[Thes wanted me to fix something up, so here it is again.

Maru]

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The Marraketh Connection
"Party To Go, Volume 2"
Author: Maruchan, VRDET
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	"Oh, my god, now I understand! Hell is other people!"
		--Jean-Paul Sarte, "No Exit"

	Maruchan awoke to the sound of heavy pounding. Groggily, 
she sat up and looked around. She was lying in the grass on 
someone's lawn. The pounding was coming from the house; the door 
was open. Maru thought she should go inside the house. She stood 
up shakily and walked over to the door.
	There were a lot of people in the house. Maru had no idea 
what was happening or what she was doing. [Who are all these 
people? What the hell are they doing here? And why am I wearing 
this skanky little dress?] Perhaps she should try to find someone 
she knew. Yes, that would be a good idea. Maru wandered through 
the crowd in her platforms, trying not to fall down. She 
recognized a few people from school. So she was somewhere in her 
home town. At least she had some idea of where she was. Around 
her, people were beginning to stare. It was the dress, Maru 
imagined, and pulled the hem down as best she could without 
pulling down the top too much.
	Someone tapped her on the shoulder. Maru spun around and 
automatically reached for her Vibro-spork. Unfortunately, her 
skanky little dress didn't have anywhere to hide a Vibro-spork. 
Maru backed away instead.
	"Wow, paranoid, huh?" It was Kevin.
	"Oh... hi Kevin." Maru was relieved to find someone she 
knew. "Listen... where am I?"
	"Party... hey, what are you doing here? I didn't think 
you were the type to come out to a party... and I've never seen 
you wear a dress before."
	"Umm... no. I mean yeah. Uhh, I gotta go somewhere... 
where's the door?" Maru asked in her usual eloquent way.
	Kevin pointed past her. "There," he yelled, as Maru 
yelled goodbye, turned, and ran off, stumbling in her platforms.

				******

	Maru began running. Past the stereo, past the ridgy 
chips, past various people in spike heels and Spice-Girl dresses, 
towards the door. Reach for the doorknob. Turn, and...
	There was nothing on the other side of the door but 
darkness. Maru looked back to a room full of Bad Music[tm] and 
Girls In Skanky Dresses[tm].  Maru looked back at the darkness, 
then back at the party. She knew what she had to do.
	As she tried to lift her platformed foot over the 
doorjam, she tripped.
	She fell...

				******

	Maru awoke in another clump of grass.  This time, she 
could hear two people yelling.
	"Accidentally? How the hell do you do something like that
accidentally?"
	"Look, I..."
	"Hey!" Maru sat up in her grass clump.
	Theseus and Calculus looked down. "Oh... Hi Maru," 
Theseus said, sounding somewhat surprised. maybe almost shocked.
	"What are you two doing? There's an army around here, 
something's going to hear you."
	"Army?"
	Maru told them about the watchtower. "Red suspects that 
there may be an army around here. I was supposed to come back and 
warn you, but I must have fallen asleep or something."
	Theseus winced. "You didn't fall asleep."
	"What are you talking about?" Maru raised her eyebrows.
	Theseus explained about the spell.
	Maruchan sighed. "So, you thought I was a sponge, and you 
put me in another dimension."
	"Kinda..."
	"But it's gone now, right...?"
	"Wanna walk through and find out?"  Maru responded with a 
dirty look.
	"Sorry..."
	"You should be." Maru grinned slightly. "I thought I was 
in hell."
	"Well... now that you mention it..."
	"Thes?"
	"Yeah?"
	"You'd better tell me exactly *what* you did..."

                                ******

	Maru had just finished telling them of her Adventure In 
Heck when Bryn walked up, looking annoyed and slightly confused.
	"Does anyone know where Red is?"
	Maru shrugged. "I figured he'd come back with you. What 
can I say?"
	Bryn looked worried. "Great... so Red is out there, 
alone, possibly with a hostile army around? This is *not* a good 
situation."
	Calculus nodded. "I think you're right. It's dangerous to 
him to leave him out there. We should organize a search party. 
Brynhild, Maruchan, you were out there with him on the watchtower 
scouting... you two go. While you're at it, take Theseus with 
you, just in case."
	Maru nodded and shouldered her pack. "Let's go." The 
other two nodded; and the rangers left to find Red.

-TBC-

Disclaimer
As with the first seg, this writing does not totally reflect real
life...all of the "bitter little girl" stuff is for character 
development. Just so that nobody tries to help me sort out my 
"inner turmoil".