"I want to complain!"


    Thunder looked up to find himself facing an angry Benexi, who had just sat down in the chair on the other side of his desk.


    "The complaints office is closed! Mink ain''t doing it no more!" growled the Dude, thinking that was the end of the matter. Benexi leaned back elegantly, opened the door to the study a little and pointed to the cardboard sign that was clearly visible on the outside: Complaints Office.


    The Dude gasped. "Who took this sign out of the trash and stuck it on my door?"


    Benexi grinned.


    The Dude sighed.


    "Okay, then talk. I know when I''ve lost. What''s the matter, do you need more litter boxes?"


    "There''s nothing wrong with the litter boxes!"


    "Do you need more cat food that''s halal?"


    "There''s nothing wrong with the cat food!"


    "Then what do you want?"


    Benexi curled his lips. "We don''t want to sing!"


    The Dude bit his lips. "Listen, guys, we''ve decided that we''re going to sing..."


    "...YOU decided we''re gonna sing..."


    "...We want to offer something special on the last day, and I hear the neighbors are putting on a band too, so we can even have a singing contest then..."


    "...but we still don''t want to sing!"


    "... and Josi said we should be friendly and human now. Otherwise no one will like us! Look, I even put cherry blossoms on my hat and my name badge, and the book on good leadership says that you have to be empathetic and approachable..."


    "...But you are not empathetic and approachable..."


    "...and that''s why we''re singing now, damn it! Otherwise I''ll have you all burned to death!"


    Benexi leaned back. "But we still don''t want to sing. And if this dictatorial approach continues, we''ll demand a union. By the way, we don''t get a salary and have no regulated working and rest times. None of our contracts say that we have to sing. We therefore need a representative body to represent our interests to the management."


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    The Dude was beginning to understand why Mink had recently declared that he would prefer to leave all this madness behind and let someone else take the crown of this cursed bracket. It felt like being in the wrong movie altogether.


    "Listen, guys. Tomorrow is the last day. We want to have a cool closing party, okay? Now why don''t you just do something for ONCE that doesn''t involve raiding, burning, beating to death and bawling!"


    Benexi pursed his lips. "We''re alone in the middle and alone at the closing party, please get that. No one will come. We don''t want to sing too. If we''re lucky, we''ll get a few greeting cards. That''s all we''ll get."


    He gave the Dude another mocking look and then left him alone in his office with his thoughts.


    ___________________________________________________


    Poison Ivy was playing with her puppy, whom she had named Sweet Karma. She was totally in love with the little creature and had already taught him to give paws, do manly things and roll around on the floor.


    "Hey!" it yelled outside from 649, "when do I get my attack dog back?"


    Ivy tore open the window. "Not at all! He''s mine now! My name was on a tag on its collar, so it''s mine! What''s more, it''s not a attack dog, it''s a really cute little cutie!"


    "You dog thief!"


    "Exactly!" it roared approvingly from the direction of the 653, "she''s not just a dog thief, she''s a member thief! She stole all my fighters!"


    "Cry!" scolded Kodaxx, who had stepped up to Ivy''s side, "Shall I show you the proof of how you begged to enter here? Shall I, yes? I have it all in writing!"


    "You are the very worst!" it shouted from the clan castle of the 653, "those were private, personal conversations! You should be ashamed of yourselves and beg forgiveness for what you did!"


    "Cry!" roared Ivy now, "I won''t bow down to a man, I''d rather put my high heel on his neck!"


    "Please carry on!" came from the direction of 654, "It''s great fun listening to you! At last there''s some entertainment here!"


    "But I''m not interested!" neighed the donkey from the stable, "You''re all gay anyway!"


    ________________________________________________


    "We could let Yikesy run RxR. What do you think, is that a good idea? Yikesy in charge of the angry Russians. She''ll be able to handle them. Besides, we''ll be rid of Yikesy in RxW then."


    Mink thought. The hunting attack of angry Russian number 1 was still in his bones. "And what are they doing then? On the front lines, I mean?"


    "They insult the enemy and throw vodka bottles at them. They''re good at that. At least it''s a good distraction for whatever else we have planned." The Dude grinned.


    "What else are you up to, bro?" Mink asked curiously.


    "Let me surprise you!"


    ______________________________________________


    Lady Evelyne was piling up the solicitation emails. There had been a lot of them recently, and they outbid each other in terms of what they wanted to give her if she changed cities. It was crazy and surreal at the same time: she knew she had little to offer for the game itself. Not even T4. And if she listened to Ace, according to him, she was lucky he didn''t scold her more than he already did. It was completely crazy what people were prepared to set her rating so damn high for!


    She still had to do the post tonight anyway and decided to answer everything in peace. Tomorrow was the last day of GW, and she had resolved to write to all the other cities again. After all, the SC would soon be deleted, and this was the last opportunity to send mail to everyone.


    SGH joined her in the kitchen.


    "Have you packed yet?"


    "Not yet. It feels weird after being here for so long."


    "I feel the same way. After all, this has almost become something of a home. I don''t know yet how I''ll feel when we''re back in the city."


    A sudden noise could be heard from outside.


    Yanto Corleone rushed into the kitchen.


    "They''re burning our faction towers and want to conquer our central building!"


    SGH jumped up. "Who?"


    "Well, who is! RxW! Damn, it''s the last day!"


    "Action to the end," muttered Lady Evelyne, "they probably just wanted to visit us again or something. They''re probably having a hard time saying goodbye too."


    She stood up and this time managed to take off her kitchen apron and apply new lipstick before the call to gather for the raid sounded from downstairs.


    "One last time!" shouted one of the generals. And Mr. Dave, as always: "If you''re late for the raid, you have to do push-ups! Without hands!"


    __________________________________________


    The Thunder brothers ran enthusiastically towards the central building. "Burn everything!" they roared, already looking to see which of their opponents they could set on fire.


    The Dude strolled after them at a distance, annoyed. He was still mourning the loss of his band, which he would have liked to have built up for longer. Benexi overtook him just before the building, turned to him briefly and said conciliatory: "We can sing while conquering!"


    "You''re all gay! And that''s the gayest thing I''ve ever heard!" brayed the donkey, who was jerking along behind the fighting party. He didn''t want to miss out on the last day either.


    "They''re sending cars!" jeered the Thunder brothers at the front.


    "Oh yeah, let''s send cars too!"


    "I''ve never sent cars before!"


    "If you send cars, you get kicked!"


    "But not today, it''s the last day!"


    "Yes, it is!"


    "No!"


    "Yes!"


    "Where can I complain here?"