Welcome to Gaia! ::

The day seemed normal enough. The sun was shining, birds were singing, and Heart Shaped Toastie was taking advantage of the fantastic weather by going on a shopping spree. Sales as far as the eye could see, in preparation for the beginning of spring sent a shiver down her spine and made her giggle with glee, skipping from one rack to the next in mad shopping euphoria. It was then that she saw it: the perfect pink top to go with her outfit, sitting on a rack at the other end of the store. To Toastie it seemed to glow so perfect, entrancingly beautiful. She glided towards it as if on a cloud, reached out her hand to touch its silky soft sleeves, and that’s when she noticed it.

The color was fading, draining away from her hand as she touched the perfectly pink blouse. Retreating from her fingertips down to her toes, fading away from the shirt into the rack, into the floor, running out and away through the open door. Toastie stared at the once beautiful top, holding it at arms length as if it were diseased, and then she screamed.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Her shout rang out like a scene from a horror movie gone wrong and she fell to the ground sobbing. “Where are my beautiful colors going?!” she wept into her knees as a tiny red dot slowly began to focus in front of her.

Such a vibrant red against the dull black and white around it, it really wasn’t much of a surprise when the enticing glow of the tiny dot finally caught Toastie’s attention, causing her to spring to her feet in delight.
“COLOR!” The poor girl screamed, racing towards the glowing beam, reaching out a hand to touch it. Unfortunately for Toastie, her shopping spree had caused her to miss the town meeting that morning, at which Mayor Zaeyde had informed the town the there was a Sniper and two Crazed Killers, who had escaped from the county jail and were running rampant through the town.

The pretty sniper laser led Toastie out onto the Docks in Gambino Port, covered in fog like a scene from an old detective movie. It was quiet for a minute and then a foghorn sounded, signaling the two killers into action. A giant crane smashed Toastie up against a nearby warehouse, killing her upon impact. When they found her the next morning, a bloody smear of a message accompanied her mangled body, which read: ‘Let the games BEGIN!’

It had been a long ride in the car, but they were alone now. A Dragonflys Sin and HDogXero stood in the parking lot of the old Sniperville airport in trench coats.

“But H-Pup, I can’t get on that plane!” Sin protested, “what about us, I said I’d never leave you!”

“We’ll always have Durem, my dear, and right here right now, well it’s no place for you.”

Sin looked away speechless, she didn’t want to leave him. Here, he wasn’t much more than a walking target for those killers on the loose. HDog smiled and gently turned her face back towards him.

“Here’s lookin’ at you, k-!” He began, but his last words were stolen from him as a bullet entered his skull.

“H-Pup!” Sin shrieked, paralyzed with fear where she stood. This time, the sniper’s bullet had found its mark.

“We’re millionaires, boys! I’ll share it with all of you! In a few months, we’ll be up in lights in the Arena! MOMO, THE EIGHTH WONDER OF THE WORLD!” ~Volt.Cyver~ exclaimed ecstatically, gesturing like a madman. The largest momo monkey known to Gaia sat in a cage in front of him picking its nose. The few GCDers crowded around the cage looked at it, looked at Volt like he was crazy, and backed away slowly trying not to be noticed. Volt swung around, catching them in the act.

“Well... it IS a damned big monkey, isn’t it?” He asked them, turning again to size up the beast.

“Uh… Volt?” Someone piped in, “It’s smaller than the average Gaian. Nothing that size is going to terrify or amaze anyone.”

“But… but it’s twice the size of a regular momo! It’s huge!” Volt replied, quite a bit less confident than he was before.

“People just aren’t afraid of things smaller than them. It’s a proven fact.”

“Oh, fine.” Volt conceded, unlocking the door to the cage and setting the momo free. It ran off into the trees somewhere, probably to eat a banana or join the town’s scientific community.

Little did the momo know, there was someone waiting for it in the brush. A pair of hands reached out and grabbed the poor creature, handing it to their accomplice, who stuffed it into a burlap sack. The two were running through the trees, laughing madly and discussing how to use their new weapon, when one fell into a cleverly placed pitfall trap.

“NEVER LEAVE A MAN BEHIND!” The second killer shrieked, preparing to jump in after their comrade, when the other stopped them.

“No, we have more important fish to fry! Go on without me!” They yelled before the second killer had moved, “for Sparta!”

The second killer nodded, grabbed the momo sack, and sprinted off into the distance, yelling “FOR SPARTAAAAA!”

“Who have we here?!” A Dragonflys Sin snickered a few hours later. She was still wearing her trench coat, but it was caked with dirt from digging the hole. She seemed to have gone mad with revenge for HDogXero, her hair matted with sweat, mud smeared across her face. “Sinny caught a sniper? HOW DARE YOU KILL MY H-PUP! Let’s see who you really are.” Sin shrieked, dragging the killer out of the hole by the hair, and into the town square where she unmasked him.

“Tutsumi Hybrin?” Someone questioned, as the mask was removed.

“There’s blood on your hands, WHERE IS YOUR RIFLE?!” Sin exclaimed shaking his hands madly, which were indeed covered with a small amount of blood, most likely from skewering Vlad the night before.

“HE MUST BE A CRAZED KILLER!” Someone else yelled, and the crowd moved in around Tutsumi, attempting to scoop him up and deliver him to the jail boat.

“YOU’LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!” Tutsumi yelled, shaking himself free of Sin, and bolting madly away from the crowd, towards the docks where he could hide.

A cold chill had swept in around the docks unfortunately, freezing shallow pools of water into slippery ice and, as Tutsumi ran across the dock he slipped, falling into the murky water. The crowd watched Moo Ell scoop Tutsumi out of the water from the steam boat with a fishing net, as it neared the dock.

“Well… what now?” Merumiharu questioned, looking towards the rest of the crowd.

“Anyone up for sushi?” someone offered.

“Ugh, I’ve been off sushi ever since it rained down with every step a couple years ago, because of that awful database.” Another responded, and the crowd generally agreed.

“Well, how about some-!” Meru began, but before she could finish she was scooped up by Moo Ell’s fishing net, and dragged off to the harbor.

Meru turned on Moo Ell ready to clobber him, but stopped when everything flashed while she spoke. Her eyes widened, and her expression turned so nasty that Moo Ell nearly turned tail and ran right then and there. Meru didn’t like people messing with her words. She was a force to be reckoned with now, and Moo Ell was on her famous hit list.

Meanwhile, the second killer had already made their move. ~Volt.Cyver~ was on his way home, he was feeling a little disheartened, as his giant momo had failed him. At this rate, he’d never be rich and famous. He unlocked the front door and wandered inside, maybe watching some television would cheer him up. He flicked on the television, but the only thing that showed up was fuzz. Damned satellite never worked properly. Maybe tomorrow would be a better day.

Volt turned the set off, and began to hike up the stairs… down the hallway… into his bedroom…

“EEEKEEEKEEEKEEEKEEEKEEEKEEEK!” The giant momo pounced on him tearing at his face, his hair, anything within reach. He staggered backwards, blindly searching for something he could use to fend off the rabid creature, but the only thing that met his hands were banana peels, a burlap sack, and a couple of broken needles. The momo tore at his face, the pain was intense, but it wasn’t long until Volt stopped feeling. And breathing too, of course.

Town square was in pandemonium. Everywhere you turned, a GCDer was standing on a podium preaching about how they would make the town better. A couple mentioned the issues, while others went for popularity or threats. There was even a skeleton, the corpse of `iPocky still slumped over the podium bleeding in her underwear, and former Mayor Mori Bokusochi attempting to run from the jailboat.

buzzkid24 was appalled at the sight of it all as he strode through town, glancing through the newspaper. Some of the letters were a crusty red color he noticed, the printing press people probably hadn’t managed to get all remains of the interns out the day before. As he skimmed the pages, a shot rang out, and the sound of all the candidates -- aside from `iPocky’s corpse -- diving for safety was almost deafening.

buzz turned around just in time to see a flurry of limbs and cloth rocket towards him, tackling him to the ground as a bullet burst through the newspaper he had let go of.

“Close call, friend.” The g-teamer grinned, pulling buzz back onto his feet before running away.

“… close call indeed.” buzz sweated, leaning over to pick up the newspaper. Staring at the bullet hole in the page, buzz continued on his way.

The sniper cursed, those pesky g-teamers were beginning to get on their nerves. Turning, they fled into the shadows before anyone had known they were there.

“BUT I’M CLEARLY THE BEST CANDIDATE FOR MAYOR!” The Peanut Smuggler yelped, GCDers hanging off of her, trying to drag her towards the docks. She kicked and screamed, bit and clawed at anyone she could get her hands on.

The elections had brought quite a few interesting facts about Sniperville’s inhabitants to light. Slander and blackmail was running rampant, and poor Peanut had seemed too risky to have in the running for one of her more devious opponents, and someone had begun to spread a nasty rumor that she was, in fact, one of the killers.

“YOU’LL BE SORRY FOR THIS WHEN I WIN THE ELECTION!” Peanut screeched at the swarm of GCDers who were beginning to wear her down. “I’LL BOIL YOU IN OIL SO FAST YOU WON’T REALIZE IT UNTIL YOU’RE CRISPIER THAN KENTUCKY FRIED COCO!”

The crowd of GCDers ignored Peanut’s threats, grabbed her by her feet, and dragged her off to the docks, where they dumped her on the steam boat.

When Peanut looked up, she was confused. Moo Ell, Meru, Mori, and Tutsumi were all sitting on the deck against the side of the boat looking relieved, yet exhausted. Peanut opened her mouth, and the black flash appeared again.

But before Peanut could finish her sentence, she was bowled over by the little mouse creature. She stood up, dusted herself off, and turned around in time to be trampled again, this time by a much larger creature that resembled a cat. It flashed black.

Peanut scrambled over to the rest of the jailbirds to avoid being trampled again. Mori raised his finger and opened his mouth as if to explain, but thought better of it and looked away. Words couldn’t even begin to express the confusion the jailbirds were all facing right about now.

It wasn’t until much later that night that the crazed killer decided to make their move. Armed with a ball gown, three sticks of broken dynamite, a tube sock, a package of sharpened pencils, and a butter knife, they stole quickly and quietly into ` l e x i i’s basement apartment. Through the kitchen, into the living room. They nearly blew their cover tripping over the GWII cables that ran across the floor from the entertainment system, but they recovered quickly and moved on. Silently, they snuck towards the bedroom door in the corner of the room, not noticing the figure hiding there.

“NOT TONIGHT, KILLER!” the figure exclaimed as the crazed killer reached for the doorknob. A jolt of electricity shot through the killer’s body, and they backed away, dropping their utensils and fleeing the scene.

“Those g-teamers are getting to be a nuisance.” The killer cursed as they ran, “They will have to be dealt with.”

The curtains opened, the orchestra began, and a row of prima ballerinas dressed in white cascaded across the stage. Kitty Krazy dipped and twirled in step with the others as they moved, gliding in complicated formations, bending and swaying with the music. This was her night to shine.

As the ballerinas tip toed their way across the stage, a figure slipped through the shadows. Unawares, the ballerinas danced on. Arms waving majestically, faces frozen in serenity, tutus wavering softly, and as they danced and twirled, a second figure tore through the room wearing a smiling theatrical mask.

And suddenly, pandemonium broke out on the stage as Kitty Krazy fell, gray blood spilling onto her glistening tutu from both the hole in her forehead and the knife protruding from her chest.

The sniper had struck again, and this time they had had help. The CK fled the stage, cursing the sniper’s meddling as the sniper vanished from the balcony. Kitty Krazy lay dead on the stage amid a dozen or so ballerinas who had passed out, and the killers were no where to be found.

buzzkid24 was in box 5, when Kitty Krazy died. The crowd began frantically searching the opera house for the killers, and upon finding none on the floor, moved to the box seats lining the walls. Someone mentioned something about box number 5, and they descended upon buzz like flies to a rotting carcass.

“What? Why me?!” buzz queried, fighting not to be dragged off by his earlobes to the docks.

“The phantom sat in box 5! Suspicious!” someone yelled, and buzz was forced from his seat, dragged to the docks, and thrown onto the steamboat with more force than a stampede.

He sat up, dusted himself off, and looked around. There was nothing to be seen on the boat except for a peculiar looking door. He edged towards it and was reaching for the knob when HirunHikari pounced on him.

The black flashed, while Hirun dragged buzz towards the safety of the cabin.

buzz looked confused, staring at the huddled figures of the other jailbirds crammed into the tiny cabin.

Merumiharu looked more freaked out than buzz had ever seen her. He decided to wait and see what happened with the rest of the jailbirds. At least this was more interesting than some dumb ballet.

The sniper sat poised upon the town clock. Gun cocked, target in sight, inasanemonkey1230 was doomed. She strutted down the Sniperville street unawares, when the strange red dot began to focus on her. A G-teamer was standing across the street, looking into purchasing some decent armor when they noticed it. The bright spot of color in the grayscale town was enough to alert any decent hero into action. Catapulting themselves off of the shop awning, they rocketed towards monkey as the shot was fired. BLAM! OOMPH!

Monkey gasped, out of breath as the G-teamer rolled off of them. They tipped their hat in acknowledgement and started off at a run towards the clock.

Chikorin Moonie cursed. Another perfectly good shot foiled by those spoony G-teamers. She spat and turned around to flee the scene, but was too late.

“AHA! IT WAS YOU!” The G-teamer yelled, taking a running jump at the sniper.

Chikorin panicked, a shot was fired and a struggle ensued. The world flashed black like a strobe light, filtering out excessive violence. Chikorin was thrown from the tower, the G-team trailing after her. She bounced on an awning and rolled to the ground virtually unscathed.

Unfortunately by now, a crowd had gathered. As Chikorin turned to flee, they closed in cutting off her only escape. The G-teamer bounced from the same awning just in time to fly into Chikorin, pinning her to the ground.

“Caught ya.” They announced triumphantly. The crowd cheered.

“G-TEAM FOR MAYOR!” They yelled, lifting both the G-teamer and the sniper above their heads in celebration. Chikorin was bounced around the entire trip to the docks, and thrown unceremoniously onto the steamboat, snarling.

When she stood up, Chikorin was met with a strange sight. The Door to Darkness had been knocked over, all of the strange dark creatures from the other side had vanished, and the jailbirds were sitting around in a circle catching their breath. When she neared, Mori jumped to his feet shouting.

The black flashed. Chikorin blinked, opening her mouth.

This was duly noted, and Mori stood there stunned for a minute before he sat back down, sulking.
Meanwhile, trapped in the captain’s cabin of the steamboat, the strange mouse and cat were dancing with the smiling mops.

With the sniper caught, the GCDers were feeling quite a bit safer. In celebration, they decided to have a fair. Rides were set up, contests created, entertainment stands of all sort bloomed from nowhere.

` l e x i i however, wasn’t able to go. Her horrible aunt had decreed that she was to stay home. This wasn’t going to stop the fearless ` l e x i i though, she wasn’t one to be stopped by an old hag with no sense for fun. Silently, she climbed out of her bedroom window and slunk away to enjoy herself.

The fair was amazing, she managed to buy herself cotton candy, and her aunt’s gardener won her a fabulous doll. But while ` l e x i i partied at the fair, the CK was hard at work. Careful not to sever the branches too much, they sawed away at the limbs of the tree ` l e x i i had used to escape, and would have to use to get back into her room.

The day wore on, and ` l e x i i eventually said goodbye to her dear friends at the fair, and began to make her way home. All the way down the road, up the lane, into the garden, and finally up the tree.

She was almost all the way up, when the branch snapped underneath her feet. She fell to the ground, and even further, into a pit-trap dug by the CK. Finally, about 6 feet beneath the ground, she landed, and immediately wished she had listened to her aunt.

` l e x i i’s body was now impaled upon 3 large spikes arranged in a triangle. The blood was beginning to trickle out of her wounds and pool near her stomach when she felt a large amount of earth shoveled on top of her. The CK cackled maniacally as they buried poor ` l e x i i, still alive, but bleeding profusely from three large wounds. There was no chance of her escaping.

Giggling gleefully at finally taking down their target, the CK plucked a G-Team badge off of the doll ` l e x i i had dropped as she fell.

“One down, three to go.” They chuckled, and walked away calmly, fingering the shiny badge.

Late in the night, another group of people appeared on the only road out of town. One, G-Teamer [Death Blossom], was returning from Livingston, having found it exceptionally boring. She was prepared now, to do her duty to the people as a member of the elite G-Team squad. The others, Panda Pocky, and Grotesque Panda, were heading towards Livingston, hoping for less death and more Panda’s.

s h i z z e h was working late into the night, sewing up pieces and patching seams in his latest work of sheer brilliance: The ultimate outfit. It was storming, and the lights flickered madly from electrical surges as he worked diligently, his needle flying in and out of his child. Just as he tied off the last seam, the wind from the storm blew the window open, dousing the lamp next to him in fat, wet raindrops.

Outside, the CK cackled as they connected the last wire of their own creation: a gigantic electrical grid, to be powered by lightning – with the ability to bring inanimate objects to life. Pushing the last button on their lab coat through the hole, the CK stared at their creation lovingly, before reaching through shizzy’s window and clamping a cable around the damp cords connecting to the lamp.

Shizzy stood up, held his creation in front of him for inspection, and then reached over to turn off the lamp, which caused a series of events to happen, all in a split second: First, the surge of power in the cord ran out to the grid, which attracted a bolt of lightning from the sky. The lightning then ran down through the grid, became concentrated, and finally escaped through the cable running towards shiz’s lamp cord. The bolt ran through shizzy’s body and into the outfit he held, which sparked to life.

The outfit reared and let out a horrifying moan as it reached towards shiz, wrapping itself around his slightly electrified body.

If shizzy had survived the shock, he most definitely didn’t survive the suffocation that followed as his precious outfit attempted to show him its very confused love with a cloth hug.

The CK watched through the window gleefully, disconnecting the cords and scurrying off into the stormy night.

`Aine Chievious was sitting in her house enjoying a nice piece of peach pie smothered in freshly made whipped cream, when the mob of GCDers knocked her door down.

“Hey guys, I just got that fixed! Ooh, you’re tracking mud into my house!” she moaned, hiding the pie under a tablecloth and scurrying towards them in a fluster.

“It’s storming outside, now how will I keep the rain out of my house?!”

“Where you’re going, you won’t have to worry.” A GCDer stated bluntly. They smashed her hastily hidden pie into the ground and grabbed Aine, dragging her to the stormy docks and shoving her onto the steam boat.

The little steam boat was rolling on the stormy sea, tossing and turning with the waves, and the first thing Aine noticed when she got up, was The Peanut Smuggler hanging over the side of the boat, emptying her stomach.

She turned away with a grimace, stumbled, and fell over as the boat shifted on the stormy waters.

In the distance, an opera singer could be heard on the waters. A whale danced about in the lightning, singing opera, while the rest of the jailbirds either listened with intent, or plugged their ears.