We should have placed you in Demolitions, I just know it," he sighed. 'You'd knock their socks off, literally."
"Oh, but I'm so close to completing that fur-growth agent you wanted - I figure if I find the compound that makes it fall out, I can counter it with -"
"Yes, yes, most important. I'll just whisk these off to Demolitions, you'll have them back in no time. And then you can start trying to reproduce that chemical that causes that smoke, you know, the one that doesn't affect anything but vision. Imagine - a smokescreen that won't asphyxiate you ..." Fidget smiled dreamily into empty space.
"But the fur-growth agent ..."
Fidget started, then began fiddling with his numerous writing utensils. "Yes, but the smokescreen is more important, can't you see," and he looked imploringly at Acid, quite unconscious of his pun. "We'll give the fur-growth agent to Reimner, just his area of interest. This chemical is so elusive!"
Acid smiled happily at his fellow enthusiast, forgetting all about the fur-growth agent. Then his smile dimmed a little.
"Oh, er, Fidget? I think I'm going to need a new lab ..."

.....does Claw actually still live on somewhere? Claw from the JMMB years and years ago?

Anyway, nice start, CT.

Pretty good start. It should be interesting to watch this while a plot develops.

Anyway... much as I would like to supply a character, I find that I tend to use the official characters more than anything else. You could use Claire if you want, but she would probably be out of place. In all honesty, though, I would like to see a story with Razz, Zoe, or even Queen, so it wouild be nice if any of those fit in somehow.

Hee, you always know how to use Acid much better than even I can. Excellent chapter, Copper!

I actually don't know if Claw still lives or not. Pity.
Thanks, Acid, UR, Ducky =P

Mmm characters and motives are well drawn. Hmm? You can't find Claw by e-mail?

Edit several days later: Why am I always the last one to post a reply >|?

Uh, I don't have to be in if you don't want, but I can be!
Also, I don't have to be teamed up with tiger, if one is easier to handle.

I has monsters and persons! Which you may uses for selfs in stories!

In English, you can use any creature or character I have concocted, should you wish it.

Heh, thanks N0, you're in. GenEX, I'll check out your stuff.

Some chars I haven't used in the past.

Dazir closed his eyes and controlled his breathing strictly, concentrating only on the moment. The ice-edged wind rippled through his creamy fur, biting at his face and at fingers that must not go numb.
His sense of focus recovered, Dazir opened his eyes and gazed intently up the sheer rock face that he was spreadeagled against. Cracks spiderwebbed up the granite wall, making his ascent easier. The small, agile climber moved up the cliff with a spider-like ease, using holds that were barely enough to support his weight. The cold wind whipped around him, attempting to pull him from his perch annd failing.
To an observer, Dazir's ascent seemed to be smooth and simple. Not once did he visibly miss a hold or slip. It seemed as effortless as climbing a ladder.
The truth was, this was the thirteenth time Dazir had made this particular climb. The seventeen-year old had been banned from most of the climbs for reckless behaviour. He was quickly becoming bored with this cliff, called the Eyrie, which no longer challenged him.
Having gained the top, Dazir glanced over the edge. From this height the wide-branched leafy trees below looked like moss, and the airborne vehicles like large beetles. He smiled faintly at such whimsy, and turned his gaze to the cloudless, azure sky, breathing deeply but not quickly.
"Nice climb, Daz. You didn't even break a sweat."
Dazir turned to flash a quick grin at his best friend Dare. The taller, silvery-blue rabbit was leaning against his idling neon-orange and matte black speeder, eyeing his younger cream and brown-furred friend, who still stood on the edge of the drop, wind-whipped and exhilarated.
"Now that you're done and have had your fix for the day, can we get off this frozen heap of rock?"
"Done?" Dazir laughed softly, barely louder than the wind. "No, Dare, this climb is only half-done."
Dare cast his gaze at the heavens before sighing in resignation. "I'll meet you at the bottom, then."
Dazir flashed another grin at Dare, then fell backwards off the edge, somersaulting midair and catching himself expertly on the cliff face. Dare sighed.
"You're going to get banned from this climb too, you know," he remarked to the empty air.
Dazir didn't hear him; he was already a quarter of the way down, using precise drops to speed himself. Dare shook his head and urged his speeder forward.

"You know, you're going to get banned from the Eyrie, if you keep doing stunts like that flip off the top," Dare remarked later, as the pair sped towards the space port. Dazir shrugged carelessly.
"The Eyrie just isn't a challenge anymore," he said regretfully. "I need to find a new climb."
"I need to understand why you can't just work out at the gym like everyone else."
"The gym just doesn't have the same impact ..."
"No kidding. You hit a mat if you fall at the gym. You break your neck if you fall off a cliff."
"Well, besides that. Most gyms don't have the setup I like."
"We're going to have to find you one that does. And then make sure you don't get banned from it for dangerous activities. I tell you, Daz, by the time you're eighteen, you're going to be climbing the Castle walls because you're banned from everywhere else."
Dazir laughed. "The Castle walls? That's no challenge."
"You sure you're bored of the Eyrie?"
"Man, I could climb it blindfolded. Plus the other climbers are too stuffy about tricks. A straight climb, that's all you can do - how boring is that?" He thumped a fist on the speeder for emphasis. "Er, Dare, where are we going?"
"Space port. Gotta pick up the Phenomenon."
"You get to fly her back to wherever. I refuse."
"C'mon, Daz ..."
"No way, man. I'm keeping both feet firmly on the ground."
"Oh, really? Since when?" Dare gave Dazir a disbelieving look. The younger of the pair smirked.
"You know what I mean."
"You can't tell me you're afraid of flying ..."
"No, I'm afraid of scratching the paint on your precious Phenomenon."
"As you should be," Dare chuckled, giving up. He deftly spun the speeder sideways to avoid a collision with a large rock, losing only a little speed before righting it and accelerating again.
"Where are we going? I thought we had to get your ship?"
"We are," Dare said, with a sideways look at Dazir. "This, my friend, is the scenic route."
"The scenic route." Dazir was not amused.
"The scenic route," Dare agreed, smirking.
"Forget the scenery, you idjit," Dazir growled, attempting to cuff Dare on the ear. The pilot ducked, and pretended to swerve into a tree. Dazir caught his breath as the tree loomed uncomfortably close, before Dare veered sharply away.
"Aah! I hate it when you do that!"
"Do what?" Dare innocently swiped another tree, and Dazir yelped.
"Holy crickets! Just get us there already!"
"This is the fastest route."
"Yeah, but I'd like to reach the port intact!"
"Ah. In that case, I -" Dare abruptly hit the brakes and swerved sharply. The speeder slewed around, unable to compensate for the abrupt maneuver.
"What the -" Dazir pulled himself upright, ready to blister Dare's ears for that trick, before he realized that Dare had vaulted out of the speeder and was now kneeling on the road beside a half-obscured shape.
Dazir exited more decorously, and trotted over to Dare. His original question of "what is it" never made it as far as speech, mutating instead to "is he alive?"
For Dare knelt beside the tattered body of an unconscious (or dead) rabbit. What fur was not sticky with drying blood was sky-blue. Clearly the rabbit had put up a good fight, judging from the looks of the torn-up road.
"I think so," Dare replied to Dazir's question. "But he's lost a lot of blood."
Someting caught Dazir's eye and, kneeling, he pulled a sword from where it was half-hidden under the fallen rabbit. He rose and glanced around at the scarred track. He found a second blade in the dust, and wordlessly showed the pair to Dare. The taller rabbit shook his head silently.
"Look, I'm going to get a medic. I don't want to move him - it could reopen these wounds and he'd bleed to death. You'll stay with him?"
"Does it look like he's going anywhere?" Dazir protested. Dare shook his head again.
"It's not him I'm worried about. I just wonder where the winner of this little scrap is."
"Oh. Good point," Dazir remarked. "I think I'll stay with him. Why don't you get a medic?"
"Brilliant idea," Dare said caustically. "I'll be back shortly then." He stood and headed for the speeder.

It was not long after Dare had gone when Dazir began to feel vaguely nervous. The normally collected young rabbit paced uncomfortably, unable to shake the feeling that he was being watched.
The injured rabbit never stirred. His wounds were no longer actually bleeding, but the crimson matting his fur and the blood-soaked dust beneath him were testament to the severity of his condition. Dare crouched by his charge, waving away the insects who came to investigate, keeping a wary eye on the forest around him and becoming more and more creeped out.
Dust-laden sunlight poured onto the track, creating a golden haze. Insects droned by. An unseen bird twitted and was answered. Only the copper tang of blood and the motionless body of the collapsed rabbit marred the scene. Indeed, Dazir began to relax despite his irrational fears.
So when what looked like the product of a mating between a monkey, a spider, and a block of titanium dropped down in front of Dazir, it took a moment to register.
Part of it was the complete lack of sound. Had an ear-piercing screech accompanied the thing, Dazir might have reacted faster. As it was, the thing managed to slash his face with a blade-taloned paw before Dazir put a dagger through its photoreceptor and used the other blade to part the silently-snarling head from its body. The thing spasmed, quivered, and collapsed.
Dazir retrieved his dagger from its "eye". The whole being was no longer than his arm. It was, he noticed, fully robotic and not a cyborg. Eight slender legs ended in 'paws' equipped with those blade-talons. The synthetic hide was tattered and bluish-grey.
It was improbable that the small robot, while vicious, could have inflicted the extreme damage on the anonymous rabbit. Dazir scanned the treeline, adrenaline heightening his senses, but saw nothing. Perhaps there had been others, destroyed and cleared away by the survivors? It was possible.
He had never been so glad to see that neon and black speeder when Dare finally returned.

*Dun dun dunnnn* Awesome chapter. I like the 'impact' line.

Actually, I can't make a list. Too lengthy. Although you could just tell me what you're looking for and I'll think something cool up.

CT, your writing skills have improved from your last dead story.

Why, thank you, Kaz.

GenEX: I'll PM you or something.

Defal:

ooh... nice.

MECHA SPIDER MONKIES!!!

Ahaha. Maybe. Thanks.

I agree with Kaz. And Nobody and Defalcon. And GenEx, even though he didn't actually say anything about the story; I just feel agreeable.

Nice story so far, btw.

Aye. Well, you'll have the next part when I find the missing page. It's somewhere in my room ...

She lies... =|

It IS somewhere in there. I must find it. Yes.

Yesyes.

*insert witty and comical phrase here.*

Lovely, CT...


I miss my fictional furry life so. Thanks for making it still worthwhile.

Heh. Thanks, Ducky.

Originally Posted by Ducky

Lovely, CT...


I miss my fictional furry life so. Thanks for making it still worthwhile.

Who needs missing! That's what comebacks are for!

It's quite hard to pull off a comeback...

Psshf. Not when you're a novice like me.

Heehee, novice.

Originally Posted by 4I Falcon

Psshf. Not when you're a novice like me.

Heehee, novice.

You made a comeback at one point?

Knowing 4I, probably.

Well, I typed it up yesterday, but the computer has this odd habit of logging me out when I've been inactive for over five minutes. I'll have it up later today.

Originally Posted by Kaz

You made a comeback at one point?

Actually, yes. Quite a few times. Not here, though.

Since CT isn't writing anymore, I'll just pick up where she left off.

So, then stuff happens, lots of robots are killed, some of the goodguys are killed and the main badguy might be dead, but also might be alive, for there was that weird white flash and he was gone. And also Radium is a tratior, which leaves enought room for another story, without leaving you at a cliffhanger.

The End.

=P I am writing, when I have time. I shall post the next part in a couple of hours.

I dunno, I kind of liked N0's ending...

Mm. No. Well, maybe.