16) --- Erasable Inc. ------------------------------------------------- "Any crash you can walk away from, is a good crash!" -Launchpad McQuack There was total silence. The Citation lay there in the center of the Atrium, bits of twisted metal, broken glass, and cracked tile spread around it. If the Erasable Inc. troupe had been out there at the time, all thoughts of performing would have fled their minds, since it's pretty hard to compete with falling automobiles; but as it was, they were still warming up, and they missed the chance to be as stupefied as the rest of the Atrium was. A sudden noise caught Aerianne's attention. As she watched, the driver's side door opened, and a disheveled, _slightly_ shook up figure got out. "PHILIP!" yelled Aerianne, Wyndi, Rebecca, Peter, Galen, James, and Rufus at the same time, which surprised them all to no end. He exited the Citation with considerable delicacy, favoring several injured body parts at once. Aerianne moved to help him as he made his way around the crash site. "Don't worry about me, Aerianne," he said as she supported him as he walked. "Trevor's on the other side, and I think he's unconscious. We've got to get him out!" Gordo and Rufus moved over to the passenger side of the Citation to attempt to extract Trevor, while Aeri helped Philip to a nearby chair. Wyndi seemed none too pleased to hear that Trevor had joined this merry band. Fortunately for him, however, she seemed to be in the minority. "TREVOR?!?" inquired Rebecca as she came over to him. "What the hell is _he_ doing here?" Philip wasn't quite sure whether her tone of voice was due to concern for Trevor's welfare or agreement with Wyndi. He couldn't remember her *actually* denounce him (at least, not in the last few months), so he decided to assume that she was just concerned. "Well, I flew up to CMU to get him for the show and..." he tried to explain, but Peter cut him off. "You _flew_ to CMU? Yeah, right... And _I'm_ Dworkin!" "Well, you seem to be aging rather fast, Peter... Have you looked in a mirror lately?" Philip replied. "We've got him!" exclaimed Rufus as he and Gordo carried him out of the wreck and laid him on a clean piece of floor. Philip tried to get up as the rest of the Blairites tried to see how Trevor was. Gordo and Rufus held them back as Aerianne knelt by Trevor's side to examine him. "Trevor... Trevor?... Wake up..." she said as she gently touched his face to get a response. Trevor's face twitched twice, and he took a deep breath. "Come on, Trevor, you can do it..." she guided him on. He took another breath, and then his eyes slowly opened. He smirked and said two words. "Hello, Nurse!" Aerianne blinked. This was _not_ the response she had expected. "Excuse me?" she asked. Trevor looked at her (and looked and looked...) then the smile on his face widened. "Don't worry," he said, shaking his head to reassure her. "It's a toon thing." Behind him, despite his injuries, Philip dissolved into laughter. This was too much. "He's ok," Aerianne said as she got up, "But he's drooling for some reason..." "Hold on, let me look," Philip said as he made his way to Trevor's side. He made a cursory glance over his body, and not noticing any physical damage, moved onto the head. "Damn," Philip muttered to himself. "I should have expected this," he said to himself as he saw the trickle of blood from his nose that hadn't been there a second before. "Are you _really_ surprised?" asked Peter, who was observing. Wyndi sighed in disgust, while Rebecca just smiled, thinking how some things never change. Galen snickered at old grudges, and James tried, as always, to be above the rest of the group. It didn't work. It *never* worked. Wyndi sidled up to Philip, trying to get close to him. Philip, injured though he might have been, managed to put his arm around her, while she patted his head with a condescending, but cute, "My poor Pooh Bear..." Aerianne's eyebrows shot up. "'Pooh Bear'?" she asked. Philip looked nervously between the two, then sighed. "It's a long story." Aerianne's expression changed from one of surprise to one of slyness. "Well, then, you'll just have to tell me about it in your room sometime." Wyndi's whimper was even audible to Trevor. Now it was Philip's eyebrows' turn to shoot up. <_This_ is unexpected,> Philip mused to himself. "We'll talk about it later," he muttered to Aerianne, which drew an interesting glance from Rebecca. "Will you be quiet?" he asked Rebecca. "I didn't say anything," she said with a smirk. "Er..." he said, tring to change to another subject (ANY subject!). "Um, whatever... Come on, let's get to a table, I can hear Inc. coming." "You getting up, Trev?" asked James with a raised eyebrow. "Nope, just enjoying the view," he replied with a smile. Trevor got up with some reluctance, and they moved towards the table where Aeri, Gordo, and Rufus had been sitting. Gordo and Rufus took their original positions, while Philip took a seat opposite them. Aerianne sat next to Philip; whether she sat there out of concern or something more, he couldn't tell. Trevor sat next to Aerianne, and Philip _could_ tell that it wasn't out of _concern_ (more like unbridled lust). "Oh!" Philip exclaimed as he remembered. "I have't introduced you all yet. Gang, this is Gordo and Rufus, two friends I met over summer session. Gordo, Rufus, these are some of my friends from my old high school." He introduced each one of them in turn as they shook hands. Except for the two he had left out. Philip looked to the heavens. he thought to himself. "Aerianne, meet Trevor; Trevor, meet Aerianne," he said in the most neutral tone he could muster. "We've met," Trevor and Aerianne said at the same time, although Trevor said those words with a _leetle_ more affection than Aerianne said hers. [As of this printing, the Erasable Inc. performance that was planned to be placed at this point has not been written, due to the author's inability to attend any Erasable Inc. shows this semester. Once he attends another show, he will issue a reprint of the chapter -- Ed.] After the show ended, and the Erasable Inc. group disbanded for the day, Philip and Trevor described their day's adventure. Needless to day, the Blairites still had some trouble believing it. "I still don't believe this," Peter stated matter-of-factly. "You mean to tell me that you flew _up_ to Carnegie-Mellon in a Citation to to get Trevor, and then flew _back_ while being chased by alien fighters?" "That's it in a nutshell," Philip said with a sigh. "If you want proof, it's there on the tile in black, white, red, and grey. Speaking of which," he turned to Rufus, "I don't suppose you could make some changes?" "Like what?" "New radio, new suspension, cellular phone, Loran positioning, trip computer with maps, higher thrust, zero-zero seats, rollover capability, _increased_ gas mileage, higher maneuverability..." he ticked off his fingers as a wish list. "Well, I'll see what I can do." Rufus opened his notebook and began writing down what Philip had said. Philip then turned to Galen, hoping his next idea would work as well. "Galen, you wouldn't happen to have the REF manual on you?" "Actually, I do," he said as he opened his backpack and handed it to Philip. "I was just taking home for the week, but you can borrow it if you want to." "How long can I borrow it?" Philip asked as he thumbed through the pages. "As long as you want. A friend of mine borrowed all my other Robotech stuff, so I can't use it. I'll let you know when I need it back." "Okay," Philip acknowledged this, and then handed the book to Rufus. "Do you think you could build any of this?" he asked. Rufus flipped through the book. "I don't see why not...Although it _will_ take me a while, since I'll be starting from scratch..." "Good, good," Philip said with a smile. "That's fine by me." "Philip, why _do_ you want this stuff?" asked Aerianne. "Simple, Aerianne: 'Always get the coolest tech as soon as you can'. One of the guiding principles of TBGTSTUAKA." "Huh?" "I'll explain later." Once everyone had been introduced, people seemed to gravitate into groups. Rebecca, Wyndi, and Aerianne had seemed to have hit it off pretty well, once they had figured out what was going on. Galen, Peter, and Rufus were "ooh"ing and "aah"ing over something in the REF manual, and James and Gordo were talking about something intellectual that no one else had the stomach to get involved in. Philip and Trevor, meanwhile, were standing back, taking this whole situation into perspective. "Well, they seem to be getting along splendidly," Trevor commented. At that moment, the three girls whispered something between themselves and turned towards Philip. All three giggled in unison, then quickly turned back to talking amongst themselves. Philip's reaction was somewhere in between a shudder and a scowl. "Yes," he growled, "_splen_-didly." Philip looked at his watch and mildly panicked. "Uh, guys," he said, almost apologetically. "I'm sorry to say this," (OK, so it *was* apologetic) "but I've got a class to get to. Can you all get home?" "Home?" Trevor said. (Not asked, mind you; said.) "*Home,* Philip, is five hours away, now that your experiment in defying gravity is out of commission. HOWINTHEHELLAMISUPPOSEDTOGETHOME?!?!" "Uh... Greyhound?" Rufus and Gordo were calling helicopter airlift services for pulling out the Citation out of the Atrium. Trevor checked with the info desk and found out the local Greyhound number, from which he could find out when the next bus to CMU/Pittsburgh would leave, and the cost. Strangely enough, he was smiling broadly, even though he was facing a four and a half hour drive, as he walked towards the Metrobus that would take him to Union Station. "He'll email me once he gets back up to CMU," Aerianne was saying as he left the Union. "Good, I was worried about when he was going... to.. get.. back," Philip trailed off. His mind put two and two together, and the answer was _not_ five or three. "YOU GAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS TO **TREVOR**?!?!?!" he yelled, drawing strange glances from the passers-by. "So, what's wrong with that? He seems like a nice enough guy, if a little weird," Aerianne stated with a hint of annoyance at Philip's overreaction. "Ah, um, er, eh, huh, whe," Philip attempted to say, his mouth having trouble forming the words. "Philip, it's not that bad..." "But, but..." he tried to speak, "You don't _know_ Trevor!" "Come on, let's got check our mail," she said with utter unconcernedness, as if she had forgotten Philip's previous outburst. "For god's sake, Aeri! Trev's the next incarnation of Don Juan! He's got half of the phone numbers at Blair, and he _uses_ them!" "Philip, you're over-reacting..." "Of COURSE I'm overreacting! He's got the world's record for the shortest relationship!" "Well, whatever," she shrugged. "I'm not worried about that now." And with that, she headed for the computer lab. "You coming or not?" she turned and asked after she had walked a little ways away. Philip, startled, jerked his head up, and followed her to the Worcester lab. 17) --- Video Warriors ------------------------------------------------ "There can be only one." -- Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22 Philip's birthday had come and gone without much fanfare. Just a quick visit to home and back again, and everything was back to normal. Well, as about as normal as a Computer Science Major/ Theatre Minor student's life is about to get. As it was, he had puppets to build for the haunted house, a "Scripted Reading" to rehearse for, and various other classes to study for or do homework. "At least I've got my 330 project done," he muttered to himself. In fact he had finished it _much_ earlier than expected, and that gave him one less thing to worry about. Philip made his way to the Worcester lab to waste away some time before going to the Midnight Movie. "Hey, Philip," called out Aerianne as he entered the lab. "Hi, Aerianne," he said as he took a station next to her and logged on. He sighed, and stretched back, first checking behind himself to make sure it was clear. "Trevor's sent me another mail message," she said as Philip yawned. Philip blinked and came to attention. he smiled as he moved over to Aerianne's station. Philip looked at the Email message on Aerianne's screen. He shook his head. "Some things never change," he muttered to himself. Trevor was the only person he knew that would try to spark a relationship long distance over E-mail. The message read as follows: From ts4j+@andrew.cmu.edu Fri Oct 22 12:58:25 1993 Message-Id: <0gzrpZm00Vp095gX4W@andrew.cmu.edu> Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1993 12:54:45 -0500 (EST) From: Trevor W Schadt To: aerianne@wam.umd.edu Subject: Re: Highlander Musings ... >I'll admit that I'm interested in Highlander... I've seen the >series and I like it a lot, but what's the movie like? Well, next time I'm in Maryland, you can come over to the apartment and we'll rent it. ;-) (It'll be like a party) next06wor> Philip and Aeri raised an eyebrow at that last sentence, although for different reasons. "That's... interesting," Philip muttered to himself. Aerianne overheard him, and replied earnestly. "That doesn't seem like a bad idea... I'd like to see it, but I can't rent it, so why not find a friend who can?" She looked at Philip, who was still thinking; and shrugging, returned to her terminal. Philip thought for a moment longer, and then spoke up. "Actually... The Midnight Movie tonight _is_ Highlander... want to come see it?" he said hopefully. "It'd be better than seeing it on the small screen, and it'd have better sound..." he tried to convince her. "Well, I've got nothing better to do... Why not?" she acquiesced. "Cool!" he said with a relief that he was surprised to feel. Philip and Aerianne made their way to the Hoff theatre in the Student Union. Philip had never been to the Midnight Movie, but then again, neither had Aeri, so it was a new experience for them both. They bought their tickets, and went inside. The Hoff really wasn't remarkable, as movie theatres go. About 730 seats, one screen, high ceiling, and a small concessionary at the back of the theatre. What was making it remarkable were the _people_ attending the movie. Apparently, the Midnight Movie was an importaint social event to some. Over half, it seemed, had seen the movie before and were looking forwards to seeing it again. And they came prepared. Some came in trenchcoats, while others came in biker leathers. And several seemed to have brought... swords? Philip thought to himeself as they sat down close to the center aisle. "Who's that?" asked Aerianne as a heavily-built character in a leather armless jacket and torn jeans, his hair tied back, strode down the aisle carrying a double-bladed (toy) axe. "I don't want to know..." Philip muttered to himself, but then the house darkened. People settled in their seats as the exit warnings and ads played, and then they quieted as a voice spoke over the sound system. Words appeared on the screen as the voice spoke. "From the dawn of time we came, moving slowly down through the centuries, leading many secret lives. Struggling to reach the time of the Gathering, when the few who remain, will battle to the last. No one has ever known we were among you... until now." <<>> Philip and Aerianne left the theatre about three hours later. It had been an enjoyable experience for all attending, and they had stayed after to chat with some of the people there. Some people Philip and Aerianne knew from the anime society were there, and they even talked with the guy who had dressed like the Kurgan. But then finally, they had to leave; and saying their goodbyes, Aerianne and Philip stepped into the cold night air. "So...whadja think?" Philip asked as they walked back towards their dorm. "I LOVED IT!" Aerianne exclaimed as she performed a neat little spin, arms raised in a manner reminiscent of Connor's gaining of the prize. "That was the greatest movie I've ever seen!" "Glad you liked it," Philip replied with a smile. They continued to walk, discussing the movie, until Aerianne asked with a smile, "Could I borrow your golf umbrella for a while?" "Sure... why?" he asked as he handed it to her. He had brought it, just in case of rain (you can never be too careful, when dealing with Maryland weather). "What are you going to do with it?" "Simple... this!" With an evil grin, she made a lunging attack at Philip as he tried to get out of the way. "Ack!" Philip exclaimed as he dodged. "What the heck was that for?" he attempted to say as he evaded Aeri's attacks. "Aw, come _on_, Philip!" she said, laughing, continuing her attack. "Defend yourself!" Philip continued to dodge (barely) out of her way. Finally, having enough, he dodged and reached into his backpack for something. He pulled it out, and as Aeri moved to swing, he extended the pop-up umbrella and held it in his hand like a sword. He blocked the blow with his small umbrella, surprising Aerianne. "Where'd you get _that_?" she exclaimed as Philip began to attack back. "'Always have a backup!' Another principle of TBGTSTUAKA!" he said as they dueled their way back to the dorm. "You still haven't explained to me what that tubgutstu-whatever is," she said she blocked an attack, and then followed up with one of her own. "It's simple, Aeri.... hold on, Holy Ground!" he said as he raised his hand to stop, as they were approaching Memorial Chapel. But Aeri continued to duel. "That only counts if you're _inside_!" she said with a smile as she swung the umbrella towards Philip's neck, stopping it before it hit his neck. "!" Philip exclaimed in surprise. "There can be only one," she whispered with a smile before removing the umbrella from the vicinity of his neck. "You were saying?" she said with a laugh. Philip laughed as well, although not as heartily as Aerianne had. "Well," he said as he straightened himself, "Take all of UF, and I mean _all_, compress it down to a booklet, and you have TBGTSTUAKA: The Beginner's Guide To Saving The Universe And Kicking Ass." They continued to walk towards the dorm. "Ah, I understand... I think..." "Well, whatever... It's really just a concept I came up with on IRC one night... Maybe one of these days I'll write it," he shrugged. "Well, we'll just have to see," she said as they finally got back to their dorm. Philip opened the door for them, and closed it solidly once they were inside. "Oh, by the way, thank you," she said with a wink as she entered her suite, holding Philip's umbrella. "Uh... you're welcome!" Philip added as the door closed. THE NEXT DAY Philip finished his slice of dining hall pizza (tolerable, palitable, and sometimes soluble), and made his way to Hornbake. He checked his watch as he entered: 4:30. Early as usual. He went downstairs to the UGLI lab and logged on briefly to check his mail. Seeing as there was none, he logged out and went upstairs. Five flights of stairs later (counting the basement), he was on the fourth floor, and he made his way to the multimedia viewing room. Since he _was_ early, he had to wait for the library to open the room; but then again, that meant he was able to kibbitz with some of the other memebers of TAS. He was showing some of his first attempts at drawing to John Staton when the librarian finally opened the room. Those that were already there went inside. Philip was setting up his stuff for the show when Aerianne and Gordo finally arrived. They came up to the front row and sat next to him, Aerianne on one side, and Gordo on the other. Curiously enough, Aerianne was wearing a blue trenchcoat, and he could see inside its folds his umbrella (as well as... *ahem*... other...undocumented... features...). "Hey, Aeri?" "Hmmm?" asked Aerianne, who was leaning back in her chair. "Now that you've used my umbrella, could I have it back, please?" Aerianne thought for a moment, and then shook her head. "Nope," she said with a smile. "Hey! That's _my_ umbrella!" Philip began to protest, but a solid hand on his shoulder stopped him cold. "Aerianne has made her decision, Philip," Gordo said from behind him, "I would advise it if you did _not_ anger her, I do not believe it to be wise." Philip turned to look at Gordo, who even sitting, towered over him; and then looked at Aerianne. She was grinning evilly, and had one hand on the "hilt" of the umbrella. Philip gulped, and changed the topic quickly. "So... Why didn't Rufus come with you?" "He stated that he had an exam to study for, so I decided to leave him there. However, _I_ believe that it was because TAS was not going to show any mecha-related anime," replied Gordo. Philip snickered. Rufus's desire for things technical had caused him to be rather ignorant of other forms of media. Although he _had_ professed an interest in _Lodoss Wars_, even though Philip couldn't figure out why. First up was a selection from _Robot Carnival_, the "Nightmare" sequence that looked like a cross from "A Night On Bald Mountain" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". Philip muttered something about "well, I guess Rufus was wrong. His problem," before continuing to watch. Next came an... interesting little piece called _Devilman_ (we won't go into the details here). The next was a full sized film, _Vampire Hunter D_, which was a very nice gothic horror mixed with several anime touches that only added to the story. Finally, there was another OAV called _Yotoden_. Philip noticed that Aerianne sat up straight when the translated title of the OAV was "Legend Of the Demon Sword". He resolved to keep an eye on her for the rest of the night. When the screen was showing a _very_ unique battle scene, Philip looked at Aeri out of the corner of his eye. She had that look again, the exact same look she had had when watching Highlander the night before. 18) --- After Hours --------------------------------------------------- "Listen to them -- the children of the night. What music they make!" --Count Vlad Dracula of Wallachia WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10 "Mr. Ray?" asked Korzon as he entered Ray's office. "Yes, Korzon," he replied indifferently. "You asked to be informed when the new project was completed?" "Ah, yes, I did ask that," he said as he got up from his seat. "Well, let's go look at our new pets, shall we?" A short ride later, Korzon and Ray arrived at FOWL's biosci division. They entered the livestock pens, where the new 'arrivals' were being kept. "Are all the creatures ready for use?" "Yes sir," replied Korzon, playing the part of the toady, which irritated him no end. "All the animals are well within specifications." "Excellent. After the failure of those hired terrorists to increase the crime rate of College Park, we need something that will guarantee a crisis situation. These... creatures should do nicely." He considered them for a moment, and then added, "And they should be more... obedient than some others that work for me, eh?" "Yes sir," answered Korzon, not missing the reference. "The nanotrackers and processors have been directly linked to their minds, allowing them to be recalled if necessary." "Excellent." Ray turned to go, but then caught something out of the corner of his eye. "What's this?" he said nonchalantly as he turned towards another cage, this one containing three creatures that looked quite similar to the others, but who had slight 'differences'. Namely thumbs, and the fact that they seemed to be paying attention to Ray's words. "I believe we already talked about taking one's initiative?" "Sir," Korzon replied, trying to make the best of a deteriorating situation, "It was believed by some of our staff that breeding some with more intelligence would make them more 'commandable,' and would eliminate the need for a remote monitoring station..." "Kill them." "What?!" Both Korzon and the three beings inside the cage reacted to this statement. "I have a need for efficient killing machines here, Korzon. I do not need beings that can possibly countermand or ignore orders. I have enough already." Ray left the lab, leaving a worried Korzon in his wake. It was 1 am. The party had gone off without a hitch, but Charley, true to his nature, had had a little too much to drink. Unable to get at his keys, which had fortunately been taken at the door, he wandered outside in a drunken stupor. He walked aimlessly around the frat house, just waiting for his nervous system to say "That's IT! I've HAD it! You can walk home by YOURSELF, buster!" and leave him on the ground, uncouncious. As he walked, he sang little snippets of songs, which when tied together, made absolutely no sense. As he turned one corner, he heard a sound, which to him, sounded like someone pouring beer. Still in his stupor, he moved towards it. The sound deepened to a growl, and as Charley's brain finally realized what sort of trouble it had gotten into, the only thing he was able to say was, "Uh, does this mean no funnels?" "BRUTAL SLAYING NEAR FRATERNITY!" the headline cried out in _The Diamondback_. "Early this morning, Charles Flippenhouse, age 23, was found brutally murdered next to the Beta Lambda Tau fraternity. There were no witnesses to the murder, but investigators say that the cause of death was by knife or some other serrated object..." And it was not the only time this happened. Over the next four days, more reports of the slasher murderer were posted in the paper. Police patrols were stepped up in a valiant effort to prevent the killings, but they seemed to be totally random and unpremeditated, occurring all over campus. The only sure data that could be ascertained was that the killings occurred in open areas, far away from crowds, and very late at night... Of course, Philip wasn't concerned about this new threat to the campus. He was worried about something much more immediate and threatening than any simple anonymous slasher murderer. Namely: HE HAD AN EXAM TOMORROW!!! And not just any exam, but the dreaded Theatre 110 exam, with history questions guaranteed to confuse the unprepared student. He needed to get a study partner, and fast! But who did he know close by that had 110? Philip exited his suite and crossed to the door across the hall. Philip knocked on the door. A voice came from inside. "Who is it?" "Aeri? It's me, Philip." "Oh, hi Philip!" said Aerianne as she opened the door. "What's wrong? Why are you so nervous? You look like you forgot something important!" "Well, you could put it that way... Could you help me?" "With what?" "Could you quiz me for our 110 exam?" "Sure! Hold on, let me get my notes." Aerianne went back to her suite and got her Theatre folder and textbooks. She sat down on the bed while Philip sat at his desk. "Ok, who was... Aristophanes?" "Greek, writer of old and middle comedy." "What was the skene?" "Greek scene house." Philip opened his notebook and began taking notes. "Name the evaluation criteria for the actor..." And so it went. An hour later, the two had gone completely through the Classical, Hellenistic, Republic, and Empire periods, and were about to go into the Medieval period of drama. Taking a break, Philip handed a water bottle to Aeri while he drank from another. Flipping through the textbook, Aerianne commented, "Have you heard about the recent killings?" "A little. The Diamondback had an article, but I glanced over it. I didn't pay much attention. I was thinking about other things. Like 'How does the director hold Focus'." "Well, did you know that the attacks were happening late at night, against individuals?" "Yeah, the article mentioned that. They also advised that people travel in groups." "But you walk home alone from the lab regularly. Isn't it a little... *dangerous* to be out so late?" "Well, yeah," Philip admitted, "but I'm used to it. Gives me time to think, walk, and sing along to the songs in my walkman. I mean, there was a shooting out by the basketball courts about a month ago, and I totally missed it! The probability that I'd get hurt is rather small." "Even so,..." "Don't worry," said Philip, pulling out a loose sheet of paper. "I can take care of myself..." "Mmmmm..." Aerianne mumbled, still very concerned. "Don't worry, 'Marge'," Philip replied, in reference to the cartoon character she had unconsciously imitated. Aerianne threw a pillow at him. "Ow! Why you..." He retaliated by launching a tribble at her. "Hey! Grrr..." The serious mood lost, Aerianne launched another pillow at him, following up with a small barrage of koosh balls. But Philip was ready with more tribbles, as well as a stuffed Figment and a garfield ball. The escalation continued as each side reused the other's ammo, resembling in a way an octopus's failed attempt to juggle, until a motion from Aerianne brought the combat to a halt. "Watch it, I've got a hostage!" she said with an evil gleam in her eye. In one hand, she held the last pillow; in the other, she held Philip's small Winnie The Pooh. Philip quailed (and bushed). "So, what's it gonna be? Admit defeat, or does the bear get it?" she said, as she motioned what she was planning to do with the bear. Philip thought fast. Summoning an extra bit of resolve, Philip backed up towards the coat rack, speaking along the way to distract her as he picked up his 'polar assault suit'. "Don't you know I don't negotiate with terrorists?" "Huh?..HEY!! Auughpth!" she exclaimed as Philip tossed the heavy coat on top of her. While Aerianne was momentarily blinded, Philip dashed and grabbed. Holding Pooh aloft, he crowed in triumph. "Hah! I win!" Which meant (of course) that he didn't notice Aerianne get out from under the coat and throw Philip's red blanket over him. Philip, going down, but used to such maneuvers, retaliated by taking the other blanket and tossing it over Aerianne. Within moments, they were both down on the floor, totally tangled within the blankets. The combat slowed down as the antagonists ability to battle was hampered by the obstructions. Philip's head poked out from within the folds of the red blanket. "Um, where were we?" he said with a confused but earnest smile. "Something about studying..." Aerianne replied as she extricated herself from the other blanket, with very much the same smile on her face. "Ah, yeah..." he said as he began to look around. "I think the textbook's around here _somewhere_."