Johnny
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Former Animorph of Arbella
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Posts: 225
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Post by Johnny on Apr 26, 2009 7:15:58 GMT -5
Johnny sat on the couch in the living room of the studio apartment. In his left hand, he had a book called The History of the American Conestoga Wagon. In his right hand, he held a letter. Bits of paper were lying around him as he had shredded the enveleope the letter had come in.
Forty-five minutes earlier, Johnny had recieved a call from SPECTER. They told him to go to the library and check out the book he was holding. Then the agent said to pull out the letter hidden between the 223 and 224 pages. It contained details of their next mission.
Johnny read the letter and his outh fell open. They were going to Africa? To stop poachers? It just kept getting better and better. And SPECTER claimed that they had arranged it with their jobs that they may be gone four days. No more, or else they may loose their jobs.
Johnny, still sitting ont he couch, just yelled aro und the house. "Hey everyone! Come here! We got a letter from PHAAAANTOM!"
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Post by Leroy on Apr 27, 2009 18:40:24 GMT -5
Leroy walked out of the kitchen area with a bow of elephant tracks ice cream. It was pay day today, so leroy decided to treat himself to something sweet and picked up the ice cream on the way home from the bank. "What do you got there?" Leroy asked curiously.
Leroy moved so that he could get a better view of the letter that Johnny was talking about. "A letter from PHANTOM?" It took Leroy a moment to realize what exactly Johnny had meant. "Oh, you mean SPECTER, right? You really got to start remembering that name. What does the letter say?" Leroy stuck a big spoonful of the chocolatey ice cream into his mouth as he waited for a response.
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Nate
Experienced
Former Animorph of Mariposa
"Stay in school! ...or something!"
Posts: 131
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Post by Nate on Apr 27, 2009 22:23:34 GMT -5
Nate wandered in the door at that moment, tired from work. Over time, not his thing. Well, work was not really his thing, the more he thought about it, but over time... the only plus side to it was the paycheck. A nice paycheck he could use to buy any number of awesome things.
He dropped his bag by he door and kicked off his shoes, and then paused, noticing Johnny and Leroy in the living room area with a letter. Hmm... what's this? More missions? He almost didn't want to ask, feeling too tired to worry about some quest that needed him, but he figured he'd be dragged along regardless, so he wandered over to them. "What's going on?"
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Johnny
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Former Animorph of Arbella
Hello!
Posts: 225
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Post by Johnny on Apr 28, 2009 14:40:27 GMT -5
Johnny's mouth fell open as he saw what Leroy was eating. Then Leroy began talking. Then Johnny began talking before he could think. "Yes, I mean GHOST. That's just what I said, isn't it?" And then Nate walked in. And asked what was happening. Since Johnny had the letter, he read aloud:
Dear Contestant! Congratulations! You have just been selected as the winner of our 'Name That Animal' contest! Your prize will be an all-expense paid trip for a safari on the African savanna! Your guide will be the infamous Po Chur of the international clothing and entertainment company Skinz-Fur-You.
Johnny looked up from the paper, as if he had actually been Reading it, and then bluntly said, "GHOST wants us to go to Africa for a few days to track down some poachers and help bring them to justice. They're covering our butts at our jobs so everything should be okay and ready to go." Johnny looked at each face in the room.
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Nate
Experienced
Former Animorph of Mariposa
"Stay in school! ...or something!"
Posts: 131
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Post by Nate on Apr 29, 2009 23:46:46 GMT -5
Nate stared at him blankly. "Seriously? You got a mission out of that?" Maybe his brain was fried from work, but all that letter sounded like was junk mail to him. SPECTER couldn't just send them a plain English letter?
He snatched the letter from Johnny's hands and read it over carefully. Ohh there were the little hints. He rubbed his nose tiredly. All he wanted was to climb into bed at that point. This was gonna be a looong few days.
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Johnny
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Former Animorph of Arbella
Hello!
Posts: 225
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Post by Johnny on Apr 30, 2009 14:37:37 GMT -5
A smirk danced across Johnny's mouth before it became blank. "Well...uhhhhh, I kinda translated it a bit. It actually says that we're supposed to go to Africa and something about bringing poachers to justice and like, three paragraphs of government jargon. The translation was for Leroy." Johnny smiled and turned to Leroy as he tossed out the light-hearted insult.
Then he waved a scrap of paper in front of his face. "Yeah, APPARITION also sent us a plane ticket. That's it. Just one plane ticket. I guess this means that the rest of us have to go in morphs? Cause I don't think they'll let us in as a group." Johnny stared blankly, wondering what they would do. It was probably too advanced for the government to actually provide something at least the minimum for something. But they'd think of something. Even if he would have to ride the plane as a wasp or gecko.
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Post by Leroy on Apr 30, 2009 22:24:40 GMT -5
Leroy watched and listened to Johnny and Nate's commentary with a look of amusement and confusion on his face. So they were going to Africa? Or at least one of them. They only had one ticket so at fisrt Leroy thought only one of them would be going, but it would make sense that SPECTER would expect them to use morphs.
"So who gets the ticket?" Leroy wanted to claim it for himself, but held back the urge to speak up. He did not want to have to worry about being in morph for an extremely long plane ride, but also figured they should figure out who would be the best candidate for the expedition. "You know, if neither of you want to use the ticket..." He just let the comment hang.
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Nate
Experienced
Former Animorph of Mariposa
"Stay in school! ...or something!"
Posts: 131
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Post by Nate on May 1, 2009 0:34:38 GMT -5
"Well unless one of you wants to check a border collie named Nate into the baggage claim as a pet, I'm out." Nate shook his head. "Not even my squirrel morph could pass as a toupee in a confined airplane."
He tiredly glanced at his watch, and then paused in thought. "Wait, how long is a flight to Africa? Like, really long, right? If we used morphs, they'd need to be something you could morph out of on occasion. Like, in the airplane washroom or something..."
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Johnny
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Former Animorph of Arbella
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Posts: 225
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Post by Johnny on May 1, 2009 13:43:17 GMT -5
Johnny actually was quiet as somebody else talked. Then he answered Leroy's question. "Well, I guess Nate should take it. After all, we have bug morphs and he doesn't. We can sneak aboard somehow, I bet." He smiled to himself. For once, it sounded like he knew what he was talking about, which he didn't.
When Nate asked his own question. Johnny just shrugged. "I dunno. I ,uh, didn't think about that. What do you think Leroy?" He looked questioning at his friend as he passed the question over to him. This was probably why GHOUL put them in a group. In case one didn't know an answer, they could always give it to someone else to wiggle under.
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Post by Leroy on May 2, 2009 1:22:44 GMT -5
"It's not like there aren't any bugs around for him to acquire," Leroy mumbled under his breath. Still, he could see the reasoning behind himself and Johnny morphing bugs for the trip, since they had experience. Leroy just had a bitter attitude about having to be in morph for the long plane ride.
"I'm not exactly sure how long it would take to fly to Africa, but I'm sure it will take more than two hours. Heck, we'll probably be on the plane for an hour before it even takes off! We will definitely have to demorph on the plane at some point." Leroy said this a bit grimly. It was just another reason not to want to go on this trip. But hey, at least they got to visit an exotic new country, right? Maybe they could get some cool souvenirs.
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Nate
Experienced
Former Animorph of Mariposa
"Stay in school! ...or something!"
Posts: 131
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Post by Nate on May 10, 2009 0:44:15 GMT -5
Nate was tired and had no desire to get on a ridiculously long airplane ride with bad food and bad company... but maybe ending up in a place like Africa would be worth it. New setting, a whole new kind of people to meet, and--here he grinned at the thought--a whole lot of awesome animals...
Nate pondered a bit more, tapping his chin. "Perhaps MapQuest could tell us... Hey I hope this plane has food and not like just those stupid peanuts... or have they outlawed peanuts now cause they're such a weapon of mass allergies?"
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Johnny
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Former Animorph of Arbella
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Post by Johnny on May 16, 2009 14:37:46 GMT -5
"So do I," Johnny said. Peanuts made plane rides bareable. Then he stood up, leaving the book and letter on the couch. "Well, I'm going to pack a small bag. We might as well have our toothbrushes with us on the trip." Johnny walked to his shared room and began pulling things out of some drawers, a few important things which he deftly tossed into a small duffel bag.
Once finished, he came out of the room only a few minutes later and announced, "Let's get this show on the road!" A goofy smile lit up his face as he got ready to go, with a few dollars for the bus in his other hand.
Three Hours Later
<<Are we there yet?>> Johnny said from his place on Nate's shoulder. He assumed that he was under Nate's shirt collar, or he was on a hat or something. He hadn't been paying attention when he had landed. Speaking of, he was a paper wasp, getting ready to smuggle himself into the plane.
<<And don't drop my bag,>> he said to Nate. Nate had been forced to carry it since Johnny had to have what was in the bag and he certainly couldn't carry it. <<All set?>> he asked Leroy, being unusually talkative and hyper.
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Post by Leroy on May 16, 2009 17:30:43 GMT -5
<<I'm all set,>> Leroy replied to Johnny. <<And as long as Nate doesn't scratch behind his ear, I should be fine.>> Leroy was behind his ear so that he would be safe from random swatting, but still able to see what was going on. Not that he could actually see anything with weevil eyes.
<<Lets hope this trip goes by fast. I have a feeling it is going to drag on and on, so let's hope I'm wrong.>> Leroy was going to stop there, but then added to Nate, <<Oh, and keep an eye on the time. I don't want to be stuck as a bug just because you fell asleep on the plane.>>
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Nate
Experienced
Former Animorph of Mariposa
"Stay in school! ...or something!"
Posts: 131
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Post by Nate on May 16, 2009 19:45:54 GMT -5
"d**n, I was planning on napping..." Nate complained, probably mostly to himself, considering he wasn't sure if either of them could hear properly in their respective morphs. He glanced at his watch and decided to set the alarm on it for an hour and a half from now. They'd probably been in morph for about ten minutes... that would get his attention and then he would be able to give them a twenty minute warning for the first remorph.
Nate glanced around the airport, looking for the proper gate. Somehow they'd gotten through security--Nate had decided last minute maybe making lewd comments as the guard patted him down would not have been a good idea--and now it was time to figure out which was the right plane to board.
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Johnny
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Former Animorph of Arbella
Hello!
Posts: 225
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Post by Johnny on May 19, 2009 14:53:29 GMT -5
<<I really should've stung that guy,>> Johnny said to no one in particular and for no reason. <<The guy that frisked Nate here. Whadya think, Leroy? Should I have stung him? I mean, how many times have I morphed this? Like what, five times? I really should've stung someone by now.>> Johnny complained, this time to Leroy and Nate although he didn't expect Nate to answer.
Through the wasp's feeble gazillion eyes, Johnny watched people milling around them. Now that he thought about it, the wasp did want to sting someone. Everyone was danger to him. Yet nobody was attacking. The only thing the wasp wanted to do was sting. Johnny turned his eyes away and turned the rest of the body around as well. He didn't want to lose control. All he had to do was sting someone and there would be a dozen flyswatters on the way.
To keep him from resorting to counting the threads on Nate's shirt, Johnny asked him another question, <<Nate Nate Nate Nate Nate Nate. Nate. When do we get on the plane? And where the heck is the plane? I do not see one. But then again, I'm counting the hair follicles on your neck.>> He buzzed his wings for the heck of it and crouched down further onto Nate. A weevil on a boy's shoulder was safe from harm. A wasp was dead.
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