Oh well, I sighed as I got up, heading down to get some coffee. Dad was watching his cartoons, as usual, and mom had apparently gone to work already, judging from the light jacket she always wore not being on the coat-rack.
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“back before they can get you.”
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“have to leave it for our shift tonight.”
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“did kind of spring it on me, too, to be fair,” Andrea smirked. “But anyway; I think the best approach for our display there is to be simple and concise.”
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“too well...” Thomas said with a faint smile.
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“lot!”
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“theory, at least, geared towards being more practical in certain areas, we might definitely get a solid core of folks who want that.” Thomas then added. “And it won''t be just a place for us to come in and talk about our game anymore; we''ll have to be more pragmatic and less fantastic.” he said to punctuate the thought.
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“can''t talk about Panarena; it just won''t be the focus, most likely.”
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“they do well, then lots of other things will be vying for fame as well.” Mary remarked.
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Man... it really does drag to not be in the game at a time like this... ugh, priorities, priorities... I inwardly groaned.
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I bet I know why, I thought to myself.
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Just when Herby is finally being reined in from his overhead kill-shots, I get to deal with this...! I grimaced to myself as I did the stair-tumble for the fifth time. I got to my feet; Joanna was coming at me with a fierce look in her eyes. Briefly I looked around for the adults. Then I remembered they had both gone to check on costuming and it was Stephen watching us. Ah, snap...
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A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
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“very reluctantly,” he grinned back.
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“too enthusiastic in answering,” Rachel softly poked me.
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What did Miss Ahn always tell me to do at a time like this? I hurriedly thought back to one of my Tae Kwon Do teachers. It was to... to... I softly knocked on my head, and then it came back with a loud exclamation.
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What the heck?! I''m actually being attacked!? In this city??
“heck do you want?” I said, not believing they would answer.
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This guy seems to know at least as much as I do and maybe even more about Eastern Martial Arts fighting. But really, what the heck? I''m a high school kid whose only claim to fame right now is that I''m the potential star of a musical; what is even going on right now?? I hope this is just some random encounter and he''s after my wallet or something...
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Knife or gun? I wondered anxiously. I hope it''s a knife. I can deal with a knife. Miss Ahn and Mr. Chen both taught me a few tricks on dealing with knives. If it''s a gun, I could feel my heart pounding, my number might be up... or at best I get a bullet hole somewhere before I can try and disarm him... snap, snap, snap!! This is *crazy*!!
quite my reach, and thankfully it wasn''t his either.
Should I feint and go in for a couple quick kicks? Maybe that''d be enough so I can get behind him or something, try forcing him to the ground while I call for help... are the people on this street seriously oblivious to this?! How long has it been since this shenanigan started, anyway? I pondered to myself. Fortunately for me, I was too slow in making up my mind as to whether I should try attacking or not.
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“Goodnight everybody, I quipped internally as I passed the living room again to head up the stairs. Once I got to my room I quickly changed for the night, and when I had sorted things out for tomorrow morning and finished off my drink I put the Dream Machine on to return to Panarena.
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Ugh, was I that shaken up?
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I wasn''t sure I could repeat that story a third time anyway, I thought to myself wryly. I took a deep breath, and let it out slowly.
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Not so tough, are you? I berated myself. As Lana I could face off dragons and monsters without blinking an eye--well except giant bees, of course. As myself I had faced off the school bully. But he was a joke compared to tonight''s encounter. Maybe I should carry some sort of non-lethal weapon... I wonder if the girls carry any... Ellie seems laid back and tough, but I bet she definitely has something; Mandy and Chrissy? They''re university girls, so I''d bet on them having a device or two. Mary and Anhe for sure have something. Andrea... it wouldn''t surprise me, but yet it also would... heh. And I know Rachel has one, I thought to myself with a smirk.
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Guess it''s time to stop teasing the old man about his taser-gun, I thought with a sigh as I scanned the horizon. After a quiet hour, I headed back down to the deck. As soon as I had landed a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
Ah, snap... I''m gonna be mentioned in a local news report, aren''t I...?