That's your hobby?
By Alice Shade
Authors note: I was toying with ideas of Rangers having unexpected hobbies, and that`s what I came up with...
Chip plugged in his guitar and signed. When was the last time he got back with
the gang, and had good gig? A bit too long, for his taste. Of course, there
was his work and all... But, he still felt himself cheated out of fun, somehow.
And the times he played with Dale... Yuk. Those goody-goody songs felt like
a couch medicine - sweet and icky.
"Hey, Trent, are you ready?" - asked "Jesse". Chip, after
a second, realised, that he was called. He turned and nodded. "Jesse"
smiled and began lugging amp on the scene. Chip looked after him. He didn`t
knew his real name, only pseudonym - "Jesse". However, all his fellows
knew about him, was his own pseudonime - "Trent". Chip looked around.
"Nick" set up his guitar already, and "Max" was setting
out his drums. What begin as a simple interest in cartoon show back in school,
became a grunge musical band "Mystic Spyral". They took their band
name and their pseudonyms from the show. And to think, all that began from the
accidental meeeting in the musical shop...
Chip climbed up on the stage and got ready. "Jesse", "Nick"
and "Max" were already ready too. Chip strummed his guitar. Today
they had gig in the bar deep in the downtown. Chip knew for sure, that noone
of Rangers would go there, that`s why he chose it. Bar was filled with downtown
folk, mostly dogs.
Chip played the first chords and began singing
"You put me on a short leash,
You threw away my hydrant,
You ate up all my Kibble,
Now my coat's no longer vibrant.
My nose is dry and chapped,
But this puppy's here to stay.
Scratch my belly baby,
Every dog has his day..."
While singing, he cound not help, but think - 'Rangers would not believe, if
someone told them, I`m a grunge musician in heart...'
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Dale stretched his back and closed the book. He looked on the table, where
he stocked requested books, and much to his chagrin, noticed, that he already
finished them all. 'Aw, is there anything useful in the library I haven`t read
yet?' Apparently there wasn`t. Dale gathered up books and went to the reception
area.
Once there, he politely waited, till librarian dealed with the small lizard,
and once she was free, he came to the table and deposited his stock of books
on it. Librarian smiled - "Good day, Dale. have you finished these already?"
Dale nodded and said - "Yes. Ms. Pricket, do you have anything new, not
on catalogue?" Ms. Pricket smiled again - "You`re an anxious reader,
aren`t you, Dale? Well, you`re in luck, we just had a new book by H.Zilberstain
you asked about in a while." Dale asked anxiously - "Can I have it?"
Ms. Pricket chuckled - "Sure, Dale. Here you go." And she gave Dale
a big volume.
Dale took the volume and went back to the reading area. There, he sat down in
his favourite chair and opened up the book. A thought passed through his mind
- 'Guys would never believe I spend my time in here. Thank god I thought up
that comics shop trips. If only they knew... My life would be much more complicated.'
And with that thought, he dove in the "Advanced quantum physics" by
professor Zilberstain.
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Gadget looked around and walked in a small door. She descended by the short
stairs in the cellar and turned to the right. One, two, three, four.... Here.
The sixth room. She knocked and entered. There, seated behind a table was wombat.
Gadget cheerfully said - "Hello, Mr. Stroot!" Wombat grinned - "Well,
well, isn`t it lovely miss Hackwrench? What do you have in store for me today?"
Gadget pulled out several envelopes of different size. She put smallest one
on the table - "I finally finished Wilderness deck you ordered two weeks
ago." Wombat clasped his hands - "One week ahead of schedule. You
certainly know, how to earn money." Gadget put three bigger envelopes on
the table. "Robotransformers issue seventeen, Wondermunk issue seventy-six
and Freaks issue twenty-fourth." - she announced. Wombat counted something
on his calculator. Gadget put the biggest envelope on the table. "Character
sheets for Alice, Mr. V, Harddrive and Nurce Nancy." -she said. Wombat
fiddled with his calculator, and wrote something on the slip of paper. "Excellent!"
- he said, giving the slip to Gadget, - "Get this to counting-room, as
usual. And don`t forget about posters for Adventure in Inner Space. They are
due in two weeks." Gadget nodded and waving good bye, headed for exit.
Wombat called after her - "Wait, miss Hackwrench. We have one job for someone
of your level. Would you be interested in doing the comic strip?" Gadget
smiled sheepishly - "Golly, I don`t know. Get me details next week, and
we`ll talk about it." Wombat nodded and marked something in his note-book.
"Deal. Come next Friday, ok? Good bye." Gadget nodded and walked out.
Picking her money from the clerk, she thought - 'Thank god guys don`t know about
that. Chip would laugh his head off, and Dale would bug me for no end for drafts...'
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Monty walked in, and want to his locker. With a thought - 'How lucky I shrugged
off Zipper...', he began taking off his clothes and dressing up. In a minute
he was ready. He walked in the gym and begin stretching up. Then he put one
foot on the horse and begin stretching that way. Then he put another foot on
the horse and repeated process.
A coach entered from the other door. Monty assumed his place, along with other
attendants. Coach want to the podium, and for starters, started warm-up exercises.
They turned, leaned, stretched and crouched.Then came time for advanced exercises.
And then - the balley itself.
Monty turned on the spot, one thought in his brain - 'Through I`m already great
at it, I`m sure Rangers would get a good laugh out of that.'
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Zipper flew in, thinking - "Lucky I shrugged off Monty. Now, to do my
business..." He came to the bar and ordered an apple core. He quickly swallowed
it, eyeing the insides of cafe. A few locals, nothing more. This cafe was far
off from the headquarters, and Rangers never even knew about it. Except Zipper,
of course. Zipper chuckled. Hew lucky he was to find this place.
Zipper flew off to the side and knocked in the door. Door opened, revealing
a nerdy looking mouse. "Oh, hi, Zipper." Zipper nodded to him, and
flew inside. Mouse called after him - "Take the fourth booth, it`s empty
and connected." Zipper nodded in acknowledgement, then turned and flied
in the fourth booth. He looked on the screen, and moved the mouse. Screensaver
disappeared, and he was presented with empty Windows desktop.
Zipper opened Explorer and surfed the net, checking a few sites for insects.
However, he was just biding some time. After a while, he looked on the clock,
and logged in the human area. Zipper turned around to be sure he`s alone in
the closed booth, and started mIRC. He quickly typed his nick, "Handsome",
with his fists, and logged in.
Zipper thought - 'If only guys knew, how would`ve they laughed...', and joined
the chatroom - #Flirtspace...