|
"The Twelve Dolls of Christmas" How ironic, of all the days for a bunch of female agents that worked for an evil underground organization to be crying for blood. Tensions were high today with all of Shadowlaw's special elite agents. Lord Bison brought home a Christmas present which no one wanted. Rose, a lady which none of them got along with and who had not only re-won the heart of their lord, but had already obtained it previous to Shadowlaw's birth even. Because these Shadowlaw elite, called the dolls by those in the know, adored their commander's attention more than anything, and this lady threatened to not only crush their chance to ever be with M. Bison again, but rumors abounded that they would be crushed, themselves, as well. Stupid girls. Yes, the twelve female dolls of Shadowlaw. Fondly referred to by some of the higher ups as Lord Bison's personal jail bait harem, as they all were only around the age of sixteen to high eighteen and they wore obviously suggestive tight dark body suit leotards, though Senoh couldn't for the life of himself figure out what those dinky little ties they had and those silly McDonalds caps were for. The most well known of them all was of course, Cammy. Many of them thought that Shadowlaw was all they lived for. Many of them thought they were in love with him. Many of them thought that they believed Bison was, dare he think it, the most handsome man on the planet. Many of them thought wrong. However, not all of them. Professor Senoh Hawlson sighed. What was really sad was that depending on which one you asked, it was the truth. The old mad scientist looked in a mirror and pondered on his own looks as compared to Bison's. The basic white scientist lab coat didn't stand out much, but his shiny bald round head reflected back across the piece of reflective glass, his white hair to the sides spiking off like an electric bolt. At any rate, he definitely wasn't the prettiest man in the world, that was for sure. But then again, neither was Bison himself. Major Bison, lord of Shadowlaw. Senoh's leader was definitely well built, but along with his rather big square chin, it also tended to make him look only perhaps rather... husky, to say the least. That large cape that he wore didn't help matters much, though it certainly made everyones' favorite man in red look imposing, too. Still, Bison had one of the most insanely biggest grins on the planet which not even Senoh's mad scientist grin could match, and as a whole, Senoh didn't believe that Bison was supposed to be the type to attract the ladies. Senoh was an ugly man. He was willing to admit that. He even was somewhat hunchbacked, but it added to his mad scientist look that he so enjoyed. However, he figured that if a girl could love M. Bison, than a girl could love him.... except... he was missing something. He needed a mustache. He didn't know why. But he didn't have one. Why didn't he have a mustache?!? Bah! A mustache under that pointy nose of his would have been perfect. Oddly enough, he felt Bison could stand to use a mustache, too. No, Senoh did not understand those girls or how they could have come to be that way. Hell, even trying to think of a stupid Macintosh computer being programmed to simply say someone like M. Bison was handsome completely baffled him. Of course, he was only loosely involved with the dolls project. He had better things to do, like create a team of eight or so all-powerful robot masters that could threaten the entire planet but each only has one or two unvarying methods of attack as well as a severe weakness which is easy to find and repeating said process ad nauseum no matter how many times he's foiled. Despite it all, however, he did know one thing. Dolls were programmed to not like roses. Was it supposed to be that way? What was going to happen to them all now that Rose was here? Senoh did not know the details, so he hoped to find out by asking the head of the doll project, Doctor Janet. The girl who started off the whole thing by being the first doll to exist, herself. If anyone had stepped into M Bison's personal suite, they would have received the shock of their lives. There stood the Shadaloo Commander clad in "normal" clothes; a sweater and a pair of woolen pants to fight off the chill. The ubiquitous red paramilitary uniform that was his trademark lay discarded on his bed like a used candy bar wrapper. More than that, M Bison seemed to be arguing with himself. Staring with vehemence at his reflection in the mirror, M Bison spat out his words in rapid succession; words infused with so much vitriol that one would believe him to be conversing with his most hated enemy. "It's Christmas Eve and this body is *mine* tonight you monster. I cannot undo the damage you've done but at least I can see to it that your little toys get some of the happiness they deserve." Bison's tone shifted as he made his reply to the fey, whimsical tones more often associated with the Lord of Shadaloo. "Well my boy, in this you still serve my purposes. Oh go ahead and do your good deed for the year but remember," Bison's eyes glowed with cerulean fire as he leaned forward, nose to nose with his reflection. "You are MINE." A horrified scream and the sound of shattering glass broke the night's stillness around Lord Bison's chambers, and anyone around would have been puzzled about the fracas. That is, of course, if anyone was stupid/brave enough to invade Bison's sanctuary. There may still be less painful deaths. After all, the entire universe has not been fully explored yet. Unfortunately for Senoh, instead of finding Janet in her laboratory, he was greeted instead by her main cohort in scientific study. A scientist in perhaps his mid to high forties, a strange slightly overweight kooky man that tended to freak out even Senoh, himself. His lab coat was a light tan, and he had a smile which when you don't think of his ridiculous accent, could even make him look like quite the ladies' man back in his youth. He even wore a cowboy hat, most likely to cover his ridiculously even balder-than-Senoh's head. Of all things! Course, when he spoke, he didn't sound any bit like he looked. "Zee good doctor?" Professor Irvine shoved Senoh aside mockfully. "Bah, silly one who does not follow zee way. Janet has decided to embrace zee final ultimatum and go straight to see zee great auzority figure, himself!!! If you vant to know about the doll project and why it was started, zan it should be szimple enough! Zis Christmas shall be zee perfect time to show you!" The mad scientist Senoh made a rush for the door, but it was already locked. Dammit. "Don't you see?!?" Irvine proclaimed to the sighing Senoh, before he started... to sing. For zee first doll of Christmas, Sigmund Freud made him do An angry Taoist priestess! Doctor Janet. Janet hated that title. Agent Janet at least had a cool ring to it. Doctor Janet was just stupid, though. "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?" Did she LOOK like a doctor? Doctors were much older than she was. Doctors wore those damn bulky lab coats which Janet so despised but was forced to wear. Not this time, though. This time, she was wearing the dark black body suit of the Shadaloo doll. She might have preferred the robes, but a girl didn't catch a man's attention with priestess robes. "You, oh queen, are the fairest one of all." Ah, the queen. Everyone had to listen to the queen. The queen was she-who-must-be-obeyed, after all. But alas, that wasn't what the mirror was going to say, was it? Ironic how it was snowing outside at the moment. Though the mirror would prefer the months of Spring, as always. "Famed is thy beauty, majesty. Behold, a lovely maid I see. Rags cannot hide her gentle grace. Alas, she is more fair than thee." "Yea, right." Janet sarcastically muttered. "I don't think that girl is going to come back, anytime soon." The Chinese girl straightened out one of the two braids in her dark brown hair as she looked into her own mirror. Two circular buns at the top, contained by a red bandana similar to another Chinese girl rumored to be the strongest woman in the world. They were connected to two braided tails which fell to the bottom, each braid in each tail intertwined tightly together in an interweaving line, similar to the pigtails that her surpasser had in her hair. Her surpasser. "Alas for her, reveal her name." "Skin white as snow." Skin white as snow. Stupid racist mirror. Stupid western fairy tales in general. Janet glared into it. Hmph, yellow was a nice skin tone. But apparently being a cute young Chun-Li-esque in a beautiful body leotard wasn't enough, huh? She should have been an even younger blonde Caucasian bimbo wearing a scanty swim-suit instead. Because that's what the mirror wanted. The mirror said that Cammy was the fairest of them all. Cammy, the greatest doll of all twelve of them. Cammy, the flower of Bison's eye. Cammy, the rose who's thorns sucked away all of Bison's love which should have gone to her! A rose? Another alternative which she should have been was an authority figure... "Lips red as the rose. Hair black as ebony." "What the hell?" Janet glared at the mirror rather annoyingly. "Rose?! But I'm the second fairest, right?" "Nope. Cammy is." A frown crossed Janet's lips. She could almost picture the stupid racist mean mean mean mirror laughing. Until she realized who's voice it was that said that last remark. "It's hopeless, oh 'doctor' Janet." Agent Fenrir remarked from the doorway. "You should forget about Lord Bison. You're too worthless for him to really care about you. You won't listen to me, of course, but I'm telling you that it's not good for you." Janet didn't even bother to respond. He still cared about her. She knew he did. He had to. And today, on this snow white day of Christmas, was finally her perfect chance. So she walked out the door right past the other doll and walked into... Destiny. Well, if one wanted to find the big kahuna of Shadaloo, where would one look? Why his throne room naturally. Fortunes had risen and fallen and the fates of nations decreed from that august locale. No small number of executions as well which made being summoned there a dicey prospect at best given Bison's capriciousness. Janet was one of the few individuals that actually dared to seek out M Bison, after all they went back a long way. She found him brooding on his throne, all alone with no one else to vie for his attentions. There was a God. "My Lord Bison?" He turned to her and smiled. It was not one of his huge teeth baring grins, or that tight-lipped smirk that she used to remember of him from long ago. It was a pleasant, welcoming smile; one shared between friends. Janet had to blink twice to regain her composure. "Yes, Janet?" There he had said it. Not "Doctor Janet" or "Agent Janet" but just "Janet" as if he were still flirting with her when they were both members of the Order. Janet tried to keep her hands steady and quell the butterflies in her stomach. She tried to come up with a coherent thought but when his smile turned suave and debonair, her brain overloaded and the butterflies in her stomach got pumped on steroids. Like a shy schoolgirl, Janet scuffed her feet and found her shoes to be extremely interesting. She could feel the warmth of a blush creep over her face as she valiantly tried to rally her faculties. Only he could have such an effect on her, the cool, unflappable Doctor Janet. Only he could make her feel this way again. Especially now that he so resembled the Michael Bison she had first fell in love with, the one who flirted and laughed with her. Her rational brain told her that he would never be hers. The rest of her told her rational brain to shut the hell up. "Have you ever regretted this?" Janet looked up as her Lord spoke. There seemed to be something strange about his behavior today. He was less the charismatic leader than an old friend sharing his thoughts. He had not treated her like this since, since..... Janet threw that unproductive line of thought away. So what if she could not remember the last time they had spoken like this? She was a busy woman with a lot on her mind. "Do you ever regret the formation of Shadaloo? The Doll Project?" "Never," she whispered. For now all was right in the world. She was where she belonged with whom she belonged, Janet could hardly ask for more. Bison got up and descended the throne. Outside of his uniform, he seemed less imposing and more.... approachable somehow. He took out a box wrapped in cheery colors. "I have a gift for you," he said as he opened the box slowly. "A 'pa qua' or Taoist mirror. This one is inlaid with gold and its mirror is crystal, so you have to be gentle with it." Janet took the mirror in trembling hands as she felt a tear trickle down her cheek. She was so happy that she knew not what to do. Michael Bison gentle cupped her chin with one hand and lifted her gaze to meet his while his other hand wiped away the tear. "Now, now. I've never liked to see a beautiful woman cry." Janet just nodded once and then ran for her room, overwhelmed with emotions both fantastic and unfamiliar. For zee second doll of Christmas, Sigmund Freud made him do A very sword hungry girl, "And here on this Christmas day, we bid a fond farewell to Muramune. May it rest in piece." Agent Olvere put the funeral book down then stared at the alter where the broken sword lay, snapped in half. She frowned. The foolish dark-skinned agent obviously couldn't grasp the seriousness of this ceremony. Three dolls, all here kneeling to give their farewell to Fenrir's latest sword Muramune. Olvere, who's rough hair style was similar to the maze like jungles that she specialized trekking through. Desire, who's name was supposed to be looked at from a mystical aspect although it did tend to give some people the wrong idea. Fortunately, Desire kept to her Native American roots and thus the buffalo hide vest that she wore along with that feather and bandana in her pocahontas hairstyle tended to make people not notice the doll body suit uniform and mistake Desire for... well, one who wanted to be desired (complete with all dirty connotations, of course). And Fenrir herself. Sword sheath at her side, ignoring her circular bowl-style haircut, she was the Shidoshi of the dolls. Greatest of them all, who's sword skills strike fear into the hearts of all people. Advancing up the ranks to be the ultimate in the eyes of everyone. Or at least she tried to be. But no matter how hard she tried, no matter how hard she trained, all she ever managed to successfully do was break her swords. Fenrir looked around the room and sighed. It was a good thing that Bison now had Rose and would terminate Fenrir for the worthless trash she was, otherwise her room would have run out of space from all the memorials she had to keep making to her long disceased stabberific allies. Good bye, Muramune. "Can I leave, now?" Olvere asked as her pet monkey, Tams, impatiently ran around on her shoulder. "No!" Fenrir snapped. "Show some respect, dammit!" "Agent Fenrir, this is getting a bit silly." Desire blurted out. "I think I finally know your real problem." The reply she got was simply a sideways glare. "From what you've told me, your obsession with these... erm, stabberific things started ever since you and Janet broke up." The wannabe mystic commented. "It's obvious to me that you two were truly meant for each other but being at odds with each other for so long has led to an emotional decline for all of you. May I suggest that in the spirit of that pagan holiday Christmas, you give her a hug and make-up? Together, you could have a passionate Christmas night where..." Fenrir sighed and purposefully tuned out as Desire went on. "And in the next morning, you two would smile at each other and everything will be better forever from there on." Desire finished. As if she'd live until the next day, anyway. Lord Bison should just give her her deserved Christmas present of death now and not wait any longer. Fenrir put her hand on the memorial. "Muramune, I will be joining you and the rest of your brethren soon enough..." The door to the room slid open with a hiss, one that was mimicked by Fenrir as her hand instinctively slid to her empty scabbard. Whoever had dared violate the sanctity of Muramune's last rites would pay in spades. Her snarl dissolved into an incredulously happy grin as she found that Lord Bison himself had come to see her. A part of her was making peace with her God while another noted innocuously that Lord Bison seemed to be out of uniform. "Am I too late for the ceremony?" He asked with a gentle smile. Olvere and Desire watched as Fenrir's face went through several seemingly impossible contortions before she quickly began the ceremony all over again. Not that they minded, at least they got to spend time with their Lord Bison. Once they had another moment of silence, Bison snapped his fingers and an aide stepped into the room bearing a katana. "This is for you Fenrir, a replacement for the late, lamented Muramune. If this one ever breaks, give me a call because I would have someone to see about a life-time warranty." Fenrir took the sword in her hand reverently. She marveled at its perfect balance, how the grip seemed to be molded for her hand and the way the light played on its razor's edge. Runes on the blade spelt out its name, "Stormbringer". Olvere and Desire just looked at each other as Fenrir just stood there with a sappy smile plastered on her face. Olvere waved her hand in front of Fenrir's face but failed to elicit a reaction. Shrugging, the two Dolls simply concluded that their erstwhile comrade had gone catatonic with joy. "Come ladies, I have something to show you." The two Dolls followed their leader as he gestured towards the door. It was a good day to be alive. and an angry Taoist priestess! Much to Fenrir's surprise, Janet came running down the hall right past her... For zee third doll of Christmas, Sigmund Freud made him do A computer slacker hippy, She was doing it again. Janet was ranting on and on about how she surpassed Rose and how she was the greatest and Bison was hers and everything would be great. Last time it was how Rose would be the death of them all and Marzche should join Janet in an underground revolution to get rid of her. Before then, it was how Marzche needed to update the encryption codes better and wasn't adequately doing her job. And to all of those things, Marzche always gave the same reply. "Whatever." Ignoring Janet, Marzche continued to stare at her laptop computer where her updated minesweeper game with its shiny shiny explosions and nice smily faces was occurring. It did annoy Marzche a bit that her fluffy pink haired companion Serina had to put down the mike and stop singing her Tachovsky so Janet could begin her rant though. Dolls, metaphysics, souls, vampires, Freud, psycho drives, wyrms... Whatever. Janet should stick to birds and flowers. Birds and flowers are good. Swans and roses are fun. That other stuff? Who cares? As long as Marzche had her angel of music, shiny minesweeper lights, and her shiny (currently purple) spastic bright neon hair (and with anime type short haircut complete with duel bangs that were straighter than Juli's, even!), she was happy. Though she was somewhat saddened now. It was a long time since Lord Bison brought her some new shiny lights. Her laptop computer was really outdated by now. "Ha!!!" Janet continued as Serina listened intently while Marzche ignored with equal amount of intent. "I bet Cammy didn't have Bison tell her that she was special! Imagine what Fenrir will have to say about this!" The three agents turned as the door opened to admit their Lord Bison. He flashed them a sheepish grin that none of them would have ever even imagined gracing the face of their leader. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything." The trio shook their heads in an empathic, unanimous "no". "Well, I just came to give you these." Marzche's eyes lit up as she caressed the top of her new laptop. It was so bleeding edge that not even the boys down at R&D could match it. Janet, however, seemed shocked. Was Janet jealous at Marzche's new shiny happy computer? Whatever. a very sword hungry girl, As if to add insult to injury, Fenrir charged into the lab room up to Janet. "Look!! Lord Bison finally gave me a real sword!!! and an angry Taoist priestess! Janet simply stared at the sword in surprise. For zee fourth doll of Christmas, Sigmund Freud made him do A hunter leader SB, The cute short blonde haired girl continued typing at the computer to another online friend she recently met. Her partner, Juli, told her that it was disturbing how Juni would chat to herself and pretend she was chatting with her idol, the supposedly terminated Agent Avelle, so Juni went and got a real online friend. To make up for this, her supposed imaginary one, Avelle, decided to hang out more with Juni nearby instead of across a computer. Juni still was no Avelle. She lacked her flaring red hair, or her sparkling green eyes, or her ability to use Avelle's gun with style. Avelle missed that. And now she was stuck with Juni instead, who, while not bad, lacked the... features necessary for true greatness. Sure, Juni could adequately catch the attention of a good man for the most part thanks to those scary warm-and-fuzzy-feelings she tended to emit, but still, that just wasn't enough. "Darling, did you hear the news? They say that Lord Bison himself is personally visiting each of us tonight. Fenrir's already running around bragging about how Lord Bison gave her a new sword for Christmas." Juni stopped typing at the computer, turned around, and happily perked up. "Really, Avelle? I heard that everyone was in a bad mood thanks to some new arrival named Rose but I don't see what the big deal is." "Rose? Oh, it's nothing. You're better off never meeting her. What matters now is what I just told you." Avelle shrugged. "I would be happy to just see Lord Bison again for Christmas. You should be, too." "True..." Juni replied. "Though I wonder what Lord Bison got me for Christmas, since I never gave him any indication of what I wanted. I feel bad, not getting something to give back to him in return." "You only gave him your life, dear. Don't worry about that." Avelle looked off to the side. "But I think a Christmas gift should be irrelevant, shouldn't it?" "I'll think of something." Ignoring Avelle, the girl ran out the door to try to find Bison. Rather annoyed, Avelle frowned and ran after her, grabbing her by the collar and stopping her. "Running off so soon?" Avelle shook her head. "Dear, I already really do have something in mind. Let me go first." The blonde stared and blinked, wondering what Avelle was up to. "Erm.... sure..." "Junivelle" stopped in her tracks as she came nose to nose with her former commander. "Hello Avelle," he greeted cheerfully even as her eyes grew to encompass half her face. He coughed once into his fist and winked. "Ahem, I mean 'Juni'. Our little secret okay? Not that I mind the current situation but the rest may be a little disturbed that one of their number is not entirely who she seems to be." Suspicion and desire warred in Junivelle as her instincts told her to run but her feet seemed to be rooted to the floor. "You have a special place in my heart you know, the first Doll to ever leave the nest." Junivelle just bobbed her head up and down dumbly, unable to believe her own ears. "The Doll project was more than a super soldier program, it was meant to create the perfect human. It gladdens me that at least one of you has the independence to roam free. I've seen what you've done Avelle. You should be proud of yourself." Bison left Avelle holding a shiny new GPS set with an up-link to not only CATASTROPHE but Shadaloo's extensive satellite network as well. Slowly, deliberately, she pinched herself. a computer slacker hippy, Marzche slowly looked over the internet statistics. It was obvious that Juni was accessing all the hunter sites again. The blue haired computer girl knew the question of whether Juni would abandon responsibility and run away or actually do something unlike her red-haired predecessor existed, but Marzche really didn't care either way for the most part. a very sword hungry girl, "So that's what he gave you?" Fenrir took a look at the GPS. "Hmm... it's still not as good as Stormbringer. Still, I underestimated how much you were into that, now. Juni, we should talk some more, later. Or should I say, Junivelle?" and an angry Taoist priestess! "Do you realize what you did, Janet?" Avelle simply sighed. "I don't know why Michael is with us now, but I have a feeling that it'll be an eternity before you can once again see the man you fell in love with..." For zee fifth doll of Christmas, Sigmund Freud made him do A B E A U T I F U L F L O W E R !!! The heavy bag rocked on its chains as Cammy unloaded punch after vicious punch into it. Just because she was the numero uno Doll did not mean that she could slack off on her training. She was Lord Bison's finest and she had to live up to the title. Lost in the meditation in motion of pummeling her sandbag into submission, Cammy switched to powerful kicks that could have easily broken bones or crushed ribs. She finished off with a powerful thrust kick that blasted the punching bag from its chains. She lashed out with a swift spin kick when she sensed a presence behind her. Her hands flew to her mouth in horror when she saw that it was her Lord Bison who had just ducked her kick. Cammy's brain seized up as she tried to decide whether to bow, kneel or faint. Holding up his hands in a pseudo-defensive posture, Michael Bison grinned wryly, "now I know that I've been away for awhile but I never knew you were *that* upset." Cammy just held her hand behind her head and laughed nervously, indicating that she been borrowing far too many of Serina's animé. "Once we have some spare time, I plan to have a little getaway, just the two of us. I hear the Swiss Alps are lovely this time of year." Cammy just cuddled up to her Lord Bison as he gave her a new ski jacket. Being with him was far better than any other gift in the world. A hunter leader SB, "Mmm... she seems so happy." Avelle leaned back as she saw Cammy leaning against her lord. "Unlike the flower born from nature, the cultivated one sadly doesn't know what it missed." a computer slacker hippy, "Reservation. Ski Lodge. Swiss Alps. Special Evil Organization Discount of 100% or Burnt Down Ski Lodge. Finished." Eyes closed, Marzche shook her head to herself then shrugged. Flowers always enjoyed the best sunlight of all. Wasn't much helping that these days. a very sword hungry girl, "Hmph. I still managed to log more training hours than her..." Fenrir grumbled. and an angry Taoist priestess! "Even that Cammy, too?" Janet angrily slammed her fist against the wall. "BAH HUMBUG!" For zee sixth doll of Christmas, Sigmund Freud made him do A ridiculously adorable Nazi, It was... weird, to say the least. One minute, Juni was just minding her own business waiting on standby for further orders, browsing the CATASTROPHE hunter network for the latest news on darkstalker bounties, and simply chatting with an online friend, (Well, okay, it was a lot more time than just a minute) and the next, her Lord Bison was finally back. He was finally with everyone, just like the old days before Cammy moved up to become his personal bodyguard. Even the not-so-top doll Juni, herself, was given the chance to get something, too. Should she have been suspicious? Which was the dream and which was the reality? Did the dream finally end Lord Bison was there for her again, or did reality just take a short break while the temporary dream restarted again? "He's not going to stay like this." Avelle remarked as Juni stared at the cages of the zoo where Bison said she could choose any pet she wanted from. "I know about this much better than you possibly could. That's why you should be happy just to see him again." "Oh, you're too cynical." Juni simply beamed back at her, half mockingly. "We are always Sir Bison's finest. I'll take this christmas present from him as like, eternal proof of it or something like that." "More like an eternal reminder of your naiveness." Avelle muttered under her breath. A puma leapt from the ground of its cage and slammed into the bars near Juni, startling her a little. "ROAR!" "GROWL!" From another cage, a tiger snarled. The evil zoo keeper watched as Juni surveyed the array of killer beasts. She finally slowly pointed to something. "I want that one!" He was shocked. "ARE YOU INSANE?!? Not that one! Anyone but that one! It's too dangerous!" Also staring wide-eyed at Juni's choice, Avelle tried to change her mind. "I must agree, darling. Having a pet like that is suicidal!" "Didn't you hear me the first time?" Juni snapped. "I want that one!" The zoo keeper sighed as he donned a full body armor suit and several big burly men cautiously accompanied him to fetch Juni's new pet. "Mew." A B E A U T I F U L F L O W E R !!! "Lord Bison let me pick her out!" Juni remarked as Cammy happily held the cute little tabby kitty cat. "Her name is Cuddles!" "She's adorable!" Cammy happily commented as she hugged the kitty cat. A hunter leader SB, Watching the two, all Avelle could say was "That's... that's just wrong." a computer slacker hippy, "Mew." The kitty cat stared at Marzche from the top of her new laptop computer. Marzche slowly looked back up at it before shrugging and returning her attention to her computer screen. a very sword hungry girl, "A kitty cat named Cuddles?!? That's stupid!" Fenrir snapped, as Cuddles stared at her with a resounding "Mew." and an angry Taoist priestess! "He... gave you a kitty cat. I once had a kitty cat..." Janet sadly stared at Cuddles then reluctantly gave Cuddles back to Juni and turned to look at a rather surprised Fenrir, who had slash and claw marks all over her. "Um, what happened to you?" For zee seventh doll of Christmas, Sigmund Freud made him do A Native-American Caucasian, Is life supposed to be this unstable? Or is this just one of the perks of being a pre-programmed genetically engineered clone of God knows what? Juli's life used to be normal enough. Well, normal enough for an elite assassin agent working for an evil underground organization out to conquer the world and do a myriad of other assorted evil things. Until she received a cloned partner. Then found out she was a clone, myself. More specifically, a clone of the Rose who's causing everyone to be so paranoid right now... or a clone of Bison. Hell, she might even be a clone of Janet for all she knew. One thing Juli was sure about though was that Rose was right. Agent Juli of Shadowlaw lived in a nut house. Fenrir told her that they were subject to termination now that Lord Bison didn't need them anymore. So why was he celebrating Christmas with them? Sure, he's done it last year as much as Juli could remember but considering how everything else in her life became topsy-turvy, tradition, recurrence, and being able to have things happen as expected seemed to be a far off luxury. Juli slowly stared at the kitty cat in Juni's arms, yet another new factor that was just guaranteed to bring oodles of bountiful joy into her life. "He gave you that?" "Yea. Lord Bison wasn't sure of what I wanted so I asked for Cuddles, here." Juni explained. "Isn't she the cutest?" "Mew." Juni closed her eyes and beamed. "She likes you!" A really fast blur later, and Juli found herself cut and slashed extremely badly in the face. "Mew." "Really really likes you!" Juni remarked, still smiling. It took Juli a split second to register what just happened. Still bleeding, she looked at the kitty cat before screaming, "AAAAAH! KEEP THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!" "Mew." "Juli, you're too tense. I met a person in a chat room who, when I told him about you, really thinks you need to cheer up." Juni replied as she handed Juli a ration and began using her Gamma charge to heal her. "Cuddles is just giving you signs of affection. Next thing you know, you'll be screaming the same thing about Lord Bison for celebrating Christmas with us. But I don't think you ever told Bison what you wanted, either. He should be coming over here to see you soon, I imagine." "Lord Bison... why is he doing this for us, anyway?" Juli put her hand over her somewhat healed face, thought for a moment, then looked at Juni. "Don't worry, I know exactly what I'll ask for." "Okay, I'll go join everyone else, then, while you talk to him." After Juni and her scary kitty cat left the room, Juli sat down on her bed and leaned back. "Lord Bison... What's going on?" "Ask and ye shall receive...." Juli turned around to see Lord Bison sitting in her chair looking extremely innocent. "As to how I got here, well, let's just say that a good magician never reveals his secrets. Now I hear that you've had somewhat of an emotional maelstrom recently. Care to share anything with your glorious leader?" Juli swallowed once. Broaching this subject could lead to her termination or worse but it was now or never. "Lord Bison, I've learned things. Things that make me doubt my own humanity." Bison steepled his fingers and looked more thoughtful than Juli had ever seen him. "Have you wondered why there aren't two Cammys? Or a dozen of me running around at the same time? The answer is simple. While we can clone the body, we cannot replicate the *soul*. The animating essence that makes you a sentient being is unique in all respects. There is only one Juli, one Juni; only one of everybody. You have a heart, a soul and a mind and that makes you human in my book without a shadow of a doubt." Once Lord Bison left, Juli looked quizzically at the books he had given her for Christmas. "'I, Robot'? 'Blade Runner'? 'Positronic Man'? Hmm...." a ridiculously adorable Nazi, "Oh! Juli! You seem cheered up! That's good to see." Although Juli was too busy backing away from Juni's kitty to notice her comment. A B E A U T I F U L F L O W E R !!! "There aren't two Cammy's..." Juli began to repeat the speech to herself that Bison gave her, then paused as she said that line and saw Cammy walk by. For a brief moment, she felt there was something... twisted, then just shook her head and shrugged it off. She wasn't dead like Fenrir said, and Lord Bison seemed sincere enough. Might as well enjoy the rest of Christmas. A hunter leader SB, "Poor naive Juli. You fall for this too easily." Avelle shook her head, getting tired of the many sad tragic observations she was making that day. "Someday, Juli, I'll open your eyes for you since you're too foolish to do it yourself." a computer slacker hippy, Marzche replayed the conversation between Juli and Bison that she had just seen on her new laptop then simply shrugged. It seemed like the fairies were back for the season, not that she really cared anyway, though. a very sword hungry girl, "Aw, no christmas gift for poor agent Juli?" Fenrir smirked at her. "Looks like Lord Bison's finally starting to appreciate those that actually TRY around here." "Oh please." The brunette's eyes rolled before she simply smiled back. "Lord Bison gave me something which is a lot better than even the sharpest sword." and an angry Taoist priestess! "'Lord' Bison shouldn't be giving anyone anything!!!" Janet was nearly having a fit. "Except to me, dammit!!!! What's with this?!?" For zee eighth doll of Christmas, Sigmund Freud made him do An S&M battosai master, Aurora awoke to see her Lord Bison smiling beatifically down at her. As she reached for her whips and chains, Michael steeled himself for pain. "The things I go through for my Dolls," he whimpered to himself as Aurora approached him wearing practically only a smile but carrying various instruments of pain. *CRACK!* It was in fact nice to see that her Lord Bison feared. Oh, he knew the power of fear. Unlike those others. An army of penguins would serve Shadowlaw better than them. People feared financial ruin, being embarrassed, death, or other silly things, but it all boiled down to one thing which they would feel during that fear. Pain. Yet people rarely feared pain itself until it was right in front of them. WHY WON'T THEY FEAR?!? Oh what would Shadowlaw do when the evil Italians came to steal their arctic candy away from them? Now that Aurora was done giving Lord Bison his christmas present (and an extra generous helping of it, it was!), it was time to fix that. Full agent ensemble back on, she slyly left the room and her commander whom had just recently received the gift and found her next giftee. Janet quickly turned around. "Wha?" "HO HO HO! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!" Aurora shouted as she cracked her whip. a Native-American Caucasian, "AAAAH!" Juli quickly sprang for the room where the Aurasia drug was held, all the while screaming the alarm that Aurora was lose and having one of her fits, again. a ridiculously adorable Nazi, Rather than help Janet out, Juni decided to make good use of her mach slide ground teleportation instead. Aurora figured she'd have to give that girl her Christmas present, later. A B E A U T I F U L F L O W E R !!! Unfortunately for Cammy (well, in Aurora's eyes, FORTUNATELY for Cammy), even Cammy couldn't handle Aurora because SHE WAS THE BATTOSAI! A hunter leader SB, A blast from Avelle's gun managed to distract Aurora for a bit in an attempt to stop Cammy from recieving the gift of S&M. a computer slacker hippy, Marzche simply smiled at all the shiny lights that started to fill the room as Avelle broke out everything in her offensive repertoire. a very sword hungry girl, Always eager for the top sparring partner but not really caring about Cammy's well-being, Fenrir hopped right in hoping to try her new sword out against Aurora's armory of pain. and an angry Taoist priestess! Despite being beat up from recieving the gift earlier, Janet managed to stop everything and get the shot into Aurora's arm, calming Aurora down and making Aurora try to figure out what just happened. Janet sighed. Stupid idiots always needed her to do everything. Just another easy task for she-who-should-have-been-obeyed. For zee ninth doll of Christmas, Sigmund Freud made him do An otaku karaoke singer, It was once again a very happy happy day. Though this time the happiness was even more so than usual. Michael was here for everyone! Hooray! Janet told her that that Rose lady was really mean and whatnot and everyone would be in trouble now but Serina never believed her because it's hard to believe Janet since Janet is always so mean and whatnot, what with her mean mean scheming and her not so happy bitterness and her mean metaphorphisms of everyone. It was okay, though, since today was a day of happiness and forgiving all the unhappiness that others can bring. Too bad Serina couldn't think up of a happier hairstyle than her already happy pretty pink curled hair. But Lord Bison was nice enough to give her a new karaoke machine which could have the same effect. And this one was for fun. Normally she'd have to play around with karaoke machines of destruction and scary scary death cookies but for the season, everything would be just fine and dandy already, oh yes it would! "We're all going to sing a Christmas carol for Lord Bison!!" Serina beamed to Marzche. Marzche simply looked up at her, then got the karaoke machine turned on. Morale support. She was dubbed a communications expert but Serina knew that Marzche's and her true purpose was to keep everyone in good cheer. No more hearing about mean vampires who metamorphisize poor babies into lobsters, no more shadows being cast away into the light by evil Bobo the circus wyrm, and no more laundry jobs on her poor partner Marzche. Yes, especially for this day, it was time for everyone to be cheerful again. an S&M battosai master, "Hmm..." Aurora, calmed down a bit finally, looked at the sheet music that Serina gave her. "This seems unorthodox." a Native-American Caucasian, Juli blinked. "Twelve dolls of Christmas? Who's the idiot who made this song?" a ridiculously adorable Nazi, "Some guy with a computer and too much time on his hands, I guess." Juni replied. A B E A U T I F U L F L O W E R !!! Cammy sighed. "Do I HAVE to sing this?" A hunter leader SB, Avelle nodded then looked at several of the other dolls. "Of course!!! You'll do it for Lord Bison, right?" a computer slacker hippy, "Whatever." a very sword hungry girl, "I don't mind." Fenrir happily commented as she held onto and leaned onto Bison with one arm then looked off and spun her new sword around with the other. and an angry Taoist priestess! "I AM NOT AN ANGRY TAOIST PRIESTESS!!!!" Janet snapped as she glared at the sheet music. For zee tenth doll of Christmas, Sigmund Freud made him do A spear stabbing stalker, "So that territory is now under the control of Shadowlaw then? Excellent!" The golden lion tamarin monkey crawled on top of the globe and looked downwards as Olvere placed another pin on the map. Yes, it was a great day indeed. Fenrir was no longer mad at her for that sword incident, the threat of Rose coming to Shadowlaw turned out to be greatly overestimated, and, thanks to a few well-timed spear wounds down some stupid CEO's throat and a little political manipulation, yet another hundred or so acres of rainforest were now under the jurisdiction of Shadowlaw... or better put, NOT under the possible jurisdiction of those so-called "progress people." They'd be extremely impressed, since this would not only be a new record for Olivia Kingson, it would be a new record for all of them. Since she was now the youngest most successful member of... "Agent Olveeeeeeeere!!!" That silly Serina's voice shrieked from around the corner. "Aurora handed out Christmas presents to everyone! You should get yours, too." Olivia blinked, then quickly put the globe away as her pet monkey leaped onto her shoulder. The reports to them would have to wait. She'd be willing to put them aside for her Lord Bison's sake. She didn't care too much for most anything else besides her global mission, but even that didn't take precedence over Lord Bison. She'd do anything for him, of course. Though... she wasn't expecting that he'd do something for her that day. Olvere just stared at the lush, verdant paradise in the heart of Shadaloo HQ. After the Muramune ceremony, her Lord Bison had given the massive greenhouse to her as a place to store interesting specimens that she came across in her travels. Even the soil matched the rainforest's perfectly. Deliriously happy, she grabbed her spear and joined her fellow dolls at the recreation room. an otaku karaoke singer, "Olvere!!!" Serina piped. "Hooray!!! You're here! Now just a few more and we can have a happy happy family moment for everyone which will just be the happiest thing that can be happy and such. Oh, and Aurora has a gift for you." an S&M battosai master, "I HAVE A GIFT FOR YOU!" Aurora shouted as she cracked her whip again, much to a shocked, surprised, then somewhat dismayed Olvere. a Native-American Caucasian, "Sorry about that, Olvere." Juli remarked as she pulled the once again drugged Aurora away. "Thanks for distracting her. Guess we should have used a stronger dose. But at least we're helping each other now instead of stepping on each others' toes, right?" Olvere blinked, looked up at Juli, then slowly nodded, still trying to get over the pain which continued to remain from Aurora's present. a ridiculously adorable Nazi, Finally recomposing herself, she caught site of Juni's kitty cat. "That tabby cat looks remarkably similar to the one I was trying to train to be a psycho power enhanced assassin kitty cat..." Olvere muttered. A B E A U T I F U L F L O W E R !!! "Cheer up, Olvere." Cammy grinned. "You see, Bison didn't forget about you after all." Cammy wisely decided not to mention she would be the one getting the private getaway. A hunter leader SB, "This kitten? Yours? Darling, you must be mistaken." a computer slacker hippy, Surprise! Marzche didn't really care about Olvere's avatar of environment quest, either! a very sword hungry girl, Fenrir was still too happy spinning her new sword around to remember what Olvere did to her last one. and an angry Taoist priestess! "I still think the bird sanctuary dome is better than that greenhouse..." Janet grumbled to no one in particular. For zee eleventh doll of Christmas, Sigmund Freud made him do A medic motherly figure, "There we go! All better!" The plain red-haired nurse smiled as the life readings on the last patient finally stabilized. They said she worked too hard considering that everyone else was enjoying their holiday break. But that was okay. Life was precious and wasn't something to be wasted. Those poor dying men from several Shadowlaw military campaigns which sadly went awry due to unforeseen circumstances had the right to a nice Christmas too. No, they had a right to their own life, even if they were labeled as expendable. And it was Noelle's job to pick up where the medical branch left off in times of emergency. She had to take care of her Shadowlaw, after all. And she especially had to take care of her poor tired S&M'd Lord Bison... wait a minute. Hmm. This... would definitely take some work. It took her a while but her work was finally done for the day and she
was able to join everyone else. Noelle just sat as close as she could
to her Lord Bison in the massive crush with almost all of the Dolls trying
to get a plum place next to him. The
She shivered as she remembered treating her Lord Bison after his session with Aurora. He was so kind and gentle that it made her kind of mushy inside. a spear stabbing stalker, "Oh, poor Olvere! You too? You should be more careful! I worry about you!" Although she could have done without Noelle's weird worry, Olvere was thankful to be patched up from that run in with Aurora. an otaku karaoke singer, "Silly Noelle," Serina beamed. "Lobster metamorphisis results in one who no longer needs to cry to their mother like a poor baby does." an S&M battosai master, "No more unauthorized christmas presents, okay?!" Noelle scolded a rather surprised Aurora, who was wondering what she was talking about. a Native-American Caucasian, "Um, you all realize it's starting to get crowded in here, right?" Juli remarked. a ridiculously adorable Nazi, "See," Juni commented, not paying attention to her partner. "Lord Bison doesn't repress, which is what makes him one step above the second best commander in history." A B E A U T I F U L F L O W E R !!! Cammy blinked. "Anyone know what Agent Juni is talking about?" A hunter leader SB, Juni's red-haired companion decided to simply sigh and not bother answering that question. a computer slacker hippy, "Mommy?" Marzche shook her head. "Whatever." a very sword hungry girl, "Ha, even Noelle couldn't save someone if they got stabbed with this!" Stormbringer spun around for probably the hundredth time as it was commented about. and an angry Taoist priestess! "Mother.... can't save stabbed... repressing commanders." Janet blinked, then grimaced. "It's not like anyone cares!" The hatchet that Chief Sitting Bull had used at Little Big Horn. Desire slowly examined it, noting every inch, nook and cranny. In her hands was a piece of history and her Lord Bison had just *given* it to her. He had even agreed to give her time off to visit the Reservation if she so chose. What more could a girl want? More time with her Lord Bison of course! Humming a happy tune, she put the hatchet in a place of honor and jogged to the recreation room. She knew the rest of the dolls would be there with Lord Bison, but the real reason they'd be happy was that they'd finally be together with each other. The other poor agents were always so deprived of each of their intersoul partners. It was tragic, to say the least. Her soulmate? Who knew. But while she waited to someday locate her own soulmate out there in the world, she might as well go ahead and see if she could sneak Bison out from under the rest of those repressing girls for herself for the time being. Senoh groaned. "I still don't see what this has to do with anything." "Hmph! Vhy do you not undersztand?!?" Irvine snapped. "Stupid little man. I shall let you see for yourself zee way of zee dolls!" He shoved the door open and pushed Senoh over to see all twelve of the dolls crowded around M. Bison, then he began the final verse. For zee twelfth doll of Christmas, Sigmund Freud made him do A doll with yuri desires, Desire watched all the other dolls around Lord Bison. Sure, in reality, he had to be the wrong soulmate for each of them since you can only be the soul mate of one person, not twelve, but for Bison, she'd let it slide for once. a medic motherly figure, Noelle closed her eyes and smiled, happy that she was taking good care of Shadowlaw, after all. a spear stabbing stalker, "Hmm, you were wrong about Rose, Doctor Janet." Olvere remarked to Janet, who was still fuming that each and every other doll got the Christmas treatment, too. "I don't see any problems with her now at all." an otaku karaoke singer, "You see?!? Isn't Lord Bison the bestest?!" Serina happily shouted to Janet directly her face. an S&M Battosai master, "HE FEARS!!!" Aurora's even louder shout sent Janet tumbling back before Aurora quickly paused, then calmly added, "Oops, I did it again, huh?" a Native American Caucasian, "I honestly don't see why you were so worried, Janet." Juli smiled. a ridiculously adorable Nazi, Juni happily picked up Cuddles and showed him to a sulking Janet. "He really likes you!" A B E A U T I F U L F L O W E R !!! Janet cringed as Cammy commented, "Hmph, Lord Bison still likes me more than you, though." A hunter leader SB, Watching silly Juni be happy with a mere cat when Michael should have been good enough, Avelle simply sighed. a computer slacker hippie, "A WINNER IS YOU!" Marzche's computer screamed, startling Janet by quite a lot once again. a very sword hungry girl, Fenrir hold her sword up right next to Janet's head. "It's special, huh? It makes me glad to know that Lord Bison will always be there for us." Irvine happily slapped Senoh hard on the back before before all of the dolls around M. Bison, sans Janet, happily sang the final line of the song. AND AN ANGRY TAOIST PRIESTESS!!!! The other dolls cheered for M. Bison while Janet screamed out to no one in particular, "OKAY!!! I GET THE POINT ALREADY!!!!" As the clock tolled midnight on Christmas day, Bison was once again clad in his customary uniform. "I have to hand to you Michael, when it comes to making people happy, no one does it better than you. Too bad you only have one day a year." Senoh crawled back into his lab sector and sighed at the memory of what happened for his Christmas, glad to be free of that craziness that he was forced to bear witness to for that day. Yes, a problem with being a mad scientist in an evil organization was that your companions tended to be quite mad, themselves. As the night slowly deepened and everyone went to bed, Senoh made one last remark before heading off to bed, himself. "I thought we were supposed to be the ones dispensing the narcotics," he grumbled. "Not the ones using them!" Back to the chapter archives | Back to the archive updates |