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Post by Ranger Parsec on Mar 13, 2005 17:10:40 GMT -5
The Z Factor by Joy
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Chapter Five - The Escape
Randall peered out from around the corner of a hallway inside Zurg's massive Z Tower. He glanced around the dark hallway. After a few moments, he made a forward motion with his three-fingered hand and emerged out into the open. Ty, still in Wirewolf form, followed behind on all fours. Randall's tail swayed slightly behind him as he tiptoed past the big yellow robot guards, from one hall to another. He easily vanished from sight and reappeared behind the next corner and into a vacant room. He motioned with his hand, when he saw the coast was clear.
Wirewolf then followed him, ducking into the empty room with Randall.
"Alright, here's the plan," Randall whispered, bringing him in close enough to hear. "We sneak into the hangar, get a ship, and somehow get back to yer place. You chase the guards or distract 'em in some way, while I find us some kind of ship. Can ya do that?"
His friend could only nod in agreement.
Randall peered out from the room again and briefly glanced around. He looked for any signs or indications that there was a hangar nearby. However, he found no solid evidence for such a thing - at least, not in this hall.
"Okay, first, I think we need t' find the hangar," he said. "You stay here; keep an eye out. I'm gonna find where Zurg stores his ships."
Wirewolf nudged him gently in the side with his muzzle and pointed out the door's window at the continuous stream of robots and lackeys milling around outside. He then met Randall's eyes, his brows arched.
Randall patted him lightly on the muzzle. "Don't worry, they're not gonna catch me," he said confidently, crawling up the wall with all eight of his suction feet. He paused, looking back at his friend. "Ya have any idea when that's gonna wear off?"
The robotic wolf shook his head.
"Alright," he replied, blending perfectly into his surroundings. "Then I think stayin' hidden, until I return, will be yer best bet. See ya in a few."
With that said, he left the safe seclusion of the room, slithering along the hallway walls. He passed by, unnoticed, as he went on his quest. In his mind, he mapped out his path from the room outward, to prevent himself from getting lost. He kept on the lookout for clues concerning a hangar, as he scouted one hallway after another in the twisted maze of Zurg's fortress. Randall ducked down a less-used hallway and felt safe enough to hop onto the floor.
He walked on fours slowly and cautiously, looking through windows of various rooms as he passed them. One was a small research lab, followed by various storage rooms. So far, it wasn't looking very promising. He decided that he'd just check the last room in the hallway, just in case, and then try again somewhere else.
Nevertheless, as he peered through the door's window, he spotted something that caught his eye. Inside, Zurg stood with a couple of his lackeys. Next to them was an enclosed, bullet-shaped device, connected to it were wires and tubes and stuff. It appeared to be processing something, seeing as steam was coming from the cracks.
Randall shaded his eyes with his hand to get rid of the reflection that impeded his view inside the room. This close to the door, he could actually hear them talking.
"You sure we got enough samples?" Zurg asked one of his brain pod lackeys.
"Positive, Evil Emperor," he replied. "According to our calculations, it should be just enough for one perfect Project Z."
Zurg finally lit up. "That's perfectly peachy!" he enthused. "So, in a few minutes we should have. . .?"
"A perfect version of your new experimentation, Your Evilness," the brain pod finished with a nod. "Yes, our research has gotten all the information we need from both the ranger and the monster."
Randall's fronds perked up at the mention and he squinted to get a better look inside. "Project Z, huh?" he muttered. "Let's see what they have here. . ."
With a hiss of released air pressure, the door to the capsule opened and purple smoke poured out into the room. Once the smoke cleared, there stood a black and purple version of Randall himself. Randall's eyes widened in shock as he watched through the window. It looked exactly like him, except for the coloration and the sinister expression it possessed. He blinked again in disbelief.
"This isn't good," Randall muttered to himself.
"Here it is, Your Evilness!" the brain pod said triumphantly. "Project Z!"
Zurg looked him over and nodded with a grin of approval. "And can he do all the same functions as we planned?" he asked.
"Most certainly, boss," the lackey replied, glancing at the Randall clone. "Go ahead."
'Project Z' smirked and vanished from sight, exactly like his counterpart, reappearing as normal only seconds later. He then proceeded to demonstrate quick movements and reflexes that matched Randall's, in addition to some moves he had seen Ty use when they were fighting Shiv Kitall.
Zurg smiled. "Very impressive, Project Z!" he said. "And, as if that weren't enough - as an added Lightyear deterrant - you have one other ability. Correct, Project Z?"
The evil clone chuckled. "Shall I demonstrate?" he asked in a decidedly more sinister voice than Randall's.
"Hmm. . ." Zurg pondered, breaking out into a gleeful grin. "Oh, why not? I might as well see if it works before sending my new agent out to take over the universe."
With an eagerness, the evil clone transformed into a robotic version of itself - similar to a Wirewolf, except reptilian. It did all this with the ease and simplicity of changing scale color. It wasn't nearly the drama that Ty's transformation had been, but still quite unnerving.
"Wonderful!" Zurg said approvingly. "If this doesn't deter Lightyear, I don't know what will! Mwahahaha! But what shall we call you? Aside from Project Z? Seems a little cliche`, don't you think?" He glanced at his lackeys and they replied with shrugs.
"Oh! I know! We shall call you. . .'Lladnar'!" Zurg announced.
The clone raised an eyebrow, morphing back into his original form. "Lladnar?" he echoed, with a pause. "That's stupid."
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Post by Ranger Parsec on Mar 13, 2005 17:11:36 GMT -5
Zurg eyed him. "Stupid?? It's a classic evil clone name!" he exclaimed in shock. "Your name is Lladnar. Or, if you'd rather have Brain Pod 31, name you instead that's just peachy with me."
Brain Pod 31 grinned widely. "Ooh! Ooh! I know one!" he exclaimed. "How about. . .Lizardzilla? Or. . .uh. . .Speedy! How about Stitch? I hear that's popular too. . ."
Project Z stared at him and rolled his eyes. "I'll stick with Lladnar."
Zurg grinned, glad he saw it his way, and ushered him towards the very door Randall was watching from. Outside the door, Randall quickly dashed up to the ceiling to avoid being detected, and watched intently as they emerged from the lab. Lladnar, Zurg, and his lackeys all emerged out into the hallway and continued down the hallway.
However, Lladnar paused.
"What is it?" Zurg asked.
"I thought I sensed something. . ." he said cautiously, examining every inch of the hallway with his eyes.
Randall held his breath and inched his way along the ceiling, trying to get past them and out into the relative safety of the hallway. He was especially careful when going past Lladnar, but he did this as swiftly and quietly as possible. The evil clone looked in his direction, but by that time, he was already gone.
"That was too close!" Randall muttered, taking in a deep breath to calm his nerves.
He slithered along the walls now, resuming his search for the hangar. Finally, at the end of the hallway, he spotted a sign with the words, 'Evil Hangar' just above the door. He grinned and noted the exact location, before heading back to retrieve his friend. It only took him seconds to slither his way back into the vacant room and shut the door behind him. His scales gradually faded back to their normal colors and looked around.
Wirewolf was occupying himself with a computer consule on the far side of the room. He was draining all the power from it as he had the one in the lab. Simply judging by this, Randall guessed he fed on electrical power instead of food to keep him going. He grasped his friend's long, blue wire-like tail and attempted to pull him away from the robot buffet.
"C'mon, we gotta go," he said. "You can have lunch later."
His friend resisted at first, digging his claws into the floor, but after a second or two he finally relented. He pressed his ears back against his head and left the consule to rejoin Randall. Wirewolf c o c k e d his head at him.
"I found the hangar," Randall answered. "It's down this hallway, a couple corridors down, and to the left."
Wirewolf's ears perked up and he seemed to grin, nudging Randall's arm with his muzzle, as if to say 'great job'. The lizard-monster grinned back and placed a hand on the robotic canine's back as he peered out into the hallway. "Alright," Randall whispered, bringing his friend in close with a small smirk. "Here's what I need you to do. . ."
After explaining his plans of escape, Wirewolf gave him a nod of confirmation then bolted out the door and into the hallway. He rose up on two feet and let out a long, bone-chilling, metallic howl. It stopped every lackey in the hall dead in their tracks. They all directed their attention to the Wirewolf, who was eyeing them, as though trying to choose which to chase first. With this revelation, the hall erupted into chaos, every lackey scattering one way or another to clear the halls.
"AHHH! It got out of the lab!!!" a Brain Pod yelled. "Run for your lives!"
Wirewolf growled and chased a few of them, snapping and clawing at the frantic targets. Meanwhile, Randall snuck along the walls behind him. He headed for the hangar, undetected, as Wirewolf chased every last Grub and Brain Pod out of the vicinity. Once they all had left, Randall reappeared and chuckled.
"Pretty effective," he grinned, rubbing his friend between the ears. "Y'know, Monsters Inc could use Scarers like you."
The robotic wolf swished his tail and sat down next to him, a look of predatory satisfation on his face. It seemed, every once and awhile, his human-ness faded and a more animal-like demeanor took over, then vice versa. It was like an internal battle for control of the same body, where one personality would occassionally overtake another - either the Wirewolf or Ty was in control at any given time. Randall could only guess, based upon the reaction, which he was talking to.
Now faced with the challenge of the hangar door, Randall rubbed his chin and glanced at the wall keyboard. He quickly dabbled with different codes and combinations, until finally, he had hacked his way past the system. The door opened quickly with a hiss and both went inside.
However, once inside, they were met with a problem: the only available ship was already on its way out! The medium-sized agent ship streaked down the runway, preparing for liftoff. Randall gasped and ran for it, while in the back of his mind, fearing the prospect of not catching it in time. He picked up the pace.
Meanwhile, Wirewolf matched his pace, running on all fours alongside him. He jerked his head to the side, motioning something. Randall stared for a moment as he ran, trying to understand. This time, it was difficult to tell what he was trying to get across.
"What?" Randall finally asked.
Wirewolf growled a bit, obviously frustrated at his own apparent muteness, and directed himself straight at Randall. Except, in doing so, he ducked underneath his four legs, scooping the lizard-monster up onto his back. Wirewolf then drastically picked up speed and was barely able to leap onto the ship, just before the thrusters activated.
Randall hung on for dear life, thankful for the fact that he had extremely good suction-feet, and slowly crawled onto the exterior of the ship. Wirewolf followed close behind. As he saw the ship making a sharp incline towards the upper atmospheres, the lizard-monster swiftly reached for a door and forced it open. He pulled himself inside, soon followed by the Wirewolf, who landed with a notable thump on the floor behind him.
Randall paused a moment or two, to catch his breath and stop his heart from racing. As he did so, he heard the sparking of electricity, and quickly glanced over his shoulder.
Standing on all fours, Wirewolf was becoming engulfed in neon green electricity, slowly shrinking in size and immensity. It's features morphed gradually, transforming back into his human form right before his eyes. Once he had stopped glowing green, Ty's body visibly relaxed and he slowly glanced down at his trembling hand, as though to make sure he was fully back to normal. Then he let his head hang downward, just trying to catch his own breath and recover from the physical trauma of the complex transformation.
Randall noted that his clothes were torn and his hair was messy, but otherwise he looked just like he had before. This gave him some relief and he came to his friend's side, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You alright?"
Ty nodded. "Yeah, I think so," he replied, looking up and offering him a weak grin. "You?"
"I'm fine," Randall replied, helping him to his feet. "That looks difficult."
"Huh?" Ty asked, still a little dazed. Then realization hit him. "Oh! The Wirewolf thing? Yeah. After awhile I guess you sorta adapt, though. . ."
"Why didn't ya tell me about this?" he asked, out of curiosity.
His human friend simply shrugged. "I'm sorry," he apologised. "I just don't like to tell people about it, I guess. . .Everyone already thinks I'm a wierdo, so frankly, I don't like to give them another reason to back it up. You know what I mean?" He paused. "Plus, I thought you'd have been back to your world by now, so I didn't really see a need to tell you about it."#nosmileys
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Post by Ranger Parsec on Mar 13, 2005 17:12:00 GMT -5
"Well, that's a given," Randall replied, patting his pal on the back. "But don't worry: no hard feelings."
Ty nodded in acknowledgement, smiling. "But, speaking of your world, why didn't you leave?" he asked. "Surely you found a doorway back."
"Let's put it this way," the lizard-monster began. "I had a debt to repay to a certain friend of mine."
The ranger's eyebrows arched. Then, realizing what had taken place, he gave the monster a warm smile and punched him lightly in the upper arm. "Thanks. . ." he said, with a long pause. "You. . .didn't have to do that you know."
Randall just grinned. "I know," he replied with a shrug. "Hey, if I wasn't gonna do somethin', who would? And, y'know, my stupid conscience would never let me live it down either. So, yeah. . ."
Ty just laughed. "Well, I guess we're even now."
"Yeah, I guess so," he admitted. "Now, I say we hide and wait for our stop, before somebody finds us out here."
With that said, both the Ranger and monster headed off to find a hiding place.
**********
"So, you're this 'Project Z' Zurg's been raving on and on about?"
Zurg's top agent - a former best friend of Buzz Lightyear turned evil - Warp Darkmatter, gave the experiment a long glance. The agent was tall; at least six feet in height, with sky-blue skin. He had a black haircut and goatee - and a very pessimistic look on his face, as he gave this Randall clone the once-over.
Lladnar nodded, arms folded. "What were you expecting? A pony?"
"No, I was expecting something that looked more. . ." Warp paused, trying to find the words. ". . .promising? I don't think Lightyear's gonna be scared of a lizard."
"Hey!" Lladnar snapped. "For one, I'm NO lizard. And secondly, there's much more to me than what you see here - read the memo. . .Now, let's get this show on the road already, I have a busy schedule!"
With a resigned shrug, Warp got behind the wheel of his private ship and launched out of the Z Tower hangar. It didn't take very long for them to reach the blackness of space, passing numerous planets and other space objects. Warp cranked up the speed and they zoomed along, the planets and stars mixing into a fleeting blur of colors as they sped towards their objective.
As they approached, Warp slowed the ship and cloaked it, the shape vanishing from sight much like Randall could do to his scales. Warp turned in his seat to look at Lladnar. "You want me to find you a way in?" he asked.
Lladnar held up a hand. "No need," he said with a smirk. "I think I'm fully able to break into Star Command by myself. . ."
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Equipped with "bubble helmets" they had swiped from Zurg's spaceship, Randall crawled along the outside of Star Command, Ty at his side. They were forced to jump ship, when they found out it was heading to the planet of Flamar, instead of swinging around past the rangers' headquarters. Luckily, the two had found jet packs, one human space suit, and self-explanatory "bubble helmets" to help them breathe in the vaccum of space.
Now, they were just trying to figure out how to get back inside Star Command.
Ty looked into the first window he came across and spotted Buzz and the rest of Team Lightyear inside. Relieved, Ty knocked on the glass. Buzz turned towards the sound and his eyes widened, rushing over to the window. He quickly opened it, releasing a blast of strong vaccum-like winds, and pulled Ty inside.
Randall crawled inside after him and Mira quickly shut the window.
Booster stared at Randall, eyes wide, and aimed his wrist laser at him. "AAAAHH! Buzz, look out!" he yelled, eyeing Randall fearfully.
Buzz glanced from Randall to Ty and fixed his old academy buddy with a questioning glare. Ty could do nothing, but offer him a sheepish grin. He knew he was busted and there was no hiding it this time.
"Hey, look, Ty got a pet lizard," XR grinned casually. "A big one."
Randall placed all four of his hands on his hips, clearly annoyed at this. "I'm not a lizard and I'm not his pet!" he retorted. "We're friends."
Upon hearing him speak, everyone fell silent and stared - all except Buzz and Ty. The captain glanced accusingly at his friend. "Ty," he said grimly. "I think you have alot of explaining to do about this."
As everyone's gazes shifted to him, Ty let out a sigh, knowing he'd have no other choice in the matter. "Okay, okay," he muttered. "It's like this. . ."
The Ranger began to explain everything, from the incident in the cafeteria to getting kidnapped on Trade World and Zurg's plot. He also made sure to pointedly defend his reasons for keeping Randall at the headquarters and why he had gone against his commander's orders. He had hoped that this would convince them that he had done the right thing, despite what he had been told, and back off a little.
He was already feeling uneasy. Was he the only one who had thought that what he did was right? Should he really have left Randall where he had found him? Somehow, he didn't think he'd be able to do something as cruel as that - especially considering the condition he had found him in. His heart told him it wouldn't have been right, no matter what his commander thought.
He just hoped that he wasn't alone in that regard. . .
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Post by Ranger Parsec on Mar 13, 2005 17:12:27 GMT -5
Once he had finished his story, with little inserts from Randall, the team was silent for a moment. They seemed to be absorbing the information they had been given. Ty waited, silently and anxiously, for their opinions.
"Well. . .though I don't approve of you disregarding orders," Buzz began. "I think you made a good choice in keeping him here. It seems Zurg was after Randall in the first place."
"Of course, Zurg got him anyways. . ." XR pointed out. Everyone stared at him. "But! Uh. . .he would have definately been captured, if he was alone on another planet! Yeah. He'd be even more doomed."
Mira nodded. "XR's got a point."
Ty let out a long breath of relief. "I'm glad to hear it," he said. "I knew Commander Nebula would kill me, if he knew I was hiding him here the whole time. . ."
Buzz sat back in his chair and rubbed his chin. "I wonder what Zurg's plotting this time," he muttered. "I find it sort of odd that he'd capture you two."
"I don't know," Ty replied, removing his bubble helmet. "He said something about a Project Z. . .that it would look like Randall. Other than that, I haven't figured out what it is he's planning."
"I saw it," Randall spoke up.
All eyes turned to him.
"You've seen it?" Mira asked, raising a brow.
Randall nodded. "Zurg made a clone of me, it seems," he said. "Except it can do all kinds of new things that I can't. I think they used information from Ty to give it that. . .eh, what'd you call it. . .? 'Wirewolf' ability."
Ty's brows arched. "What??"
"Yeah, I saw it turn into a robot, just like you did," Randall added.
The Ranger rubbed the back of his neck uneasily and plopped down on a chair. "So, that's what Zurg was after from me. . ." he muttered. "I should have known."
"Boy, you'd think Zurg would have thought of something more original than the old 'evil clone' routine," XR commented
Buzz stood. "I'm going to inform Commander Nebula about this," he said decidedly. "Come on, Team."
Ty stood too. "I'm coming with you."
The captain placed a hand on his friend's shoulder and shook his head. "Sorry, Ty, but I think you should take it easy for awhile," he said, glancing at the lizard-monster. "Randall too. You've been through alot today. Try to keep him hidden, until I can find out whether Nebula wants him around or not, okay? Nebula just might want to keep him here after hearing what happened, but who knows?"
His friend nodded in acknowledgement. "Alright," he replied. "Thanks Buzz."
Buzz nodded with a grin. "No problem," he said, waving to both he and Randall before leaving with his team.
Once they had left the room, Ty glanced at his monster friend. "I told you he'd come around eventually," he grinned.
"Yeah, I guess he's not too bad, once you get t' know 'im," Randall admitted. "His team doesn't seem too bad either."
Ty nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I think they like you too," he grinned, heading for the door. "I'm going to get some new clothes on. You can do whatever you like as long as - "
"I stay hidden," Randall finished with a small smirk. "Yeah, I know. Don't worry 'bout me."
The Ranger nodded. "Yeah, you got it," he said with an amused chuckle. "Meet you in my room later on."
Randall grinned in reply and gave him the thumbs-up. Ty then headed out into the hallway. Little did he know that, just above his head, lurked Lladnar. . .watching him as he left. He shifted his gaze, with a devious smirk, towards the room where Randall was.
First, I'll dispose of you, he thought to himself, laying out the plans in his head. Then I'll take care of the rest of Star Command.
Then, with an intent purpose, he sneakily slithered his way in that very direction. . .
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Post by RandallBoggs on Mar 13, 2005 17:24:22 GMT -5
What can I say? Am I GOOD or WHAT!? I knew great minds thought alike. ^_^ Good and engaging chapter ^_^
Hmm....I got come up with another idea...boy..
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Post by pitbulllady on Mar 13, 2005 17:36:44 GMT -5
You and your darn cliffhangers! Anyway, it's really turning out great, lots more humor in this one(yeah, I hear "Stitch" is a pretty popular name, too, LOL). Can't wait for the next chapter!
pitbulllady
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Post by Ranger Parsec on Mar 13, 2005 17:47:23 GMT -5
What can I say? Am I GOOD or WHAT!? I knew great minds thought alike. ^_^ Good and engaging chapter ^_^ Hmm....I got come up with another idea...boy.. Lol. Yeah, that was my idea - with a twist. ^_^ He's not a complete clone to Randall, being that he has alot of other traits, but pretty close. Thanks for the comments again. Muchly appreciated. I'm glad you're enjoying it. ^_^
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Post by RandallBoggs on Mar 13, 2005 17:48:42 GMT -5
Hmm.... I guess I could still go with it....there are differences.....ahh what they hey ^_^
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Post by Ranger Parsec on Mar 13, 2005 17:51:51 GMT -5
You and your darn cliffhangers! Anyway, it's really turning out great, lots more humor in this one(yeah, I hear "Stitch" is a pretty popular name, too, LOL). Can't wait for the next chapter! pitbulllady LOL. Ah yes, a cliffhanger on every chapter. My speciality. Keeps people interested, just to see what happens next. And, about the Stitch thing. . .That one was purposely for you, pitbulllady! Knew I had to squeeze the word "Stitch" in there somewhere. Who knows? Maybe he'll make a cameo appearance later in the story. ;D I've been seriously considering it - just need to figure out where and if I can fit him in. lol.
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Post by RandallBoggs on Mar 13, 2005 18:00:28 GMT -5
WHA!?
Stitch TOO!?
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Post by Ranger Parsec on Mar 13, 2005 18:06:14 GMT -5
Lol. I said he might make a cameo. As in, he might pop up in the background once and be gone, or something of that nature.
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Post by RandallBoggs on Mar 13, 2005 18:07:50 GMT -5
*huff* *huff*
Phew.....had a heart attack....
Heh heh...hey... You could do something similar to Pitbulllady's art. Like TY had picked up a stuffed Stitch from Trade World. He didn't know why, he just felt he had to buy it. And Randall would.....
You see where I'm going ^_^
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Post by pitbulllady on Mar 13, 2005 20:03:32 GMT -5
Lol. I said he might make a cameo. As in, he might pop up in the background once and be gone, or something of that nature. Yeah, like he does in those "Inter-Stitch-als" trailers they showed on tv before the movie came out, like when Stitch breezes by Alladin's carpet in the Red Cruiser and makes off with Jasmine, or when he falls on Belle and The Beast as they're dancing in the ballroom, and everyone keep telling him to "get your own movie"! Poor puppy-guess he took their advice, and NOW look who's Top Dawg! pitbulllady
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Post by RandallBoggs on Mar 13, 2005 20:04:55 GMT -5
Yeah. In the end he got a free ticket to see Lion King 1/2 too heh....
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Post by Ranger Parsec on Mar 14, 2005 13:03:14 GMT -5
*huff* *huff* Phew.....had a heart attack.... Heh heh...hey... You could do something similar to Pitbulllady's art. Like TY had picked up a stuffed Stitch from Trade World. He didn't know why, he just felt he had to buy it. And Randall would..... You see where I'm going ^_^ Hey, that's a good idea! I might go with that (or I might do something else too, it just depends). Exactly. I remember seeing those and thinking it was a brilliant idea to incorporate him into those little "Inter-Stitch-als". lol. It was certainly a unique idea.
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