MAKING THE PARTY

by Barnj


Rad, mediator, and Orlandu, master swordsman, were practicing their fighting against a goblin and two red panthers. Rad enthusiastically shot a red panther with his romada gun, but before he pulled the trigger, the red panther swiped Rad with his claw, knocking him to the ground. Orlandu, with an annoyed look on his face, charged up to the red panther and killed him with a single blow. The other red panther and the goblin headed towards Orlandu, but before they could attack, Orlandu held down his sword and electrecuted both of them.

Ed came in and used a phoenix down on Rad. "Good job, Orlandu, but I'm fed up with your arrogance," he said. "You may be a better fighter than Rad, but you're a team. You can't just push him aside."

Mustiado, ninja, said to Orlandu, "This is a team effort. You're not just Orlandu, you're part of a team!"

"Come on, we've only got 2 weeks! We've got to get moving," said Ed. "I want to see you in battle with them!"

Mustiado, Reda (summoner), and Village Idiot (monk) faced up against a marbol, a bonesnatch, and a wild archer named Ted. Mustiado threw a yagu darkness into the chest of Ted. "Good work, that's the way to do it!" encouraged Village Idiot. Mustiado, feeling good about himself, had his brave raised by 4. Reda moved to the corner, chanting the mysterious words. She was planning to call upon the powers of cyclops to exercise his wrath upon the marbol and bonesnatch. The bonesnatch, seeing his doom, charged up to Reda and stabbed her with a knife. Reda staggered around, but, reaching into her purse, grabbed a potion to alleviate some of the damage. Ted glared angrily at Mustiado, and fired off his mithril bow. The quick and agile ninja Mustiado dodged the arrow and ran towards Ted to slash him with the spell edge. Ted became frozen by the mystical powers of the sword. Mustiado slashed him again. Ted fell to the ground, dead. Then, the earth began to shake as a huge beast, Clops, grumbled, "You called?" With a swing of his mighty arm, both the marbol and the bonesnatch had fallen.

Ed said, "Great job! Now, Reda, I think you're experienced enough for me to teach you this spell." He chanted mystic words in a forgotten language. A huge dragon appeared. Ed lowered his hand, and the dragon disappeared. "If you master this spell, you should be unstoppable in battle."

Then he went up to Mustiado. "I think it's time for you to learn the art of throwing an axe. Now, the trick to throwing an axe is to get it to swirl the right number of times, so that the sharp edge, rather than the blunt edge, digs into the chest of your foe. Allow me to demonstrate. Susan, get me a monster!"

All of a sudden, a geravis flew up. Ed took a careful aim and flung the great axe, chopping off the head of the geravis in one blow.

"Mustiado," he said, "You try."

A bull demon charged up to Mustiado. With barely a second to aim, he threw the axe into the chest of the bull demon, who fell to the ground, dead.

"Good job," encouraged Ed.

Rad added, "That's the way to do it, Moost!" However, Mustiado seemed unaffected by Rad's words. The letters, "MISS" appeared over Mustiado.

"Let's call it a day, everyone!" The fighters retreated to their quarters.

That night, Agrias, holy knight, flipped on the T.V. "I wonder what's on?" she said.

Beowolf, temple knight, said, "Wow, it's already Friday," as he sat down on the couch.

Agrias changed the channel to 22. Sister, Sister is on.

"Oh, come on," shouted Beowolf. "PLEASE don't make me watch this!"

"I like Sister, Sister! They get into twice as much trouble, but have twice as much fun!"

Beowolf angrily grabbed the remote out of Agrias's hand. Agrias opened her mouth to yell, but Beowolf lowered his sword and shouted, "MUTE!" That shut Agrias up, and sent her storming out of the room to get herself an echo screen.

Beowolf then flipped the channel to 4. Making the Band was on. "I sure hope that Asian guy makes the band," Beowolf thought to himself.

Mueller, dishonorable samurai, stepped in the room. "Wow, I love this show! What's happened?"

"I don't know," replied Beowolf. "I just started watching."

Off in the corner, Rad was practicing his fighting skills. He punched and kicked the air. Orlandu chuckled to himself as he walked over. "Pracicing now? It won't do you any good. You're a pathetic fighter. Just give up now."

Meanwhile, Mustiado got off his computer and stopped the task of creating a schematic diagram for his circuit. He walked up to Orlandu and angrily said, "You can't talk to people here that way. We're all a team!"

Orlandu angrily yelled, "Shut up!!!!! Mind your own business!"

Before Mustiado could counter, Orlandu angrily punched him. Mustiado dodged the attack. "Violence... That's a mature way to go about things, Orlandu," said Mustiado sarcastically.

Orlandu began to draw his excalibur.

All of a sudden, Cloud, a soldier, and Boyce, a knight, got up from their came of Jack of Hearts. Beowolf and Mueller got off the couch. All four of them tackled Orlandu before he could fully draw his sword.

Orlandu got up and grumpily wandered off to his quarters.

Mustiado said, "We have to have a meeting about this. Cloud, go get Village Idiot out of his room. Beowolf, I think Reis and Worker 8 are playing pool, you get them. Mueller, get Tiara, Malak, and Reda. OK, let's all meet in the mess hall."

It took a while, but all of the fighters were able to meet in the mess hall.

Mustiado said, "What are we going to do about Orlandu and his attitude?"

"Yeah... He may be a really good fighter, but I can't work with someone who doesn't think this is a team," Village Idiot added.

"If Orlandu makes the party, I'm walking," said Mustiado. "I can't go around fighting demons and collecting stones with someone who has that kind of attitude."

Mueller suggested, "I think we should talk to Ed about this tomorrow."

"Let's all get some sleep," said Boyce. "We've got a big day tomorrow."

Worker 8 said, "Yeah! Big day, indeedy!"

That night, Mueller and Boyce were talking in their room.

"Boyce," said Mueller, "I'm really impressed with your weapon-breaking skills. How did you break that archer's mithril bow so easily?"

Boyce said, "The key is in the wrist. Forget about that... We've got to get some sleep. Tomorrow's a big day."

Agrias and Reis retreated to their room.

Agrias said to Reis, "Darn! I didn't get to see today's Sister, Sister!"

"Well, it's on five times a week," comforted Reis. "But, hey, I didn't get to see Boy Meets World. Well, as long as there are parents, as long as there are teachers, as long as as there are best friends, and as long as there are girls, there's Boy Meets World."

"Oh! I like the thing in Boy Meets World where Cory's mom says, 'Cory, I think this is the most wonderful thing in the world' and Cory's dad says, 'Son, this is the stupidest thing you've ever done.'"

"You know what else I like? Ben Savage's breakfast commercials!"

"Yeah! You gotta eat breakfast! ....Well... Let's go to bed."

"Agreed."


The next morning, Agrias and Reis woke up bright and early for breakfast. They had eggs and hash browns.

After breakfast, Worker 8 was playing PokŽmon: The Card Game with Rad. A large crowd was around him, because Worker 8 was the number one PokŽmon card player in the world.

"Har, har, har," said Rad. "...Charizard!"

Worker 8 seemed unphased. On his next turn, and, with a loud thud, Snubble hit the table. Rad was terrified.

Rad nervously tried to attach energy to Charizard, fearing that he may lose the game.

Worker 8 did nothing for his next turn, allowing Rad to attach more energy to Charizard instead of fighting back.

On Worker 8's next turn, Rad looked up in fear as Worker 8 pulled another card out of his hand. "Oh, please, don't let this be..." thought Rad to himself. As Worker 8 flipped up the card, Rad's worst fears came true. Worker 8 evolved Snubble into Snubble 2. Then he used its ability to win the game and took Rad's deck.

"DARN!" shouted Rad. "I spent hundreds of dollars on that deck!"

The crowd cheered for Worker 8. Then Worker 8 gave Rad's Charizard away to Cloud, who was about to play PokŽmon with Malak.

Ed came in, and said, "Time for work!"

"Ed!" called Mustiado. "I need to speak with you!"

"What is it?"

"We need a meeting about Orlandu."

"I know. Orlandu is an EXCELLENT fighter, but we just can't have that kind of attitude for such an important task. We need people who want to be here. And it doesn't seem like Orlandu really wants to be here. We'll have the meeting at 3:00. Tell everyone else. But Orlandu, of course." Changing the subject, he said, "Okay time for practice." He lead the party to a swamp.

Rad ran into the swamp, screaming and filled with enthusiasm.

Then all of a sudden a small squirrel jumped at him and clawed at his face. Rad screamed in pain and fell to the ground unconsious.

All of a sudden, he woke up seeing Mustiado's face. Mustiado said, "Are you all right?"

Orlandu chimed in, " You just got beaten up by a squirrel, how pathetic."

Mustiado said, "Orlandu, shut up. This is embarassing enough for him. Even though Rad is weak and pathetic and cannot fight better than a piece of dog tsop, no offense Rad, he is still part of the team and you don't talk that way to your teammates."

"But that fool didn't even get to the battle site yet and he is here knocked out cold by a squirrel!" Orlandu laughed. "A six inch tall squirrel!"

Mustiado, steaming with rage, raised his fist and was ready to hit Orlandu when Ed stepped in.

"Hey what's going on here?"

Mustiado responded, "Orla...."

Ed interrupted, "I don't care what happened. You two are teammates. You obviously aren't showing any team spirit. I will take this into account when I decide who makes the final party. Now off to the swamp."

As they approched the swamp, they were encountered by two ghosts and a revenant. Mustiado charged up to the revenant and struck him twice with his ninja sword. The revenant fell down dead. One ghost teleported. Rad foolishly cast drain on the ghost, resulting in Rad's death. Mustiado turned around and said, "Rad...." as Orlandu chuckled. A ghost threw a lightning bolt at Orlandu, who took damage but was barely phased. Orlandu then used Holy Explosion, which killed both ghosts.

Suddenly, Ed came in clapping. "Great job, great job. Quickest kill ever. Except for one point." He turned to the recovering Rad. "That was the stupidest move I've ever seen, Rad! I know you're very enthusiastic, and I like that. That's a quality I need to see in people who make the team. However, if you keep making such idiotic moves, I don't think I can have you on the team. Your enthusiam has been great, but your fighting skill is sub-par. Now let's all go to McDonald's for lunch.

They spent a day walking to the dot on the map that said McDonald's and pressed O.

Orlandu said, "Rad! You'll be working here after the party has been decided!"

"Hey!" retorted Rad. "This is the future captain of the party you're talking to!"

Ed overheard their conversation and chuckled.

Worker 8 said, "Me hungry! Me want food!"

Ed turned to Mustiado and said, "I sure could go for some South Gate Bundt Cake right now."

Rad, very hungry, came in, jumped to the front of the line, pushing a clown with red hair out of the way. "Give me a Chicken McNugget Happy Meal!"

All of a sudden, he felt a tap on his shoulder. "Excuse me," said the clown. "Do you know who I am?"

"No, but do you know who I am? I'm the future captain of the party that will recover the zodiac stones."

Ronald laughed. "You're pretty funny, making a clown laugh. But it looks to me that you couldn't even defeat my 2-year-old daughter, Ronaldina."

Rad, teeming with anger, pushed Ronald.

Ronald, barely phased by Rad's weak push, adjusted the flower on his shirt. "Mystical flower, wash my foe into oblivion! Flower Squirt!"

A very thin stream of water, much like the water from a small, 25-cent squirt gun, gushed forward at Rad. Rad fell to the ground.

Ed stepped in. "If you want to fight, you've got it, clown! Five on five! Outside, in the parking lot!" He turned to his teammate. "Village Idiot, prove yourself. Mustiado, show me some axe throwing. Reda, I haven't seen you fight in a while. Cloud, you're in. And then I, myself, am going to fight."

"I can easily match your team," said Ronald McDonald. "I choose Hamburglar...Ronaldina...myself. Uh.. Tom, get out of the drivethru booth! Joe! Stop making french fries! I have a job for you!"

They came to the parking lot. The quick and nimble Mustiado took out and axe and threw it at the 2-year-old Ronaldina, beheading her in one shot. He said to Ed, "You like that?" with a smile on his face.

Ronald McDonald screamed, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! You'll die for this, bastards!" He angrily ran up to Mustiado, taking out a McDonald's brand apple pie and shoving the hot food into Mustiado's face.

"It burns!" shouted Mustiado. "I can't see!"

Hamburglar ran up to Mustiado. "You took my best friend's daughter's life. I'll take your feather mantle." He grabbed for the mantle, but Mustiado turned his body away and pushed Hamburglar to the ground. He raised his sword and struck two blows to the Hamburglar.

Ed punched the drivethru boy, Tom, in the stomach.

Joe angrily charged up to the mighty Ed, but then was stunned.. He said, "Oh! Shoot! A steel needle!" Joe raised his excalibur above his head, and said, "Dark Sword, drain magic!" The magical energies of Ed seeped into Joe's sword.

"Fortunately, I'm a fighter, not a magic user," whispered Ed, too soft for Joe to hear.

With a flash, Reda teleported to the other side of the parking lot. The Hamburglar turned to Reda, winked, and brushed his hair with his hand. Reda was captivated by his charm.

Tom took a step forward, making him in a good position to throw a stone at Mustiado. "Oh, what's this on the floor?" said Tom. He saw a feather-like object on the floor. He held it up above his head and said, "I found a phoenix down!" He reached out for a stone, an threw it at Moost. However, unfortunately for Tom, Mustiado was too quick for the stone's throw of a measly squire.

Cloud said, "Mustiado finished off your daughter, now I'll finish you off! Climhazzard!" He damaged Ronald McDonald, but not critically.

"I'll get you for this, you bastard!" said Ronald. "Clowns of the past! Attack! Suddenly twelve clowns cartwheeled Mustiado. He was not nimble enough to avoid them. As the clowns left, Mustiado did not get up.

All of a sudden, the earth shook. The huge Clops appeared on the battlefield. Reda, lustfully looking at the Hamburglar, pointed to her former teammates. "You called?" He looked puzzled. "Them? I thought they were on your side. OK." With a huge punch, Clops took out Cloud.

Village Idiot rushed up to the Hamburglar and delivered a bone-crunching punch to the chest. The Hamburglar fell.

Ed took out Webster's Unabridged Dictionary and hurled the book at the Ronald, pages flopping at his head.

Joe turned toward Ed, raised his excalibur, yelling, "Icewolf Bite!" Ed stumbled from the damage and realized that his leather mantle was torn to shreds. Joe charged up to Village Idiot. However, before he could draw a weapon, Village Idiot punched him. Joe was stunned.

With a flash, Reda teleported to the other side of the parking lot. The Hamburglar turned to Reda, winked, and brushed his hair with his hand. Reda is captivated by his charm.

Tom reached into his pocket and threw a stone, hitting Mustiado in the head.

Cloud ran up to Tom and finished him off with a stab in the stomach.

Ronald said, "Clowns of the past! I summon you!" A bunch of crazy clowns came and cartwheeled, trampling Mustiado. After the clowns had come and gone, Mustiado couldn't get up.

All of a sudden, Reda raised her arms. A huge cyclops came down, saying, "You called?" He looked puzzled. "Them? I thought they were on your side. OK." With a huge punch, Clops took out Cloud.

Village Idiot pounded the ground, shaking the earth. After the quakes, Joe was vanquished. Ronald stumbled around, but stayed on his feet in the end.

Ed took out Webster's Unabridged Dictionary and hurled the book at the Hamburglar, pages flopping at his head.

Hamburglar stabbed Ed.

Ronald took out a balloon and makes it into a giraffe. The giraffe stated, "I'm ready for battle!"

Reda -Malak -Boyce -Reda -Mueller -Beowolf -Cloud -Orlandu -Rad -Mustiado -Village Idiot -Agrias -Worker 8 -Reis -Tiara