It's been slow. My remaining live-ins are getting anxious as to the fates of their comrades... as am I, but for now, there's nothing we can do except wait and hope for their safe return. Of course, I suspect such an event will not happen until we can get into Babylon Palace again... or destroy Naraku. Whichever comes first. Hopefully destroying Naraku. If we beat him, it may result in the Palace becoming vulnerable again.

But in the meantime, I've been waiting for something else. Like many, I have been eagerly awaiting the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows... and found that after midnight on the 21st, I couldn't wait any longer and read a description online. It was definitely interesting, and after my copy arrived in the mail, I skipped to the end and read the last few chapters, then read the entire book later on after I got home from work. After I finished up... well, I suppose my reaction was not one that will be shared by many.

I found that despite all the negative comments I've already heard about the book, I had enjoyed it. I had no strong positive or negative reaction, I simply accepted it as being the end... and definately an interesting one, which will join the others in having a permanent home in my collection.

Then again, I may be somewhat biased. My favorite character did survive, after all.

I do have one minor complaint though: I could have sworn Rowling said Fawkes (Dumbledore's phoenix) would be back in this one, but I didn't see him anywhere. Did he get cut from the book for some reason, or did he appear and I missed it?

To all readers, feel free to share any constructive thoughts on this subject. Flames will be sent to Tabby's place for Axel to deal with.

Until next time...

Anon e Mouse Jr.

With all the chaos that’s been going on lately, I should have known it was only a matter of time before things got worse. Looks like it’s “good news, bad news” time.

Good news: Babylon Palace has settled down. Bad news: it’s parked near the Canadian/Idaho border, within easy striking distance of Resistance HQ.

Good news: some of my team has come home. Bad news: most of the others have been captured and imprisoned in Babylon Palace.

Good news: my team did manage to deliver the Vehicon drones to Rose’s place. Bad news: the villains attacked along the way and managed to get their hands on Devil-X again before he could be dropped off for reprogramming.

Good news: Keily’s heart shard that we recovered is safely out of Naraku’s hands. Bad news: I have no idea where it’s at now, and none of my returning friends can tell me... other than it has NOT been returned to Keily yet.

Good news: Naraku hasn’t gotten any more minions. Bad news: he’s the one who reactivated the Palace in the first place as a distraction while he tried to get that heart shard and generally reduced the size of our forces. The other villains merely took advantage of the chaos to attack.

And believe me, that last one was quite a shock.

I found out most of this when a small group returned to my house at about half past noon, just as I was about to start doing some cleanup in the living room. Looking out the door, I was shocked to see that most of them appeared bruised and battered. Hurrying out to join them, I opened the portal to New Eden and got everyone inside as fast as possible. Entering made us all feel a whole lot better, and I quickly got the whole story.

It seems that although I’d beaten Antagony back in May, she, Byakuya and their master Naraku have been chasing after my team ever since they left New Jersey, successfully capturing most of them as they headed off to Kentucky, Montreal and Babylon Palace itself. Their real goal was, of course, to take Keily’s heart shard before we could return it to her. I’d left Meyl Strife in charge of holding onto it, and she has assured me that it is in good hands now... but she can’t say whose: something is keeping her and everyone else from telling me.

Naraku has also captured most of my team, as I mentioned above. Right now, I’m down to just a handful: Of the Gung-Ho Guns, only Meryl Strife, E.G. Mine, Jason Voorhees, Knives, Princess Abi and Kumasogami all made it back. Grimlock and Slag returned as well. Grimlock tells me he saw another handful of our group disappearing into a hole in the sky: Sludge, Snarl, Swoop, King Ghidorah, Irys... and Vash. We don’t know just where they are, but at least we know they’re still alive. But everyone else has been captured. And as soon as I’m able, we’re going after them. This time, Naraku’s gone too far. And when we meet again, he’s going to pay.

Until next time...

Anon e Mouse Jr.

P.S.: I’ve completed Space Paranoids, effectively finishing the first half of Kingdom Hearts II. The game’s next scripted event is the second boss battle against Demyx. (No offense intended to any of the Organization members reading this. But to beat the game, some fights just have to be won.)