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quote Dragon SwordsmanHuh? Why was this story partially deleted from this thread? How very strange...Under the Bloody Moon
One day, inside the hideout of an evil organization called Team Rocket, located in Celedon City, Kanto, the organization's leader, Giovanni was talking to seven of his Grunts. They were Antony, Kuduros, Aya, chaos, Hazerider, Steelicks and LiNT. Giovanni said "Listen, Grunts! Team Rocket is currently planning to do some experiments on ghosts. I am hoping to be able to use some machines to give some ghosts amazing powers. Then, I am going to create an army of invincible ghosts under my command to take over the world someday! But in order to be able to experiments on ghosts, we first need to bring some into our laboratory! After doing some research, we have discovered a haunted mansion in a different region, called Pokéia! Listen! Chaos! Antony! Kuduros! Aya! Hazerider! Steelicks! And LiNT! I want you seven to go to that mansion and capture as many ghosts as possible! And chaos, I'll have you be the leader of this mission! You will each be provided with a Silph Scope, which allows you to see ghosts, as well as a special vacuum created by our scientists, which lets you capture ghosts! You can find them by going into our basement! Once you are all ready, you may head off to the mansion at any time!". After that, the seven Grunts said "Yes sir!" together, and then they started heading down to the basement of the Team Rocket hideout. "Man, as a member of Team Rocket, I didn't think we'd be doing such jobs as capturing ghosts..." said Hazerider. "Well, it's gonna be really fun, ain't it? I mean, c'mon, dun tell me you're scared! You're a real pussy if you are!" said LiNT. "H-How can I not be scared? To be honest, I really don't want to go... the thought of a haunted mansion just creeps me out!" said Aya. "Well, I'm not scared, I'm just dissapointed. I mean, I only joined Team Rocket recently, and I thought we'd be doing things like killing people by popping their heads off with a shotgun or something, not capturing ghosts. In fact, I actually doubt that they even exist!" said Antony. Then chaos said "Hey Aya, you don't have a choice whether to go or not. It is an order from Lord Giovanni himself". "I know, but it's still scary..." said Aya. "Hey Antony, we of Team Rocket actually almost never do missions like these. In fact, I've been a member of Team Rocket for a few years now, and this is my first time doing a ghost-hunting mission!" said Kuduros. "Yeah, this 'na be fun! Let's just enjoy this! We may never have a mission like this ever again!" said Steelicks. Then the seven Grunts reached the basement, and they found some special vacuums and some Silph Scopes. "Alright, everyone take one of these!" said chaos as he took a vaccum and a Silph Scope, and then the other six did the same. Then chaos said "I'll take this too" as he took a PokéBall from a desk. "What? What's inside that PokéBall?" asked Steelicks. "A Lapras" chaos answered. "A Lapras? Why do you need one for?" asked Steelicks. "You'll find out soon enough" said chaos. Then they left the Team Rocket Hideout, and then they started heading towards Vermillion City.
It was night-time while they were walking. They soon reached Route 7, the route to the East of Celedon City. Suddenly, LiNT spotted a Haunter on the route. "Hey everyone, guess what? I found a ghost! Let's suck it up!" said LiNT as he was about to suck the Haunter into his vacuum, when suddenly, chaos grabbed his wrist and stopped him. "Wh-what the *bleep* are you doin', chaos? We don't need to only catch ghosts in that mansion, y'know! Or are you so much of a pussy that you're too scared to let me suck it up? I mean, I'm tryin' to catch that ghost as a warm up before goin' to the mansion, where it's completely filled with ghosts!" LiNT shouted. Then chaos said "You idiot. That thing you're trying to capture is a Haunter, a Ghost-type Pokémon. Lord Giovanni is not looking for Ghost-type Pokémon. He wants real ghosts". "Yeah but still, it's good warm up!" said LiNT. Then Kuduros said "Your vacuum has a limited capacity, you know. By sucking in worthless trash, you're only wasting space, which you should be filling up with what Lord Giovanni wants". "Fine, fine, I understand. You guys are so boring..." said LiNT. Then Steelicks said "C'mon, let's move on! I can't wait to see a real ghost! It's gonna be my first time seeing one!", and then the seven Grunts continued walking.
Eventually, they reached Saffron City. "Wow, this city is really big! It's beautiful!" said Aya as she looked at the many office buildings in the city. Then LiNT pointed at the biggest building in the city and said "Hey look, guys! It's the Silph Co. Office Building! The place where our Silph Scopes were created!", and then he took out the Silph Scope which he got from the basement of the Team Rocket Hideout before. Then Steelicks said "Yeah, I remember that place. A few years ago, almost the whole of Team Rocket invaded that building. Man, that was so much fun! It was probably my favourite mission I've ever done as a member of Team Rocket!". "Invade the Silph Co. building? Why did you guys do that? I'm only a new member of Team Rocket, so I wasn't around back then. Was that how you guys got all these Silph Scopes?" asked Antony. Then chaos said "When we heard about the creation of the first Master Ball, Lord Giovanni immediately ordered us to invade the Silph Co. Office Building, because it's the place where the one and only Master Ball existed back then. Lord Giovanni greatly desired the Master Ball, as it is a PokéBall that can catch any Pokémon without failure". "So what Pokémon was caught by that Master Ball?" asked Antony. Then chaos said "I don't know. Afterall, we failed to get that Master Ball, as some kid came and completely ruined our plans before taking that Master Ball away himself....". "Our plans... were ruined by a kid?" asked Antony as he was surprised. Then Kuduros said "That's right. That kid was incredibly strong. He was able to defeat Lord Giovanni's Pokémon team by himself". "He was also the same person who forced Team Rocket to disband some time later that year when he defeated Giovanni in his Gym in Viridian City", chaos added. Then Antony said "Damn that kid... if I ever meet him, I'm gonna skin him, disembowell him, cut his head off and feed it to some hungry Mightyena, and then I'm gonna chop up the rest of his body and throw them all into a lake!". "Ewww... please don't say stuff like that again... it just feels... disgusting and inhumane!" said Aya. Then Hazerider said "Aya, this is the first mission you've done with Antony, right? In that case, you're only going to get used to him. He's completely obsessed with blood and gore and stuff!". "Please don't talk about it anymore! My mind can't take it..." said Aya. "Hahaha! You're all way too innocent. So other than me and Antony, no one else can take this stuff, right? Hahaha!" LiNT laughed. Then they kept on walking. They were now outside of Saffron City, and they are currently on Route 6, the route just South of Saffron City.
Eventually, they reached Vermillion City. "Wow, I love the ocean! It's so calm and peaceful in the night!" said Aya as she started running towards the ocean. Then chaos said "We are here. This is Vermillion City, the port of the Kanto region. Here, we're going to take a ship to the Pokéia region, where our destination will be". "So we're taking a ship? Cool!" said Steelicks. "It's obvious, isn't it? Ofcourse we're going to take a ship if we're going overseas!" said Kuduros. Then the seven grunts entered a ship in Vermillion City, and then the ship started heading towards Pokéia.
After two hours, the ship arrived at Port Steel, the port of the Pokéia region. "Wow, so this is the Pokéia region? It's amazing! It's kinda different from Kanto!" said Steelicks as he looked around Port Steel and saw a huge lighthouse, a museum, a seafood restaurant, an indoor skatepark and an aquairium. "Ehhhhh? An aquairium! Cool! Let's go in!" said Aya as she started running towards the Aquairium. I'm kinda interested in what's inside that museum..." said Antony as he started walking towards the museum slowly. "A seafood restaurant, heh? It's been a while since I last went to one..." said Hazerider as he looked at the seafood restaurant. Then LiNT said "C'mon c'mon! Where're ya all goin', homiez! Let's check out dat awesome skatepark! Come on! I can show ya all some really awesome tricks on the skateboard! I can even do a 1080 Triple Impossible!" as he started walking backwards towards the skatepark. Then Kuduros looked at chaos and said "These kids just don't know what doing a mission is all about...". "Yeah, you're right..." said chaos as he closed his eyes. Then he suddenly reopened them and shouted "Everyone, get back here now!". "Huh?" asked Antony, Aya, Hazerider, Steelicks and LiNT, and then they all walked back to where chaos and Kuduros were. Then chaos said "Where do you guys think you are? At a vacation? We are currently doing a mission under Lord Giovanni's orders, and we have no time to waste. We're heading to the haunted mansion right away!", and then he started walking towards the South West of the city. "And where is the haunted mansion?" asked LiNT. "According to the information given to me by Lord Giovanni, it should be just a bit to the South West of here" chaos answered. "South West? There's nothing but ocean there!" said Steelicks. Then chaos said "And you're the one who asked me why I brought a Lapras with me back in our hideout? Now you have the answer. It's needed in order to cross the ocean. Had I not brought Lapras with me, we'd need to head North, get through Shirou Town, the Mountain City Tunnels, as well as two extremely large cities, one of which being Castle Town, the town where the King of the Pokéia region lives before we can reach the haunted mansion. That would take us atleast a few days. But now that we have some means of crossing the ocean, we can take a shortcut there, which will take no more than ten minutes", and then he threw out a PokéBall, and then a Lapras appeared in the ocean to the South West of Port Steel. Then Aya said "Ehhhhh? Castle Town? Where the King lives? I'd love to go there! I heard that the King of this region is young and handsome!" as she blushed. Then Antony said "Hmm... Shirou Town, eh? Isn't that the place home to the biggest Pokémon Stadium in the world? If that's the case, I definitely need to go there! I'm gonna show all the trainers there just how skilled the PokéGod is!". Then Hazerider said "Mountain City Tunnels? I see. That must be the tunnels which goes under Mountain City, a city located on the summit of the highest mountain in the world. I heard that you can reach a floating city in the sky by taking a flying train from Mountain City... that must be interesting...". Then chaos said "You can all explore whatever you want in this region after we complete our mission, and that includes returning to our Hideout and giving all the ghosts we caught to Lord Giovanni. But until then, it is not the time to be playing around!". Then LiNT said "Well, this region seems t' have a lot o' cool places to visit! I really can't wait to get into the skatepark 'n' pulls some tricks, but the haunted mansion also seems pretty exciting!". "In any case, we should move on" said Kuduros, and then the seven grunts got onto chaos's Lapras's back. Then Lapras started swimming across the water, and it eventually reached a town with a beach after ten minutes. This is Solar Beach! Then the seven grunts got off Lapras, and then chaos returned Lapras to its PokéBall. "Just a bit to the West..." said chaos, and then the seven grunts walked to the West of the town. Then they walked along a route for a while. After walking past a creepy graveyard, they eventually reached the haunted mansion. It was a dark green, three-storey mansion surrounded by a black fence and many dead trees. There were some stairs leading to the mansion's main entrance. A large crescent moon could also be seen in the clear sky at the time, and it was 11:00pm. "Here is our destination. Be prepared, guys. We're going in" said chaos, and then he opened the gate outside the mansion. "This place is even more creepy than I imagined..." said Aya. Then Antony said "I agree, not that I'm scared though. But it'll be really dissapointing if there aren't any ghosts to be found even in a place like this!"."Just keep quite, Antony. If you keep making so much noise, then you are going to be dissapointed, as any ghosts would be scared away by someone talking so loudly..." said Kuduros. Then chaos walked up to the front door of the mansion and kicked it open. Now, the seven grunts are inside the foyer of the mansion. Then chaos said "Listen, we'll all be splitting up at this point!" "Ehhhhh? S-S-Splitting up? N-No way! No way am I exploring this mansion on my own!" said Aya. Then chaos said "OK, fine. Just because you're a girl, I'll let you go with Antony. But the rest of us are all exploring the mansion on our own!". "Go with Antony? I mean, there's no way I'm going on my own, but why did you choose to have me go with Antony?" asked Aya. "It's because every one of us here except for Antony has a mobile phone, so we can call them at any time in case something happens. So Aya, since you must go with someone, I'll have you go with Antony, because if I need to contact him for any reason, I just need to call your phone!" said chaos. "Why are we splitting up? Everyone's just gonna get lost that way. It's easier if we all stick together..." said Hazerider. Then chaos said "The reason why we don't all stick together is because of the fact that ghosts are afraid when there are many people in the same place. But when there's only one person, that's when ghosts feel like picking on that person. And so they have a much higher chance of appearing. Remember, this is a mission to capture as many ghosts as we can for Lord Giovanni! If we all stick together, then chances are, we'll never find a ghost around here, ever. So we're now splitting up. Kuduros! You go to search the basement of the mansion! Hazerider! You search the front area of the mansion's first floor! Steelicks! You search the back area of the mansion's first floor, including the backyard! LiNT! You search the right area of the mansion's second floor! Antony and Aya, you two go together to search the third floor of the mansion! And I'll search the left area of the mansion's second floor, including the big balcony on the back! Let's go!", and then everyone went to look for ghosts in the areas of the mansion where they were ordered to go to.
Kuduros went to the mansion's basement as he was ordered to. There, he noticed that the walls and the ground of the mansion are all made of concrete. He was walking along a hallway in the basement. Then he noticed a wooden door to his left. He opened the door and entered a room filled with many crates and barrels. There was also pool of sewage water at the back of the room. Kuduros looked into the water, and then he saw an old man lying down under the water, with his eyes closed. The old man had very pale skin, grey hair and he looked like a corpse. Then suddenly, the old man opened his eyes, which were blood-red, and then he jumped out of the water. "Gaaaaaarghhhh! Bllllaaaaaaghhhh!!!!!!!!" the old man yelled as he jumped at Kuduros's face and slashed him at the head. "Tch. That hurt, geezer!" said Kuduros as he sucked the old man into his vacuum (the ghost's size decreased significantly when it is sucked in). Then he noticed that there were no more ghosts left in the room, so he left the room. Then he entered another door in the hallway where he was in before, and this time, he found himself inside an empty room, with many spiderwebs, rats and cockroaches. But soon, he noticed a baby inside the room. "Yo" said Kuduros as he looked at the baby, but then the baby suddenly looked at Kuduros and started giggling evily! The baby had red skin, pure black eyes, had an enormous head and had bat wings on his back! Then the baby flew at Kuduros with his bat wings and tried to bite Kuduros, but Kuduros ducked and avoided being bitten, and then the baby flew through a wall in the room where he was in. "So that brat escaped to a different room, hmm..." said Kuduros, and then he left the room where he was in before. Then he entered a different room, which was right next to the wall where the baby flew through before. The floor of this room was completely covered in ice, and Kuduros slipped as soon as he entered the room. Then the baby took advantage of that, and then he flew at Kuduros and bit him at the stomach. "What a pain..." said Kuduros as he shaked the baby off him, and then he sucked the baby into his vacuum.
Meanwhile, Hazerider was exploring a part of the mansion's first floor. He entered the mansion's dining room. But as soon as he entered it, something suddenly kicked him on the stomach, sending him flying back out of the room again, and he hit a wall of a corridor. Then he looked up and saw a pair of grey-colored legs walking towards him, but there was no upper body! "Tch" said Hazerider as he sucked up the pair of legs. Then he entered the dining room again. He saw a huge dining table, and there were food scraps everywhere. But there was no sight of anymore ghosts in the dining room. Then he left the dining room, entered a bathroom and searched it a bit. He found nothing in it, but he needed to use the bathroom, so he used it. After that, he started washing his hands. But while doing so, he saw the reflection of a ghost with red hair and wearing black clothes in the bathroom's mirror! Then Hazerider turned around, but he didn't see anyone behind him. Then Hazerider tried to suck the ghost through the mirror and into his vacuum, but that didn't work. "Leave immediately!" said the ghost in the mirror as he pointed at the bathroom's exit. "And if I say no?" asked Hazerider as he turned around and used his vacuum to suck at the place where the ghost would be standing if he was outside the mirror. Then Hazerider looked at the mirror and saw the ghost being sucked into his vacuum! After that, he left the bathroom, and then he went to a corridor outside. He opened the door of a room connected to the corridor where he was in, and then he ended up in the mansion's kitchen. Then he saw a horrible sight before him! There was the upper body of a naked woman with dark green hair and grey skin lying on the ground, but she didn't have any legs! Blood was also coming out of her forehead, mouth and waist! Hazerider was terrified for a second when the woman looked up at him, but then he calmed down again, and then he said "I see. So you're the ghost of that woman who had her body split in half after falling onto a rail. I've heard stories about you". "Where is the other half of my body?" asked the woman in a very deep voice as her eyes widened. Then Hazerider said "I vacuumed them up". "What?" asked the woman, and then she started crawling towards Hazerider at incredible speed (for someone who's crawling on the ground). Then Hazerider said "There is this story about how there was a woman who was tossed down a staircase from the top floor of a building. Then she landed on the stair's rails on the bottom floor, and then her body was split in half, with her upper body seperated from her legs. People say that ever since then, the ghost of her upper body crawls around, trying to find her legs, while the ghost of her legs walks around, trying to find her upper body. Up until now, I've never believed in that story. But to think that that she really exists in this mansion... how interesting!", and then he sucked up the woman's upper body. Now, the ghost of that woman's entire body is inside Hazerider's vacuum. Then Hazerider walked up to the fridge in the kitchen and opened it out of curiosity, and then he saw many pieces of a chopped up human body in the fridge! "How disgusting..." said Hazerider, and then he closed the fridge.
Meanwhile, Steelicks was exploring the other part of the mansion's first floor. He went out to the mansion's backyard, and he saw many dead trees and tall grasses everywhere. There was also a huge graveyard at the back of the mansion. Suddenly, he heard a woman moaning. Then he looked at the direction where the sound was coming from, and then he saw a woman with long brown hair, wearing white clothes and had blood covering her entire body and clothes climbing a tree! She also had a rope around her neck. Then the woman jumped down the tree and started walking towards Steelicks slowly like a zombie. "You may look scary, but you don't seem to be that much of a threat..." said Steelicks as he quickly sucked up the ghost. But as soon as he sucked her up, Steelicks heard a loud shaking sound. He looked at where the sound was coming from, and he saw a large gravestone in the graveyard shaking and cracking. That gravestone was about five times as big as all the other gravestones in the graveyard! Then the gravestone cracked into many pieces, and then a huge beast the size of a house, with green skin, and a thick, muscular tail came out of the ground under the gravestone. The beast roared loudly, and then it looked at Steelicks. "I-Impossible! That thing... is it also a ghost?" asked Steelicks as he took a few steps back. "Am I a threat then?" asked the beast as it started walking towards Steelicks slowly, creating huge foot prints on the ground for every step it took. Then Steelicks tried to suck up the beast with his vacuum. "Yes, it's working!" said Steelicks as he noticed that the beast was slowly being sucked in, but then the beast opened its mouth and started charging up energy. After that, it blasted a huge, powerful beam of red energy out of its mouth at Steelicks, who avoided the beam, and then the beam hit the ground, causing an explosion which destroyed many dead trees, as well as a small part of the haunted mansion. "Dammit! I was about to suck that thing up! So it really is a ghost afterall! But due to its size, it's gonna take ages for me to suck it up, and when I try to, it's just gonna interrupt me with its stupid beam!" said Steelicks as he started running back, trying to gain some distance between himself and the beast, but then the beast suddenly punched Steelicks with its huge arms, sending him flying, and he landed on a big balcony on the second floor of the haunted mansion. Then the beast jumped onto the balcony, destroying a part of the balcony's fence, and then it tried to crunch Steelick's head, but Steelicks avoided the attack. However, his last two fingers of his left hand was bitten off by the beast! "Noooooo!!!!" Steelicks screamed in pain as he looked at his left hand. Then the beast headbutted Steelicks, making him slide from one side of the balcony to the other, and then he hit the fence on that side of the balcony, destroying it. Then the beast tried to crush Steelicks by stomping on him, but Steelicks rolled out of the way, and then the beast's attack made a part of the balcony collapse. "Here's my chance!" said Steelicks as he tried to suck up the beast again, but then the beast hit Steelicks with its tail, making him slide back to the other side of the balcony. Now, his entire body was bleeding badly due to sliding across the rough surface of the ground for such long distance. "Dammit!" said Steelicks as he got up from the ground. Then he continued dodging the beast's attacks, while trying to suck it up occasionally, but he always failed as every time he tried, he was always interrupted by the beast's attacks.
Meanwhile, Antony and Aya were searching the third floor of the mansion. They entered a room with a television, a painting of a coffin hanging on one of the walls, and there were also many DVDs on a shelf in the room. "Just as I thought, nothing special here. Man, are there even any ghosts in this mansion?" asked Antony after looking around the room a bit, and then he was about to leave the room, when suddenly, the door of the room locked by itself! "Wh-what's going on? This is scary..." said Aya. "Alright, what *bleep* is pulling this shit on us?" asked Antony as he was about to kick the door open, when suddenly, the TV in the room turned on by itself! Then Antony and Aya both looked at the TV screen, which showed a well in front of a Japanese house. "Hm? What's this? So that *bleep* decided to entertain us with some stupid TV show?" asked Antony. Then suddenly, he saw a woman with long, black hair which covered all four sides of her head crawling out of the well in the TV. "So... this is 'sposed to be some ghost show?" asked Antony. Then he continued watching the TV, as he saw the woman slowly walking closer and closer towards the camera. Eventually, the woman got so close that her entire head was covering the TV screen. "Aaaaaaa! S-Stop this! It's scary!" said Aya as she covered her eyes with her hands. Then Antony saw the woman crawling out of the TV screen! "Huh? What's going on?" asked Antony. "What's happening?" asked Aya, as she did not know what was going on since she had her eyes covered. "That woman... is coming out of the TV? How is this possible...?" asked Antony. "What?" asked Aya as she uncovered her eyes, and then she screamed when she saw the black-haired woman, with her body halfway outside of the TV screen! "So... this just proves that ghosts do indeed exist, heh?" asked Antony as the woman completely crawled out of the TV. "Well then, suction time!" said Antony as he sucked the woman into his vacuum. After that, he looked at Aya, who was covering her eyes again, and he said "Oiy! Aya! What's wrong? Everything's fine now! I already captured that ghost!". Then Aya uncovered her eyes and looked around the room. "Well, we're moving on!" said Antony as he kicked the room's door open, and then he and Aya both left the room and went to a corridor outside of it. "Let's get outta here!" said Aya as she grabbed Antony's arm and tried to pull him towards the direction which leads out of the mansion. "Why are you so scared, Aya? What's there to be afraid of? It's not like the ghosts here can actually kill you or anything!" said Antony, but as soon as he said that, a voice was suddenly heard: "We'll see about that". Then Antony and Aya both looked at the direction where the voice came from, and then they saw a Vampire-like ghost wearing a black and red coat, dark boots and had pale white skin and dark brown hair standing at the other end of the corridor. "So you're another ghost, eh?" asked Antony. "This one looks a bit different from that last one..." said Aya. Then the ghost looked at Antony and said "Well... it seems you captured Hora, who is considered by many humans to be the scariest ghost in this mansion. I'm surprised you came out without even the slightest shock on your face, but let me tell you something, boy. Hora may be scary, but she is in fact one of the weakest ghosts in this mansion! Don't think you can get past me easily as you got past her, boy!", and then he shot a huge blast of wind out of his palm at Antony and Aya. The blast of wind was so big that it ripped out many doors along the hallway! Then the blast of wind was about to hit Antony and Aya, but then Antony grabbed Aya and ran with her to a corner in the corridor, avoiding the blast, which created a hole in the corridor's wall, which led into a library in the mansion. "Die!" said the ghost as he karate chopped the air three times, and a huge burst of slicing wind came out of his hand every time he did a karate chop. "Hide!" said Antony, and then he and Aya both ran through the hole in the wall caused by the ghost's wind blast attack, and they ended up inside the library. They avoided the three bursts of slicing wind. Then they both hid in there somewhere. "Do you think you can get away from me?" asked the ghost as he ran inside the library too. "It's pointless to hide!" said the ghost as he waved his right arm around, and then a strong wind blew around the entire library, sending all the books flying off the shelves. Some of the shelves in the library were also knocked down. "So, for how much longer are you planning to cower in fear for?" asked the ghost. Then suddenly, Antony came out and tried to suck the ghost into his vacuum, but then the ghost created a ball of spiralling wind around his right arm, and then he punched Antony with that arm, sending Antony flying until he hit a wall in the library. "Antony!" Aya shouted as she started running towards Antony, who was on the ground, but then the ghost summoned a strong wind, which blew Aya and sent her flying until she hit a wall too. "A-Antony! D-Do something about that ghost!" said Aya as she looked at Antony while pointing at the ghost. Then the ghost said "It's not "a ghost", little girl. My name is Aru, and in this mansion, I am the second in command!". "I don't care what the *bleep* you think you are! It has no change in the fact that you'll be captured!" said Antony as he got up and charged at Aru. Then he tried to punch Aru at the face, but Aru grabbed Antony's wrist and stopped his punch. Then Aru created a blade of sharp wind in his left hand, and then he used it to slash Antony across the stomach, sending him flying and making his stomach bleed rapidly. "Antony!" Aya screamed. "Wh-what the *bleep* are you doing, Aya? Don't just sit there! H-Help me capture that ghost" said Antony as he was breathing heavily. "B-But... I can't! I-It's too strong!" said Aya. Then Antony said "Look, I'll distract him for you!" as he grabbed some books from the ground, which were knocked off the shelves before. Then he threw the books at Aru, but Aru protected himself by creating a wind shield in front of himself, which sliced all the books into many pieces. Then Antony ran behind Aru and tried to kick him at the face, but Aru turned around and blocked the kick with his forearm. "You brat!" said Aru as he was about to punch Antony at the face, when suddenly, he noticed Aya sucking him into her vacuum from behind! "You lil' bitch!" said Aru as she was about to shoot a blast of wind out of his palm at Aya from point-blank range, but he was interrupted when Antony punched him at the back of the head. Then Antony kicked him between the legs, and then he fell on his knees. "Damn you kids!" said Aru as he was already sucked halfway into Aya's vacuum. "So you still think you're tough?" asked Antony as he looked at Aru. Then Aru said "You know nothing, boy... I'm only the second in command here... so there's still someone above me...". "And who is that?" asked Antony. Then Aru said "His name is Gurim, the leader of all the ghosts in this mansion. Even when compared to me, his power is on a completely different level. And judging from your performance against me, none of you... will ever stand a chance at taking down Lord Gurim...", and then he was completely sucked into Aya's vacuum. "You... you did it! You did it, Aya! See? If you try, you can do it!" said Antony. "Are you sure that thing won't somehow break out of the vacuum?" asked Aya. "Don't worry. Our scientists would never make crappy equipments like that..." said Antony.
Meanwhile, LiNT went up some stairs from the mansion's foyer, which led to the mansion's second floor. He opened a double door as soon as he reached the second floor, and then he found himself inside a large room with many cupboards. Suddenly, one of the cupboards opened up, and then a headless body started walking out of the cupboard towards LiNT. "Heh, a headless guy as my first victim!" said LiNT as he sucked the ghost into his vacuum, but then suddenly, another cupboard in the room opened, and then a severed human head came out of it. "Gimme back my body, you piece o' shit!" said the head as it started flying around the room really fast. LiNT tried to suck it up while it's flying, but it was too fast, and LiNT couldn't keep up with it! "What the hell are you doin', mate? I'm tellin' you to give back my body!" said the head as it flew at LiNT and bit his arm. "You *bleep*head! Get off!" said LiNT as he tried to punch the head, but it flew back and avoided the punch. Then the head started circling around LiNT at incredible speed. After that, it flew at LiNT and headbutted him at the nose, making it bleed. "You little!" said LiNT as he grabbed the head by the hair, and then he placed his vacuum right in front of the head's face. "Take this, brat!" said LiNT as he sucked the head into his vacuum. Then he noticed a door at the back of the room. He went through it, and he was now inside a room with pink walls and many dolls and toys on the ground. Suddenly, a ghost appeared out of nowhere in the center of the room. This ghost looks like the ghost you can see in Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow by encountering a Wild Ghost-type Pokémon in the Pokémon Tower without a Silph Scope. Then the ghost casted a spell on all the dolls and toys in the room, and then suddenly, all the dolls and toys came to life, and then they all jumped at LiNT's face. "Argh! G-Get off, homos!" said LiNT as he guarded his face with his arms, and then he started kicking all the toys and dolls, sending them flying at the walls on the room, but they kept on coming back! "*bleep*! What is this shit? What kinda gay fag attacks people with *bleep*ing dolls?" asked LiNT as he stomped on one of the dolls hard, and then it stopped moving. "You're that gook who's controllin' all this queer stuff, huh?" asked LiNT as he looked at the ghost in the center of the room. Then he tried to suck the ghost into his vacuum, but then one of the many dolls in the room got sucked into the vacuum instead, and then the doll jammed the vacuum. "Ah ghey!" said LiNT as he pulled the doll back out of his vacuum, but while he was doing that, many toys jumped at him face. "*bleep*! Die for God's sake!" said LiNT as he shaked the toys off himself, and then he grabbed one of them and snapped it in half. Then he ran towards the ghost and pointed his vacuum at it at an extremely close range so that nothing else could be sucked in instead, and then the ghost was dragged into the vacuum. After that, all the toys and dolls in the room stopped moving. "God, that was a *bleep*ing nightmare!" said LiNT, and then he continued to explore the mansion.
Meanwhile, chaos was exploring a part of the mansion's second floor. He entered a large hallway with many knight armors standing on the side. There were also many katana, long swords and other swords hanging on the walls in the corridor. "Wow, there's some pretty amazing stuff here!" said chaos. Then suddenly, one of the knights in the room started walking towards chaos! It was holding a gigantic sword and a big shield, and its red eyes could also be seen through the helm. Then it tried to slash chaos with its sword, but chaos sidestepped and dodged the attack. Then he grabbed a long sword hanging on one of the walls in the hallway, and then he tried to slash the knight with it, but the knight blocked with its own sword. Then chaos jumped back, and then he charged at the knight and started thrusting his long sword at it repeatedly, but the knight was blocking every single one of chaos's attacks. Then, after thrusting his sword at the knight thirty times, chaos did one extreme strong thrust, which flinched the knight, despite the fact that it had blocked the attack. Then, while the knight was flinching, chaos slashed its armor hard, shattering it. Then, it was revealed that the knight was really a skeleton with red eyes! Then the skeleton threw its big sword away, and then it ran to a wall in the hallway and grabbed a rapier. After that, the skeleton charged at chaos and started slashing at him repeatedly with its rapier, but chaos was blocking the slashes with his long sword. After a slashing at chaos a few times, the skeleton suddenly pulled out a nunchaku-like bone out of its own body, and then it hit chaos on the leg with it, making him lose his balance. Then the skeleton took this opportunity to try to chop chaos's head off with its sword, but chaos ducked the slash, though some of his hair were chopped off. Then chaos kicked the skeleton, knocking it back a bit. Then he slammed his sword hard at the skeleton, smashing it into many pieces. "Got you!" said chaos as he started sucking at the skeleton with his vacuum. After a while, a ghost was sucked out of the skeleton and into the vacuum. "So, I've caught one ghost.." said chaos, and then he walked up to a wall in the hallway. "This looks pretty nice... maybe it'll be helpful later..." said chaos as he grabbed a katana, which was hanging on the wall. After that, he left the room, and then he went through another door in one of the mansion's many corridors. When he went through it, he ended up on the mansion's big balcony, which is the same balcony as the one where Steelicks was sent flying onto before. There, he saw that Steelicks was still fighting against the big beast with green skin! "Steelicks!" chaos shouted. "C-chaos? Wh-why are you here?" asked Steelicks as he jumped back to avoid being hit by a punch from the beast. Then chaos "I should be the one asking you that question! Aren't you supposed to be exploring the mansion's first floor?". "W-Well, I know that! But still, the fight ended up here!" said Steelicks as he jumped to avoid another attack from the beast. "I'll help you!" said chaos as he charged at the beast with the katana and the long sword which he was holding. Then he did a "Cross Chop" on the beast's face with his two swords, but the beast was not harmed much as its tough skin protected its face from the attack. "Capture it, now!" said chaos as he looked at Steelicks. "I was just thinking of that!" said Steelicks as he jumped back to gain some distance between himself and the beast in order to not get hit by an attack from the beast's muscular tail. Then he started sucking at the beast while it was being kept occupied by chaos. After a few minutes, the beast was completely captured. "Good job" said chaos. "Hmmm... but I wouldn't have caught that thing had you not come!" said Steelicks. Then suddenly, the two of them heard a voice coming from the sky: "What the hell? It seems you Rockets had already made a mess of my mansion!". Then chaos and Steelicks both looked up at the sky, where the voice came from. Then they saw a muscular guy with blue hair, dark blue eyes and wearing a white jacket, a white hakama and carrying a sword floating in the sky, with the crescent Moon in the sky hanging behind his head. It was also exactly 12:00 midnight at the time. "Heh, it seems another ghosts appeared! They're comin' out one after another!" said Steelicks. Then the ghost floating in the sky said "Me? Just "another ghost"? Hmph. You gotta be *bleep*in' kidding me! I am Gurim, the owner of this mansion! I'm also the leader of all the ghosts around here!", and then he floated down from the sky and landed on the balcony. "Be careful, Steelicks. This guy... he's incredibly strong..." said chaos. "You got that right!" said Gurim. Then Steelicks tried to suck Gurim into his vacuum, but then Gurim charged at Steelicks at extreme speed, and then he stabbed Steelicks through the stomach with his bare hand! After that, he grabbed Steelicks by the neck and threw him to the roof of the haunted mansion. "Dammit! Steelicks, this guy isn't so weak to the point where you could just suck him up from the beginning, you know!" said chaos as he charged at Gurim and tried to slash him with his katana, but Gurim blocked the attack with his wrist! "Is that all you've got?" asked Gurim as he pushed back against chaos's sword with his wrist, and then chaos slid back a few metres on his feet. "You bastard!" said chaos as he charged at Gurim once more. This time, he tried to stab Gurim with his long sword, but Gurim stopped the attack by grabbing the sword with his bare hand! Then Gurim threw chaos's sword up to the mansion's roof. Chaos, who was still holding the sword, was also sent flying up there. Then Gurim levitated up into the sky again, with the crescent Moon in the sky hanging behind his head. "What's wrong? Don't depress me like that! Is that seriously all you guy's got?" asked Gurim as he looked down at chaos and Steelicks (who were both on the mansion's roof) from the sky. Then chaos took out a mobile phone and used it to call the mobile phones of all the other Grunts in the mansion, except for Steelicks (because he was already right next to chaos at that time) and Antony (who didn't have a mobile phone as he hated them, and he was with Aya anyway). "Hey! Listen! You guys need to come and help me! I'm having serious trouble! In fact, I'm up against the leader of all the ghosts in this mansion! I really need your help! I'm up on the mansion's roof right now! You can get up here by taking some stairs from a room in this mansion's third floor!" said chaos through the phone. Then Gurim said "Hey hey! You're calling for help? That ain't something a man should do!" as he dived down from the sky and punched chaos hard at the stomach, making him cough out some blood, sending him flying and making him drop his mobile phone and the two swords which he was holding before. Then Gurim caught the mobile phone in mid-air and crushed it with his bare hand. Then Steelicks charged at Gurim and punched him at the stomach, but nothing happened. "*bleep* you!" said Gurim as he slapped Steelicks at the face with the back of his hand, knocking him down and sending him sliding across the mansion's roof. Then Gurim gave Steelicks the middle finger, while he had a huge smile of insanity on his face.
Meanwhile, Antony and Aya were still somewhere in the mansion's third floor. Aya had just received the call from chaos before. Then they made their way into a room with a fireplace and some stairs leading to the mansion's roof. "This way!" said Aya as she ran up those stairs, while Antony followed her.
When they reached the top of the stairs, they were now on the mansion's rooftop. Immediately, Gurim spotted them. 'Eh? So some more Rockets decided to show up, huh? Well then. So it's four on one! Alright! Bring it on! Give it all you've got and come straight at me! If you don't, then just like that torn-up kid over there..." said Gurim, and then he looked at Steelicks, who had a hole in his stomach after he was stabbed by Gurim's hand. Then Gurim looked back at Antony and Aya and said "I'll tear a hole in you too!" as he smiled insanely again. "So you're that Gurim guy... the ghost leader who that second in command guy... Aru or whatever he's called spoke of before, right? Interesting!" said Antony as he started charging towards Gurim. Then he threw a punch at Gurim's face as hard as he could, but Gurim blocked the punch with his own arm. "Impressive power for a mere human, but now, it's MY TURN!" said Gurim, and then he threw a punch at Antony, sending him sliding back on his feet, despite the fact that he had blocked the punch. Eventually, Antony had his back pushed against a large chimney on the mansion's roof. Then Aya sneaked behind Gurim and tried to suck him up, but then Gurim said "A sneak attack won't work against me!" as he turned around and grabbed Aya's head with his hand. Then he lifted Aya into the air by her head, and then he was about to crush Aya's head, when suddenly, he was hit by an Ice Beam, which froze him solid, and he was also forced to let go of Aya's head. Then everyone looked at where the Ice Beam came from, and they saw chaos standing next to the Lapras he brought with him. "I never thought I'd need to use this Lapras against a ghost... but it proved to be helpful..." said chaos as he was breathing heavily. At the same time, Kuduros, Hazerider and LiNT had made their way to the mansion's roof. "What's going on?" asked Kuduros. "Well, all's about to end..." said Antony as he was ready to suck Gurim into his vacuum, but then suddenly, Gurim broke out of the ice, grabbed Antony by the neck and lifted him into the air. Then he threw Antony at Aya, knocking her down. Then Gurim looked at chaos's Lapras and said "You stupid thing! Freezing the top layer of my skin... you really thought that would do me in? How naive!". Then the Lapras used Ice Beam on Gurim again, but Gurim blasted a beam of purple flames out of his palm, melting the Ice Beam and fainting Lapras. "Dammit!" said chaos, and then he put Lapras back into its PokéBall.
Meanwhile, Steelicks grabbed the two swords which chaos dropped before, and then he charged at Gurim with it. He tried to do a "Cross Chop" on Gurim, but Gurim pulled out an espada ropera and blocked the attack. "Nice try, fag!" said Gurim as he kicked Steelicks, sending him flying back, and he landed on his back. Then Kuduros, Hazerider and LiNT all charged at Gurim together, but Gurim slashed all three of them across the stomach with his espada ropera, sending them all flying back, and they all started bleeding badly. "Seven on one now, eh? Atleast you actually made me get serious!" said Gurim. Then LiNT got up, charged at Gurim and punched him ten times in a row, but nothing happened. "Tch" said Gurim as he smashed LiNT at the head with the hilt of his espada ropera, knocking him down. Then Hazerider got up from the ground, looked at Steelicks and said "Steelicks! Use that attack you just did on that ghost again!". "What?" asked Steelicks. "Just use that attack again!" Hazerider shouted. "Understood" said Steelicks, and then he started charging at Gurim again. "Just what are you trying to pull?" asked Gurim. "If I sacrifice my life, then I'll atleast save the others..." Hazerider thought, and then he charged at Gurim head on and tried to suck him into his vacuum. Then Gurim looked at Hazerider's seemingly foolish attempt and said "You bastard! Are you trying to insult me or something? As if I, the leader of all the ghosts in this mansion would let you just suck me in that easily!" as he stabbed his espada ropera straight through Hazerider's heart, killing him. But then his guard was down, and while it was down, Steelicks "Cross Chopped" him at the chest with his two swords, and now, Gurim had an "X" marked on his chest. "HAZERIDER!!!!!!" Steelicks shouted as he looked at Hazerider's corpse. "He...he sacrificed himself just to help us capture the ghost...?" asked chaos. "You piece a' shit!" said Gurim as he thrusted his right arm straight through Steelick's stomach, making him cough out a lot of blood, and he also dropped his two swords. "Farewell, you mother*bleep*er!" said Gurim as he smiled insanely, and then he pointed his palm at Steelicks, and he was about to blast a red beam of energy out of his palm at Steelicks from point-blank range, when suddenly, he noticed that he was being sucked halfway into a vacuum! Then he looked and saw Kuduros standing behind him, holding a vacuum. "Shit!" said Gurim as he turned around and blasted the beam of red energy at Kuduros instead. But just before Kuduros was hit by the beam, he quickly passed his vacuum to chaos, while the vacuum was still sucking Gurim in. Then the beam of red energy hit Kuduros at point-blank range, destroying his entire upper body, and only his legs remained. The big chimney on the mansion's roof was also destroyed by the red beam. "KUDUROS!!!!!!" Aya shouted. Then Gurim said "Ah *bleep* no!" as he noticed that he was almost completely sucked into the vacuum! Then he tried to punch chaos at the head, but it was too late. Before his punch hit chaos, he was completely sucked into the vacuum (as Kuduros was already sucking him in before the vacuum was passed to chaos). "We...we did it... We caught the ghost boss..." said chaos. Then Antony said "So in the end, two sacrifices weere needed...". "Who would've thought this mission would've been this dangerous..." said LiNT as he got up from the ground. "This is so horrible..." said Aya ashe looked at the corpses of Hazerider and Kuduros "Umm... I think Lord Giovanni needs to know about this..." said Steelicks. Then he was about to take out his mobile phone to call Giovanni, when suddenly, some powerful spirit energy covered the entire area where chaos, Antony, Aya, LiNT and Steelicks were! The spirit energy was so powerful that small rocks were being lifted from the ground, the trees were shaking, and the five Team Rocket Grunts were being pushed onto their knees! The entire atmosphere also seems to be shaking due to the spirit energy! After a while, the five Grunts passed out.
They woke up again two hours later, and they noticed that there were now some clouds in the sky (while the sky was completely clear before), though the crescent Moon in the sky could still be seen. "Wh-what the hell just happened?" asked LiNT as he sat up. "I-I don't know... I just... I suddenly fell asleep and... now I'm here..." said Aya. "It seems we all passed out for about two hours..." said chaos. "What was that we felt just before we passed out? It felt... very powerful... and I swear, it's like it was pushing down on us!" said Antony. "It... it can't be... that Gurim ghost... the one chaos just captured said he was the leader of all the ghosts in this mansion... so that must mean... there can't be a ghost more powerful than he is around here! But... whatever was pushing us down before... it felt like that thing's power... was infinitely higher than that of Gurim's..." said Steelicks. "In that case, I believe it is safe to assume that whatever that thing is, it's not a ghost which lives in this mansion, right?" said Antony. Then chaos said "Ah crap!" as he looked at all the vacuums and realized that they were all opened! "What's wrong?" asked Aya. Then chaos said "That bastard freed all the ghosts we caught...". "What the hell?" asked LiNT. "So it seems that guy who made us all pass out... he's on the same side as the ghosts afterall..." said Antony. "In any case, we need to inform Lord Giovanni about this as soon as possible!" said Steelicks as he took out his mobile phone and tried to call Giovanni, but he realized that his mobile phone was broken. "Ah *bleep*, it's broken..." said Steelicks. "Don't worry, I'll call..." said Aya as she took out a pink mobile phone, only to realize that it was broken too! "Umm... mine's also broken..." said Aya as she blushed. "Strange... mine's not working either..." said LiNT. "Well, mine was crushed by that ghost boss before anyway, and Antony doesn't even have one himself!" said chaos. "What's wrong? Why are everyone's phones not working?" asked LiNT. "They were probably destroyed by that incredible force we felt earlier..." said Antony. Then chaos said "Well listen, everyone! We all need to calm down. What we're going to do now is, we all walk out of the mansion together, and then we're going to head West to a city called Kanbura City, where we're going to use the PC in the Pokémon Center there to call Lord Giovanni, and find out what he needs us to do right now. When we're walking down the mansion, we're going to ignore any ghosts we see until we come back later. Understood?". "Yes" said everyone else, and then they all walked down the mansion together. Before chaos left, he picked up the two swords which Steelicks dropped before.
When they got out of the mansion, Antony said "This is strange...". "So you've noticed it too, Antony..." said chaos. "What's wrong, guys?" asked Aya. Then Steelicks said "Haven't you noticed? One would expect to see atleast one ghost after walking through three floors of one of the most haunted mansions in the world, especially when they have a Silph Scope. But although we walked all the way from the mansion's roof down to the first floor and came out of here, we have yet to spot even one ghost...". "Well, come to think of it, you're right..." said Aya. "What happened to all the ghosts? I thought even the ones we captured were freed..." said LiNT. "Well, I don't really know. Maybe we were just lucky we didn't encounter them?" said Aya. Then the group didn't need to say anymore words, and they all decided to silently agree on that, as they couldn't think of any other explanation. Soon, they forgot about it. Now, they are walking West to Kanbura City.
Soon, the grunts arrived at Kanbura City, an extremely large city with many office buildings, a radio tower, a space station, a school, a University, a shopping center and a huge library. Despite everything that were in the city, none of the grunts reacted like they did to Saffron City and Port Steel before, as they were all shocked and worried at this point. They immediately headed for the city's Pokémon Center, and then they entered it. Then chaos went straight to the PC and used it to contact the Team Rocket Hideout in Celedon City. After a minute, they were connected, and then Giovanni's face could be seen on the screen. "Hey, it's 3:00 in the morning right now! This better be important!" said Giovanni. "Well, I have three extremely bad news to tell you, sir. First, our comrades Hazerider and Kuduros were killed by Gurim, the leader of all the ghosts in the mansion you ordered us to explore. Second, we were all struck by an unknown force shortly after capturing the ghost boss, and we passed out for about two hours because of that. Third, after we regained conciousness, all the ghosts we captured were freed" said chaos. "WHAT?!?" asked Giovanni. "There was nothing we could do about it. If I recall correctly, that force which struck us was so powerful that even the entire atmosphere was shaking. We could not resist its power" said chaos politely. Then Giovanni said "Hmmm...atmosphere-shaking force... you say? Did you, by any chance, see what the force was coming from?". "I'm afraid not..." chaos replied. Then Giovanni said "That atmosphere-shaking force... it was probably... reiatsu". "Reiatsu?" asked Aya. Then Giovanni said "Yes. The closest words I can use to describe what "reiatsu" is, is "spirit energy"". "Spirit...energy..." said LiNT. Then Giovanni said "Reiatsu, or spirit energy are energy which radiates from the bodies of certain powerful spirits. In fact, I'm pretty sure that the reiatsu you guys felt... were those... of a Shinigami". "Shini...gami?" asked Steelicks. "In other words, "Death God", right?" asked chaos. "Correct. Shinigami or Death Gods are spirits who typically wears a black kimono and carries a sword called a Zanpakutou. They are the spirit protectors of the human world. They serve to balance all of the souls that are mixed together in this world by sending good spirits to the afterlife, while purifying evil spirits. The particular Shinigami whose reiatsu you felt probably thought that you guys are disturbing the balance in the souls of the world by capturing ghosts" said Giovanni. "But you're the one who ordered us to capture ghosts for you!" said Aya. Then Giovanni said "I know. But I didn't think that a Shinigami would appear there...". "So is there anything we can do?" asked Antony. Then Giovanni said "Take these, and then I'll explain", and then he sent five sets of special suits and five shotguns to the Pokémon Center where the five grunts were. After a few minutes, they were sent there successfully. "What are these?" asked LiNT as he looked at the suits. Then Giovanni said "Spirit Suits". "Spirit Suits?" asked Steelicks. Then Giovanni said "Yes. By wearing these suits, one will be able to see Shinigami and other similar spirits. They'll also be unaffected by a Shinigami's reiatsu force". "But wouldn't our Silph Scope allow us to see them anyway?" asked Antony. "No. The Silph Scope only allows you to see normal ghosts and Ghost-type Pokémon. Shinigami are completely different" Giovanni replied. Then the five Grunts all put on the suits, which are completely black and covers the entire body, including the head (there are some special transparent materials in front of the face though, so they could see through it. This material is what allows one to see Shinigami). Then Giovanni said "Take the shotguns too. You'll need them to kill the Shinigami who is getting in your way", and then the five grunts each took a shotgun. "Are you sure we'll be fine?" asked Aya. "Yeah. Afterall, the Shinigami cannot immobolize you with his or her reiatsu, since you're wearing Spirit Suits. And despite being spirits, Shinigami can still be hit by physical attacks like a shotgun's bullet" said Giovanni. "Alright, we're heading off then!" said chaos, and then he logged off the PC. Then he healed his Lapras in the Pokémon Center, and then the five grunts headed back to the haunted mansion with their Spirit Suits and shotguns.
As soon as they entered the mansion again, they immediately saw a man with long white hair, large green eyes, carrying a sword with a golden blade, a purple hilt with fake green dragon wings attached to it and wearing a blue scarf, a black kimono and a black cape sitting on some stairs in the foyer. Then chaos looked at the man and said "A black kimono and a sword... there's no doubt about it! You're that Shinigami from the mansion's rooftop, am I right?". Then the man said "Strange... so you can see me?". Then LiNT said "Yeah *bleep*. We have some special suits that allows ANYONE to see you! You ain't nothin' special anymore!" as he pointed his shotgun at the man. Then the man said "I see... but why are you pointing a gun at me for?" as he closed his eyes slowly. "To kill you?" said LiNT as he fired at the man with his shotgun, but then the man suddenly reopened his eyes again. As soon as he reopened them, powerful reiatsu started radiating from his body. The atmosphere started shaking again, and many small furnitures in the mansion were slowly being lifted into the air. The bullet which LiNT fired at Ryuumaru was also deflected by the heavy reiatsu in the air. After ten seconds, the shaking all stopped, and everything calmed down again. However, the five grunts were not affected by the reiatsu. "I see... so it seems that suit you guys are wearing also makes you immune to reiatsu pressure..." said the man as he got up and started walking down the stairs slowly. "So you guys want to kill me? For what reason?" asked the man calmly. Then Steelicks said "It's because of what you did to us before on the roof of the mansion! Why did you do that? And why did you free all the ghosts we spent so much effort into catching?". Then the man said "I know all about it. You guys are a part of an organization called Team Rocket, which is currently experimenting on altering ghosts. But that is deadly to the balance of souls in this world, as who knows what would happen to those ghosts your boss is altering? They could become powerful evil spirits which can endanger this world. That is why I freed all the ghosts you captured. Also, when you guys woke up on the mansion's rooftop and walked down to the first floor, you probably noticed that there is no longer a single ghost in this mansion, right?". Then the five grunts grasped. "You want to know why? It's because I performed the soul burial on them all, including the ghosts of your two friends who were killed by that Gurim ghost!" said the man. "Soul...burial?" asked Aya. Then the man said "Yes. I am a Shinigami, as you all probably know. Otherwise, you wouldn't be wearing that suit. "Soul burial" is something all Shinigami can do. By tapping the deceased souls with the hilt of my Zanpakutou, I can send them to either heaven or hell, depending on how much the soul has sinned during its life. Of the 141 ghosts in this mansion, 119 of them, including your two comrades, were sent to hell, while only 22 of them were good enough to go to heaven, as you humans call that place. So basically, the majority of the ghosts in this mansion have sinned way too much during their lives!". "So there's no way to retrieve all those ghosts or our comrades, right? In that case, you will die for messing up Lord Giovanni's plans!" said chaos as he fired at the Shinigami with his shotgun, but the Shinigami caught the bullet with his bare hand! "I-Impossible!" said chaos as he took a few steps back. Then the Shinigami looked at chaos and said "I'm sorry, but I didn't catch your name yet, Rocket!" as he dropped the bullet that he caught. "There's no need for any of us to introduce ourselves to someone who's about to die anyway!" said LiNT. Then the Shinigami said "Is that what you think? I see. But I'll introduce myself anyway. I am Ryuumaru, a Shinigami who used to work together with many other Shinigami, but I have long abandoned them. The reason why I did that was because I got bored of getting out of my way to do Shinigami work day after day. Now that I abandoned them, I can do whatever I want with my life. So I have decided to become a Pokémon Master", and then he took out six white PokéBalls each with a black butterfly on them, and then he threw them to the ground, and out came a Gyarados, an Arcanine, a Latias, a Latios, a Tyranitar and a Dragonite. Then Ryuumaru clicked his fingers, and then his six Pokémon all headed off to different parts of the mansion, ready to attack the grunts later. Then Ryuumaru said "But that... does not mean I have abandoned my Shinigami side. I no longer go out of my way to purify spirits, but that doesn't mean I won't purify the ones that are right before me!". Then LiNT said "I don't care if they're right before you or not! You've messed up our plans! Now we're going to kill you!" as he fired at Ryuumaru again, but Ryuumaru pulled out his sword and blocked the bullet with it. Then he said "I introduced myself to you as a final courtesy, so that you'd atleast die knowing the name of the man who killed you. So I guess you're right about how there's no need for any of you to introduce yourselves to me. Afterall, none of you have enough strength to kill me anyway...". Then Antony said "We'll see about that!", and then the five grunts started shooting at Ryuumaru repeatedly with their shotguns, but Ryuumaru was blocking all the bullets with his sword. "An attack of this level will never hit me!" said Ryuumaru as he pointed his finger at the five grunts while blocking the bullets with the sword in his other hand. Then he said "Destructive Art 33: Blue Fire, Crash Down!" as he shot a huge blast of blue flames out of his finger at the five grunts. The blue flames blinded the grunts temporarily, and they all covered their eyes with their hands. The chandeleir and many furnitures in the mansion's foyer were also destroyed by the blue flames. Then after the blue flames faded away, the five grunts looked at the place where Ryuumaru was standing before, but he wasn't there anymore, as he left that place at super-speed while the grunts were blinded by the blue flames. "Dammit! Where the hell did he go?" asked LiNT as he looked around. Then suddenly, Ryuumaru's voice was heard ecoing throughout the mansion: "You kids want to kill me, don't you? In that case, find me in the mansion, if you can, that is". After that, chaos said "Listen, we're going to split up again! Go wherever you want! I have no time to give you guys any further instructions this time around!", and then the five grunts all split up to search the mansion for Ryuumaru.
LiNT was running along a hallway on the mansion's first floor. Then suddenly, Ryuumaru's Latios flew out of the mansion's bathroom and got in front of LiNT (the door leading to the bathroom was open, as Hazerider opened it when he entered it earlier). Then LiNT looked at Latios, but before he could react, Latios casted an illusion on him. In the illusion, LiNT found himself in a beautiful garden. "Wh-what? Where am I? How did I get here?" asked LiNT as he looked around and saw many beautiful flowers in the garden. Then he saw a young, beautiful girl with blonde hair and blue eyes and wearing a bikini standing somewhere in the garden. This girl looked exactly like LiNT's dream girlfriend, and she was standing there, smiling and waving at LiNT. Then LiNT smiled, and then he started running towards the girl. But it was all an illusion, and in reality, LiNT was really running into the mansion's dining room, where Ryuumaru's Gyarados was waiting for him. Back in LiNT's illusion, LiNT was now running close to the girl, while in reality, he was really running towards Ryuumaru's Gyarados in the dining room, which had its mouth open. Then LiNT approached the girl in his illusion, but soon after that, the girl and the whole garden where he was in started fading away! "What? What's happening? Everything's not right..." said LiNT as he watched everything in his illusion fading away. His illusion had now ended, and he now found himself standing inside Ryuumaru's Gyarados's mouth! "Wh-where am I?" asked LiNT, but he was immediately crushed by Gyarado's powerful fangs. Then Gyarados ate him, and that was the end of LiNT's life.
Meanwhile, Steelicks was running along a hallway in the mansion's second floor. Suddenly, he bumped into Aya. "Aya!" said Steelicks. "Hey Steelicks, I found Ryuumaru! And he has his back turned right now! We can just sneak up behind him and shoot him at the back to end everything!" Aya whispered. "You found him? Where is he?" asked Steelicks. "Come with me!" said Aya, and then she started walking silently towards a door, while Steelicks followed her. When they reached the door, Aya opened it and said "Look in here!" Then Steelicks looked inside and saw a bedroom. Then he entered it, but as soon as he did, Ryuumaru's Arcanine suddenly jumped out and swallowed him alive! Then Aya winked at Ryuumaru's Arcanine, and after that, she transformed into a Latias! That was not Aya at all, it was just Ryuumaru's Latias transformed into her!
Meanwhile, the real Aya was exploring the mansion's basement. She entered a room with a large table in the middle of it, and there were many umbrellas placed on the desk. Suddenly, she saw Ryuumaru standing in the room. "Yo" said Ryuumaru as he looked at Aya. "T-Take this!" said Aya as she jumped back, and then she started firing at Ryuumaru repeatedly with her shotgun, but Ryuumaru was blocking each bullet easily with his sword. After a while, Aya stopped shooting, and then tried to run towards the opposite from where she came from, but then Ryuumaru's Tyranitar got in front of her! Then she tried to shoot the Tyranitar with her shotgun, but the Tyranitar, which had the ability to control sand, created a thick wall of sand in front of itself, which protected it from the shot. Then Tyranitar blasted some sand at Aya, covering her entire body. Then Ryuumaru said "Kill her, Tyranitar!", and then Tyranitar made the sand around Aya's body implode, crushing Aya, and then her blood started spouting out of the sand at the ceiling like a volcanic eruption. After that, Ryuumaru put his Tyranitar back into its PokéBall. Then he grabbed an umbrella from the room, and then he started running through the mansion at extreme speed. In less than one second, he ran from the mansion's basement all the way up to the first floor, and then he went outside, to the mansion's backyard. He also saw his own Dragonite there.
Just then, chaos arrived at the mansion's backyard too, and he saw Ryuumaru and his Dragonite. "I finally found you!" said chaos as he fired at Ryuumaru with his shotgun, but Ryuumaru blocked the bullet with his sword. "When would you ever learn? There's no way an attack of that level would ever work against a powerful Shinigami like me!" said Ryuumaru as he pointed his finger at chaos's shotgun. Then he said "Destructive Art 4: White Lightning!", and then he blasted a beam of lightning out of his finger at chaos's shotgun, destroying it. Then chaos said "How about this then?" as he took out a PokéBall and threw it to the ground, and out came his Lapras, which was fully healed in the Pokémon Center. "Lapras, Hydro Pump attack! Now!" said chaos, and then Lapras used Hydro Pump on Ryuumaru, but Ryuumaru opened up the umbrella he took before and used it to block the Hydro Pump. "Lapras! Use Ice Beam!" said chaos, and then Lapras used Ice Beam on Ryuumaru, but then Ryuumaru said "Destructive Art 31: Shot of Red Fire!" as he pointed his palm at the Ice Beam, and then he blasted a ball of red fire out of his palm, melting the Ice Beam. Then Ryuumaru's Dragonite stepped forward. "You want to fight, do you, Dragonite? In that case, I'm leaving the Lapras to you..." said Ryuumaru, and then Dragonite nodded. "You're fighting my Lapras with a Dragonite? Hmph! Big mistake! I think you called yourself a "Pokémon Master" earlier, did you? In that case, this is a mistake you really should not have made!" said chaos. "A mistake? I see. In that case, show me my mistake if you can!" said Ryuumaru. "I will! Lapras, Ice Beam attack now!" said chaos, and then Lapras blasted an Ice Beam at Dragonite. "Do it, Dragonite!" said Ryuumaru, and then Dragonite suddenly dissapeared just as it was about to get hit by the Ice Beam. "What? It dissapeared?" asked chaos as he grasped. Then Ryuumaru said "You wish. My Dragonite did not dissapear. It's just that it's moving faster than your eyes can follow... that's all...", and then Dragonite suddenly reappeared behind Lapras and took it out with a single Horn Drill attack! "Dammit! This thing ain't normal!" said chaos as he charged at the Dragonite with his long sword, but the Dragonite used Horn Drill again, destroying chaos's long sword, and then it hit chaos hard with its tail, sending him flying until he hit a wall of the mansion, and then that wall was destroyed. "What's wrong? Is this as far as you go?" asked Ryuumaru as he started walking towards chaos slowly, and then he put his Dragonite back into its PokéBall. "You jerk..." said chaos as he got up from the ground. "So you can still stand up even after taking an attack from my Dragonite? That alone is already impressive for a mere human..." said Ryuumaru. "Shut up!" said chaos as he charged at Ryuumaru with his katana, but Ryuumaru blocked the katana with his own sword, and some sparks went flying when the two blades collided. Now, both chaos and Ryuumaru had their swords pushing against each other, and both swords are pointing diagonally upward, and the two swords are now forming an "x". "...but you're still not enough to defeat me!" said Ryuumaru, and then he pushed his sword down, in a way so that the tip of his blade is now pointing diagonally towards the ground, at chaos's foot, more specifically. Chaos's sword was also pushed by Ryuumaru's sword, and now, it is also pointing at Ryuumaru's foot. The two swords are still forming an "x", though they're now pointing downward rather than upward. Then, from this position, Ryuumaru lifted his sword up, cutting chaos's stomach open, and then chaos stepped back as blood was coming out of his stomach rapidly like a waterfall. "It's over, Rocket!" said Ryuumaru as he stabbed his sword straight through chaos's head, killing him, and then he fell on the ground. Then Ryuumaru said "Destructive Art 54: Waste Flames!" as he pointed his finger at chaos's corpse, and then he blasted some flames out of his finger, which burnt chaos into ashes within a matter of seconds. After that, he jumped all the way from the mansion's backyard up to the mansion's rooftop, and then he sat there, looking at the crescent Moon in the sky.
Meanwhile, Antony was still looking for Ryuumaru inside the mansion. He is now in the third floor. Then he suddenly heard Ryuumaru's voice coming from the mansion's roof: "Looking for me, Rocket? I'm up here. Consider yourself lucky to be the last one to survive!". Then Antony immediately ran to the room with the stairs leading to the roof. Then he ran up the stairs and saw Ryuumaru sitting on the roof and staring at the sky. "So you've finally come..." said Ryuumaru as he got up and faced Antony. Immediately after that, lightning and thunder started happening in the sky, and a strong wind started blowing. Then Antony said "Last one to survive? You mean...". "Yeah, that's what I mean" Ryuumaru replied. "All your comrades... are dead. You're the last living Rocket in this mansion". After that, Antony and Ryuumaru both stopped for one minute, and the only sounds which could be heard within that minute were the strong wind blowing and the thunders coming from the sky...
"DIE!!!" Antony suddenly shouted as he pointed his shotgun at Ryuumaru, but before he could fire, Ryuumaru had already moved right in front of him and grabbed his shotgun! "I-Impossible! Such speed is..." said Antony as he was shocked. "Don't use this toy. It's already proven countless times that it does not work against me. Give up with it" said Ryuumaru as he snatched the shotgun off Antony's hand and threw it off the side of the mansion. Then Antony tried to punch Ryuumaru, but Ryuumaru blocked the punch with the umbrella which he took before. "Dammit! *bleep*ing dammit! This guy... he took out chaos, Aya, Steelicks AND LiNT all by himself? And on top of that, his movement earlier... when he grabbed my shotgun... I couldn't even react until it was too late! This has gotta be a joke... it's a *bleep*ing joke! What the hell is this guy? Can someone as fast and strong as he is... really exist?" said Antony, and then he turned around and tried to run down the stairs leading to the third floor as fast as he could, but before he even reached the bottom of the stairs, Ryuumaru moved in front of him instantly! "What's the matter? I thought you were going to kill me..." said Ryuumaru as he jabbed Antony on the stomach with his palm, sending him flying to the other side of the mansion's rooftop, and he almost fell off the roof! "Dammit! Why did I try to run away just then? It doesn't make sense! This guy's speed... he's... he's obviously way faster than me... so why... why did I try to run away? I... I gotta fight... it's my only hope of getting outta here alive... it's pointless to run away from someone who'll obviously catch up to me..." said Antony as he breathed heavily. "So what is your resolve?" asked Ryuumaru. "I'm gonna beat the shit outta ya!" Antony answered, and then he started running across the rooftop to where Ryuumaru is. Then he tried to punch Ryuumaru as hard and fast as he could, but Ryuumaru ducked and avoided the punch. Then Ryuumaru did an upward kick at Antony, sending him flying high up into the sky. Then Ryuumaru watched as Antony went flying up higher and higher, until it seems as if he was just above the crescent Moon hanging in the sky (he's obviously not higher than the Moon, but from the angle which Ryuumaru was looking at him, it seems as if he was just directly above the Moon)! At that moment, Ryuumaru immediately pointed his finger at Antony in the sky. Then he said "Destructive Art 90: Black Coffin!", and then a large cube made of black energy suddenly appeared around Antony's entire body! The cube was big enough so that from Ryuumaru's angle, it covered the entire Moon in the sky, so Ryuumaru could not see it temporarily! After a few seconds, the cube dissapeared, and then blood started spouting of Antony's entire body towards every direction, and Ryuumaru saw Antony right in front of the Moon, with blood coming out of him! So much blood was coming out of his body that a rain of blood happened, which covered the entire area of the mansion! Then Ryuumaru immediately opened up the umbrella he took before, and he covered himself so that the blood would not fall on him. Then Antony's body, which had already lost 80% of its blood started falling back down again, while the rain of blood was still happening. Then, when Antony's body fell to the midpoint between the Moon and the mansion's roof (again, from Ryuumaru's angle ofcourse), a huge bolt of lightning came down from the sky and struck Antony's body in mid-air, splitting it in half, and then one half of his body went flying and fell off the left side of the mansion, while the other half of his body went flying and fell off the right side of the mansion. The bolt of lightning was soon followed by a loud thunder, which came as soon as the rain of blood ended. After that, Ryuumaru's Gyarados, Arcanine, Latias and Latios came out of the stairs leading to the third floor, and they've made their way to the mansion's roof, where Ryuumaru was. "Good job, guys" said Ryuumaru as he put all his Pokémon back into their PokéBalls. After that, he threw his umbrella away, and then he was about to leave, when suddenly, five ghosts appeared before him, and they were all floating in the air. They were the ghosts of chaos, Antony, Aya, LiNT and Steelicks, who were all killed by Ryuumaru before! "Don't think you can just kill us and get away with it!" said LiNT's ghost, and then the five ghosts all started flying towards Ryuumaru. Then Ryuumaru looked at the ghosts and said "I'm sorry, but this is the last and biggest mistake you five will ever make in this world! You all would've had a much better time if you had just stayed quietly in this mansion... atleast until some other Shinigami finds you... In fact, staying here quitely would have been the best option for you, as there's no way any of you could ever go to heaven anyway, which is the only better place for you ghosts. Now that you're coming after me, you'll only have one possible destination...", and then he hit all five ghosts with one swing of his sword, and as soon as soon as the ghosts were hit, a blood-red light suddenly filled the entire area. Then Ryuumaru said "That destination... is hell... where you five will be tortured for eternity due to all the sins you have committed during your life...", and then suddenly, a huge purple gate which was two storeys high and had a huge skeleton attached to each of the two doors on the gate appeared behind the ghosts. Then the two skeletons attached to the purple gate both pulled the doors of the gate open, and then the five ghosts all turned around and saw some red light and a strong wind coming from inside the gate. They also saw two gigantic chains forming an "x" inside the gate. "Wh-what is this?" asked Aya's ghost. "The Gates of Hell" Ryuumaru answered. "H-Hell?" asked Antony's ghost. Then Ryuumaru said "Yes. A Shinigami's Zanpakutou can only wash away sins committed after death. For those who've committed mortal sins in life, the Gates of Hell will open", and then suddenly, a gigantic hand holding an equally huge sword came out of the Gates of Hell, and then it stabbed straight through chaos Antony, Aya, Steelicks and LiNT. After that, the five ghosts all cried in pain, and then they were dragged into into the Gates of Hell by the gigantic hand. "B-But... wh-when did we commit a mortal sin during life?" asked chaos. "Ever since you joined the organization of Team Rocket" Ryuumaru answered. "D-Dammit! P-please don't send us to hell! I... I beg of you! I... I don't want to suffer for eternity! I really don't!" said Steelicks. Then Ryuumaru said "I'm not the one who decides whether you go to hell or heaven. You are the one who decides that". "Wh-what?" asked Steelicks. Then Ryuumaru said "When my Zanpakutou touched your soul, you are sent to either heaven or hell, depending on how much you've sinned during your life. So it was not entirely my decision that you're going to hell. The only decision I made in this was that you won't be staying in this world, and instead, you'll be sent to either heaven or hell. That is why I told you that it'll be better for you had you stayed quietly in this mansion, as that way, you would've atleast stayed in this world by avoiding being hit by my Zapankutou. Believe it or not, but although this world is nothing compared to heaven, which you won't be going to anyway due to all your sins, it is an infinitely better place than hell!", and then the Gates of Hell closed. After that, it cracked into many tiny pieces, which all dissapeared into thin air. Then Ryuumaru jumped all the way from the mansion's roof down to the ground below, before walking away from the now no-longer-haunted mansion.
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The woman and I made the 3 hour drive today from Spring Hill to Daytona (Her sister said it would be 2- 2 1/2 hours lol) we ended up getting there late (just shy of halfway in the first duel) We stopped at an info booth to ask where we buy tickets, the woman working the info booth pulled a pair of tickets out of the lanyard around her neck and said "Here take mine They were given to me, but since I'm workin I can't use them. Have fun". I was floored, I didnt know what to say or do. I tried giving her money she wouldnt take it.she said I didnt pay anything for them, I cant charge you for them. I didnt want to take them but she insisted.
The racing was pretty good in the first race, it didnt seem as good in the second till the very end. We had a blast, and I got a few pretty good pics I will post when we get home. Hopefully alot more pics on Sun. The thing that surprised me the most was the sheer size of the place, it is huge. was surprised too to learn the grandstands are made of wood, very oldschool. I am so looking forward to Sunday. its going to be a wild and crazy day. cant wait to meet jsw14

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© Times-Herald photo by Lisa Goudy
James Oakley stands next to the anonymously donated granite marker placed on the grave of his mother, Marilyn.
By Lisa Goudy
James Oakley was pleased when he placed a granite marker on his mother's grave on Friday.
"I'm happy for it," said Oakley. "I like (having) this instead of the other thing I had at home."
The granite marker was donated anonymously following the approval Oakley had recently received from city council to install a marker on the grave of his mother, Marilyn Oakley, who died on Jan. 16, 2010 at age 64.
Oakley said he was very thankful for the assistance from Remco Memorial Ltd, as well as the anonymous donor and Citizens All. He is a participant with Citizens All, which is a local organization to support people with intellectual disabilities who still live on their own.
Oakley had appeared before city council on April 2 to request permission to place an oval-shaped metal marker on his mother's grave. The parks and recreation advisory committee had previously denied his request because the metal marker did not meet the city's monument regulations.
For more information, see an upcoming edition of the Times-Herald.


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Hundreds attend King celebration at Capitol
Events mark Martin Luther King Jr. day in Wis.
The widow of a leader in the Milwaukee civil rights movement of the 1960s said anyone who tries to curtail union rights is not following the tradition of Martin Luther King Jr.
The comments of Margaret Rozga, the widow of Father James Groppi, came during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration at the state Capitol.
Gov. Scott Walker sat just feet away from Rozga as she said anyone who tries to curtail collective bargaining rights of workers or suppresses the right to vote "doesn't stand with us."
Her comments drew cheers from the audience of hundreds in the Capitol.
Rozga's comments were in apparent reference to Walker's proposals curbing public workers collective bargaining rights and requiring photo identification at the polls.
Walker later read an MLK Day proclamation, and he asked people to honor King in their own ways.
"Today I'd remind us all here, in the words that we've heard and the words we'll hear the rest of the day, to find ways in our own homes, in our own communities, across the state and around the world, to find ways to spread a little bit of that love to the lives around us," Walker said.
The celebration at the Capitol featured music, speeches and prayers.
In addition to the governor, Madison Mayor Paul Soglin and University of Wisconsin President Kevin Reilly were among those who attended the state's 33rd annual tribe and ceremony on Monday honoring King.
Journalist and author John W. Fountain gave the keynote address. Howard Fuller, the former superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools received the MLK 2013 Heritage Award. Father James Groppi, an activist who died in 1985, also received the award which was presented to his widow.
The event featured performances from Milwaukee's Latino Arts Strings program, Ho-Chunk Native American Drum and Dance Ensemble, Malcolm Williams and the Voices of Great Faith and Madison Bagpipers.
Copyright 2013 by Channel 3000. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Enjoy the colour and drama of India's festive pageantry
Desert Festival, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan
The Desert Festival is a three-day extravaganza of colour, music and festivity, held at the golden city of Jaisalmer. Gair and Fire dancers swaying to traditional tunes, camel polo and camel dance, display of the most glorious moustaches, a turban tying competition and a Mr. Desert Contest are the highlights of the fun and frolic. Folk performers such as snake charmers, puppeteers and acrobats add to the vibrancy of the occasion.


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BioAudible began in early 2000 as the solo musical indulgence of Mike Kennedy. While toiling away behind the drumset for various well-known Philadelphia bands (Lefty's Deceiver, Mesmer), Mike began sketching out "songs" on a four track, using a borrowed sm57 and a five dollar guitar. Audible was the name he wrote on the tape cases, reason unknown. It had something to do with football.
After agreeing to fill a last minute opening slot at a local club (despite never having sung in public before), Mike implored his roommate and then-girlfriend Mary Garito to do the following things: help him finish the songs, sing backup, play the Casio sk-1 and egg shaker. She agreed. Their first show was opening for Bright Eyes.
It worked. Over the next year, Audible performed whenever Mike's other bands weren't, opening for Eltro, Mazarin, and Momus, among others. Mike's songs eventually outgrew the duo format, and hence his childhood friend Jim Kehoe joined as a second guitarist. Cool.
A year later Mike and Jim joined the emerging Philly band matt pond PA and went on tour for about two years, effectively putting Audible on hold. Oh, and then Mike and Mary broke up. None of this stopped the band. Whenever Mike wasn't playing drums with Matt Pond he was recording songs with Mary and Jim using ProTools and a borrowed ksm44. Some of these seminal recordings were released as Opening Acts and Great Surprises, a split EP with songwriter Adam Arcuragi. More of these songs were released in October 2004 on Sidetrack Stars, another split with good friends The Swivel Chairs.
In 2003, Mike and Jim parted ways with matt pond PA and turned their attention to Audible. Deciding it was time to become a full-fledged band, they added Lefty's Deceiver bassist Kris Muller to the lineup. Along with guest-star drummer Sean Byrne (Mazarin, Twin Atlas, BC Camplight), the group recorded its first proper full-length in apartments all over Philly and Brian McTear's Miner Street Studios.
The final piece of the puzzle was located in the short summer of 2004,when drummer Steve Cawley walked through the band's garage door and promptly played every song on the record note-for note. Also, he brought with a six-pack, and was awarded bonus points for this. His first show with the band was in July 2004, opening for matt pond PA. Small town.


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"I am a convert to the Catholic Church and barely knew the basics about the faith. I have learned so much since I have been listening to Catholic Answers Live. Thank you for answering my questions and helping me better understand my faith."
"Since He Himself has declared and said of the bread: This is My Body, who shall dare to doubt any more?"


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Center for Adolescent Research in Schools (CARS)
CARS is a research study examining intervention for high school age students with social, emotional, and behavioral problems. CARS is a national research center funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES).
Our mission is to develop and evaluate interventions for adolescents with social, emotional, and behavioral problems.
Each of the principal investigators has been engaged in meaningful research focused on the critical issues faced by youth with emotional and behavioral concerns for decades. The three investigators are joined by a strong research team of scholars who share a committment to intervention development and evaluation for adolescents with emotional and behavioral needs.
We develop, adapt, and evaluate interventions to help strategies for supporting these students. In addition to identifying effective techniques, we also will strive to ensure that the interventions are comprehensive, culturally relevant, and practical. Interventions can be found in the following manuals:


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"I am a cradle Catholic and my husband of eight years just went through RCIA this Easter. Praise the Lord! His conversion was due, in large part, to your show and the awesome answers of Tim Staples, Jimmy Akin, and the rest of the gang. Your show has helped me, my now husband, grow deeply in love with the Church."
~ Patty
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"There is one jewel for my poor soul, in a life which desires not sin; it is the beads... Suitable are these for a gift; bits of the tree of Him Who redeemed us."
~ Gitto'r Glyn, Welsh poet; opening lines from his "popish" Cywydd y paderau prennau (Ode to the Wooden Beads); secretly circulated among private Catholic homes in Wales during the English persecutions, when possession meant a death sentence.


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Melatonin for sleep disorders – Safe and effective?
It's summertime, and the living is easy. Forget the solstice. For most of North America, this week is the real start of summer – July 1 in Canada, and July 4 in the USA. Vacation time means breaking out of that those usual routines of work and school. I'm amazed after a few weeks of vacation how much sleep my body will accept if given the opportunity, where it will climb from six to nine hours a night within a week. I try not to change my kids' habits too much, and one area I'm fairly disciplined with is maintaining a predictable sleep/wake cycle, even when they're on vacation. I've learned, mainly through trial and error, that I suffer the consequences when my own kids don't get enough sleep, or when their sleep cycle is thrown off. It wasn't always like this. I remember a period of what felt like years when I had to crawl out of my child's bedroom on my hands and knees so as to not disturb a child who simply would not fall asleep. And when it finally, mercifully, occurred, it would be a brief respite before the cycle began again. The sleepless nights left us all cranky and exhausted. Admittedly I was fortunate, either due to my successful parenting (but more likely mean reversion) and my kids are pretty good sleepers now. I'm reminded of my good fortune when I speak with exhausted and frustrated parents who have children that cannot sleep and are worried about the causes and consequences of persistent insomnia. As a pharmacist I'm regularly asked about insomnia for both kids and adults as there are a number of over-the-counter products available, and many consumers are understandably apprehensive about seeking out prescription products. Tell someone there's "natural supplement" for sleep and there's usually a lot of interest. That's what I've seen with melatonin, a hormone that is sold without a prescription in Canada, the United States, and other countries. It is widely perceived as safe and alternative health purveyors like naturopaths, and even some health professionals, may recommend it for treating sleeping problems in both adults and children. Beyond sleeping, some believe melatonin is a wonder drug with efficacy for diseases ranging from chronic fatigue to cancer to irritable bowel. (more…)


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Have you ever repeated a word over and over in your head so many times that it eventually loses its meaning and starts to sound like nonsense? It happened to me the other day with the word "lemon."
I said lemon so many times that it started to sound like a word I made up. Or like a word from a foreign language. After a while, the word "lemon" was meaningless — it no longer represented a tangy, yellow fruit. It was just a funny sounding nonsense word running through my head.
I think Satan likes to use a similar technique to get us to stop caring about the hurting people of the world.
Whenever we make an emotional connection to someone in need, we are motivated to act. So by getting us to feel disconnected from a certain group of hurting people, he gets us to stop acting on behalf of those who need help. One of the ways he does this is through what's been called "compassion burnout" or "compassion fatigue."
When a major crisis happens, the news media often reports it so quickly and intensely that for a time, it's pretty much impossible to get away from it.
Remember watching TV the week after September 11, 2001? No matter where I looked, I couldn't escape the horrific images. Those first few days, I couldn't watch the news without crying. But after a while, I had heard the same stories reported so many times that they no longer affected me the way they did at first. I got used to the horror. I got numb.
Were any of you in this same boat with me? Maybe for you it was the coverage from Hurricane Katrina. Or the Asian tsumani. Or the earthquake in China. Or the Global Food Crisis. The list seems endless, doesn't it?
This article, recently posted on urbana.org, addesses the idea of compassion burnout.
What do you do when you've heard something so many times that you get fatigued … you're tired of helping, tired of giving, tired of caring?
How do you keep from getting overwhelmed with the desperate needs of the poor or numb to their pleas for help? How do you not get discouraged by the never-ending necessity for compassion?
The article includes several good suggestions for preventing burnout.
But what I'd love to know is how you deal with this on a personal level. Are there things we can do in bringing the needs of the poor to your attention that will help create the emotional connection and keep our stories from getting stale?
UPDATE: Aug. 25, 2011 – The article is no longer available on urbana.org.


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"Banana Belt Kelly"
Story by Marcia Farrell, Employment Services Team, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, State of Washington Department of Social and Health Services
Kelly Yarnes had a vision and a dream of being self employed. For many years, she wanted to own and operate her own gift shop where she could sell handmade lavender sachets, handmade greeting cards, garden décor and other gift items. But Kelly faced formidable odds against her dream becoming a reality because of a disability.
Since birth, Kelly has had a seizure disorder that affects learning. She was in special education classes throughout school and struggled with reading, writing and math. When under stress or exceptionally tired, Kelly experienced severe seizures and, as a result, many activities were off limits. However, Kelly has never let obstacles get in her way. She was a Gold Medalist in the 1988 International Special Olympics held in Germany, where she represented the United States and had the distinguished honor of lighting the Special Olympics flame.
Since 1996, Kelly has been known in Sequim, Washington, as "The Lavender Lady." Every third weekend in July during the annual Lavender Festival, Kelly greets guests at the Olympic Lavender Farm wearing a Victorian dress and fancy, broad-brimmed hat. Her long auburn hair is tied off with bright ribbons. Kelly's picture appears on postcards, posters and blankets throughout the area. She has also volunteered many weekends at the Sequim Open Aire Market helping others sell lavender products — always dressed in her Victorian costumes.
For years, Kelly had been baking and selling banana bread and fresh eggs gathered on the family farm she cared for. She had a roadside stand and usually sold out of her products within the hour. Neighbors and passersby came knocking on her front door to see if she had more of her delicious homemade Banana Bread to sell.
In spite of her success, Kelly wanted more. She had worked in fast food restaurants, pizza parlors, was a dining room attendant and a janitor — all viable and worthy occupations. Yet she still dreamed of owning her own shop. You might wonder "how could a woman with severe learning disabilities, an IQ of 54, and a seizure disorder even imagine having her own store, let alone taking care of all that goes along with self employment?" Read on.
When Kelly lost her job as a pizza prep worker in December 2006, she nearly gave up on employment altogether. Then, Kelly, along with her mother, Laurie, and her vocational rehabilitation (VR) counselor started brainstorming and Kelly shared her long-standing employment goal with her counselor. "My dream job would be to meet and greet people at a bed and breakfast, make lavender sachets, and sell them along with other gifts or garden décor in a little store at my house".
From this tiny entrepreneurial concept, Banana Belt Kelly evolved. Kelly and her VR counselor worked together to develop a self employment plan while Kelly continued to stockpile handmade sachets, her own greeting cards, antiques and collectibles by frequenting "going out of business" sales. People who met and heard of Kelly's vision and dream were constantly contributing to her collection.
In July 2009, two years after that first brainstorming meeting, Kelly saw her dream fulfilled when Banana Belt Kelly officially opened its doors. Kelly immediately started giving back to her community by collecting small donations at the sales counter for the Epilepsy Foundation. While Banana Belt Kelly is a destination in itself, it is not the end of Kelly's dream but only the beginning. Her story illustrates beautifully the spirit and intent of the public VR program – to deliver services and expertise that level the playing field and enable individuals with disabilities to pursue and achieve employment that is meaningful and fulfilling. Kelly Yarnes is a testament to the power of the human spirit to keep a dream alive no matter what.
- Washington State Division of Vocational Rehabilitation
- National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR)
- Banana Belt Kelly
481 Riverside Road
Sequim, WA 98382
Phone: 360-582-0339
Fax: 360-582-0339
E-mail: email@example.com
The contents of this document do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of Education, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
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