Tanni Impus's Story

As the golden mammoth strode out, trunk swinging from side to side, several figures could be seen on a pearly, extravagant howdah strapped to the vehicle’s back. The figure sitting comfortably in the middle was a rather obese man in a fancy suit, nearly as wide as he was tall. The second was a slight, beautiful young woman dressed in a blue dress that streamed from the mammoth's side and licked the air. The third was the stoic pilot of the Lalitia, who had golden horns upon his head.

Striding beside the mammoth were two more vehicles. They resembled large cats, both flesh and machine, with tails longer than their bodies and towering, slender legs, not unlike a cheetah's. Their riders were trimmed with bright orange.

One passed Patch, eying him, not only warily, but with great interest. As the mammoth strode past him, the girl that sat atop it let her eyes wander over at him. Such innocence reflected within them. Innocence and curiosity.
As the exotic entertainers danced by, they let their hands run along all the nearest bystanders and onlookers, laughing and singing as they went.

As he hurried toward the ship, where two guards with their Caster Gloves stood at either end, he would be momentarily stopped once more as two more animals galloped out of the ship's belly.

They resembled dragons, though, with the same modifications as the previous biotechnological wonders that had passed the boy already. At about fifteen feet long, vivid green, with metal braces embedded into their wings and what seemed to be rockets strapped underneath, they leaped into the air, riders following closely behind and briefly tightrope walking their tails until they reached the backs of the creatures before they took off, colorful streamers following closely behind them.

Once he came into the ship, a sweet, heavy scent would hit his nose. Candles were lit all around the ship, with its white, carved corridors and smooth floors.

The entrance would give way to a wide, round elevator cased by glass. Once boarded, it would reach an interior balcony, which overlooked quite a full and magnificent lobby.

Spiral stairs twisted around beams in a way that resembled strands of DNA, and lights streamed from the ceiling, pouring into small pools at the bottom.

"Mr. Hatchet! Mr. Hatchet!" The anxiety stricken voice of an adolescent sounded over the roaring crowd, which dispersed from the ship. It was Myles Lancaster. He was dressed in casual linen; not the same grunge style he usually sported. His sights focused on a slender, black suited figure, of which had its back turned to the boy. "Mr. Hatchet! Can you tell them what to do?! They're not listening to me!"

A sudden, cold gaze was cast upon the incompetent child. One azure eye, and one cardinal eye; both contrasting the stark white of that man's skin. A wavy head of hair shaded the unnerving focus of Hatchet's eyes on Myles. His hair was infamous for being saturated in a myriad of violet dyes. The flare of rainbows seemed to splurge from his person.

A single finger sprouted up, only to point directly at Myles, with the full intention of stopping the child in his tracks; which, it did. Myles' lips almost parted for him to continue whatever previous whimpering he did. Hatchet's hand then whipped around behind to splay the scene before them. His unyielding gaze did not leave Myles. "Enjoy this." It was all he said, before grazing pass Myles to assert the group in question.

Thoughts and worry that he had disappointed Hatchet began to swirl in Myles' mind. "Damn it."

A handful of reporting staff, of which were at least publicly employed by Hatchet, were crowding the designated area Hatchet had appointed them to; he picked the spot where they'd have the best view, get the best shots, and being just fifty-feet away from 'parade' of foreigners, capture the best quality of sound.

Their bickering annoyed Hatchet to no end. "Oy! Ye'don't do it dat way! ...I don't 'tink ye'do it dat way, 'least." A fumbling, tumbling creature poked around with the other staff bodies. "Frye!" A calm, yet stern tone carried its way from behind, to the well-dressed troll. The creature's elongated ears perked up, as he was swooned by the looming authority of the voice. "Eh..." He turned to face Hatchet. Beady, lemon yellow eyes were stricken with guilt, as they darted away from Hatchet's stare. The troll slapped a calloused, green hand on his chin, only to nervously itch at his wiry, grey side-burn. "Sorry, Mista' Hatchet. Let you take care o' tings, I will." He motioned his hand to the remaining staff.

Hatchet sauntered pass the troll, not sparing him a second glance. They were in trouble, now.

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A news reporter, microphone in hand, stood in-front of the crowded cruise ship. The spotlight was on more than just the newly arrived 'aliens.'

"Hi I'm Terrence Wolf, and as you can clearly see behind me, there's breaking news for Terra, today." The man was clad in a black suit; his skin actually complimented his appearance, as he was very normal compared to the surrounding people. "The foreign nation, identifying themselves as deinzens of planet 'Misrana' landed in the Wing City Spaceport, this afternoon. It's assumed negotiations took place among the Achen occupants and the crew of this... Well, actually, if you look here..." The reporter kept focused on talking into the camera; he stepped off to the side, and motioned his hand at the Misranian people, which still poured out into the spaceport floors. The camera view would zoom into the vibrantly dressed people stepping out of the ship, and then onto the ship itself. "...It looks more like what we might recognize as a... cephlapod, which is an extinct insect found in the various deep seas of Terra." He stepped back into full view of the camera. He began to speak, once more, until the startling steps of the mammoth caused his whole person to whip around. His back crowded the camera's view for only a quick second, before he spun on his heels to face it, once more. "WOW! I think I've seen it all, folks. Let me quickly identify that animal for you: A mammoth. Well in this case, it seems to be a mechanical mammoth. It is another extinct animal, which was found here on Terra, but... apparently they still have the marvelous creatures stomping around on planet Misrana." The reporter's brows flicked up, as he was still exasperated from the mere excitement of the entire encounter. "Well, we'll continue to record the arrival the Misranian people, LIVE, and clue you in on anymore breaking news, here at CJN."

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The looming figure of Hatchet kept a keen eye on the people. "This seems... interesting." He regarded, precariously in thought.

The golden mammoth carried three figures within a pearly white howdah. The figure sitting comfortably in the middle was a rather obese man in a fancy suit, nearly as wide as he was tall. The second was a slight, beautiful young woman dressed in a blue dress that streamed from the mammoth's side and licked the air. The third was the stoic pilot of the Lalitia, who had golden horns upon his head. As they rode on a ways, the mammoth stopped at one of the many entrances into the spaceport building, extending the trunk to the door.

The fat man walked forward first, taking his daughter's hand in his own, with his other sitting atop a shoulder of the nunki captain. They walked carefully down the animal's trunk, into the spaceport, greeting the onlookers who were inside. Cameras flashed and reporters crowded. The grotesquely large man rose his arms and his black cane, smiling. "Thank you! And greetings. I am known as Magna Impus, and I am the mayor of the city that has sent the Lalitia, our ship, here to Terra! It is an honor." His voice was a low, but powerful baritone.

"This man, to my right-" he began again, patting the man with the golden horns, "-is Vliyain Khoy! He is the Lalitia's captain. This lovely lady-" He drew the girl closer to him, and she could only giggle, "Is my lovely daughter, Tanni Impus. Now, there are questions, yes?"

"We're back with you, LIVE, from inside the Wing City Spaceport." Terrence, the news reporter, quickly began to whisk himself from the camera crewman, and off to the presence of the Mayor; they were only a few yards away form the entrance. His head snapped back to look into the camera's view. "Oh! It looks like the leader of this campaign has finally arrived!" He beckoned the camera man to follow.

Soon, Terrence's microphone protruded from the crowd of hands, which undoubtedly bombarded the Mayor's personal space; one might have thought the mics resembled several spoons to feed this obese baby. Terrence was no different in his approach. "Magnus Impus, correct? Can you tell us what your world is like?! Are there other people like the ones we've seen here? Do you know if more of those people will visit Terra?" He uttered the words as best he could to reach the volume of the other marauding news-casters. The camera view jiggled here and there, and several camera flashes from onlookers contrasted a would be clear sight of the Mayor.

"That's Magna Impus. Not Magnus," the mayor told Terrence, pointing to him with the end of his shiny black cane.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, sir. Please continue." An enormous wave of embarassment rolled over the esteemed newscaster.

Magna Impus nodded, then began his short speech, describing the world. "Misrana is a vast planet, currently being scarred by war. Even so, places like our city and its surrounding forest stay untouched. We are the neutral power within the civil war, and we intend to stay as such. We have observed the technology of this world, and, well, we can honestly say that the machines we use are vastly different. Every machine and device we use is not run by gasoline, or batteries, or electricity. It is run by what you folks might call magic. We think it might be a bit different from the magic on this planet, but we can't quite be sure yet. Not only that, but we live together with our creations. Each harbors a mind and soul." he explained.

"There are many of our people here that you see now. From the nunki, like our pilot, Vliyain, here, and humans, of which my daughter and I am, and the Alula, and many others. You shall be seeing them shortly. You will also be able to interview them, as well." he said with a grin.

Terrence switched the microphone between the Mayor and himself. "Can you specify for us what this 'magic' is, Mayor Impus?" The mic was, again, shoved back up to the fat man's lips.

"It is energy. Fuel. It is life. No being can live without it. Nothing can be done in its absense. It is part of everything we do, as much as it is abused and taken advantage of. Some do not remember how vital it is that we use it responcibly. But that is another matter. Next?"

The surrounding reporters all pounced at the word, which surrounded their careers; 'Next.' Their mics whipped back to their own traps, and several questions repeated over one another to perhaps catch the Mayor's attention in the same way Terrence's did. However Terrence was still curious. "Can you tell us what the process is for actually... inserting 'life' into these machines? Is there some sort of accomplished medium you use to harness the energy?"

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In the distance, now from inside the spaceport, Hatchet watched, and listened to the Mayor; he examined the cluster of people, which included the Mayor's daughter, through his telescopic eye lense. A communications ear piece, of which carried a signal to Terrence's concealed ear mic, allowed him to listen in on the chatter. A great temptation, to see the jolly fat man crack under the complexity of the next questions Terrence presented, had swooned Hatchet's interest. The pleasureable smile creasing over his lips only made this a certainty.

Meanwhile, Myles and the much tolerable troll managed to stick by Hatchet's side, so as to have their own meager debate about the whole thing. Myles began to yawn, only to breathe in the utmost vile taste of the troll's odorous fumes. The poor boy coughed up a storm, immediately lifting a hand to pinch his nostrils shut. "My fuckin' go-!"

Hatchet glanced back at Myles to let the boy know his interruption was noted. Not one word slipped out of his mouth.

A toothy, yellow grin curled over the troll's lips. Frye gave Myles a pat on the shoulder; the child's whole body tumbled forward upon impact. "Ye'should e'spect that by now." His grey, fuzzy brows lifted in, forewarning the boy of his situation.

Myles simply huffed and puffed. His twig like arms crossed in defense of the troll's comment. "You damn well know you don't have to tell me that, Oli!" He rebuddled back at the troll in the lowest tone of voice.

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The mayor sighed. "You can ask our engineers for that information. For now, I think we shall have to get going. I'm afraid my daughter must be restless to be shown around this town to see all its wonders and amazements!" he stated, attempting to push through the crowd. Vliyain and Tanni followed, led by the wall that could probably take down entire buildings with his size alone.

Terrence drew his microphone away, and almost fearfully, side-stepped out the Mayor's way. The newscaster was not similar in fashion to the fools who did step foot in the mountain's quaky stomp. He immediately spun back around to face the camera with a smile. "Well, Terra, there'ya have it. We've got new, and hopefully friendly, people heading our way. Again, this is Terrence Wolf, here LIVE with CJN at the Wing City Spaceport. The CJN logo graphic faded into the screen, and the live broadcast was halted.

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The slender black suit set a course to meet with the Mayor outside the spaceport, at the exit to Main Street. His two companions followed from afar. Myles snapped a quick shot of the tail of the parade with his cell-phone, before the rainbow of people disappeared out of sight into Main Street. Frye simply shook his head at the boy's attempt, and proceeded to push him along. "Get'yer ass in gear. Ye'll see more of them late'a."

"Damn it! You made part of the picture come out blurry!" Myles squinted his eyes at the phone screen.

"Greetings!"

"Salutations!"

"Heeeeellooo, ladies, gentlemen, and...otherwise!"

In through Gambit's doors, a billion little hovering robots burst in. They were the size of baseballs, and about the same shape, as well. They had what seemed to be little copper wings on either side. They also had camera lenses stuck onto the front, and, with little clips, they held long, rectangular strips of paper. They stopped in front of every patron in Gambit's, one robot for each customer. Atop the mechanical spheres, a holographic image of a woman's face lit up, and a recorded message began to play.

"Hello! My name is Tanni, and I am the daughter of Magna Impus, the mayor of Zanzaria. We call out to you from our room within the Lalitia, a cruise ship we have brought from our homeworld, Misrana. It would be with great honor to have you all visit our planet and to mingle with our culture and people!

"It is only a meager seventy credits per person, and you can be assured that your experience aboard the Lalitia and our planet will be one of amazement and wonder! Below is a ticket with more information on the cruise. Thank you, and I hope to see you upon the Lalitia as we fly out!"

It had not mattered to the robots. They had severely limited AI, and knew to do only one job well.

Annoy someone enough that they would just take the ticket already.

One flew around Alix, trying ever so hard to get their attention. "If one has a lack of sufficient funds, there are certainly enough jobs one can take upon the Lalitia while still being able to relax on the luxury vessel!"

Another floated over to Reaver. "Greetings, esteemed gentleman! We are proud to inform you that the Lalitia-"

And on, and on, and on again with the messages. The one in front of Lysaria simply hovered, then flapped the ticket in her face.

"You know you waaaant it."

The robot advertising to Kuroe did a small flip, then repeated the holographic message of Tanni Impus once more.

Oh, it simply echoed around the bar, the messages. It would be enough to drive some of them mad.

They zoomed over to the Asian men in suits, right into their faces. "Come to the Lalitia, where you will be amazed and breathless at the sheer beauty of the ship itself!"

Every other patron currently had an advertisng orb in front of them.

This one was reserved for Lysaria. As she took it, the robot saluted. "Thank you, thank you! You will make the Captain and the rest of the crew overjoyed!"

Her robot flew off, as did the robots for the gangsters, who had taken their tickets, as well.

The remaining robots continued to nag and coax the other patrons. Once Sol had grabbed his ticket, the droid quickly whizzed out. Every time a ticket was taken, a depart followed.

One of the robots came between Kaida and Ellais. Very. Very. Slowly.

"Mon amour, je veux vous emmener sur une croisière romantique." it spoke, voice husky and alluring. "Zat is French, the language of love. It wants you to go on the cruise."

Its ticket flapped.

There seemed to be no capacity on how much one was allowed to bring, as long as one had the sufficient funds. "It is space ship," said the robot to Ellais and Kaide. "It will enrich your lives and your loooove."

The ones that was in front of Luke saluted. "Thank you, sir!"

And several chased Alix out the door, calling "Greetings! Wait!"

"We come from the spaceship, the Lalitia, which has come to your planet from Misrana. It is a new planet revealed very recently after its long period of isolation!" said the machine, lifting itself from the table as it spoke to them.

"You can be promised that you will not experience any motion sickness or feel any motion upon the ship!"

It changed its tone, now desperate.

"Pleaaaase come!"

Before it would be hit, it lifted even higher. Not that the machine was afraid, no.

The robot stopped, tilted its "head", seemingly confused, before zooming away from the couple.

"I'll be back. One day!" it snickered before exiting with its brethren.

Tanni Impus had taken a quick glance at Azrik before letting her eyes wander back down to the ground. The large man beckoned them closer.

Behind him, there was a slight young woman in a yellow dress. Her brown hair was put up in a bow, and she kept close to the large man, eyes down on the ground shyly.

Tanni shook her head. "No...I...I'm...you're too much..." she softly exclaimed. She looked up to him, but avoided looking at his eyes. She reached a hand up to brush her bangs from her face.

"We hear about that place..." she mumbled, nodding. "Lots of people talk about it. Is it nice?"

Magna leaned one elbow onto the table, holding his weight up. "Ahh, so you are also from that planet! Like Tanni said, we can't seem to hear enough of that place! Perhaps that will have to be the next place we visit, mm?" he said, nudging his daughter gently on her arm.

Tanni grinned, and Magna chuckled. "I'm sure someone has a lot to say about that." he teased, earning himself a kick to the shin beneath the table. With a grunt, the fat man recovered, shuffling in his seat.

"What does your company do, Jacob? Please. Inform us."

"Ah! Think, perhaps, you are ready to take over part of the business?" said Magna. "Siblings? Did you lose them here? Unfortunate." Or perhaps they escaped. If they had to look for them, perhaps the family wasn't as well-intentioned as Magna would have liked to believe. But there was much he did not know. He could nto draw conclusions.

Tanni nodded. "Perhaps you would."

Magna lifted himself, with a groan, to his feet, using the cane to support himself. "Very well. Another time, Mister Haley." he said, giving him the slightest of bows.

Tanni took a glance at him, then looked away. "Oh, of...of...course." And, with that, they began to walk out of the Italian restaurant, but this time, Magna's daughter stood a little ways away from him.

Tanni was in the center of the theater seating, watching eagerly. For a moment, her eyes flicked upward, but then came back down to the show with a smile.

There was a small noise from the other end of the table as Jacob spoke. It wasn't a word, exactly, or anything more than a whimper, but it was a sound, and Tanni Impus had made it.

This, for some reason, astonished Zanzaria's mayor. He threw his glance back at Jacob, fingers wrapping together in thought for but a nervous, thoughtful moment before he grabbed his cane, then heaved himself off of his chair. He hobbled toward Jacob, a threatening figure for his size.

"Very well." he finally grunted. "I'll hear you out. I'll have Zanzaria armed. But if this proves false, I'll have you hunted down, Jacob Haley. I will."