July 12, 2001
WAR: NNP - Mmmm - Smells Like Chocolate
By: Alyce Crimaldi , Susan B. & NNPack
(with info provided by the Raven/ettes - merci!)
Time: 1:00 A.M. July 12
Place: NNP Theatre & The Raven
"Do you think this will be enough?" Carla asked as she poured the last of the extra gooey, but delightfully aromatic, mixture into Cecilia's shiny metal mixing bowl.
"That should be plenty!" Cecilia replied, "gotta go." Carrying her bowl, she raced from the kitchen and met up with Amber and Alyce at the front doors. Amber was wearing the same black leather jacket she'd barely taken off since Alyce picked her up in Indianapolis. "We're going to have to move fast tonight!" Cecilia told her, "aren't you going to be too hot in that thing?
"I'll be fine," she replied, tapping the end of a yard long messenger tube that she had slung over her shoulder. "I have everything I need right here!"
The three girls climbed into Amber's van and headed for the Raven, a very short drive from the theatre. They got out of the car and approached the front door, Cecilia casually hiding behind the other two. Alyce knocked and waited. She was about to signal Amber to pick the lock, when someone inside finally opened the door. Amber recognized the elegantly dressed tall blonde woman as Kimmer from the Raven party almost a week ago. 'Had it really that long?' she mused.
Both Alyce and Amber summoned up their brightest smiles. "Uh, hello," Alyce said. "Could we please come in and use your phone? You see, uh, my car broke down, and uh..."
Before she finished her sentence, a tall man with short brown hair and brown eyes appeared at the door and stood next to Kimmer. "I'm Jason," he said. "What's going on?"
"These girls need to use the phone," Kimmer informed him.
All three of the would-be intruders were hoping that Janette's affinity for looking after strays would pay off for them, but when yet another man with piercing blue-gray eyes showed up at the door, they realized they were evenly numbered.
The new man with the beard and moustache greeted them. "I'm Alex," he said. "You're welcome to use the phone at the bar." He opened the door wide for them.
The words, "Thank you," had barely left Alyce's mouth when Cecilia crashed through from behind her, darted into the Raven and started dipping into her bowl and flinging huge clumps of chocolate chip cookie dough onto the Ravenettes' clothes.
"Molly! Get back!" Jason yelled when a curvaceous woman with gold hair approached. But he was too late to save her from getting slopped with the sticky concoction.
"No! No!" Molly screamed.
"Stop! Stop!" Kimmer shouted. "You're getting it all over my clothes!"
"Please!" Jason begged.
"My beard!" Alex yelled.
But the attackers were relentless, and within seconds, all four heretofore impeccably groomed Ravenettes were covered in gooey gobs of chocolate chip cookie dough.
"What if someone sees me like this!" Molly screamed.
"Or me!" Kimmer added.
"I've got to get out of these messy clothes!" Jason screamed.
"Me too!" Alex exclaimed.
The messy Ravenettes frantically raced away to change, giving the N&Ners an ideal opportunity to complete their mission. The club now was totally silent.
"We'll go ahead and get it done, you watch for their return," Alyce said to Cecilia. She pulled out her trusty wire cutters (you never know when those will come in handy).
"They're Ravenettes," Cecilia commented flatly. "It'll probably take them an hour just to reapply their make-up, not to mention putting together exactly the right ensemble for... uh... 1:30 in the morning or thereabouts."
Alyce and Amber left Cecilia muttering to herself and quickly ran over to the bar. Alyce hopped over the counter and landed directly in front of the tapestry. It was too dim to make out the image now; but at the party, her eyes had been drawn to the toga clad figure depicted. Alyce snipped the wires that were holding up the tapestry and quickly rolled it up for transport. "OK, Amber, it's your turn", she whispered.
Amber slid off the messenger tube that had been slung across her shoulder, and pulled out the replacement tapestry. While Alyce watched her, Amber also fished out her tube of super-fast, super-hold super-glue. She applied the glue to the back of the tapestry and then, as quickly as possible, the two girls pressed the tapestry to the wall. "Just don't get any on you or we'll never get you loose," warned Amber. "Getting this stuff stuck to you is worse than getting gum in your hair!" Suddenly, out of the relative silence, came the sound of approaching voices.
"Move it!" shouted Cecilia. "Someone's coming!"
"Let's bail!" hissed Amber. She and Alyce gathered their things and stood up to leave. "Oh no," Alyce whispered. "Oh no what... or don't I want to know?"
"My shoe is stuck to the floor. I must have stepped on the glue tube!"
"Well I sure hope they're not your favorite shoes," replied Amber. She grabbed Alyce by the hand and dragged her out the front door, leaving behind one white tennis shoe glued to the floor.
All three hastily sped away from the Raven, having left glued to the wall, for all the world to see, a colourful painting entitled, "Teletubbie in Repose with Pink Tribbles".
Subject: WAR: NNP - Mmmm - Smells Like Chocolate
Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2001 00:29:26 -0400
From: "Susan Bennett" freestyle [at] IDIRECT.COM
Reply-To: Susan Bennett freestyle [at] IDIRECT.COM
To: FKFIC-L [at] LISTS.PSU.EDU
(Permission given to archive this story)
New Mahogany--and New Clothes!
by Kimmer
Thursday, July 12, 2001
8:00 a. m., The Raven, after the attack by the NNP
It was the earliest the wood-worker had ever been inside the Raven. When he got the emergency call on his pager, at 6:00 a.m., he had awakened two young helpers and headed over to the night club posthaste.
Upon entering the premises, he understood why his day's schedule had been rearranged. Attached with super-fast, super-hold, super-glue, was a tapestry entitled "Teletubbie in Repose with Pink Tribbles".
The master carpenter stood and stared, his mouth gaping open. Kimmer walked up, handing him a cup of coffee. Though she was not much in the mood for coffee these days, she knew the workmen would be ready for some on this early morning call. Kimmer nodded to the two young helpers to go ahead and help themselves while she chatted up the contractor.
"You know," he said, "It's the damndest thing, I was over at that decorator's place, over on Bloor Street that Janette likes so well. I had to pick up some window coverings for a custom home I'm doing. Anyway, I heard, in passing, that this place was being done over in pink".
"Oh, that, yes, well, that was all a terrible misunderstanding. As you can see, things have been righted. Well, except for this, this--nightmare". Kimmer and the woodworker could only stare.
He walked up to the wood panel the tapestry was attached too. There was no way it was coming off. The whole thing would have to be replaced. Kimmer insisted on real mahogany wood panels, just like the ones he was going to have to take down. "I can get them, probably even today, but they will cost you, ya know", he said, getting out his estimate pad.
Kimmer nodded and said, "Yes, well, you've done work for Janette before, and you know she likes the two Es--exquisite and expensive. You know she's good for it!".
Nodding, he wrote some figures down on his pad. Showing the pad to Kimmer, she just took the pen out of his hand and signed off for the work to be done. He then got the boys on the job of removing the offending panels, and left to go get the replacements.
Molly, Jason and Alex, the other ravenettes who had been attacked with chocolate chip cookie dough, were sitting at the bar, very glum. They had all gotten cleaned up and perfectly groomed, re-dressed for a little war pow-wow. Not that they had really come up with any other plans, not with that teletubbie tapestry staring down at them, some kind of distorted, cherubic bliss on its' face. It was just too bizarre.
Kimmer, joining them at the bar, sat down next to Alex. "Okay, the workmen are on the case. Did you throw all those offending garments out, Jason?", she asked, worriedly.
"Absolutely! We can't send things like that to the cleaners!", Jason replied. All the Ravenettes looked relieved. They would not want anyone to know they had chocolate chip cookie dough on their finery.
"Well, all right. Soon, the stores will be open, and we can go shopping. That will cheer us up. We can leave the guys here, they've worked here before, they know the rules. Stay the hell out of the basement. We'll lock it, just to be on the safe side. Molly, I guess we better get Tracette some breakfast, and let the other Ravenettes know we are going shopping. They might want to go, too. You know, it's noon somewhere in the world --", and with that Kimmer poured herself a good, stiff drink. The other Ravenettes joined her.
Alex and Jason went back to the Ravenettes' living quarters, to let the other ones know about the events that had transpired and the upcoming shopping trip. Molly and Kimmer went to check on Lorna, who once again had a sleeping Bill curled up on her bed, and to talk to Lorna's nurse about that day's physical therapy schedule for Lorna.
Kimmer and Molly then went to the kitchen to whip up breakfast for Tracette--coffee, orange juice, two scrambled eggs with cheese, toast and hash browns, and setting it all up on a lovely tray with a single rose, Molly headed for Tracette's room. Kimmer was cleaning up the kitchen when she heard Molly scream.
Kimmer ran quickly to Tracette's apartment, as Molly was running headlong towards the kitchen. The crash was inevitable. As they hollered and tried to get untangled, a circle of Ravenettes formed around them.
Alex and Jason each grabbed a Ravenette and got them to their feet. "What is all this comotion about?", Alex demanded, his nerves still jangled.
"She's, she's, she's GONE!" Molly sputtered. "Tracette-window-gone-"
All of the Ravenettes piled into Janette's apartment, looking everywhere, in nooks and crannies not even a child could fit into.
"The sun's up," Jason said, and everyone was hushed.
finis
Subject: WAR: Ravenettes: New Mahogany--and New Clothes!
Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2001 09:58:18 -0600
From: "kimmer" kimmertom [at] QWEST.NET
Reply-To: kimmer kimmertom [at] QWEST.NET
To: FKFIC-L [at] LISTS.PSU.EDU
all participants used with permission
The Search For Tracette, Chapter 1
by Kimmer
Thursday, July 12, 2001
takes place right after "New Mahogany--and New Clothes!"
A search party was quickly formed--Kimmer, Molly, Kaiya, Mindi, Teresa, Time, Jason and Alex. Lorna had physical therapy to go to, and not wanting to leave the Raven completely empty of Ravenettes with the workmen there and all, Chanda, LeeAnn and Claudia decided to stay at the night club.
Alex was able to get two limos and two drivers, two very sleepy drivers not use to cruising around during daylight hours, to split the Ravenettes into two teams--north-south, east-west. They were probably going to need a big trunk if--when they found Tracette. Kimmer had a huge, black over-sized garment bag, much more stylish than a body bag, but to serve the same purpose of stashing Tracette into it and lugging her to the trunk of one of the limos. They were not going to take any chances with their Dark Lady of the Knight.
Mindi had to ask. She didn't want to ask, but she had too. "Kimmer, do you think Tracette will implode?".
Kimmer, noting the grave look on Mindi's face, hugged the Ravenette and whispered in her ear. "No, honey, even if she starts to smoke, Tracette will be smart enough to get to a place of darkness. You know it's got to hurt, and I trust Tracette's instincts. We all hide when we hurt, it's our animal nature, and we all have that. Some of us are just more in touch with it than others. But she will be fine".
Kimmer's fake look of confidence was totally frozen on her face, but desperately wanting to believe her, Mindi just nodded and headed for one of the limos.
All the Ravenettes had fresh batteries in their pagers and cell phones. They split up with Molly, Mindi, Teresa and Alex taking the north-south route, and Kimmer, Kaiya, Time and Jason taking the east-west route. They wanted to split the men up, in case they had to pick up Tracette and lug her to the trunk. Lorna had an oversized garment bag, much like the one Kimmer had, and Molly had borrowed it so there was one for each limo.
Claudia, LeeAnn and Chanda waved to the departing Ravenettes. "We'll be here, call us if you need anything at all!", LeeAnn shouted, as the search parties drove off.
finis, chapter 1
The Search For Tracette, Chapter 1
by Molly and Kimmer
all participants used with permission
Thursday, July 12, 2001
"I think even the limo driver's getting bored," Teresa observed as she concentrated on buffing her nails.
"Yeah." Even Mindi was dispirited. "We've searched every doughnut shop in downtown Toronto".
"Cruise past Buckstar's again," Molly ordered the driver. "Guys, she couldn't have gotten far in daylight and on foot. She's got to be around here somewhere!".
"We don't really know what time she left, though," Alex reminded Molly gently.
In unison, the Ravenettes shuddered and slapped another coat of Manic Panic tm Protect Your Pallor tm on. As the limo swung by Tracy's favorite coffee shop, four pairs of sunglasses surveyed the surroundings. "What about that parking garage?", Molly said suddenly. "It's dark and it's close".
Molly's cell phone began to ring, and she quickly answered it. She heard Kimmer's voice saying, "Hey. Any luck on your end?".
"Well, we just cruised by the Buckstar's again, and hey, did you notice there was a parking garage near by? I never paid attention to that before, but --".
"We are on our way!" Kimmer shouted excitedly into the phone, and hung up.
"There!" Molly yelled at the driver, "Pull over!". Molly's limo parked, and it was only a couple of minutes later before the one carrying Kimmer, Kaiya, Time and Jason pulled in across the street.
The eight Ravenettes rolled out of the vehicles, and gathered at the opening to the parking garage. Cautiously they entered, removing their sunglasses so they could see in the now dimmed light.
Time grabbed Molly's shoulder and pointed. The Ravenettes could make out a cowering figure tucked between a column and an elevator shaft. Gingerly they tiptoed up, careful to avoid the nasty mess on the floor beside her. They looked at each other. "We never saw this," Molly said.
"Hungry," whimpered Tracette. "Wanted coffee...and doughnut!".
Kimmer knelt as close to Tracette as she could. "But you're in Janette's body and Janette's body doesn't *like* coffee and doughnuts. As you found out, the hard way. Now, come on. We'll take you back to the Raven".
"No, no, no!" Tracette was terrified. "I'll burn up!".
Molly rather enjoyed this part. With an evil smile, she said, "We came prepared".
It was a bit of a struggle, getting the cop inside Janette's body to submit to being stuffed in a garment bag, but as a concession they told her she could ride on the floor of the limo rather than in the trunk. Alex and Jason placed her in a waiting limo as delicately as possible, and Mindi called back to the Raven to let the others know they had found their Mistress, or at least their Mistress' body.
"I feel rather disrespectful," Kimmer said, looking at the bag on the floor. "Which means - "
"We need a drink!".
The two teams climbed back into their cars, and selected suitable potions from the nicely stocked bars. Alex, Jason, Kimmer and Molly rode back with Tracette. "I don't know how much more of this I can take," Molly said. "Ye gods and goddesses, what if Janette switches with Screed next, or Schanke?".
"Or Nick," Jason added gloomily.
"Don't...even...think...that".
"Oh, no!" Kimmer said. "Janette all angsty.....NO!".
The Ravenettes hit the bar more than once, even though it was a short drive home.
finis chapter 2
end arc
Subject: WAR: Ravenettes: "The Search For Tracette" Chapters 1 & 2
Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2001 10:25:31 -0600
From: "kimmer" kimmertom [at] QWEST.NET
Reply-To: kimmer kimmertom [at] QWEST.NET
To: FKFIC-L [at] LISTS.PSU.EDU
all participants used with permission
Things A'right
by Kimmer
Thursday night/Friday morning, 'round Midnight
takes place at the Raven Night Club
The club was packed. Miklos was pouring drinks steadily, the tunes were loud, people were dancing, drinking, smoking, another happening night at the Raven.
Kimmer, Alex, Jason, Mindi and Molly constantly worked the room. They were keeping an eye out to make sure that none of their guests had an inkling to the strange, bizarre, perky events that had recently taken place. They wanted everything to be comfortable for the denizens from the basement, and for the regulars who came here to release life's frustrations.
It was like they felt her, rather than saw her. For not one of them had seen Janette enter the club, but all eyes were drawn to her. She was just there, behind the bar, speaking to Miklos. He had a coy little smile playing around his lips, as he pulled a special bottle out for his Dark Lady, filling the elegant wine glass with a red substance.
Janette drank deeply, and offered her glass to be filled again. The Ravenettes let out the collective breath they had all been holding in. It was her, their Janette, back again in her own body, holding court over her club.
With feelings of joy and relief, the Ravenettes gathered at the bar for the first celebratory drink in days.
finis
Subject: WAR: Ravenettes: Things A'right
Date: Sat, 14 Jul 2001 12:59:29 -0600
From: kimmer kimmertom [at] qwest.net
To: forever knight fan fiction list FKFIC-L [at] lists.psu.edu
all participants used with permission