The GateWorld Cantina Chronicles

[susanne]

Elle stepped out of the bathroom warily, her feet leaving wet prints on the floor. The dress she had reluctantly put on, shimmered in the lights above her. She looked up and down the almost endless corridor but saw no-one. She turned to study the bathroom again before turning around and jumping back in alarm. Greg smiled.

'Jeezus! Don't do that!'

Greg raised an eyebrow, still grinning.

'Well im sorry.'

Elle snorted at him.

'No. You're not.'

'You're right. I'm not.'

Elle leaned against the doorframe and glared at him.

'Nice little trick invading my mind. Get your kicks that way?'

Greg turned and looked over his shoulder at her.

'I've just had an idea....want to see something fun?'

Elle frowned, but still being forced to pander to her hosts whims she followed him through the corridors.

Greg began pulling levers and twisting dials, the TARDIS began to vibrate and Elle grabbed onto a brass railing.

'Wwwwhere aaaare weeeee goooooinggggg?'

Greg slammed down a lever with flourish and the ship finally stopped shaking. Without even looking at Elle he walked towards the doors and opened them slowly. Elle, by now far too curious to be wary, approached him and looked out at the darkness of space, and then the TARDIS orbited by and she was able to see where they had come.

It was a beautiful collection of nebuli, all circling each other there were reds so bright they burned into her mind, blues so dark they made her want to shudder, purples so uplifting she wanted to leap off and be with them. It was the universes pallet of colours painted far and wide.

'It's beautiful isn't it?'

Elle's eyes shone, watching them weave in and out of each other, almost magically.

'They call this The Artists Pallet. It's the only one of it's kind. Nebulae co-existing in a confined space.'

Elle's mouth hung open, words had failed her at such a beautiful and uplifting sight.

'I can show you so many things like this, Elle, so many sights. And now, it's gone, because of Mapp and his latest escapades.'

And just like that, the nebula began to fade away.

'What? NO! You can't-'

Greg looked sadly at the fading beauty.

'I can't save it. Mapp's destruction was absolute. That is what his true being is. Destructive and poisonous to everything around him.'

((greg or P-90 next ))

[P-90_177]

There was a brief but thoughtful silence between the crew as Mapp picked up his gun and strapped it to his leg. It had been a while since he had worn it, and it felt strangely heavy on him.

"Ok," he said at last, "So what are you gonna do?"

He smirked at his fellow Timelord. He knew that P-90 wasn't just going to stay put while Mapp went for a chat outside.

"I'm going to go take a look at that ship....." P-90 responded as he was already walking into his TARDIS.

As Mapp began his own way towards the cargo bay and the docking hatch, CJ grabbed his arm and a look of desperation briefly betrayed he calm exterior.

"You can't just go alone," She said,

He took her hand warmly and she felt a moment of bittersweet joy at his tenderness.

"Of course I can. I doubt she'll be a threat."

"And if she is?"

For just a second, as he let her go and began walking away from her she could have sworn there was a flash of Mapps old confidence in his eyes from the old days.

"If she is I'll shoot her......" He said,

She watched him walk away and head down the steps towards the cantinas docking bay. She felt like her heart was breaking, but that was nothing new. She felt the exact same way whenever he walked away from her. Of course she would do as he said. She trusted him. But she wasn't about to just sit back and cool her heels in the bar.
Quickly she turned on one foot and marched straight into P-90's TARDIS, just as the doors closed and the familiar whirr of the engines filled the room as the box dematerialised, with only Laplace and Dray left behind.

"So what are we going to do?" Dray said within the interior of Laplace, watching the view of P-90 and CJ disappearing somewhere onto Ni Fangs ship.

"Get ready to take this ship out of here as fast as possible," Laplace spoke in her head ominously, "...again."

---------------------------------------------------------

Mapp felt such a lonely and heavy burden down to the cargo bay. It seemed like everything was starting to pile up against them. Just one problem after the other; and now even Elle was gone. He knew he could come across as arrogant. He tried his best to always give some hope, but in the end he was quickly running out of ideas to get out of this war, and this Ni Fang was just the latest in a long line of problems that continued to haunt him.

He brought his fist down onto the door controls, and the large, wall like hatch slowly opened up in front of him as he calmly stood awaiting the strange new creature.
Instead he was confronted with pure darkness. Just a black abyss was ahead of him, as if the universe simply ended at the edge of the boarding ramp.

"Hello?" he called out into the void; hearing his voice echo within a great hall.

Suddenly he was blinded by an intense light ahead of him. He strained his eyes to see beyond the power of it as he instantly felt an aching in his head from the brightness.
The sound of footsteps could be heard somewhere beyond the doors, softly at first and then louder as they approached the Timelord, until finally he could hear the sound of the steps scraping against the metal deck of the cantina and Mapp could clearly see the faint outline of a woman blocking out the light in front of him.

"You are Mapp?" a womanly voice said to him,

"Yes...." He responded, still struggling to see the face of the one standing before him.

"I am Ni Fang," she said as Mapp instantly felt a sharp, agonising pain in the back of his neck........

----------------------------------------

P-90 and CJ took in their surroundings only briefly as they initially stepped out of the TARDIS. CJ had her sword unsheathed and at the ready just as P-90 swung round with his sonic screwdriver, ready for any threat that may wait for them.

They had landed deep within the bowels of the ship, far away from where the TARDIS was docked and as close as P-90 could get to the strongest readings of Timelord technology.

"Where are we?" CJ asked once she was satisfied they were not about to be set upon by any security measures,

"Somewhere within the engineering section of the ship."

"Oh really?" she responded sarcastically as she gazed around their surroundings,

They were standing within a maintenance tunnel, quite far away from much of the ships main systems and crew quarters and they were surrounded by a series of loosely bonded over head cables and tubes that seemed to run the length of the ship.

"Well...." P-90 expanded, "I mean one of the engineering sections of the ship. From what I can make out this place is pretty complex. Right now we're essentially within the spinal cord. This corridor runs right from one end of the vessel other, and each of these cables serves as a relay to all the command and control functions."

"So what you're saying is if we cut all these cables we could disable the ship?" CJ asked with a mischievous glint in her eye,

"Yes you could," he added as he began scanning around with his screwdriver, the constant humming becoming a bit of an annoyance in CJ's ear, "of course you'd also kill yourself. There's enough power running through those cables to light up all of earth."

CJ made a mental note not to touch the cables. Many would consider her crazy; but not yet that crazy.

"Oh no,"

She looked up and saw P-90 worriedly interpreting the readings from his screwdriver."

"What is it?"

"Not again..."

"P-90!?"

She chased after him as he began frantically running down the shaft in front of them, his arm extended as his sonic seemed to lead him to where he wanted to go.

"P-90 what are you doing!?"

"We have to destroy this ship!" He shouted back at her...

---------------------------------------------

"There is a war waging in the universe," Ni Fang began with a tinge of melodrama in her voice, "Two sides are facing off against one another and everyone is caught in the middle. Including you and your friends."

Mapp couldn't help but feel a little annoyed at being told something that he already knew.

"Can you tell me something I don't know?"

"The Great Timelords Enemy have decided to grant the universe a gift..."

----------------------------------

As Dray listened intently to the conversation between Ni Fang and Mapp, Laplace began to make preparations for their next escape. It was often hard to predict something as inherently unpredictable as Greg, but she knew him, and she felt him and there were just some times when she got a sense of what she should be doing in order to save them all.......

----------------------------

P-90 forced his way through a sheet of metal grating; throwing his body against it continuously until it gave way. CJ merely looked on in confusion as the near panicked Timelord continued to ignore all line of questioning. She recalled briefly how P-90 never used to be this erratic as she followed wearily behind him, yet what confronted her on the other side of his newly created entrance sent a chill down her spine. Even after all these years she still didn't fully understand Timelord technology, but she knew it when she saw it, and she knew it when it just felt wrong and suddenly, and very strongly she felt the same compulsion as the Timelord to destroy the device before her as its red glow swept over her and she looked up at the unmistakable glass tube of a TARDIS central console.

"What is it?" she asked again as she dreaded P-90's next words for reasons she could not comprehend,

"It's a Paradox Machine!" P-90 responded,

----------------------------------

"A Paradox Machine!?" Mapp responded incredulously.

There are very few times in the Timelords life that he could honestly say he was both shocked and frightened in equal measure, but this was one of them.

"Do you have any idea how dangerous just one of those can be!? And you're telling me there are dozens of them all onboard your ship!?"

Ni Fang continued calmly, convinced in the righteousness of her cause.

"My Ship was designed as a weapon by my Masters, based on the Timelords own science, gained from the research of a once great scientist."

Mapp searched his mind for anyone who could have learnt that much about Timelords to know how to begin to create a paradox machine; a device so complex that growing a TARDIS proved to be simpler for early Timelord scientists. In the end only one name sprung to mind......

"Carpenter...You're talking about Carpenter. You learnt how to grow a TARDIS from his research and from that how to create a paradox machine."

"Not I," Ni Fang corrected, "My masters. They have given me my task, and I intend to carry it out."

"And what is this task?"

"To neutralise the one you call Gregorious."

Mapps mind swam with the information he was receiving. If what she was saying was true this could be a way to defeat Greg, but at the same time a Paradox machine was a device that only a mad man could possibly consider using.

"How?"

Of course.........Mapp was quite mad himself.

-----------------------------------------

CJ watched P-90 frantically scan the device before him. He was searching for flaws in its design, weaknesses in its construction and most importantly its capabilities.

"When something is changed in time," he explained absently to CJ, "the alterations ripple through the entire continuum. Like a pebble being thrown in a river, the ripples radiate outwards affecting everything. What a paradox machine does is stop the ripples. Either from the source of the event or from any point in time it is activated. In essence, it allows time to bend back on itself without consequences.”

---------------------------------------------

“Greg and the race he comes from are immensely powerful, yet that power is not limitless,” Ni Fang continued to explain, “It is derived from their own manipulations in space and time, their very exsistence is a paradox.”

“So what? You intend to add a boat load more paradoxes into the mix? Literally…”

“My Masters intend to cancel out Gregs power. By using the paradox machines to control his manipulations in time and space we can prevent him from doing anything with his power, and in doing so we may change the Time line as WE wish.”


Mapp thought over this concept. It was risky, but then again there was very little else out there that could possibly stop Greg, not that he felt comfortable taking a gift from force he knew nothing about beyond the fact that Greg of all people saw them as a threat.

---------------------------------------------

Once again Laplaces’ Console room echoed with the sound of her cloister bell.

“Laplace! What’s wrong!?” Dray screamed over the sound,

“He’s here! Again!”

----------------------------------------------

[P-90_177]

“If I agree to help you…What will happen?” Mapp asked carefully.

“My Masters are aware you have Gregs TARDIS. This is our connection to him, through this we can find the central point in time and space where Greg originates from and neutralise him.” She paused for a moment, for what Mapp felt was for undue dramatic effect, “Of course a being as powerful as he will require all the devices to be initiated at once.”

“A paradox that vast would rip apart this ship.” He said.

“Of course; this is what I was told. This is a suicide mission.”



----------------------------------------------


P-90 was too wrapped up with trying to analyse the extent of the damage just one of the paradox devices could do that he never noticed the arrival of another figure in the room, it was only the sudden sound of CJ drawing her sword that alerted him that something was wrong.

“You know I think I just heard something really quite funny P-90,”

The Timelord swung round so fast he fell back over again and looked up to find Greg standing over him, with CJ’s sword just inches away from his throat.

“How rude,” he added as he faced CJ, disappearing and reappearing a number of metres further away from her blade, “And here I was just popping by to say hello.”

“What are you doing here Greg?” P-90 demanded as he jumped back up to his feet, brandishing his sonic screwdriver towards him as though it was a weapon that would do any good against the near omnipotent being.

“Oh just taking out a little insurance. I’ve been listening in on Ni Fangs little chat with Mapp. You can’t hide a ship this big and this crammed with Timelord technology. Least of all from me. The fact that you’re here is just a pleasant coincidence. Although for old time’s sake, as an old friend………I suggest you two do what you do best and run now.”

He smiled at CJ and P-90 with that same haunting smile that could drive an army of Daleks running for the hills; and in just such a spirit P-90 and CJ instantly spun round and sprinted back out into the maintenance corridor and towards the TARDIS as Greg laughed manically.

Moments later, the TARDIS dematerialised….

------------------------------------

“I’m sorry,” Began Mapp, “I wish we could help you. But we can not give you Gregs TARDIS.”

He said it while emulating Ni Fangs voice and inflections. He did not like this plan. There were too many unknowns, and if nothing else, he hated to cheat, and that was exactly what a paradox machine was.

“Why not?” Ni Fang asked, suddenly letting her calm demeanor slip and show the first real sign of anger.

“Gregs TARDIS is a living being, and one that is now joined to a friend of mine. I can not let you sacrifice her in order to service your own goals.”

“You would sacrifice the entire universe for a single being!?”

“When they’re on my crew; yes.” Mapp spoke up defiantly, “And quite frankly if you want to end your own life I dare say you have issues. Go for a walk on a sea side somewhere. Get drunk, find a nice alien boy. Enjoy life.”

“If you will not give the TARDIS to me, then I shall take it by force!” She growled angrily.

“That’s a no to lightening up then?” Mapp said finally as Ni Fang charged towards him.

And in the blink of an eye she was on the ground, as a gun shot echoed around the room and Mapps’ gun suddenly was out of its holster and in his hands.

“Very nice shot Mapp.”

Mapp spun round again at the sound of Gregs voice and shot off another round, only for it to impact the wall of the cargo bay.

“Naughty, naughty,” Greg said again; this time appearing between Mapp and Ni Fang as she reeled on the floor, in agony from the shot in her stomach.

“Where’s Elle!?” Mapp shouted, “Give her back to me!”

“Awww. You have a little soft spot for that Earth girl, don’t you Mappy?” Greg taunted, “Sorry, I’m not here about that.”

“GIVE HER BACK NOW!!!”

“Or what? Near as I can tell, the one weapon you have against me is hers,” he said as he indicated down towards Ni Fang, “And she is about to have never existed.”

As Mapp looked on in Horror, Greg turned round and picked up Ni Fang in his arms and back out of the Cantina and onto the ship; The Cantina doors closing automatically behind him and the docking latches instantly disconnecting as the ship broke free of them.

-----------------------------------

The Second P-90’s TARDIS appeared again in the bar P-90 and CJ dashed out and went straight for the Cantinas own scanners as the ship broke free of Ni Fangs ship. Laplace was already watching as they saw the monolith of a ship drift away slowly.
Then they noticed.

The docking clamps hadn’t released the ship. They were no longer there, and slowly but surely the entire ship was breaking apart, not just into scraps of metal but into mere atoms. A sparkling, golden light swept over the entire ship, ripping it to pieces one inch at a time until finally there was nothing left, just a single golden core which abruptly imploded on itself, and then there was nothing.

-----------------------------

As the others looked on in shock upstairs, Mapp remained in the cargo hold; his gun still in his hand, and still looking forward as though Greg and Ni Fang were still there.

A single tear rolled down his face…………..

(As the Cantina Chronicles Updates)

[susanne]

------3 years later-------

Greg lay on the silk sheets of his bed, the post-copulation haze making him sleepy and blissful. His eyes wandered to Elle, snuggled up next to him, an arm draped over his stomach almost at random. Carefully he menouvered the arm back onto the sheets and began his hunt for pants. He found them dangling from a Tiffany lampshade and began to struggle into them.

'Where.....Do you think you're going?'

He turned to see Elle propped up on the bed by an elbow, looking sleepy and ruffled. In the light, she reminded him of one of those nude paintings they used to make. Minus the cherubs, but including a leather collar and leash. He gave her a lazy smirk.

'I'm just going to check on something.'

Elle rolled her eyes and gave him a sigh.

'You're going to check on Laplace aren't you?'

'Yes. Among other things.'

Elle gave this some thought before looking at Greg seriously.

'Hoooooney! we never invite anyone round! We never have parties like the neighbours! I wanna PARTY!'

Greg chuckled and walked back towards the bed, cupping her face in his hands. Without a word he delivered a slow kiss, and only broke away a minute later to let Elle breathe.

'When this time war is over.'

Elle sighed.

'Just don't come home trailing blood this time. Im still trying to scrub it off the carpet.'

Greg grinned.

'Yes dear.'

'And no bodyparts either.'

'Yes dear.'

'And no wimmin! i don't care how pretty!'

'Yes dear.'

'And some diet coke this time. Not cherry.'

Elle pulled a grotesque face and Greg smirked.

'Of course dear.'

With that greg grabbed his shirt from the floor and walked out. Elle gave one more sigh before rolling over and falling back into a blissful sleep.

((there greggy PG certified!))

[Gregorius]

As he left the presidential chambers he was joined by Rassilon and Crassus who both had smirks on their faces. He recognized this, now oft, expression on their faces as a sign that the war was going well. It had been a golden decision of his to remove those two from field command and replace them with Los and Jacen. At first the two Time Lords had objected but his suggestion that they might be forgotten had done miracles to cure their initial reluctance. These days, though, he didn't even have to suggest things that could happen to them, the results obtained by Los and Jacen spoke for themselves. The former Triangle-Empire had almost been retaken and the enemy was having trouble obtaining supplies through the rift. He thought of those two as his second in commands, the Bean and Alai to his Ender. Of course promoting them to fleet commanders had required him to promote Rassilon and Crassus to higher political posts where they could do little damage and appease the senate while he joined Los and Jacen in battle, or went on special ops. His thoughts were interrupted as Rassilon started to speak.

"Lord President, I have excellent news! We've recaptured Earth with minimal loses. Of course parts of the planet has been turned into a wasteland, but that's well within our calculations and expectations."

"Excellent. Would you like to tell the senate of the result of your cunning plan, Rassilon? I have more urgent matters to which to attend."

Crassus grunted something that sounded like "Mapp."

"Yes, Crassus, it's Mapp again. This time he's caused significant damage to one of our outposts."

"My Lord President", Crassus spoke in a tone Greg had heard numerous times through the years, "Why do you allow that pest to run around the universe hindering our attempts to end this war?"

"Crassus." He heard his voice was cold and saw it startled the Time Lord, "We can't locate him once he manages to get the Cantina into P90's Tardis. The Cantina might be traceable since I managed to damage it last time I stopped him, but P90's Tardis is undamaged."

"We could burn all his known hideouts and allies."

"And lose the momentum we've attained with the population of the universe? If we did that they'd ally with our enemies. We'll deal with him when the time's right. Now you two go to the senate and tell them of our latest results. Rassilon, after that I need you to assemble the council. Crassus, you'll get me a diet coke and deliver it to my chamber."

Before Crassus had time to protest the Lord President of the Time Lords had vanished into thin air, only to reappear on the flagship of the Combined Fleet.

"Admiral Los, Rear-Admiral Jacen. Let me give you a hand."

"Good morning, Lord President" both responded as they saw the enemy ships in front of them dissolve.

"What brings you here to the front lines? Politics?" Los laughed.

Greg responded in kind and nodded.

"Rassilon and Crassus are very pleased with your results, but wish you could capture Mapp."

"We almost had him during his last escapade, but Laplace was there to bail him out. She's a formidable Tardis, that one, she took out four of our own along with three dreadnaughts." Jacen stated.

Greg sighed.

"On the bright side, Lord President, the population is slowly turning against him after his destruction of that medical facility. It also seems his mental state is deteriorating more rapidly than we had initially expected. Soon he'll make a mistake and we'll capture him."

"Don't count him out, Jacen. Even when he's not entirely sane he still has that wench on his side, as well as Laplace, Drayon and P90 to bail him out of the tough spots."

Los who had been monitoring the screens while Jacen informed Greg of the latest data, noticed something interesting.

"Lord President, the Cantina has appeared on the scanners of one of our longrange probes. I'm ordering a small fraction of the fleet there and defend any of our outposts in that area."

"Very well. I'll be going there myself. Notify me when you need an ace in the hole."

-------

Meanwhile on the Cantina.

"Mapp! P90 told you to keep the Cantina parked inside his Taris until we finished repairs."

"No time, Ceej, we need to disrupt the Time Lords' and Greg's plans as much as we can, and I heard a rumour a human girl matching Elle's description is in that facility."

A loud thunk was heard and Mapp sprinted to the doors, his weapon ready.

[susanne]

Elle took the bottle from Crassus without a word. Her white dressing gown Floating in the warm breeze.

'Do you require anything else my Lady?'

Elle looked up for a second before opening the bottle and taking a swig.

'No. That's fine. Thank you.'

She closed the door and took the bottle to the table, already laid out for breakfast. Elle picked up her spoon and began to eat, all the while, staring at the disconcerningly happy box marked 'Lucky Charms.' She decided that the freakist thing about it was the half crazed leaprechaun. Holding a spoon no less. Next time.....she would ask for wetabix. There was a sudden knock on the door and Elle looked away from the mad box.

'Yes?'

A courier entered with several boxes.

'Lord Greg offers his apologies Lady Elle, but he will be working late tonight.'

Elle raised an eyebrow and took some boxes from the poor boy.

'He always works late.'

The boy gave a rueful smile before departing, and leaving Elle to unpack whatever gifts he'd got for her this time.

'It's always the same.' She thought sadly. 'He works too hard, too late. Oh the little things are no problem, whatever my whim could be. But he's always too busy to attend himself.' She gave a bittersweet smile when she pulled out a necklace of exqusite detail, a tear shaped diamond wrapped in intricate silver. 'once this war is over.....perhaps then.' Carefullly, she placed it back in the box and turned to the others.

'Yes, perhaps then.'

((greg? paul? ))

[Draygon]

A loud hammering at the door disturbed the rooms occupants, who had been happily slumbering. Grumbling, P-90 got up, not bothering to try and not disturb his bed-mate because the instant knocking had done that already. He yanked open the door and glared at Draygon.

"Go away."

"Good morning to you too," replied Dray dryly. "Mapp has gone again. He took the Cantina and CJ with him."

P-90 groaned. For the past three years Mapp had gotten more and more unstable and irrational. His actions fuelled by his desire to stop the Timelords and their Triangle allies and - more importantly perhaps - to find Elle. And CJ went along with him whatever he planned. It was always down to himself, Dray or Laplace to get him out again when trouble showed up.

"He's a big boy, he can look after himself," P-90 said, turning back to his room.

"We can't just leave him!"

"Why not? We aren't his babysitters and I'm sick of pulling him out just for him to go and do it all over again."

"P-90, we have to," said a voice from P-90 bed. He turned to look at Laplace, who was looking straight back at him.

"Give me one good reason why."

"Greg wants us to."

"I said a good reason! To Greg, this is all just one giant game, and we're his chess pieces."

"We're low on food," said Dray quietly, "and medicine. I'm not even sure we have enough supplies to last us much longer than a month. When Mapp destroyed that medical facility, we lost a lot of old allies that were helping us. We can' afford to loose any more from his latest escapade."

P-90 sat on the edge of his bed and put his head in his hands. Damn Mapp. He was ruining their lives and didn't even notice.

"Fine then," he said eventually, "but I'm not going to be the one to pull him out this time."

"Well I'm going to need my Tardis back then if you're not going to do it," replied Dray, the ghost of a smile curling her lips ever so slightly. Laplace pouted at Dray, causing the hybrid to roll her eyes. "Oh come on, the quicker we get Mapp, the quicker you can go back to canoodling."

"And the sooner you can go back to watching old children's programmes?" jibbed Lapalce, getting out of the bed.

"Would you prefer me listening in?" retorted Dray. "Get dressed and get a move on. Before Mapp does soemthing stupid. Again."


(ATCU)
((Paul, Greg, CJ, Susie? ))

[susanne]

Elle sat in Greg's private seats, listening to Time Lords arguing moot points. She picked fluff off her brand new combats and sulked. These guys were boring. TV wasn't much better. 5000 channels of utter drivel. She flicked some black fluff from her white jumper when she heard it. The alarm was going off. Immediately al talk ceased as the huge and magnificant view-screen flickered into life, showing an object entering the range of their long-distance scanners. The object was scanned and schematics were raised. Elle leaned forward in her seat.

'Impossible....'

Next to the scematics the screen brought up a rap-sheet and candid photo. Elle flew from her seat, she could see hundreds of people watching her run, but she couldn't stay, she couldn't see that face again. She'd seen enough to know where he was headed. She hurtled down blind corridors, avoiding as many collisions as she could, finally she fell into the Presidential Suite and slammed the door.

'He's getting closer. Getting so damn close.' Elle slumped against the door, breathing hard, her panic attack had only lasted 5 minutes but she felt so light headed as oxygen entered her bloodstream again. She brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

'He's still looking for me.'

Even the sight of Mapp sent her into a panic attack. Suddenly her phone vibrated in her pocket, making her jump and laugh nervously. She dug it out and was relieved to see Greg's name flashing.

'Did you get the gifts?'

'I....yes they were wonderful...'

'Something wrong?' He turned away from the stars in the cockpit, frowning, but his eyes still sparkled.

'Mapp's getting closer.'

Greg laughed, it sounded so normal to her. So like Greg.

'He's searching blindly Elle, You don't have to worry about him.'

Elle felt her heartbeat return to normal at his reassurances.

'I-if you're sure....'

He laughed again. 'Mapp has no idea where you are. If he did he'd be there committing genocide and kidnap.'

Elle gave a nervous laugh.

'I suppose....'

She could hear his confidence radiating through his words.

'Lighten up Elle. He won't find you.'

Greg broke off as others interrupted his call.

'Don't work too hard, or you'll be no fun tonight.'

Greg chuckled darkly to himself, it made the hairs on Elle's neck stand up.

'I won't.'

He hung up. As was his custom. He left her with a disconnected call, and feeling slightly better about what was to come.

((greg? Paul?))

[P-90_177]

"Well I'm going to need my Tardis back then if you're not going to do it," replied Dray, the ghost of a smile curling her lips ever so slightly. Laplace pouted at Dray, causing the hybrid to roll her eyes. "Oh come on, the quicker we get Mapp, the quicker you can go back to canoodling."

"And the sooner you can go back to watching old children's programmes?" jibbed Lapalce, getting out of the bed.

"Would you prefer me listening in?" retorted Dray. "Get dressed and get a move on. Before Mapp does soemthing stupid. Again."


(ATCU)
((Paul, Greg, CJ, Susie? ))

P-90 and Laplace got dressed in silence, lacking any sign of the passion that occured the previous night. The Timelord was aware of her watching him as he was lost in his own thoughts. The last years had been tough. Too tough.

At first they had worked together; making surgical strikes on installations that were known to them. With their collective of combined Timelord knowledge they were able to cause significant damage, yet it just got harder. Gregs Timelords were relentless in their hunt for the Cantina and landing on any planet soon brought a rain of fire down upon them.
They had not seen Greg though; not since the incident with Ni Fang and his one massive display of power. This in itself took its toll on them all, but not nearly as much as it did on Mapp. Three years passed and he had not stopped searching for Elle. At first he hid behind the desire to cause their enemy as much damage as possible, but as each mission gave way to more dissapointment it became more and more obvious to them all that Mapp was only interested in searching for Elle; and even CJ, the one person that Mapp could rely on to be by his side, had begun to put voice to many of her doubts.

To P-90's credit he had helped his old friend many times in that time. He hunted with him, causing much mischief between them like the old days, but in the end as Mapp slipped more and more into darkness P-90 became more and more detached from his exploits. He simply didn't care any more.

As for Laplace and Dray; they had helped. More than P-90 had. They were doing what Greg had told them to in regards of helping Mapp, though it was still unclear as to why he even would. He had not helped them. He had hunted them throughout the galaxy; training his dogs upon them at every turn.

P-90 slipped on his shoes and drew a hand over his unshaven face and through his unkempt hair. It was going to be a long day again.

He marched out of his room like a good soldier, leaving Laplace trailing close behind him.

[Commander Jumper]

CJ trailed behind Mapp, her mind dead set on the current mission. They were to raid this time lord facility and look for Elle. This has happened time and time again. Each tip they would run out with their necks exposed looking for someone they would ultimately never find. CJ was smart enough to to know that much, but Mapp was dead set. CJ admired his determination, no matter how hopeless it was. She tricked herself into firmly believing that he was only in it because it killed him to leave a man behind, Instead of facing the harsh reality that Mapp cared more about Elle than he should have.

Mapp stood a few feet from her, his worn face and tired eyes masked by the dim lighting of the facility. He had faced the harshness of the past three years much worse. His face was ragged and unshaven, bags clung beneath his once vibrant brown eyes. Any sane person could tell that Mapp was on the verge of falling into an abyss of insanity. He was breaking apart under the pressure of Greg. The War raged on and each move they made they either alienated their allies or watched worlds burn in their wake. It was enough to make anyone lose it. But Mapp was trying his hardest to keep himself under control.

CJ tried her hardest to keep him grounded, it had always been her role on the ship. She would do whatever it took to protect him, the willing lap dog. She only wished to please him. It was in her nature to please, and had been long before they had met. The things she was willing to do for him and for her love were breaking her. Some times she wanted to yell at him, slap him, scream. Some times she had, and it always lead to her giving into him. Always the submissive one.

Mapp rounded a corner and out of her site, and for a split second she seriously thought about turning around and walking out forever. It wouldn't have been the first time she had walked out on the one she loved. Something kept her grounded there though, a force within her that was not willing to let her run away again. She mustered up as much restraint as possible and ran after him.

"CEEJ!" Mapp growled, ducking the blast from an energy rifle, "A little help!"

CJ nodded wordlessly and withdrew Kasumi, the long silver blade reflected CJ's reflection for a moment before whipping infront of her. She charged forward, dodging each blast with grace. She swung out at the guard, slicing his head clean off before chasing down the second guard. Mapp watched in curiosity was CJ sliced through the man, rivers of energy moving up her bandaged arms. He could see the malice and cruel intent in her cold blue eyes as she sliced the man to pieces, taking her time to kill him. His begs for mercy went unheard as she ran her blade along his face. She was somewhere else entirely, her mind lost to the insanity of the situation. Blood spattered across her face, marring her pale skin. By the time Mapp's shouting reached her the man was a bloodied pulp.

She stepped back for a moment,taken back by what she had done. Mapp glared at her as he walked past, "Control yourself CJ, this is a rescue mission."

CJ wiped the blood from her face and put Kasumi back in the sheath before flipping her short hair over her shoulder, "Of course sir. I apologize."

She followed him silently, not muttering another word.

(sorry foooor the craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaap Love yooou. anyone can post next... )

[Draygon]

P-90 and Laplace got dressed in silence, lacking any sign of the passion that occured the previous night. The Timelord was aware of her watching him as he was lost in his own thoughts. The last years had been tough. Too tough.

At first they had worked together; making surgical strikes on installations that were known to them. With their collective of combined Timelord knowledge they were able to cause significant damage, yet it just got harder. Gregs Timelords were relentless in their hunt for the Cantina and landing on any planet soon brought a rain of fire down upon them.
They had not seen Greg though; not since the incident with Ni Fang and his one massive display of power. This in itself took its toll on them all, but not nearly as much as it did on Mapp. Three years passed and he had not stopped searching for Elle. At first he hid behind the desire to cause their enemy as much damage as possible, but as each mission gave way to more dissapointment it became more and more obvious to them all that Mapp was only interested in searching for Elle; and even CJ, the one person that Mapp could rely on to be by his side, had begun to put voice to many of her doubts.

To P-90's credit he had helped his old friend many times in that time. He hunted with him, causing much mischief between them like the old days, but in the end as Mapp slipped more and more into darkness P-90 became more and more detached from his exploits. He simply didn't care any more.

As for Laplace and Dray; they had helped. More than P-90 had. They were doing what Greg had told them to in regards of helping Mapp, though it was still unclear as to why he even would. He had not helped them. He had hunted them throughout the galaxy; training his dogs upon them at every turn.

P-90 slipped on his shoes and drew a hand over his unshaven face and through his unkempt hair. It was going to be a long day again.

He marched out of his room like a good soldier, leaving Laplace trailing close behind him.

They walked into the main control room of P-90's Tardis, with Dray altering a few dials and looking at the view screen.

"So how long has he been gone?" asked Laplace. P-90 merely rolled his eyes and took a seat.

"An hour, maybe less," replied Dray, ignoring the disgruntled Timelord. He always hated having to rescue Mapp from the trouble he caused, and she and Laplace had to persuade him to more often as the years went on.

"And he's targeting this facility, from these data files, looks like he's looking for a human female that matches Elle," Laplace said as she looked over her screen.

Dray and P-90 groaned simultaneously. Mapp was attacking a heavily defended Timelord facility to look for Elle. P-90 called Mapp twelve kinds of idiot as a beeping from her monitor snapped Dray's attention to it.

"Power spike in the facility, DNA match with CJ," she said. "Why are her abilities spiking like that?"

"We should get them out now," said Laplace, moving the controls.

"Use your own Tardis then and leave me and mine out of this," snapped P-90. Laplace glared at him and Dray used the opportunity to land P-90's Tardis outside the facility. P-90's murderous gaze turned to Dray. " I SAID LEAVE ME OUT OF THIS!"

"You can bugger off when we leave," replied Dray smoothly as she walked out. Laplace followed her. P-90 shut the doors behind them and started to make the preparations to leave those idiots to save the madman. His hand hovered over the handbrake...

Giving an exasperated growl, P-90 whirled round and stormed off out of his Tardis after the two women. It didn't take him long to catch up with them though, because they were stopped outside the facility looking at the trail of blood and destruction.

"Okay," said P-90, "that's worse than normal." He felt Laplace's hand entwine with his and he gave it a quick squeeze. He caught sight of Dray in the corner of his eye, looking at that small gesture between him and Laplace. He couldn't read her expression and when he glanced at her properly she had looked back towards the destruction ahead of them.

"We need to get to Mapp and CJ," Dray said quietly, an edge to her voice. P-90 didn't have time to think about Dray's change in mood though, not at the moment. They had a job to do.

The three rescuers made their way through the sea of blood.


((Anyone?))

[susanne]

Elle stood shakily, using the door as a crutch when her world suddenly lurched, it felt as though her stomach was being used as a football. Her vision span and she took tentative, lurching steps towards the bathroom. The sickness began to get worse as Elle burst untni the bathroom and grabbed the sink in a white handed grip.

Lucky charms splattered the white porceline and Elle's gag reflex acted up again, spraying the lucky charms with the remains of cherry coke and pizza. Elle blinked back the tears and activated the tap, washing away her stomach contents. She looked up into the mirror, her normally pink skin looked pale. Her eyes an unnatural shade next to her skin.

She groaned and hung over the bowl for a little longer before standing up and moving into the kitchen. She dragged out a sandwich and diet coke, taking them to the table where she munched thoughtfully.

'Have I picked up a stomach virus?' She wondered silently. 'I haven't been near any ill person. My immune system might be suffering.' Her mind flashed back to last night and frowned. 'Or there's that. But i doubt it.' She looked down at her arm, imaginging her sweater disappearing, on her arm there would be the tiniest of pricks to indicate a needle. She'll have to get it replaced in the next few days but she was covered after all. It couldn't be that. She was kidding herself.

Elle took a sip of the diet coke, swilling it around her mouth to rid it of the bile taste.

'All the same it's better to check.....Nothing is 100% effective in the human body.'

[P-90_177]

P-90 felt nothing as they walked through the path of dead bodies; he never did these days. Nothing could shock him over the lengths Mapp would go to in order to get just the tiniest piece of information on Elle, to Dray however, this was worst than the worst.

Last time was a medical centre, and this time it was no better.

Ahead of them as they walked was a library complex; a civilian data centre that housed information on every system in this galaxy, and as Dray looked around at the mutilated bodies around them that not one of them were military. They were all police. At first just the ordinary patrolmen, armed with stunners and paralysis batons, but then more and more of the littered bodies looked more like specialised tactical teams with body armour and energy rifles, none of which were any good against CJ or Mapp on their worst days.

They continued to leave a trail of destruction wherever they went; Mapp leading the way while CJ acted as his personal attack dog, taking on whatever situation he couldn't handle without help; and sadly they had both become more and more effcient at killing over the last few years.

The three of them said nothing as they continued to follow the grizzly sight before them. The library was big, big enough to get lost in with it's grand halls branching out into intersections of book shelves and computer terminals going in all directions. Ordinarilly they would have to look at sign posts to get even a clue of where they were going, but this time all they needed to do was merely follow the crimson road, laid out before them.

As her and Laplace led the way, Dray looked behind her to see P-90 trailing behind them. His eyes were fixed firmly on the floor and his hands remained tight fists, balled up from the well of rage he was building up inside him and whereas his demeanor used to be so relaxed and laid back, now his shoulders were squarely straightend from the continual stress he felt.
She tried to help as best she could. Afterall she was a Timelady and she had grown used now to the new insights that meant she had about the universe and sometimes, just sometimes she felt like she could talk things through with the broken Timelord and make him see that not everything in the universe need be so grim.

As they rounded yet another corner in a maze of corridors, they finally heard the unmistakable voices of the two renegades they had been searching for.

"How about 'E'....for Elle?" spoke one voice with a very familiar condescending Smugness

"For Fraks sake Mapp I know how to use a computer!" came an equally familiar fair voice, "I don't understand why we're searching for her on here anyway!"

"This is a database of every person who has ever come to this planet and where they were going. It's a tourist spot. People like to keep Guest books...."

"You're basing your search on the idea that she came here in the first place."

"I got a very reliable source to tell me she had been seen here."

"That reliable source was a Hogirian Mob Boss."

"So?"

"So The Hogiri are pathological liars!"

"I took my time with his torture. He was telling the truth....."

"So you torture people now?" Dray finally interrupted as the three walked in on them within the library's, now dead, off world tourist clerks' office, "As well as kill civilians I see."

Mapp looked around himself with a guilt-free expression that portrayed no real emotion whatsoever.

"They appear to have all had a little accident," he responded as he turned back to the computer screen, taking no notice of the sudden wince of hurt from CJ, "Bit surprised to see you all. Didn't think you'd come and help me."

"We're not here to help you," P-90 finally spoke up, "We're here to take you back."

"Can't do that mate," Mapp continued while he stared into the computer, watching it search for any results that may prove useful, "I have work to do."

P-90 sighed in exasperation and threw Laplace a look that only seemed to say I tried, the TARDIS in turn only moved closer towards the terminal, looking through the same results Mapp was.

"Mapp it's no use," Dray said, attempting to be the voice of reason again, "You've tried to find her. For months, years, and you've not got any closer. Now look at you. You've slaughtered dozens of police and civilians just for this."

For a moment she though she saw a pang of regret apear on his face, but it had quickly disappeared as he turned to face her again with a look of growing annoyance.

"You know we tend to get noticed wherever we go. Funnily enough we were trying to defend ourselves."

"That include him too?" Dray pointed out darkly as she indicated towards the dead clerk.

"He got in our way."

"Him and anyone who's less than a metre away from you it seems."

"Careful Dray," The Captain added in a threatening tone of voice that made everyone in the room pay attention, "You're only two metres away from me. And I'm beginning to think you are in my way."

He stared right at Dray for a moment; his eyes burning right into her and clearly warning her to stay well away from him. She could almost feel the malice coming off of him; but once again he turned back to the terminal just in time for CJ to get the final result through as a message flashed up on screen.

"'Nothing found'" CJ read out with a heavy heart, while Mapp looked on with dispair.

He was so sure that she had been there. It wasn't just the alien he had tortured for information it was so many different pieces of the puzzle that seemed to link to here. He wasn't even sure why, he just knew it.
Steadily a tear began to roll down his cheek, and his friend CJ looked upon him with all the sorrow and love that she could still feel for him before stepping away from the console, leaving him slumped across it, his face buried in his hands.

"Try searching for something else." came his muffled voice,

CJ turned to Dray; her tired, blood shot eyes looking through a face covered in other peoples blood, pleading with Dray to try and help.

"Mapp..." Dray began softly, "It's no use. You aren't going to find her here. Come on it's time to go."

She reached out for him, and a friendly hand grasped hold of his shoulder, trying to pull him back.

Within a second he had flipped round, knocking away Drays hand and drawing his gun on her. His eyes flared with a maddening rage and his face seemed to be seered red.

"I SAID TO STAY AWAY FROM ME!" he screamed as the barrel of the gun aimed squarely for Drays head.

Through the sudden shock that hit Dray at that moment the following events seemed only like a blur,

Mapp felt his gun yanked away from him and a blinding pain shoot through his skull as P-90 disarmed him and slammed an elbow into his face.

The Captain in turn punched his fellow timelord sqaurely in the gut and took back his pistol as he then head butted him hard on the nose, causing a sensation of blood rushing to the back of P-90's head. By the time he had regained his ballance again, he was confronted with Mapp once again looking down the sights of his gun, this time at P-90 himself as he stood between Mapp and Dray.

"Nice move," P-90 said emotionlessly, "Now hurry up and kill me.............."

[susanne]

Elle sat on the toilet, waving about a small wand. Stupid to do this anyway, she thought. She was only doing this so she could rule it out and concentrate on finding out what she had picked up. She took a blank look at the small window, which remained a piss yellow colour. Once this came back negative she could use the bug as an excuse to lounge about in bed all day. Though doubtless she'd get bored of that pretty quickly.

Elle flicked her sleeve up and checked the time. She'd done this test....what 5 minutes ago? The packaging stated with appalling cheerfulness. '10 MINUTE RESULTS' She sighed and blew a stray strand of curly black hair from her eyes. The wand moved up and down in front of her almost hypnotically.

So, Mapp was getting closer to her ocation. It was frightening in a way, Elle had heard how many worlds he torched just looking for single atom of her. But why? Why hadn't he given up? It was like some sort of obsession with him. The horrifying thing was....Greg was right. He'd watch worlds burn to get his own way.....to find her. He isn't the hero the crew think he is.

Her watch beeped. Her time was up. Elle looked down at the wand.....and swore.

------

She paced around the table, her eyes fixated on the small white object in the centre. Should she phone him? How in the universe was she going to tell him? HOW WAS HE GOING TO REACT?! It's not like they wanted.....or even thought about......spawn. It was a curveball of massive proportions. Slowly she pulled out her mobile and dialed.

'Yes?'

Elle took a breath, it was now or never.

'You need to come home.'

The line was silent and for a second she thought he'd hung up on her.

'Do the flashy Q thingy or whatever.....its bloody important!'

'It better be.' He growled before disconnecting the call.

((greg? ))

[Draygon]

"Mapp, no!"

Dray and CJ stood completely frozen as Mapp held the gun at P-90. Unnoticed, Laplace slipped over the the computer console.

Behind P-90, Dray was flooded with conflicting emotions that held her petrified. Ever since the metacrisis incident, she had been deeply protective of Mapp; he had once said that she was technically his half sister now and she had taken that to heart and defended him. Even with his recent actions and the blood he had shed, even through her former hatred of him when she was under the influence of the Timelords, she wanted to protect him. He had just turned those emotions on their head. Mapp had threatened her life without hesitation.

And P-90 had defended her just as quickly.

He was on his thirteenth regeneration. If Mapp shot him, he wouldn't be coming back... she couldn't let him! If Mapp fired, she could probably get him out the way in time, after all she had more regenerations left...

"Mapp, think about what you're doing," CJ said, her eyes not leaving the gun in his hands. Mapp snarled and spun to point the gun at her instead.

"You're deliberately doing this! You don't want to rescue Elle. You're trying to slow me down, put me on the wrong course!"

"Look at yourself," said Dray, pushing past P-90 to confront Mapp but P-90 grabbed her arm and held her back. She wanted to stop him before it was too late. "You;re threatening your crew. CJ has stuck by you through everything, so's P-90. We are trying to help you, but this isn't the right way." Mapp turned the gun back on her and P-90 used the grip on her arm to jerk her back away from Mapp.

"The right way?" Mapp growled. "You want to talk about the right way?! You know nothing. You were his pet, Greg's little pet hybrid. All of you, you're just helping him even now! He took Elle and you want him to keep her!"

"Give it up Mapp," P-90 said, a warning edge on his voice. "She's gone. You kill the entire Timelord empire and you'll still never find her. Greg hid her away and she could be anywhere."

"Please Mapp," pleaded CJ, not entirely sure what she should say to him. She wanted to help him yet could see the futility of the effort. All that lay ahead was more death of innocents. Mapp's aim didn't falter away from Dray and P-90.

"You know," said Laplace from the terminal, "you could have widened the search parameters."

Mapp turned to look at her, his gun unmoving. "What?" he snapped.

"You are so blind. You were only looking for one human in a facility that holds hudnreds?" Lapalce rolled her eyes. "Because if you had been thinking straight, you would have widened the search parameters to included Greg and his close circle."

"How would that have helped?" asked CJ.

"Because Greg visits here regularly and has some sort of suite in- Hey!" she shrieked and Mapp pushed her roughly aside. His eyes drank in the information on the screen before breaking into a run down the corridors. CJ followed just a breath behind him, leaving Laplace, Dray and P-90, who still had a grip on Dray's arm, standing there.

"Can I have my arm back please?" asked Dray, her voice cracking slightly from her mixed emotions toward Mapp.