#gare rally

[dailyanarchistposts]

Monday 13 May 1 , 15 pm.

The streets are crowded, The response to the call for a 24-hour general strike has exceeded the wildest hopes of the trade unions. Despite the short notice Paris is paralysed. The strike was only decided 48 hours ago, after the ‘night of the barricades’. It is moreover ‘illegal’. The law of the land demands a five-day notice before an ‘official’ strike can be called. Too bad for legality. A solid phalanx of young people is walking up the Boulevard de Sébastopol, towards the Gare de I’Est. They are proceeding to the student rallying point for the giant demonstration called jointly by the unions, the students’ organization (UNEF) and the teachers’ associations (FEN and SNESup).

There is not a bus or car in sight. The streets of Paris today belong to the demonstrators. Thousands of them are already in the square in front of the station, Thousands more are moving in from every direction. The plan agreed by the sponsoring organizations is for the different categories to assemble separately and then to converge on the Place de Ia République, from where the march will proceed across Paris, via the Latin Quarter: to the Piace Denfert-Rochereau. We are already packed like sardines for as far as the eye can see, yet there is more than an hour to go before we are due to proceed. The sun has been shining all day, The girls are in summer dresses, the young men in shirt sleeves. A red flag is flying over the railway station. There are many red flags in the crowd and several black ones too.

A man suddenly appears carrying a suitcase full of duplicated leaflets. He belongs to some left ‘groupuscule’ or other. He opens his suitcase and distributes perhaps a dozen leaflets. But he doesn’t have to continue alone. There is an unquenchable thirst for information, ideas, literature, argument, polemic. The man just stands there as people surround him and press forward to get the leaflets. Dozens of demonstrators, without even reading the leaflet, help him distribute them. Some 6000 copies get out in a few minutes. AII seem to be assiduously read, People argue, laugh, joke. I witnessed such scenes again and again.

Sellers of revolutionary literature are doing well. An edict, signed by the organizers of the demonstration, that lathe only literature allowed would be that of the organizations sponsoring the demonstration” (see I’Humanité, 13 May 1968, page 5) is being enthusiastically flouted. This bureaucratic restriction (much criticised the previous evening when announced at Censier by the student delegates to the Co-ordinating Committee) obviously cannot be enforced in a crowd of this size. The revolution is bigger than any organization, more tolerant than any institution ‘representing’ the masses, more realistic than any edict of any Central Committee. Demonstrators have climbed onto walls, onto the roofs of bus stops, onto the railings in front of the station. Some have loud hailers and make short speeches. All the ‘politicos’ seem to be in one part or other of this crowd. I can see the banner of the Jeunesse Communiste Révolutionaire, portraits of Castro and Che Guevara, the banner of the FER, several banners of ‘Servir le Peuple’ (a Maoist group). and the banner of the UJCML (Union de Ia Jeunesse Communiste Marxiste-Léniniste), another Maoist tendency. There are also banners from many educational establishments now occupied by those who work there. Large groups of lichens (high school kids) mingle with the students as do many thousands of teachers. At about 2pm the student section sets off, singing the ‘Internationale’. We march 20–30 abreast, arms linked. There is a row of red flags in front of us, then a banner 50 feet wide carrying four simple words: ‘Etudiants, Enseignants, Travailleurs, Solidaires’. It is an impressive sight.

The whole Boulevard de Magenta is a solid seething mass of humanity. We can’t enter the Place de la République, already packed foil of demonstrators. One can’t even move along the pavements or through adjacent streets. Nothing but people, as far as the eye can see. As we proceed slowly down the Boulevard de Magenta, we notice on a third floor balcony, high on our right, an SFIO (Socialist Party) headquarters, The balcony is bedecked with a few decrepit-looking red flags and a banner proclaiming ‘Solidarity with the students’. A few elderly characters wave at us, somewhat self-consciously, Someone in the crowd starts chanting “O-pur-tu-nistes”. The slogan is taken up, rhythmically roared by thousands, to the discomfiture of those on the balcony who beat a hasty retreat, The people have not forgotten the use of the CRS against the striking miners in 1958 by ‘socialist’ Minister of the Interior Jules Moch, They remember the ‘socialist’ Prime Minister Guy Mollet and his role during the Algerian War. Mercilessly, the crowd shows its contempt for the discredited politicians now seeking to jump on the bandwagon. “Guy Mollet, au musée”, they shout, amid laughter. It is truly the end of an epoch. At about 3pm we at last reach the Place de Ia République, our point of departure, The crowd here is so dense that several people faint and have to be carried into neighbouring cafes, Here people are packed almost as tight as in the street, but can at least avoid being injured, The window of one café gives way under the pressure of the crowd outside, There is a genuine fear, in several pads of the crowd, of being crushed to death. The first union contingents fortunately begin to leave the square. There isn’t a policeman in sight. Although the demonstration has been announced as a joint one, the CGT leaders are still striving desperately to avoid a mixing-up, on the streets, of students and workers. In this they are moderately successful. By about 4.3Opm the students’ and teachers’ contingent, perhaps 80,000 strong, finally leaves the Place de Ia République, Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators have preceded it, hundreds of thousands follow it, but the ‘left’ contingent has been well and truly ‘bottled-in’. Several groups, understanding at last the CGT’S manoeuvre, break loose once we are out of the square. They take shod cuts via various side streets, at the double, and succeed in infiltrating groups of 100 or so into pads of the march ahead of them or behind them. The Stalinist stewards walking hand in hand an. hemming the march in on either side are powerless to prevent these sudden influxes. The student demonstrators scatter like fish in water as soon as they have entered a given contingent. The CGT marchers themselves are quite friendly and readily assimilate the newcomers, not quite sure what it’s ail about, The students’ appearances dress and speech does not enable them to be identified as readily as they would be in Britain.

The main student contingent proceeds as a compact body. Now that we are past the bottleneck of the Place de la République the pace is quite rapid. The student group nevertheless takes at least half an hour to pass a given point. The slogans of the students contrast strikingly with those of the CGT. The students shout “Le Pouvoir aux Ouvriers” (All Power to the Workers); “Le Pouvoir est dens Ia rue” (Power lies in the street)’,”‘Libérez nos camarades”. COT members shout “Pompidou, démission” (Pompidou, resign). The students chant “de Gaulle, assassin”, or ‘ICRS-SS”. The CGT: (‘Des soul, pas de matraques” (money, not police clubs) or “Défense du pouvoir d’achat” (Defend our purchasing power) The students say “Non à l’Université de classe”. The CGT and the Stalinist students, grouped around the banner of their paper Claret reply “Université Démocratique”. Deep political differences lie behind the differences of emphasis. some slogans are taken up by everyone, slogans such as “Dix ens, c’est assez” ,“A bas I’Etat policier”, or “Bon anniversaire, mon Général”. Whole groups mournfully intone a well-known refrain: “Adieu, de Gaulle”. They wave their handkerchiefs, to the great merriment of the bystanders. As the main student contingent crosses the Pont St Michel to enter the Latin Quarter it suddenly stops, in silent tribute to its wounded. All thoughts are for a moment switched to those lying in hospital, their sight in danger through too much tear gas or their skulls or ribs fractured by the truncheons of the CRS. The sudden, angry silence of this noisiest pad of the demonstration conveys a deep impression of strength and resolution. One senses massive accounts yet to be settled.

At the top of the Boulevard St Michel I drop out of the march, climb onto a parapet lining the Luxembourg Gardens, and just watch. l remain there for two hours as row after row of demonstrators marches past, 30 or more abreast, a human tidal wave of fantastic, inconceivable size, How many are they? 600,000? 800,000? A million? 1 ,500,000? No-one can really number them. The first of the demonstrators reached the final dispersal point hours before the last ranks had left the Place de Ia République, at 7pm. There were banners of every kind: union banners, student banners, political banners, non-political banners, recordist banners, revolutionary banners, banners of the ‘Mouvement contra -Armement Atomique’, banners of various Conseils de Parents d’Elèves, banners of every conceivable size and shape, proclaiming a common abhorrence at what had happened and a common will to struggle on. Some banners were notedly applauded, such as the one saying ‘Libérons’information’(let’s have a free news service) carried by a group of employees from the ORTF. Some banners indulged in vivid symbolism, such as the gruesome one carried by a group of artists, depicting human hands. heads and eyes, each with its price tag, on display on the hooks and trays of a butcher’s shop. Endlessly they filed past, There were whole sections of hospital personnel, in white coats, some carrying posters saying ‘Où sent les dispartls des hopitatlx?’ (where are the missing injured?). Every factory, every major workplace seemed to be represented, There Were numerous groups of, railwaymen, postmen, printers, Metro personnel, metal workers, airport workers, market men, electricians, lawyers, supermen, bank employees, building workers, glass and chemical workers, waiters, municipal employees: painters and decorators, gas workers, shop girls, insurance clerks, road sweepers, film studio operators, busmen, teachers, Sharkers from the new plastic industries, row upon row upon row of them, the flesh and blood of modern capitalist society, an unending macs, a power that could sweep everything before it, if it but decided to do so, My thoughts went to those who say that the workers are only interested in football, in the ‘tiercé’ (horse-betting), in watching the telly and that the working class , in their annual ‘conges’ (holidays), cannot see beyond the problems of its everyday life. It was so palpably untrue. I also thought of those who say that only a narrow and rotten leadership lies between the masses and the total transformation of society. It was equally untrue. Today the working class is becoming conscious of its strength. Will it decide, tomorrow, to use it?

I rejoin the march and we proceed towards Dented Rochereau. We pass several statues, sedate gentlemen now bedecked with red flags or carrying slogans such as ‘Libérez nos camarades’. As we pass a hospital silence again descends on the endless crowd. Someone starts whistling the ‘lnternationale’, Others take it up. Like a breeze rustling over an enormous field of corn, the whistled tune ripples out in all directions. From the windows of the hospital some nurses wave at us.

At various intersections we pass traffic lights which by some strange inertia still seem to be working. Red and green alternate, at fixed intervals, meaning as little as bourgeois education, as work in modern society, as the lives of those walking past. The reality of today, for a few hours, has submerged all of yesterday’s patterns. The part of the march in which l find myself is now rapidly approaching what the organizers have decided should be the dispersal point. The CGT is desperately keen that its hundreds of thousands of supposers should disperse quietly, It fears them, when they are together. It wants them nameless atoms again, scattered to the four corners of Paris, powerless in the context of their individual preoccupations. The COT sees itself as the only possible link between them, as the divinely ordained vehicle for the expression of their collective viii. The ‘Mouvement du 22 Mars’, on the other hand, had issued a call to the students and workers, asking them to stick together and to proceed to the lawns of the Champ de Mars (at the foot of the Eiffel Tower) for a massive collective discussion on the experiences of the day and on the problems that lie ahead.

At this stage I sample for the first time what a ‘service d’ordre’ composed of Stalinist stewards really means. AII day, the stewards have obviously been anticipating this particular moment. They are very tense, clearly expecting ‘trouble’. Above all else they fear what they call ‘débordement’, ie being outflanked on the left. For the last half-mile of the march five or six solid rows of them line up on either side of the demonstrators. Arms linked, they form a massive sheath around the marchers. CGT officials address the bottled-up demonstrators through two powerful loudspeakers mounted on vans, instructing them to disperse quietly via the Boulevard Arago, ie to proceed in precisely the opposite direction to the one leading to the Champ de Mars. Other exits from the Place Denfert Rochereau are blocked by lines of stewards linking arms On occasions like this, l am told, the Communist Party calls up thousands of its members from the Paris area. It also summons members from mites around, bringing them up by the coachload from places as far away as Rennes, Orleans, Sens, Lille and Limoges. The municipalities under Communist Party control provide further hundreds of these ‘stewards’ not necessarily Party members, but people dependent on the goodwill of the Party for their jobs and future. Ever since its heyday of participation in the government (1945–47) the Party has had this kind of mass base in the Paris suburbs. It has invariably used it in circumstances like today. On this demonstration there must be at least 10,000 such stewards, possibly twice that number. The exhortations of the stewards meet with a variable response. Whether they are successful in getting particular groups to disperse via the Boulevard Arago depends of course on the composition of the groups. Most of those which the students have not succeeded in infiltrating obey, although even here some of the younger militants protest: “We are a million in the streets. Why should we go home?” Other groups hesitate, vacillate, start arguing. Student speakers climb on walls and shout: “‘AII those who want to return to the telly, turn down the Boulevard Arago. Those who are for joint worker-student discussions and for developing the struggle, turn down the Boulevard Raspail and proceed to the Champ de Mars”. Those protesting against the dispersion orders are immediately jumped on by the stewards, denounced as ‘provocateurs’ and often man-handled. I saw several comrades of the ‘Mouvement du 22 Mars’ physically assaulted, their portable loud hailers from their hands and their leaflets torn from them and thrown to the ground. In some sections there seemed to be dozens, in others hundreds, in others thousands of ‘provocateurs’. A number of minor punch-ups take piece as the stewards are swept aside by these particular contingents. Heated arguments break out, the demonstrators denouncing the Stalinists as ‘cops’ and as ‘the last rampart of the bourgeoisie’.

A respect for facts compels me to admit that most contingents followed the orders of the trade union bureaucrats. The repeated slanders by the CGT and Communist Party leaders had had their effect. The students were “trouble-makers” “adventurers” “dubious elements”. Their proposed action would only lead to a massive intervention by the CRS’ (who had kept well out of sight throughout the whole of the afternoon). “This was just a demonstration, not a prelude to revolutions” Playing ruthlessly on the most backward sections of the crowd, and physically assaulting the more advanced sections, the apparatchiks of the CGT succeeded in getting the bulk of the demonstrators to disperse, often under protest. Thousands went to the Champ de Mars, But hundreds of thousands went home. The Stalinists won the day, but the arguments started will surely reverberate down the months to come.

At about 8pm an episode took place which changed the temper of the last sections of the march, now approaching the dispersal point. A police van suddenly came up one of the streets leading Into the Place Denfert Rochereau. It must have strayed from its intended route, or perhaps its driver had assumed that the demonstrators had already dispersed. Seeing the crowd ahead the two uniformed gendarmes in the front seat panicked. Unable to reverse in time in order to retreat, the driver decided that his life hinged on forcing a passage through the thinnest section of the crowd. The vehicle accelerated: hurling itself into the demonstrators at about 50 mikes an hour. People scattered wildly in alt directions. Several people were knocked down and two were seriously injured. Many more narrowly’ escaped, The van was finally surrounded. One of the policemen in the front seat was dragged out and repeatedly punched by the infuriated crowd, determined to lynch him. He was finally rescuers in the nick of time, by the stewards. They more or less carried him, semi-conscious, down a side street where he was passed horizontally, like a battered blood sausage, through an open ground floor window.

To do this, the stewards had had to engage in a running fight with several hundred very angry marchers. The crowd then started rocking the stranded police van. The remaining policeman drew his revolver and fired. People ducked. By a miracle no-one was hit. A hundred yards away the bullet made a hole, about three feet above ground level, in a window of ‘Le Belfort’, a big café at 297 Boulevard Raspail. The stewards again rushed to the rescue, forming a barrier between the crowd and the police van, which was allowed to escape down a side street, driven by the policeman who had fired at the crowd.

Hundreds of demonstrators then thronged round the hole in the window of the cafe. Press photographers were summoned, arrived, duly took their close-ups — none of which, of course, were ever published, (Two days later l’Humanité carried a few lines about the episode, at the bottom of a column on page 5.) One effect of the episode is that several thousand more demonstrators decided not to disperse. They turned and marched down towards the Champ de Mars, shouting “lls ont tiré à Denfert” (they’ve shot at us at Denfert). If the incident had taken place an hour earlier, the evening of 13 May might have had a very different complexion.

[fashionbooksmilano]

Motori ruggenti L'età d'oro

Uno straordinario viaggio per immagini dal 1900 al 1970

John Tennant - introduzione Jackie Stewart

De Agostini, Novara 2005, 384 pagine, 28x32,4cm, ISBN 9788841825556

euro 49,00

email if you want to buy booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

"Motori ruggenti" è una raccolta di quasi 300 immagini d'eccezione che ripercorrono la storia delle gare automobilistiche e dei protagonisti delle quattro ruote dal 1900 al 1970. Il volume è un susseguirsi di emozioni e tecnica motoristica insieme, che racconta gran premi, rally e gare di gran turismo attraverso le foto. Da Montecarlo a Monza, dal Nurburgring a Le Mans, fino alla leggendaria Mille Miglia, si viaggia nel tempo e nello spazio seguendo le gesta eroiche di campioni "di razza" quali Manuel Fangio, Tazio Nuvolari e Alberto Ascari, o ammirando le intramontabili linee di Bugatti e Ferrari, Aston Martin e Jaguar.

14711/23

[honeyquinns]

CLUB HELLFIRE

CHAPTER TWO

hellfire main characters

prequel

chapter one

warnings // marijuana use, bullying, bitchy chrissy, school fight, seizure like symptoms, portal mention

——————————————————————————

“i’ll meet you guys in the cafeteria” stacie said stopping by the girls bathroom while they nodded and continued walking. she walks in and comes in contact with Chrissy and her backup cheerleaders, they look at her disgusted. Stacie rolls her eyes heading to the furthest stall away from them. she sits on the toilet, making sure not to fall in and pulls out a joint that she stole from her dad. she was about to light it when she jumped from a loud bang on the stall door. “the fuck?!” she yelled. she yanked the door open to see Chrissy and the mini part of the cheer squad staring her down. “what do you want, Christine?” she says annoyed. “oh hey Stacie! you know i couldn’t help but hear a lighter flick, are you on those drugs again?” she said snarky with a smile. “i was never on drugs,” Stacie looks past Chrissy and at Tawny and Ally “but those too look like they’re on something heavy.” she start laughing.

the girls scoffed and Chrissy pushed Stacie back into the toilet. all three girls crammed into the stall attempted to push Stacie’s face into the toilet “you’re such a fucking loser Stacie! you and that cult freak Eddie.” Chrissy said struggling to get Stacie’s head into the toilet due to Stacie pushing back as hard as she could. what she didn’t know was that Stacie picked up on working out around the age of 12 from being picked on by her dad. her goal was to become stronger than him so he couldn’t overpower anymore. after 2 minutes of fighting, all three girls let go which caused Stacie to push toward too fast and hit her head on the seat, letting blood rush down her forehead. the girls laughed at her “what a klutz” Tawny said laughing “just like her drunk shit dad” Ally said laughing along. all three girls walking out the bathroom as if nothing happened. “did you guys hear he was at the store falling all over the place-“ was the last thing Stacie heard before hearing the door shut.

she got the strength to get up and walked to look at herself in the mirror. ‘not too bad’ she thought to herself. she grabbed a few paper towels and wiped her face, revealing a line going from her forehead past her eyebrow. “this definitely might scare…badass.” she smirked to herself and headed to the cafeteria, grabbing her food and sitting with the boys. “what the hell happened to you, Stace.” Gareth said with his eyes wide. the boys looked up concerned. “oh nothing just cheer cunt and her two followers.” they all looked toward the popular table, Chrissy and Jason Carver flirting with each other. “did you kick her ass yet?” Arnie said looking back at Stacie. “not yet” Stacie smirked. “i’m waiting for the riiight moment.” she dragged out, taking a bite of her fruit cup. “we do have the pep rally in a couple hours” Eddie said, giving her a hint and a light bulb went off in her head. “you’re right Ed. pep rally is happening and you know what? i guess we’re gonna have to go to this one for the very first time.” they all laughed knowing that Stacie would always eventually retaliate after being bullied by Chrissy. they just never understood why she’d continue, it was like a never-ending, cat and mouse game since elementary school.

——— * pep rally * ———

the crew was sitting fifth row on the bleachers, not wanting to be too close to the basketball team or the cheerleaders. “Good Afternoon students! it’s been, so far, a really good first day and we wanted to do something fun to start this school year-“ Principle Coleman started and continued to give a speech to the entire student body. “when will it end? i just wanted to see Stacie kick Chrissy’s ass” Gareth complained. “in due time Gare, in due time.” Stacie assured him. 10 minutes went past with different clubs expressing how much they wanted everyone to join. of course Hellfire wasn’t included. 30 minutes went past and Jason, who was newly made team captain had spoke “This year at Hawkins will be our year! our team! our people! we will win. we have some new members joining us, Patrick Mckinney. He was a beast at Hawkins middle and i know he’ll be an amazing part of this team. I wanna say congratulations to Chrissy Cunningham, my best friend who just made cheer captain, let’s make some noise-“ everyone cheered for her except Hellfire. Stacie tapped both of her index fingers together in the most petty, uninterested way. after Jason finished his 10 hour speech, the cheerleaders went off into a routine. the boys kept look back and forth between Stacie and Chrissy, wondering when the fight would happen.

“Stace?” Eddie said judging her a bit. she ignored him looking straight ahead as if she didn’t hear him. she leans forward with her elbows resting on both legs just eyeing Chrissy. so much anger built up in her for all the things Chrissy said. she didn’t care much at the shade to her father but the disrespect toward Eddie. Eddie is the one person who was never mean to Chrissy. they’ve known her for years, he even congratulated her when she won the talent show. Stacie knew he at one point had a crush on Chrissy but it long ended after Chrissy started bullying her. as the pepe rally ended, everyone started getting up and heading out to the buses and the parking lot to go home, which is exactly what Stacie wanted. she knew the boys would expect her to just fight Chrissy in front of the school but she wasn’t stupid. she’s a straight A student and favorited by many of the teachers. if she was going to retaliate on Chrissy, it definitely wouldn’t be in the gym.

they all stood up, walking to the parking lot. “i can’t believe we sat and watched the entire pep rally for nothing” Jeff said annoyed. “yeah Stace why didn’t you do anything?” Gareth chimed in. “there’s no way you’re just gonna let Cunningham beat you like that” Arnie also chimed. Eddie stared down at her as she kept walking, she started to speed up and he looked up seeing Chrissy standing around with the cheer squad, Jason and a few members on the basketball team. he knew exactly what was about to happen and stopped the boys in their steps “just wait.” he said. Stacie dropped her backpack and walked faster “hey Cunningham!” she yelled. as soon as Chrissy turned around, she barely had the time to speak when Stacie punched her in the face, her nose now bleeding “what the FUCK, Stacie.” she went to push back at Stacie and they started pulling at each other. Jason tried pulling them off one another when Stacie ran Chrissy into the side of a car, hitting her again. Eddie and the guys ran over as fast as they could. he picked up Stacie and threw her over his shoulder running to his truck before the teachers came and they sped off.

“no way! no fucking way that just happened!” Jeff yelled, the adrenaline running threw each of their bodies. Jeff, Gareth, and Arnie all sitting in the opened trunk yelling about the fight over the wind. Eddie turned to Stacie, looking at her staring outside and looking down at her bruised, blood hand. “that was super badass, you know” he said causing her to look at him and smile, he smiled back. “bitch deserved it.” she held her hand, feeling the pain as her adrenaline went down. he dropped the guys off at Arnie’s house and headed back to the trailers.

“so why did you beat her so hard?” Eddie started, grabbing some peroxide and a gauze wrap from under the bathroom sink. “what do you mean?” Stacie said sitting at the kitchen table. “i mean, one punch was enough retaliation but you went absolute bat shit on her. what did she say to you?” he started cleaning her hand and wrapping it. “she compared me to my dad but you obviously know that shit doesn’t bother me…” she trailed off. Eddie nodded “she said shit about me” he made a pouty face, finishing wrapping her hand. “yeah… do you still like her?” Eddie looked up at her “of course not. that was just a middle school crush, nothing more. i would never want to like someone to hurts my best friend..” he stopped for a second “plus.. she’s just like everyone else. i’m a freak, a cult leader, terrifying and mean.” Stacie looks at him and holds his hand “fuck her.” he smiles “exactly. now!-“ he gets up from the table and grabs a bag of, “how about we take a walk and talk about the extraterrestrial?” they both walk out the door laughing and heading to the woods.

———————

by this time it’s late, 7:30 and a school night. “Wayne is gonna be pissed if we don’t get back soon” Stacie said, leaves crunching under her feet as she uses her flashlight to guide them through the woods “are you sure we’re even going the right way?” “yes. we are… i think” Eddie said staring around “….shit” they both stop and look around “i can’t believe you got us lost” Stacie said annoyed “okay yeah well you wanted to smoke a third roll, excuse me for wanting to have a little floating fun” he looks around, spotting a light “hey there’s light over there, maybe it’s a street” he says. she follows him with the light, making their way to wherever the light is and the flashlight starts cutting on and off. “damn it” Stacie starts hitting the flash to keep it on “did you change the batteries like a said?” Eddie looked back. “yes! i told you those batteries were shit.” they continued walking until they saw a gate.

“no trespassing” Eddie looked up at the sign. he could barely see the words with the flashlight going in and out. he squints trying to read the rest “man, we’re at Hawkins lab.” he sighs walking around “okay then let’s just look for an opening. i’m sure there’s someway to get through here to our street” Stacie starts walking one way to look for an opening with Eddie trailing behind her. 5 minutes went passed “find one yet?” he asked. “no. you?” “nothing.” they both side and Eddie took the light out her hand, hitting it again. they were about to walk away when a noise happened “did you hear that?” Stacie had asked “hear what?” Eddie turned. she looked back at the gate trying to see what she heard “oh no, if you’re trying to scare me, it’s not gonna work, Addams.” he stood there waiting for her to say something back. “i’m serious, i heard something” she said putting her ear up to the gate. she put her hands tightly on the gate and her body jolted.

“STACIE!” Eddie yelled. she fell down slowly on the ground, her eyes white and body trembling. “Stacie, can you hear me?!” he said again trying to wake her up from whatever just happened. she jolted up like she was trying to catch her breath and held on tightly to an Eddie already holding her close “are you okay? what was that? i’ve never seen you have a seizure before” he rambled on with questions, rubbing her head. whatever Stacie heard, she saw it in her head. she was too terrified to even speak. tears wanting to spill from her eyes from everything she saw in what felt like 1 year when actually 2 minutes. Eddie picked her up, still with the flashlight in his hand and finding any way to get them back home.

“where the hell have you two- what happened to Stacie?” Wayne started. Eddie ran straight to his bedroom placing Stacie there with Wayne following behind. “i- i think she had a seizure..” Eddie stuttered scared “her eyes- her eyes were like white and-and her body just kept moving and shaking i couldn’t tell if she was scared or-or cold. we got lost in the woods and i didn’t know what to do.” Wayne managed to calm him down “she’s staying here tonight. i don’t give a goddamn what Don says.” he walks over to Stacie “sweetheart are you okay?” he puts a hand on her shoulder for comfort but she slightly jumps from his caring touch “i’m fine.” she says quietly. he sighs and looks back at a scared Eddie “are we in trouble, dad?” he looks up at him “no. i’m just glad you guys are okay” he pulls Eddie into a hug then pulls back “just.. for now stay in the neighborhood. please?” “you got it.” he walks to the bedroom door grabbing an extra pillow for Stacie “you too get some rest. you don’t have to go to school tomorrow.” he gives them both a small smile and closes the door.

Eddie helps Stacie put the pillow under her head. he can hear small tears and sniffles as her back is turned to him. “it was so scary” she started, he stared at the back of her head waiting for her to continue “-it didn’t feel like a seizure. it felt like a dream.. a fucking nightmare. i saw things that didn’t look real, something that we’d only see in d&d. i saw me doing things you’d only see in comic books… a man who just looked at me as if he was confused at something or- or like he was thinking about something. it’s felt like i was trapped until i heard you voice.” she turned her body around to stare at Eddie who looked just as scared “i wish you could see what i saw. it sounds stupid.” he eyebrows scrunched together “it doesn’t sound stupid. no one ever knows what happens when you have seizures.. which it was. maybe the gate is like electric and shocked you pretty bad.” “a seizure from that?” she asked “i mean.. i don’t know. we’ll figure it out okay? maybe we can go to a doctor or something” “yeah.. maybe.” she pulled herself closer to Eddie and they wrapped up in a shared blanket falling asleep.

—————————————————

a/n: hi!!! i posted late but ya girl was TIRED from work and i kinda wish i could’ve made it longer but writers block was crazy. // i love that i just have Eddie calling Wayne dad 🥺 i feel as if he’d refer to him as his uncle to outsiders but to his closest friends, they know that’s his dad. // i hope you all loved it <3 don’t forget to reblog 🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽

[personal-reporter]

Gli altri sport: Mike Parkes

Un grande pilota, ma anche un ottimo progettista, nella Formula Uno degli anni Settanta… Mike Parkes nacque il 24 settembre 1931 a Richmond, nel Surrey, da John Joseph Parkes e Mary Beatrice Johnson. Il padre, ingegnere con il brevetto di pilota di aereo nel ramo ausiliario della RAF, durante la Seconda Guerra Mondiale diresse due fabbriche della De Havilland, nel dopoguerra fu  amministratore delegato, e successivamente presidente, di Alvis Ltd. Dopo aver studiato alle Lockers Park Preparatory School e Haileybury College nel 1950 Mike divenne studente-apprendista alla Humber-Hillman e dal 1952 fu 1962 ingegnere nel Reparto Sperimentale della Rootes Group. Mike nel 1952 vinse la prima gara automobilistica al volante della sua  MG TD e nella stagione 1954-55 gareggiò con delle Frazer-Nash d’epoca. Dal 1955 al 1962 lavorò alla progettazione e sviluppo della Hillman Imp, che entrò in produzione nel 1963. Nel 1957 Mike gareggiò con la Ford Lotus Eleven di Geoff Williamson e nella stagione 1958-59 con la Fry Climax F2 di David Fry. Con la Lotus Elite di Sir Gawaine Baillie nel 1960 Parkes si cimentò nelle prime gare di lunga distanza a Le Mans e al Nürburgring. La stagione 1961-62  lo vide al volante delle berline Jaguar 3.8 e le Ferrari 250GT per le scuderie Equipe Endeavour e Maranello Concessionaires, e con la Gemini Ford Formula Junior della scuderia Chequered Flag. Ma il debutto di Mike con la Ferrari avvenne nel 1961 a Le Mans, con co-pilota Willy Mairesse, si finì al secondo posto. Parkes nel 1963 si trasferì a Modena e fu  assunto dalla Ferrari come ingegnere allo sviluppo e pilota ufficiale per le gare sport e prototipi, oltre ad essere il pilota ufficiale nelle gare di lunga distanza per auto sport e prototipi, in Europa e negli Stati Uniti, ottenendo molti piazzamenti. Dopo che nella stagione 1966-1967 ebbe due primi posti, due secondi posti e un quinto posto, Mike nel giugno 1967 fu vittima di un grave incidente al GP del Belgio, in cui si ruppe le gambe e il polso. Nel 1969 ritornò alla Ferrari come ingegnere allo sviluppo e direttore di squadra per le gare sport e prototipi, poi Enzo Ferrari gli propose di lavorare per Georges Filipinetti, il concessionario svizzero della Ferrari, che nella stagione 1970 avrebbe partecipato alle gare con un Prototipo 512 simile a quelli della fabbrica. Fino al 1973 Parkes fu il direttore sportivo e pilota per la Scuderia Filipinetti e dal 1974 al 1977 lavorò come Ingegnere allo sviluppo per la squadra Rally della Lancia. Il 28 agosto 1977, dopo un soggiorno a Modena, Mike stava tornando a Torino una domenica sera per rientrare al lavoro e vicino a Riva di Chieri, non molto lontano da Torino, entrò in una curva stretta ad angolo retto alla fine di un rettilineo lungo quattro chilometri. La macchina di Parkers, una Lancia Beta HPE slittò verso il lato sinistro della strada, e si scontrò frontalmente con un camion che arrivava dall’altra parte e Mike morì all’istante, per una frattura alla spina dorsale. Parkes è sepolto in Inghilterra, nel cimitero del paesino di Charsfield, dove abitava suo padre. Read the full article

[rallytimeofficial]

L'elenco iscritti del Rally Città di Bassano con 151 equipaggi

🔴🔴 L'elenco iscritti del Rally Città di Bassano con 151 equipaggi #ElencoIscritti #Rallycittadibassano

Soddisfazione contenuta, ma sincera e giustificata. Bassano Rally Racing ha chiuso a 151 la conta degli iscritti al suo 41° Industrial Cars Rally Città di Bassano, record 2024 tra le gare del Trofeo Italiano Rally. Senza il traino di coefficiente maggiorato e rango di finale, ma soprattutto senza il parallelo orgoglioso e fortificante del Base Historic Rally che (si spera) tornerà fin dalla…

[corciano-trasimeno-online]

“Siamo orgogliosi e soddisfatti del risultato ottenuto da una manifestazione che ha portato nel nostro Comune centinaia di persone accompagnate dai propri fedeli e stupendi cani”. Così Francesco Cociloco, assessore allo sport del Comune di Corciano, commenta con soddisfazione le gare di cinofilia sportiva svoltesi aabato 2 e domenica 3 marzo al centro sportivo Arcs di Mantignana. Alla due giorni, sotto l’egida dell’ente di promozione sportiva CSEN e la federazione FIDASC, hanno partecipato oltre 400 binomi nelle discipline Agility, Hoopers, Obedience, Rally Obedience, Dog Balance e Pool out ricerca Tartufo. “L’evento ha richiamato da molte parti d’Italia numerose persone – […]

[the-era-of-shadow]

The Day The Moon Died Act II - The Wave of Black

Case 01: The Eternal Highschool Lovers

Chapter 4: School's Out!

Written by Lunar Eclipse & Ash Rose

Cover Art by Ash Rose

CW/TW:

A Lot (Swearing, heavy fictional religious themes, kidnapping, mentions of child death, mild terrorism, themes of the loss of control over one's self, mentions of blood, depiction of a volatile mental breakdown)

Summary:

The Black Arms' rally had been a complete and total success, and the group began to grow immensely in the weeks following it. To tell the tale of its spread in full, follow these three separate, and yet connected tales - cases of the Black Arms' effect on PetalBloom, and see for yourself the damage that had been done.

Notes:

I hope you're fucking ready for this chapter because this is the longest single piece of writing we've ever made and A Lot Happens in it btw if you're not in the mental state to handle a potentially devastating cliffhanger please prepare yourself before reading, take care of you ❤

[Act 1]

[Moonlight Interlude I]

[Previous Chapter]

[Next Chapter]

-☆☆☆-

“Wait! I’m confused!” Garrick announced suddenly.

“Why so?” Widow inquired, wondering if there had been a detail that she had accidentally left out in her retelling so far.

“Uhm, I dunno if I missed it, but… What’s Mini Mayhem’s plan again?” Garrick clarified.

“Oh yes! Their plan! I did indeed not go in depth about it for now.” Widow admitted, feeling relieved that there had been indeed no accidental forgetfulness on her part - none that had gone unnoticed, at least. “You see, Garrick,” She then began to speak again, gently placing her hand on her dear young son’s head. “Since the members of Mini Mayhem enact their plan later in the story, I figured it’d become boring if I had to describe the plan out twice! So instead, I decided that I’d leave the planning part out for now, so that when I show the plan in action, it’s all brand new information!” She explained.

“Oooooh, okay! Sorry for interrupting you, Mama!” Garrick responded.

“No need to apologize, Gare-Bear. You’re just being curious, as any child your age ought to be.” Widow said to him reassuringly, using the opportunity she had with it already having her hand on his head to give Garrick a loving ruffling of their hair.

“So does that mean we’re gonna see the plan play out now?” Garrick asked.

“Well, actually… Your question had got me wondering if I had forgotten anything important going on around this time of the story, and I just realized that right around now - in the Schoolhouse, in fact, took place a moment that forever impacted the advancement of us Black Arms’ biology-” Widow started to respond, though she was interrupted part-way through.

“DID SOMEONE SAY ADVANCEMENT OF BLACK ARMS BIOLOGY??” A voice that had not been among Widow’s audience before, but still incredibly familiar all the same, hollered excitedly. It seemed that Widow’s words had a sort of summoning effect to them without her realizing.

“Well well well, aren’t you quite late to the party, Eclipse~?” Rouge said teasingly.

“Party? Are we already at Station Square?” Eclipse wondered, very genuinely seeming to be out of the loop.

“No, I think we’re still a ways away. I believe that Rouge has just used another one of those “turn of phrases”!” Widow answered.

“Oh, right. So what are you all up to?” Eclipse asked. “Must be something rather significant - if not because of the crowd accrued here, then certainly by the rush Yuki had to return here after dropping off some supplies to me!” They then added, beginning to speculate.

“Actually, it’s Leanni right now.” Leanni quickly budged in to correct.

“Oh, is it? My mistake!” Eclipse replied.

“Ah well, it all began as a conversation between Rouge, Shadow and I. Then one thing led to another and here we are, passing the time until we reach Station Square by me telling the story of the Black Arms’ founding!” Widow explained, summarizing quite a lot.

“Oh, that’s where that was coming from.” Eclipse remarked.

“Come again?” Rouge asked, once again entering the conversation.

“I had heard someone telling the story through the hivemind, but I had figured that it was just my memories of Master Death telling me such tales playing in my mind to keep away boredom.” Eclipse told without hesitation.

“Sounds reasonable enough!” Widow remarked. “So then you probably know that we’re at the part of the second rally, the one held in the refurbished Schoolhouse?”

“The rally where a recently assimilated member of the Black Arms who had just so happened to have been an animal caretaker in their day to day life was invited on stage alongside Lord Black Doom himself, having with them a baby Petal-Scaled Dragon that was demonstrated on stage to be introduced into the hivemind by Lord Doom that night, thus ushering in the assimilation of more of PetalBloom’s fauna, creating the ancestry that would lead to the modern non-bipedal Black Arms subspecies of the modern day, such as the descendants of Petal-Scaled Dragons themselves, the Black Hawks and Black Volts, while at the same time opening up the collective mind of the hive to the idea of assimilating more lifeforms into the Black Arms beyond the life present on PetalBloom itself, which would be later cemented during the Black Arms leaders’ trial held in the Twilight Cage and would go on to become a massive part of the evolution of the Black Arms into what we are today, up to and including its involvement in the discovery of our new home, the original Black Comet? Yes, I am aware that’s where we are! Why, aren’t I glad I came just in time to hear you talk about it loud and clear then!” Eclipse answered quite… extensively, to say the least.

“I feel like about a quarter of that would have been enough to get the point across, Wikipedia Article.” Harazuki heckled teasingly, as siblings do.

“Well maybe I am a “Wikipedia Article”! So what? Articles on Wikipedia are carefully curated by multiple experts on the topics of the articles - experts that have dedicated their lives to not just learning about their field, but to teaching others what they’ve learned! Just as I have!” Eclipse argued passionately.

“Pretty sure by the way you’ve explained it, that’d make you a Wikipedia article moderator, not an article in of itself, which is what I called you!” Harazuki said smugly, pointing out the error in Eclipse’s argument.

“Getting rather pedantic here, aren’t we? Well two can play at THAT game! I assume what you meant to say by calling me a “Wikipedia Article” is that my response to Madam Widow’s question was worded like an article on the history of Black Hawks and Black Volts. However, that would make it more accurate to say that I sounded like I was reading a Wikipedia article, not that I am one!” Eclipse retorted.

“Well you clearly knew what I meant!” Harazuki claimed.

“What if I didn’t? What then? You need to be exact when calling people nicknames!” Eclipse theorized.

“That’s just a hypothetical!!” Harazuki fumed.

“Is it?” Eclipse asked, grinning smugly.

“YES! OBVIOUSLY IT IS!!” Harazuki answered, becoming frustrated.

By now, the two of them were not just butting heads in the metaphorical sense, but also in the literal, physical sense as well. They had become so engrossed in proving “who’s right” that they seemingly had forgotten that there was anyone else around. That is, until someone decided to step in and break the two’s feud apart.

“ENOUGH!” Shadow commanded, stepping in between the two to hold them off from each other as her voice boomed with annoyance. “Both of you, knock it the fuck off, won’t you?? Can’t you see how long you two are having to make my mother wait to continue telling the story with this petty bickering??” They pointed out. 

Harazuki pouted and crossed her arms, while Eclipse covered their face with their hand and looked away from both Harazuki and Shadow. Either way, it was clear that the both of them realized Shadow was right, and felt deeply embarrassed for letting a moment of sibling rivalry get the better of them.

“Hara.” Shadow then began to speak again. “There was no need to tease Eclipse just for being passionate about the biology of the Black Arms.”

Harazuki silently nodded and sat back down.

“And Eclipse, even if it was unneeded, Hara’s comment towards you was something you could have - and should have - just brushed aside and ignored. There was no need to turn it into a whole big argument.” Shadow added.

“Right. With a reputation like mine, I can’t afford to be petty. I understand that now.” Eclipse admitted before also sitting down. “I’m sorry for that, Hara.” They added.

“Yeah, same here…” Harazuki sighed.

“Ah, wonderful. Especially from you, Shadow! You handled that just as a leader should!” Widow remarked.

“O-Oh, uhm… Th-thanks…!” Shadow sheepishly accepted the compliment, the pride and joy from it growing within her being able to be felt all throughout the hivemind.

“You know… I think I’ve finally moved on from the whole thing - but when Eclipse becomes all passionate like that, I think a part of my heart still flutters because of it…” Relic muttered in admittance only to Rouge.

“... Ya know what? I get it.” Rouge whispered back. 

The two girls quietly giggled to one another about their remarks, but then, suddenly, Rouge seemed to get the idea to try to catch Eclipse’s attention.

“Hey..! Clip..!” Rouge said as loudly as she possibly could while still maintaining a whispery tone.

“Hmm?” Eclipse hummed.

“How come you’re sticking around? Aren’t you still busy with Relic and I’s assimilation chambers?” Rouge inquired curiously.

“Oh, I’ll just be here for this one little part. Besides, the chambers are almost complete, anyways.” Eclipse explained.

“Are they really?” Relic asked, her excitement almost causing her to break her whisper.

“Well would ya look at that? We’re well on our way to becoming full on Black Arms~.” Rouge remarked.

“I know..! Aren’t you excited?” Relic exclaimed.

“Yeah, I guess I am...” Rouge admitted.

“The hivemind at work~.” Eclipse stated.

“... Yeah.” Rouge nervously agreed. “Say, where are the Dark Arms? Surely they would want to learn about this stuff too, right? Rhygenta at the very least.” She then asked, changing the subject.

“They’re off being busy with their own little project… That’s what they told me, anyway.” Eclipse answered.

“You mean you don’t know what they’re up to?” Relic voiced in concern.

“I'm afraid not. All I know is that they plan for it to be complete by the end of the night.” Eclipse explained.

"The end of the night? Like… during the Firework Show at Station Square?" Rouge questioned.

“That is what they said.” Eclipse simply responded with a shrug.

Suddenly, the three’s conversation was interrupted by the sound of Shadow clearing it’s throat, in an attempt to once again return all attention to Widow.

"Oh, right. Sorry hun, sorry Mrs. Widow." Rouge apologized.

“My bad, Shadow. Let my excitement for tomorrow get ahead of me!” Relic admitted.

"My apologies to the both of you, sincerely." Eclipse said.

“Oh, it’s alright! You gave me enough time to figure out where to continue from.” Widow revealed, which seemed to make Shadow feel a bit embarrassed. “Thank you for caring about me though, Shadow.” She added, which did seem to make them feel better.

-☆☆☆-

The once dense bunch of Black Arms that had filed into the Schoolhouse together about a few hours ago had now settled, being spread throughout the building in bunches by the hivemind's directions, orchestrated by the Black Arms leaders who were somewhere within the building itself. Each bunch had a job to do, an assignment given, for once everything is completed, the leaders promised that a second rally, one even greater than the first, would be able to commence.

And then there was Latté.

Completely alone, she paced one of the many hallways of the schoolhouse, far too haunted by her own thoughts to be able to follow the hivemind's directive. Completely alone, that is, until Latté noticed Vladmira making their way through the same hallway. At first the sight had stunned her. What was Vladmira doing out here? Weren't the Black Arms leaders busy with their own plans elsewhere within the schoolhouse? She had wondered to herself. It was then that anxiety had struck her, swinging at her swiftly with mighty power. The question of why Vladmira would be here was one that Latté envisioned an answer to quite quickly, regardless if it was correct or not. They must be here because they noticed I'm not doing anything, she figured. She felt bad for not being productive, truly, she did. She just was so terribly worried. 

"Worried? What do you have to worry about, Latté?" Vladmira asked her through the hivemind, spooking the young lady despite their gentle tone.

"O-oh, well, if I must confess… then it is Uni that I'm worried for." She answered, perhaps a bit more formally than she needed to. Even though she and Vladmira had been friends for a while before the founding of the Black Arms, Latté's formed a sort of habit of seeing them as "above" her, as a leader.

"That doesn't surprise me, nor do I blame you for that. It certainly must be quite troubling for you to have someone you hold so dearly refuse to stand by you at a time like this." Vladmira said to Latté, understanding the girl's woe, even if they themself have not experienced such a thing for themself.

"It definitely is… And it's not like she has abandoned me! I know she very clearly wants us to be reunited!" Latté explained further.

"That too, I have noticed. When we were retrieving Death last night, you saw her pursuing you, yeah?" Vladmira noted.

"How could I not? Even if I didn't see her, I could certainly hear her..!" Latté responded, throwing in a joke to hopefully lighten the mood for herself. Vladmira chuckled at the joke, which certainly did help in that. "If she's determined enough to have me to chase us down in the dead of night, there's no doubt she'll chase us down again. I would be pretty surprised if I didn't see her again today." She then continued.

"Oh, definitely. In fact, I feel like you could use that to your advantage." Vladmira suggested.

"In what way?" Latté asked.

"I… don't know quite yet. I tried to plan something out for you with Death earlier, but he just said that he thinks Uni is a lost cause and that you should focus on other things." Vladmira admitted.

-☆☆☆-

"Oh wow, Death really just… never changed, did he???" Harazuki remarked, interrupting the story.

"Heh, I've certainly heard that one before." Eclipse chimed in.

"And yet, here I am." Shadow quipped, just being unable to help herself from doing so in the moment, despite her frustrations earlier.

"Why am I not surprised to hear that…? Oh, it's because I knew him too well to expect anything else." Widow said, joining in on the criticism of Black Death to make a segue back into the story.

-☆☆☆-

"Oh wow, so helpful of him." Latté remarked sarcastically.

"I know, right? What would we ever do without him?" Vladmira replied just as sarcastically, shaking their head.

"Well, if Death isn't going to help you, then why don't I? I know Uni better than anyone else in all of PetalBloom - even herself. Besides, I bet if she sees that I'm just as determined to be with her as she is to be with me, then maybe she'll realize that us Black Arms aren't just heartless, mindless monsters that want to destroy everything!" Latté then suggested, being serious now.

"Exactly! Sure, we do like destroying things, a lot, it's very cathartic - but we still care about people! That's why we're doing this in the first place! We care about each other and all the people on PetalBloom that have been hurt by Madam Moonshine's puritanical bullshit, so we're gonna burn her order to the ground and build a chaotic utopia on its ashes!" Vladmira blurted out in a passionate ramble. "But anyway, you're on to something there, I think!" They added, getting back on topic.

"You really think so?" Latté asked.

"Definitely." Vladmira confirmed.

"Cool! Guess we can start making a plan after I'm done doing whatever it is you guys wanted me to do originally, right?" Latté then inquired.

"Oh uhm, well, we don't… have anything for you to do, actually." Vladmira answered awkwardly. "As I said, the plan to get you to go get Uni fell through because Death doesn't believe in anyone except for Doom and maybe himself every once a week, and it was pretty last second so uh. Your schedule is blank." They elaborated.

"So that's why I didn't hear anything! I just thought I was so lost in my worrying about Uni that I accidentally drowned the hivemind out! Well I'm glad that wasn't the case." Latté remarked, feeling relieved. "So we should start planning now, right?"

"Better now than late-" Vladmira began to respond, but was interrupted when something took Latté's attention away from them. "Hey, where are you going-?" They asked, but their question was quickly answered as they turned their head to where Latté had gone.

In a hallway connecting to the one Latté and Vladmira had been traveling down, there stood a lone young Bloomian, one that hadn't been in the schoolhouse before this moment according to the Black Arms' knowledge.

"Hey! What are you doing here??" Latté said to the Bloomian in a tone one would use to address a friend who you run into unexpectedly.

"Yeah, I thought you told us you weren't gonna be able to make it!" Vladmira added, sounding delighted to see the young Bloomian.

"I did - I thought that I wouldn't have the chance to sneak out with the Mini Mayhem meeting planned today! But the craziest thing happened!" The Bloomian explained, immensely piquing the interests of Latté and Vladmira.

"Crazy enough to get you here against the odds? Despite all the supposed distancing from us that your buddy Kuel had you all do last year?" Vladmira questioned.

"Most certainly! Latté, you're really gonna like this!" The Bloomian promised.

“... No way.” Latté uttered in disbelief, already having put two together in her mind.

“Yes way!!” The Bloomian exclaimed, feeling the hope and joy sparking within Latté’s ever widening eyes. 

“Now how in the hell did Uni “The Word of Madam Moonshine and Priestess Waning Are Never To Be Questioned” Bishop end up teaming up with Mini fuckin’ Mayhem of all groups???” Vladmira questioned the Bloomian curiously, just as taken aback as Latté.

“Honestly, from what I understood - it was entirely happenstance! While we were bunkering down in our HQ, Kuel overheard the sounds of you all heading to the Schoolhouse and decided to go and investigate - curiosity and all that - and he just so happened to notice Uni just about to go chasing in after you guys! They stopped her, and talked her into going in to retrieve you and Mocha as a team!” The Bloomian explained.

“Well doesn’t it suck for him that you’re playing double agent, then? Probably made a whole plan and everything… Only for it to all go so terribly wrong…~” Vladmira assumed, an evil grin appearing on their face as they spoke.

“That’s the thing! I want the plan to go as she had wanted! I want to get the chance to find Latté and Mocha - which I’m already halfway there on, go back to the others one by one telling them I found the two - while bringing them into the hivemind along the way - so that once we all get back to where Kuel and Uni will be, they will be too little to fight our influence, and Latté and Uni will be reunited in the hivemind! With bonus points for the restoration of Mini Mayhem’s affiliation with the Black Arms!” The Bloomian retorted excitedly, renewing Latté and Vladmira’s shock with just how exact and detailed their plan was.

“You… seem to have yourself under control then…” Vladmira remarked. “But there’s… A problem - just a little problem, really should only be a matter of a time constraint really.” They added, almost as if they had completely forgotten about whatever it was that they were referring to until this exact moment.

“What would that be, exactly?” The young Bloomian asked.

“Weeeeell… The other Black Arms leaders and I had planned it to be a surprise, but… At the end of tonight’s rally, we’re planning on taking everyone outside and reenacting the explosion of the original schoolhouse that Widow and Sen pulled off last year… And if you’re still in the process of going through your plan when that happens…” Vladmira revealed, causing Latté and the other Bloomian to look quite nervous.

“That… wouldn’t be very ideal…” Latté muttered. The Bloomian shook their head in agreement.

“But hey, there’s still time for both of us to adjust our plans. We could do ours later, you could make things quicker on your end-” Vladmira began to say, but Latté interrupted them part way through.

“Or… I could use that to my advantage! I mean, if I did, by whatever means, save Uni’s life, that too could make a big effort in showing that I still love her!” She theorized.

“I suppose it would, but don’t make that your main plan, alright? Us Black Arms have made it a bit of a personal rule that we don’t kill kids. To take away the life of a young soul just as Moonshine and her constituents stole ours would be to completely undermine our goal - our message.” Vladmira warned, their tone deeply serious.

“That would be most preferable, yes. But if something unfavorable must occur in pursuit of our mission, then it simply must happen.” Troubling words seeped into the hivemind suddenly, spoken by a very familiar voice.

“I’d prefer it if you’d at least try being an optimist every once in a while, my love.” Vladmira remarked, chastising the young man who had spoken such skeptical words.

“You imply that I’m being a pessimist.” Death surmised.

“Yes.” Vladmira affirmed. "Because you are."

"No, I’m not. I’m just being realistic.” Death argued before taking off further into the hallway, leaving Vladmira behind with Latté and the other Bloomian.

Latté and the Bloomian looked at one another in concern, which Vladmira clearly noticed.

“Don’t worry about him, you two. He doesn’t know Uni and Mini Mayhem the way you two do.” They told the two of them, trying to be as comforting as they possibly could be.

Despite Vladmira’s comforting words however, Latté still couldn’t help but to become haunted by her worries once again. The young Bloomian must have picked up on this, because they spoke just as the feelings started to return.

“I know it’s probably a tall ask, but could I by any chance be in charge of the explosions? Would probably lessen our chances of a tragedy occurring.” 

“Hmm. definitely sounds reasonable. I’ll have to…” Vladmira began to respond, but got distracted when they noticed that Death was lingering at the end of the hallway, as if waiting for something, or someone, even. Vladmira called out to him and asked about such things rather than completing their reply to the young Bloomian.

“Indeed I am. I’m waiting for you.” He answered rather vaguely.

“Me?” Vladmira questioned.

“Yep. The reason why I’m here is because Doom told me to go find you, actually.” Death explained only slightly.

“And the reason for that would be…?” Vladmira quiered.

“We’re having a leaders meeting back at the lounge in about five minutes.” Death finally revealed.

“Is that so? Then perhaps I can bring these two along to tell the others about their concerns with our finale for tonight?” Vladmira suggested, gesturing to Latté and the other Bloomian.

“Concerns? What would their concerns be?” Death asked as if he hadn’t just been lingering in the background of the conversation going on.

“Ugh. I’ll tell you while we make our way there since you didn’t care to listen while you lingered around.” Vladmira remarked as they made their way towards the lounge that Death spoke of.

“Hmph, of course you’d do that… Now those two have to come along, it’d seem.” Death groaned in response as he followed from behind. A giggle given by Vladmira basically confirmed his theory. “You’re lucky that you’ve captured my good side…” Death stated, his face nearly completely bright green.

“I could see Uni and I having an exchange like that, I won’t lie.” Latté speculated.

“What an absurd comparison. What Vladdie and I have is a relationship like none other in the entire universe. You certainly don’t understand it.” Death objected, rolling his eyes rather dramatically.

“I dunno… I see it.” Vladmira noted with a cheeky smile.

It didn’t take very long for the four of them to reach the “lounge” that Death had spoken of, which turned out to be the main teacher’s lounge, situated in the dead center of the schoolhouse. When they reached the lounge, they were met with Sendrir and Widow standing at the doorway like a pair of guards.

“You two do know that the whole thing of the lounge’s location being a secret is more so to encourage the usage of the hivemind for communication rather than for explicitly keeping anyone out, right?” Death implored of the two rather snidely.

“Of course we do. Are you aware of the fact that Doomie told us to stand out here to make sure you came back with Vladmira on time?” Widow replied, annoyed by Death’s assumption.

“Whether or not any of us are aware of all that, we are all aware that the meeting’s about to start, yeah?” Sendrir added light heartedly, stepping in to break the tension between Death and Widow. Her tone of voice sounded a lot more cheerful than it did the last time Latté saw her, which made her happy to see. 

“Of course I am, since I did my due diligence to force the info outta Death.” Vladmira remarked, causing Widow to chuckle. As Vladmira spoke, Sendrir seemed to notice Latté and the other young Bloomian standing just behind them.

“Hey! Looks like Death and Vald brought guests! Two of ‘em!” She announced to the others as she peeked her head into the room.

“It wasn’t my idea, make no mistake! Those two being here is all Vladmi-” Death insisted, though was cut off before he could finish speaking.

“Is that so? Quite marvelous! Now I will not be the only one who brought an extra!” Doom exclaimed, which clearly caught both Death and Vladmira off guard - though in different ways, it would seem.

“B-But when they told me they wanted to bring these two lovely brethren of ours along, I knew that it would be a great opportunity to hear what our followers want!” Death added to his previous statement, backtracking on his dissociation from the affair.

"What a kiss-ass..." Lattè whispered to the other Bloomian through the hivemind, and gritted teeth, somehow.

“Something like that, I suppose.” Vladmira replied, Latté managing to pick up on the fact that they were rolling their eyes as they spoke despite their irises blending into their sclera due to their coloration. It was an ability she picked up on from being close to Uni for so long, as Uni too had eyes like that.

Another thing Latté picked up on as she entered into the teacher’s lounge was an immense feeling of excitement coming from the Black Arms leaders. Whatever the reason - or reasons - may be, it made Latté happy to see, and even happier to feel for herself. Though she just couldn’t help but wonder where such excitement was coming from, so in search of what the culprit could be, she started to look around the room investigatively. In her search, she found multiple possible causes.

At the side of Ms. Lillian, Latté saw the youngest Black Arms Leader; Tsunami, who she had thought would end up stuck at home and rendered unable to attend, much like the young Bloomian by Latté’s side.

By the icebox, grabbing each other drinks, were Widow and Sendrir. Vague memories of the conversation between the two of them and Doom came back to Latté as she saw them.

At the table in the center of the lounge was Doom, and sitting next to him was who Latté assumed to be the guest that she had overheard him mentioning having brought along; an average height looking Bloomian man she assumed to be in his mid twenties age-wise. He dressed rather typically for an adult Bloomian, aside from a thick pair of gloves that grabbed Latté’s attention - or maybe it wasn’t the gloves themselves, but rather what stood on top of one of the gloves that actually caught her gaze. A rather young yet still majestic looking Petal-scaled Dragon standing politely on the guest’s finger, looking even from afar to most likely stack up pretty closely to Latté herself in height. 

-☆☆☆-

“Oh, it would have most likely done so! It was believed that ancient Petal-scaled Dragons could grow to be around fifteen feet as adults! Even baby Petal-scaled Dragons like the one in the care of Lord Doom’s guest were on average eight feet when standing up in such a way, according to my research. With Bloomians themselves being on average eight to nine feet tall themselves, and Latté being a still developing teenager during these events, there’s no doubt that she and the dragon would have been similar heights!” Eclipse suddenly interjected.

“Oh fuck I think I’m falling in love again.” Relic muttered, beginning to rather heavily blush.

“Eclipse, I think you’re gonna kill her if you keep being so filled with information.” Rouge remarked jokingly.

“Oh, sorry. Sometimes I just can’t help myself, you know?” Eclipse said earnestly.

“No no, no need to apologize, dear…!” Relic insisted despite the fact that she was trying to cool herself off in between writing down what Eclipse had said in her journal.

“Oh, I think I know how I can make things better~!” Rouge proclaimed just before giving Relic a kiss on the cheek.

“Well now I don’t feel b-bad for blushing, at least….!” Relic stammered out as she fell back onto the floor, her face completely bright green.

“Would you look at that, her blush is completely green! It’s as if she is already fully a Black Arms!” Eclipse pointed out.

“Well she better not be! The two of us still gotta get our assimilations done by you!” Rouge jested, poking Eclipse’s arm playfully.

“And the lack of need for such would completely throw off my schedule!” Eclipse added light heartedly. “Speaking of schedules, I’m sure that everyone’s would be affected if we continued to mess around here, so Rouge, you make sure Relic gets all she needs into her journal, and let Widow’s tale continue!” They added.

“Oh, uhm, you bringing up schedules and stuff reminded me of something I wanted to tell you, but we can talk about it later.” Shadow said to Eclipse.

“Are you sure…? I think I remember what you’re talking about Shadow… I think Eclipse would be very interested…” Relic managed to say while still being a blushy mess.

“No no, I can hear it later.” Eclipse insisted. Widow nodded in approval.

-☆☆☆-

Once everyone was seated at the table, Ms. Lillian began to pass out plates of cookies to each person seated.

“I hope you weren’t made to come up short with the treats because of our sudden arrival.” The young Bloomian seated next to Latté said to Lillian, sounding guilty.

“Oh no, don’t fret a single bit darling. I anticipated that something like this would occur. That’s why Sen and I made sure to make extra cookies just in case.” Lillian responded kindly.

“Wait, Sen helped make these cookies?” Latté inquired.

“She most certainly did!” Lillian answered.

“Even though it sucked, at least I gleaned some class action cooking and baking skills from being locked up in my old man’s restaurant all day everyday my whole life!” Sendrir added.

“Most certainly! These cookies are delightful - thank you, you two.” Doom said cheerfully.

“You’re very welcome dear.” Lillian replied.

“Consider it a thank you from me for this morning.” Sendrir added, much to Lillian’s confusion. “I’ll explain once the meeting starts.” She promised.

“I’m surprised you were able to make it, Tsunami!” Vladmira remarked. Latté nodded, admitting non-verbally that she had been thinking the same thing.

“Why do you think I told you two to leave her behind last night? Did you assume carelessness on my end? Well I assure you it was not.” Death proclaimed.

“So you did have a plan… Nice going, sweetheart.” Vladmira confirmed.

“Of course I did! I knew that our parents wouldn’t be surprised by me sneaking out in the middle of the night - I do it all the time. But Tsunami is a different story! If she were to have gone with us last night, our parents would have surely been suspicious of that.” Death responded confidently.

“So instead, we relied on them being okay with me going to school! I got ready for the day, they saw me going to the schoolhouse, then I talked with Death over the mind-link thingy so he could tell me where you all were! Yayayaya!” Tsunami added with pride. Latté could tell by how much Tsunami’s signature cheer tugged at the other leaders’ heart strings that they had missed the young girl very very much.

“I’m very proud of both of you.” Lillian said to Death and Tsunami, giving the both of them pats on the back for their masterful planning.

“Thank you grammy!” Tsunami replied. Death nodded.

“I do believe that settles things on pre-meeting matters… Let the meeting commence!” Doom announced. “With what matter shall we begin~?”

“May I begin, Doomie?” Widow immediately proposed. “Well, Sen and I, but I’m sure you know what it would be regardless.”

“Ah! Yes! Of course!!” Doom beamed approvingly.

“Alright, what’re you three keeping from the rest of us?” Vladmira asked playfully.

“Whatever it is, they seem rather excited about it..!” The young Bloomian remarked.

“Well, you see…” Widow began.

“Widow and I are girlfriends now!!!!” Sendrir continued excitedly as she hugged Widow tightly.

“I’m still dating Doomie by the way, just so we’re clear!” Widow added.

“We simply added Sendrir to our wonderful relationship…!” Doom concluded.

“Yay!! Everyone has love!! Yayayaya!” Tsunami cheered.

“Ah! What a wonderful way of breaking through yet another one of this world’s rigid expectations, sir!” Death exclaimed.

“Would it be rude of me to say that I honestly saw this coming…?” Vladmira implored.

“Of course not!” Sendrir replied happily.

The meeting was off to a wonderful start, at least in Latté’s eyes. Everyone was happy for Widow and Sendrir. But despite this, she couldn’t help but feel worried about Uni again. The Bloomian sat next to her gave her an understanding glance, and the two were just about to silently agree to volunteer to speak next. But before they got the chance, Ms. Lillian raised her hand to speak.

“What matters do you wish to bring to the table, Lillian?” Doom asked inquisitively.

“I have two, actually, if that’s alright.” Lillian admitted.

“I shall allow it.” Doom said.

“The first of my concerns is with my dear grandchildren, Death and Tsunami. I know very well that they cannot stay with us permanently, not for now. If they stay with us for too long, their parents are bound to become suspicious again.” Lillian explained.

“I know that feeling.” Sendrir confided.

“I suppose the question would be… How long is too long?” Death suggested. Tsunami nodded in agreement.

“That’s what I was wondering too. I have no doubt that this second rally of ours will run a decent ways into the night, and it would be a shame for two of the organizers to have to leave early.” Lillian stressed.

“Maybe you could tell their parents after the rally’s over that they had to stay late at school for an extracurricular event? That’s seemed to work for us Mini Mayhem members quite a few times in the past!” The young Bloomian beside Latté proposed.

“That might work. I’m just a bit concerned on account of their father. My daughter Shelby and I are rather close, as you probably inferred from my speech at the first rally. Her husband and I on the other hand… We tend to butt heads more often than not.” Lillian responded.

“I don’t know if this would help tonight but maybe we can try to get them to be a part of the Black Arms? Maybe then they wouldn’t mind Death and I staying out for rallies like this!” Tsunami suggested, her voice somewhat muffled by the many cookies she had shoved into her mouth.

“If we did manage that, I think the chances of them being lax on you two would be a lot higher than a “maybe”.” Lillian remarked.

“I’m not sure how possible that would be, though.” Death retorted.

“It wouldn’t hurt to try, would it?” Tsunami argued, still having some cookies in her mouth.

“We’ll see. But let’s get back on focus to the here and now.” Lillian said, taking a bite of one of the cookies on her plate. “And pace yourself with the cookies, Tsunami.” She added.

“Okay!” Tsunami replied, immediately shoving another handful of cookies into her mouth.

“Who’s to say our father will even be home when we get back? He has quite the habit of coming home quite late. The extracurricular excuse would most certainly work for our mother, and we would already be home by the time he would typically come home, so he’d be none the wiser.” Death pointed out.

“Well what if he does come home before you two do?” Lillian questioned.

“You get our mother pitted against him if he questions the extracurricular claim. Accuse him of demonizing you. Works for me.” Death answered.

“That settles it then.” Lillian concluded with a nod.

“And what of your other concern?” Doom asked Lillian as a reminder.

“Oh, yes. While I very much appreciate that my home is seen as a safe space by so many of the Black Arms, I fear that I’m running out of room for everyone to sleep! I would like it if we could funnel some funds together to buy some hammocks for the cabin.” Lillian requested.

“We most certainly can do that!” Doom replied. “Though, there is a curiosity I now have.” He added.

“Oh?” Lillian inquired.

“Widow, my dearest. With your prowess for creation, would you perhaps just so happen to know how to make hammocks yourself?” Doom asked his beloved girlfriend.

“Oh, I’m uh… afraid not.” Widow revealed. “But I’m definitely willing to learn!” 

“I suppose we will have to settle for buying hammocks for now like Lillian had originally planned, then!” Doom surmised.

“For now.” Widow added. “In the meantime, I’m willing to bring the mask shop back to raise funds for the hammocks!” 

“Ooh! Maybe Sen and Ms Lillian can bake more of these cookies and we can sell them around the schoolhouse, too!” Latté suggested.

“Ehhh… I don’t think I’m quite ready yet to be in the kitchen again for business purposes…” Sendrir admitted, clearly looking uncomfortable with the idea.

“Oh, that’s okay!” Latté replied assuringly.

“Thanks, kiddo.” Sen responded back.

“Can we go next?” The Bloomian beside Latté spoke up, not wanting the opportunity to pass them again.

“Please?��� Latté added, making sure that the two of them didn’t come off as impolite.

“I do not see why not.” Doom answered approvingly.

“Thank you!” The Bloomian said.

“From what I know, Uni is heading to the schoolhouse as we speak, with the intent to track down Mocha and I. I believe that if I am able to in some way show her that I want to be reunited with her just as much as she wants to be reunited with me, she just might be able to see beyond the viewpoint she’s been made to look through all her life.” Latté testified.

“Is she coming alone?” Widow asked.

“No, she’s chosen to ally herself with Mini Mayhem for the time being.” The other Bloomian explained. “She’ll be arriving with at least Kuel by her side, though if my plan doesn’t have the chance to play out how I want, she could have more by her side by the time she finds Latté and Mocha.” They elaborated.

“And what is your plan, exactly?” Death questioned.

“And what’s Mini Mayhem’s plan? While we're on the topic.” Widow added.

“I’m glad you asked.” The Bloomian replied.

Even though it was now a few hours after the high noon of PetalBloom's central star, to Uni, it somewhat felt like no time had gone by at all. As once again she stood just a little bit aways from the entrance to the Schoolhouse with Kuel at her side.

"It's quite funny how much things can change in a single day." Kuel suddenly spoke. "Just this morning we were rivals, but now… We are allies."

"Don't let it get to your head - this is just so I can find Latté and Mocha. A means to an end, and nothing more." Uni replied bluntly.

"How kind." Kuel remarked sarcastically, to which Uni rolled her eyes.

"We don't have much time, let's go." Uni told him as she started to advance to the entrance.

"Right. The quicker we meet back up with the others, the quicker we rescue Latté and Mocha." Kuel agreed, following Uni.

"The classroom at the end of the first hallway, right?" Uni asked Kuel for clarification as she opened one of the doors to the Schoolhouse.

"Right on." Kuel responded, opening the other door that was on the left of the one Uni was opening.

As the two entered the building, its complete and utter emptiness caught the both of them off guard.

"... Where the hell is everyone?" Kuel blurted in shock.

"They must all be congregated farther into the building." Uni surmised, pushing down her feelings of uneasiness. "Must have figured someone would try to interrupt their little get together."

"They're hiding from us…!" Kuel assumed, slamming their fist into their hand.

"In a sense, probably. My guess is that they figured that the longer the distance any opposing party would have to travel, the more likely they are to either give up or become too tired to fight against them." Uni elaborated.

Despite her reasoning, the sheer lack of people in the hallways still unnerved Uni - and seeing that the same rang true for the classrooms didn't do her worries any good.

Uni decided it'd be better just to not give such details any mind, and instead kept her focus on Latté. Even though Kuel and her were to be meeting up with the other Mini Mayhem members before setting out for her and Mocha, she figured it wouldn't hurt to at least try to keep an eye out for any sign of where Latté may be from just the building itself. Very quickly, it seemed like everything else faded from Uni's view, her eyes glued onto a thin track leading to her girlfriend, as if she were almost able to sense out Latté's location. No, not almost. Definitely. Uni didn't know what it was that she was feeling at that moment, but it was Latté's, whatever it was. The emptiness of the hallways created a sort of vacuum effect, funneling this strange sense straight into Uni without interruption. A part of her questioned what this sense was, what it was that she was feeling, if it was a gift given to her by Madam Moonshine in this moment, chosen to bring Latté and Mocha salvation in that moment, or if it was something else, something perhaps a bit more… unfavorable? But another part of her wanted to completely abandon all reasoning that her mind could conjure up for her as to what was happening, or to try to prove it as a mere illusion, and to just simply follow what her gut feeling was telling her, what her heart was telling her, what this feeling was telling her-

"Uni!" Kuel called out to her, breaking the trance-like state that had taken Uni. "Where are you going, the classroom where we're supposed to be meeting at is right here!" He continued, pointing into the classroom that she was standing next to.

"Oh, uhm, right. Guess I got distracted." Uni sputtered, feeling embarrassed for what had happened. In fact, she'd probably start feeling downright paranoid about it if it weren't for the current mission going on.

Looking into the classroom, Uni was surprised to see only Katrien in there, with no sign of Kæ'Mirah or Rehkloos, and by looking over at Kuel, it was clear that he was surprised too - as well as a bit angered.

"Katrien." They spoke, calm for now, but still a bit harsh sounding.

"Oh, you're here." Katrien noted, turning to face Kuel and Uni as if nothing was amiss.

“Yes. But it seems that Kæ’Mirah and Rehkloos aren’t.” Kuel pointed out. “Where are they?”

“Well, we split up to cover more ground in our search for a pathway to Latté and Mocha. Just as you had told us to.” Katrien explained casually.

“But we were all supposed to meet back up here. You remember that part too, don’t you?” Uni interjected, clearly having said exactly what Kuel was thinking, given by how he looked at her after she spoke.

“Seems that they are running late then.” Katrien answered.

Kuel and Uni looked to one another and silently agreed that this wasn’t going anywhere, and unilaterally decided to drop the subject.

“That teacher’s desk you seem to be eyeing there has scratch marks on it.” Uni said to Katrien, changing the subject with the first thing that came to her mind.

“Indeed. I noticed them all throughout the classrooms. Their presence indicates a… struggle of some kind. Marks left by fingernails dragging for dear life as their owners are taken… Somewhere.” Katrien replied, elaborating on what they correctly assumed to be Uni's train of thought.

“Do you think that…?” Uni began to say, but Katrien cut her off.

“That the teachers that arrived at school today were kidnapped?” He said.

“Yes, exactly that.” Uni confirmed.

“... Why would the Black Arms be doing that?” Kuel questioned.

“To find that out is the reason why we kept ourselves apart…” Katrien stated, which confused Kuel and Uni.

“I thought you said that Kæ’Mirah and Rehkloos weren’t back yet because they were running late?” Kuel pointed out.

“I misspoke earlier. Apologies.” Katrien briefly explained, which seemed to be enough for Kuel to accept, but Uni wasn’t as convinced.

“Well, we might as well go find Kæ’Mirah and Rehkloos.” Kuel suggested as he began to leave the classroom.

“You and Uni go ahead on that matter. I wish to keep looking for where the teachers may have gone…” Katrien told them.

“Alright, I’ll leave it to ya man!” Kuel replied, approving the adjustment to the plan.

Uni followed behind Kuel slowly, eyeing the classroom and Katrien with suspicion for as long as she was able to.

“Something on your mind?” Kuel asked her, seeming to notice Uni’s behavior.

“Don’t you think it’s suspicious how casual Katrien was about diverting from our plan?” Uni questioned.

“Suspicious?” Kuel echoed with concern. “Are you implying that he’s switched sides or something??” She added, almost sounding offended by the unsaid accusation, which ticked Uni off a bit, but she tried to not let it show.

“... Maybe.” Uni admitted. Uni’s attempt at hiding her anger must have come out sounding some variety of hurt, because Kuel immediately went for a softer approach afterwards.

“Look, I know that at a time like this, it’s easy to be paranoid. But I assure you, us Mini Mayhem members are loyal until the very end!” Kuel promised, clearly attempting to comfort Uni.

“Except when it comes to the Children of The River, right?” Uni remarked cheekily.

“R-Right!” Kuel agreed. Though he tried not to show it, Uni could tell that Kuel was at worst taken aback by and at best impressed by Uni’s momentary teasing of them. “We took an oath the day the original schoolhouse was destroyed that we would never align ourselves with them ever again!”

Such a declaration should have been comforting for Uni to hear, but she still felt unnerved, haunted by her suspicions. Without thinking, she asked Kuel if they could go look for Latté on their own instead of trying to track down Kæ’Mirah and Rehkloos.

“Not a chance. We need their scouting information to have better odds at finding Latté and Mocha." Kuel responded. “Or at the very least I do. If you really need your girlfriend that badly, then you can go do your own thing, I guess.” They added sarcastically.

“So much for sticking together, huh?” Uni remarked. “Pretty hypocritical of you to let me go like that when you were stressing earlier today that me going in on my own would be a death sentence.”

“True, true, but I just figured you’d be used to hypocrisy, being a member of Moonshine’s clergy and all.” Kuel replied. “You should know better than to speak of things you don’t know about.” Uni retorted nonchalantly.

“I’d argue I know some things about it…” Kuel scoffed. “By the way, and not to be rude, but are… you acting more like me on purpose?”

“I’m… acting like you?” Uni asked, completely confused, as she hadn’t noticed any significant change in her behavior. Sure, she was cracking a bit more jokes, teasing Kuel a bit too, but that wasn’t out of the ordinary, was it?

“Kinda.” Kuel responded simply.

“... Well it’s not on purpose if I am. Though I’d like to argue that I’m just… letting myself be a bit looser. Since we’re on better terms and all. Allies, right? That’s what you called it.” Uni argued, not at all helping her case. Honestly, she started to notice where Kuel was coming from. Just fifteen minutes ago, Uni insisted that Kuel and her were not allies, that teaming up with him was a means to an end. But now she’s saying the opposite? It was almost like there was an odd disconnect between her words and her mind. Like her words were a shield to hide what was going on in her mind. He noticed how I was diverting from their plans, my heart forever set on my sweet Latté. She’ll grow suspicious of it. They’ll cut me off from the plan, I have to prove it to him that I’ll play along.

… What? Suspicious of what? “Play along”?? 

“We need to go find Kæ’Mirah.” Uni ordered, needing a distraction from all this. Kuel nodded, seemingly unaware of the turmoil in Uni’s mind as he trusted her judgment - which felt like it was becoming cloudier and cloudier by the minute.

As she and Kuel ventured deeper into the schoolhouse, a sign of life within the building could finally start to be heard. It sounded just like the meeting at the Yasmin Cabin that Uni had run into last night, and also just like the rally at the Riverbed Plaza last week. Either way, it sounded like a huge grouping of people, and it sounded like it had something to do with the Black Arms. At least, that’s the vibe Uni got from it. 

Uni slowed her pace slightly to attempt to possibly make any sense of the noise - or even possibly sparse out Latté and/or Mocha among it. Kuel however kept moving at the same pace he always had, it was almost like they couldn’t hear what Uni was hearing. But why would that be the case? To Uni’s knowledge, it wasn’t like Kuel was hard of hearing in any way. So what would be the reason why she can hear the noise but they can’t-?

It’s not hearing, but sensing.

… Right! That sense she’s been feeling! That must be it!

That means Latté must be wherever the noise is coming from! Or Mocha too, maybe even both?

Uni still thought it a bit strange, what with it’s sudden appearance and strength, but she had no doubts about the fact that it would help lead her to Latté and Mocha.

For now, she settled her concerns about it by seeing it as a gift from the gods. An empowerment to her unwavering determination, even. Priestess Waning referred to her determination as a gift that morning, so that must be it!

Without any explanation to Kuel, Uni zoomed on ahead to where she felt the sounds were coming from, fueled by a newly found confidence provided to her by this gift of sense.

“Uni! Wait!” Kuel called out to her, trying his best to keep up.

Only a couple of seconds later, Uni, and then Kuel, reached the entrance of the schoolhouse’s cafeteria. It was there that they also found Kæ’Mirah, standing in front of the doors to the cafeteria, having a bite to eat.

“Uni! Kuel! Fancy running into you two here!” Kæ’Mirah remarked, clearly going for a momentary bit; pretending that she ran into the two of them rather than being a part of the plan. But neither Uni nor Kuel laughed.

“Joking around so you can hope to get away with being late on our plans? An interesting play - I’ll take the bait, only because we’re in a bit of a rush.” Kuel responded in a strict tone of voice. “It’s nice to see you, Kæ. Do you have any info on where Latté and Mocha are, by chance?” She then asked.

“Mocha yes, Latté no. I also have snacks if you want.” Kæ’Mirah answered.

Well, Uni was feeling hungry…

Uni went up to Kæ’Mirah and took one of the foil-wrapped snacks she was holding. Inside the wrapping seemed to be some sort of hand pie.

“Wait, where did you get those?” Kuel questioned Kæ’Mirah as she was handing the hand pie to Uni.

“The Cafeteria.” Kæ’Mirah replied simply, pointing to the cafeteria just past the doors behind her.

“And who in the cafeteria gave you them?” Kuel questioned her further.

“Mocha! She told me that her friend’s grandma made them!” Kæ’Mirah answered nonchalantly. The mention of Mocha in relation to the hand pie made Uni even happier to have it - as if it had been intended for her all along. As she bit into it, she felt a warmth much like when napping with Latté and Mocha during a cold afternoon surge through her body.

“H-Hey! Hold on, Uni!” Kuel exclaimed as they watched Uni eat the hand pie in record speed.

“Hmm?” Uni hummed, already having the final bite in her mouth.

“Uhm…” Kuel began to respond, seeming to hesitate greatly at first. “Didn’t you… Uh… For no particular reason… Say something about the Black Arms eating flesh? Back when you had that meltdown earlier?”

Uni took a moment to register his words, a feeling of dread spreading from deep within her, but then eventually fading. Not fading away, per say. Just fading. 

“Was that just… Something you had said in a moment of panic, or-?” Kuel continued, but Uni cut her off.

“Last night… While I was searching for Latté for the first time… The first place I checked was the home of Lillian Yasmin, as I had heard about quite a few Black Arms taking residence there. I didn’t find Latté there, but what I did find was… A terrible bloodbath, orchestrated by Widow and that mysterious lover of hers… They were torturing one of the guys from the church, and when they were finished with him, they chopped him up into pieces and tossed them into a pile to be… Eaten… It was horrifying and grotesque… And yet…” “I just couldn’t look away…!” 

“I just… I couldn’t… I just couldn’t… I..” 

Uni’s body began to shake, muttering that last sentence on repeat. Kuel held her, trying to calm her down, but after a few minutes, Kuel seemingly gave up on trying to gently coax Uni back to reality, and went back to their old reliable - smacking Uni upside the head to get her to snap out of her daze. But instead of being upset and confused like she was the last time he had done that, she simply thanked him, wiping her now bleeding nose with her arm.

“Hey now, Uni… Look on the bright side! At least that gives you a good bit of insight into their tactics! You know better than any of us what lengths they’re willing to go to!” Kæ’Mirah said optimistically. Almost… too optimistically. Uni started to feel her senses go off again, but instead of guiding her to Latté, she now started to feel a terrible aura around Kæ’Mirah, one that felt distinctly… Black Arms-like in nature.

But she didn’t want to believe that the members of Mini Mayhem could possibly be falling to the whims of those demonic monsters. Besides, Kuel promised to her that they’d never side with the Black Arms, no matter what.

As she had looked away from Kæ’Mirah, trying to block out her senses, she looked back at the arm she had used to wipe her nose, which was now barely even bloody, despite it having only been at most thirty or so seconds since the bleeding began. The blood on her sleeve was still fresh, and it had the slightest, strangest glow to it, as if bioluminescent.

It reminded her a lot of when Archæsis uncovered the wings that had sprouted from Latté’s back the day before. She remembered how the blood that flowed from where the wings had sprouted glowed just like that, though more brightly. It wasn’t something that Uni took note of originally, but now, it was the only thing she could think of as she stared at her arm.

It was pretty, the way the blood on her arm glowed. It almost seemed to glow brighter the more Uni stared at it, but that only made it more beautiful. It glowed like a full moon, it glowed like Latté’s gorgeous face. 

Oh how Uni yearned to see that face again, to be with Latté again. She’d do anything to have Latté back at this point. Absolutely anything.

“Kæ’Mirah, fetch Mocha and find Latté. Uni and I will go on to the rest of the schoolhouse.” Kuel’s voice cut through Uni’s internal monologue, shocking her with the thought of her having to wait even longer to reunite with Latté. 

No.

No!

She was sick and tired of people keeping her away from her beloved Latté, Kuel being the most guilty of this themself.

An indescribable anger filled Uni’s head, taking her over like a parasite. She refused to be stopped again. She will reunite with Latté! And she’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen! Even if that means-

… Even if that means…

No…!

She couldn’t…!

And why was her mind even telling her to hurt Kuel in the first place? To kill him, even?? “If she has to”, no! She shouldn’t have to!

What the fuck is wrong with me?? She thought, finally getting up from the floor and facing Kuel.

She immediately noticed how uncomfortable Kuel looked. Apologetic as well. Like she was also considering something unthinkable.

“... But that wasn’t the plan…” Uni croaked out, fighting against the anger trying to eat her from the inside.

“I know.” Kuel responded plainly, sounding like he wanted to elaborate upon his thoughts, but was too choked up on the words to do so. “But… It’s close enough. We split into groups, we reconvened, we’re gonna get Latté and Mocha.” They finally added.

“If… If Kæ’Mirah is going to go find Latté… Where are we going?” Uni asked Kuel.

“We’ve still yet to check in with Rehkloos.” Kuel answered, a sense of calm and even confidence returning to her voice. “I’m sure she’ll have the answers we need.” They continued, almost accusatory towards Rehkloos.

Just the utterance of Rehkloos’ name sent a shiver down Uni’s spine. One that was as powerful as it was unexplainable.

“You… You feel it too now, don’t you?” Uni asked, starting to figure that she and Kuel were finally on the same wavelength.

Kuel didn’t respond, seemingly brushing away Uni’s question as one would to a discomforting thought. He refused to look Uni in the eyes.

“... I’m sorry…” Uni muttered out from somewhere deep within her, not even knowing why she said it.

She was in too deep to understand the sorrow those words carried.

The journey to finding Rehkloos was a painfully long and silent one, the dread both Kuel and Uni felt keeping either of them from being able to speak.

When they finally did reach Rehkloos, she was sitting on the teacher’s desk of the last classroom down the hallway that was furthest from the entrance.

In this hallway, there was a door that led outside.

Before the two of them had entered the classroom, Uni had managed one little thing to say to Kuel. She had noticed that he looked deeply uncomfortable as they had entered the hallway, and had decided to ask them why.

This was the hallway that Kuel’s brother had left from just before the destruction of the first schoolhouse.

That was his answer.

“Hello Kuel, hello Uni!” Rehkloos greeted them. Casually, as if nothing was amiss.

That was the first thing that set Uni off. Immediately, she felt distrustful of Rehkloos. This distrustfulness led Uni to discovering the second thing of suspicion quite quickly. In one of Rehkloos’ pairs of hands, Uni noticed a box of matches. In fact, it was the exact same brand of matches that were given to her last night by the stranger Uni had run into while looking for Latté. Uni decided she wouldn’t bring it up just yet, but she made sure to keep that information in her head for later.

“Have you guys found Latté and Mocha yet?” Rehkloos asked, still playing innocent.

“Nope. I sent Kæ’Mirah out to do that.” Kuel answered her bluntly.

“Oh..? Why so? That wasn’t part of the plan - wasn’t Uni supposed to find them?” Rehkloos wondered. Though she was clearly trying to sound concerned, Uni could still hear the annoyance that laid within.

“Why not? Surely you wouldn’t be against diverting from the plan, since you clearly already have! You, Kæ’Mirah, and Katrien were supposed to meet back up at the time I specified so that we could convene as a whole! And yet, here Uni and I find you three, still separated!” Kuel responded with unfiltered fury in his voice.

“Didn’t Katrien already tell you why we separated again?” Rehkloos questioned, her annoyance towards how the situation was unfolding starting to reveal itself more.

“How’d you know that, Rehkloos?” Kuel inquired.

“I… I… It was just an assumption, okay?! I’ll tell you the reason then!” Rehkloos reacted, losing her cool. “We split back up because we didn’t want to give the Black Arms a chance to ambush us! We figured we could fight more of them off if need be if we were scattered around the schoolhouse, that way they’ll never be able to pin us all down!”

“... What kind of idiot do you take me for, Rehkloos?” Kuel bellowed.

“E.. Excuse me??” Rehkloos hissed.

“Have you ever read a single horror novel before?? Or even a little kids’ scary story?? Because if you have, you’d know that splitting up in a dangerous situation is the worst thing to do!! Do you know how many stories have the characters being picked off one by one until only the main female lead is left because they were all split up???” Kuel challenged her loudly, not hesitating to get up in her face as he did.

“Hey, by the way.” Uni spoke, mimicking the out-of-place calmness that Rehkloos had moments ago. “What’s with the matches?” She asked.

“Wh-what the matches are for? I-isn’t it obvious?? I wanted to be able to light any lanterns in the schoolhouse that weren’t already lit yet!” Rehkloos claimed, sounding almost offended by the question.

“... Is that so?” Kuel uttered, joining in on Uni’s blow to Rehkloos’ facade. “Then tell me why all the lanterns in the schoolhouse are already lit while that box you have there looks unopened?” 

“Ho-how’d you know what an unopened matchbox even looks like??” Rehkloos questioned, trying in vain to keep the mirage of innocence going.

“Because I’ve seen that brand before - some guy gave me a box of them last night while I was looking for Latté.” Uni answered. “You know what I also see?” 

“What?” Rehkloos replied.

“Your eyes. They look rather… glassy, don’t they?” Uni remarked with a knowing grin. 

There’s nowhere for her to hide now.

Rehkloos looked stunned, unsure of how to respond.

“Why… I do agree with that observation, Uni! Good work-!” Kuel added, being cut off by Rehkloos dragging him closer to her, making sure they got a good long look at those glassy eyes of hers. Kuel managed to break free of her grasp, but then instantly fell to the floor once out of her arms.

Uni rushed up to her, asking him profusely if they were okay.

“Head…. Hurt… Can’t… Think…” Kuel muttered weakly. 

At that moment, the words that Kuel had said earlier to Uni resonated with her. Mini Mayhem was split up, and now they’re gonna be ambushed if her and Kuel don’t try to do something to fight back.

So Uni did something.

She picked Kuel up and prepared to make Rehkloos have to fight for whatever her plans were to succeed.

“Last one to Latté and Mocha is a sore loser~.” Uni snidely remarked before taking off out into the hallway.

“HEY! GET BACK HERE!!” Rehkloos cried, following her.

By now, Uni had finally begun to truly understand what was happening to her. This sense of hers, though most certainly of divine origin, was not a gift, but a curse, and it was certainly not from Moonshine.

Despite this knowledge, Uni still made use of it, though now on her terms, using the pathway to Latté that was laid in front of her as a path to make Rehkloos give chase along, relying on it to make detours that would catch Rehkloos off guard and create more distance between the two girls without taking Uni too far from where Latté was. At this point, there were only two things that Uni wanted - to be with Latté, and to make sure that Kuel would be safe. Uni figured it was too late for her, that she had no hopes of escaping the schoolhouse with her sanity and wavering loyalty to Moonshine intact, but maybe, just maybe, she could use the last bit of will she had left in her to keep Kuel from suffering the same fate as her. 

This was a plan that Rehkloos clearly was not a fan of. All throughout the chase, she whined on and on about how no one ever cares about her and what she wants.

“Not everything is about you and your happy little love life, you know!!” Rehkloos hollered to Uni at one point. “You might get to have your happily ever after with Latté, but have you even considered what’ll happen to me if my plan doesn’t come to fruition?! I’ll be a failure! A failure in the eyes of the Black Arms leaders!! In the eyes of everyone!! They’re all relying on me!! They need me to succeed!! They need me to WIN!!!” 

“What happened to no one ever loving you, hmm?” Uni asked her.

“They don’t love me YET! But they will!! They’ll honor my name for all of eternity once my plan is enacted!! Once all of you are under their command!!” Rehkloos manically responded.

“Oh for fucks sake…” Kuel groaned, finally awakening. “Rehkloos, you’re doing it again… You’re… You’re acting just like your mother…” 

That remark of Kuel’s seemed to be the final straw for the already furious and emotionally unstable Rekloos.

“How… HOW DARE YOU??!! You know more than anyone all the terrible things that woman has done to me, Kuel!! And you’re comparing me to her??” Rehkloos snapped, stopping her anger-fueled monologue to have a spout of maniacal laughter. “That’s it… That’s fucking it. Neither of you ungrateful assholes deserve to join the magnificent Black Arms! Neither of you deserve to get that closure!! To be able to be with your loved ones again!!” She continued as Uni quickened her pace, admittedly a bit scared of what Rehkloos could do in this state. “The only thing either of you deserve is to BURN!! Burn with the rest of this tortuous building and the ones who run it!!” Rehkloos’ voice echoed into the cafeteria, which is where Uni and Kuel eventually ended up.

Within the cafeteria, Uni saw no sign of the crowd that had once been inside of it. No sign, that is, except for the various staff of the schoolhouse tied up around the massive room. 

“You were… You were right…?!” Kuel exclaimed in shock, looking at the scene.

“Suppose so…” Uni replied, not knowing what else to say.

“Come on, we can maybe untie them all if we work together!” Kuel commanded, hopping out of Uni’s arms.

“Wait-!” Uni called after him in a panic. But before Uni could get a hold of Kuel again, Katrien appeared out of seemingly nowhere and pinned Kuel to one of the walls.

“Hm.. Seems that I only got one of you two, what a shame.” Katrien stated.

For a moment, Uni considered leaving the cafeteria to go find Latté. After all, that is what she was truly after in the first place, wasn’t it? She hadn’t even really wanted to team up with Mini Mayhem in the first place, and now that she has, where has that led her? Fighting for her own mind, possibly even about to lose her life?

Admittedly, she felt a bit betrayed. 

She remembered the oath that Kuel had told her about earlier, and began to wonder if it was all just a bunch of bullshit.

But then she looked back at where Katrien and Kuel were, and overheard the struggle the two were having at that very moment.

“Kat…! Please, let me go…!” Kuel begged, their voice very noticeably wavering.

“I’m sorry, Kuel, my dearest companion, but I cannot do that until I’m given the command to do so.” Katrien responded, clearly having some sympathy for Kuel, but not enough to let her go free.

“You do have the command!! My command!!” Kuel stressed.

“I’m afraid that your command no longer applies.” Katrien revealed, refusing to budge.

“No… No no no no no-! You have to listen to me!! You can’t let them take over your mind, Katrien!! Please!!” Kuel wailed in desperation.

“Please, do not cry for me… I will keep you from being harmed, even now…” Katrien replied, but his words gave no hope or comfort to Kuel, who began to sob uncontrollably in the absence of any actual words left to speak.

The scene playing out in front of Uni’s eyes reminded her very much of herself and Latté. She sympathized with Kuel's desperation to salvage the person that they once knew, to try to bring them back in some way. In Katrien, Uni saw Latté, and felt just as sorry for him as she did for Latté herself. Uni wanted to save the both of them, even if she now understood such a thing to be impossible. She wanted to make sure that Kuel would be able to live another day, whether it be free from the Black Arms or not. 

No, she didn’t want to ensure such things.

She had to, needed to!

And thus, she knew she would run no longer. She prepared to face Rehkloos directly, who she saw was now at the other side of the cafeteria.

That is, until she turned one more time to see Katrien taking off outside with Kuel.

Not knowing what Katrien planned to do with him, and not wanting to see Kuel be harmed, Uni chased after them, almost making it out the door before Kuel themself begged Uni to focus on Rehkloos instead. Reluctantly, Uni listened to her and turned back around to face off with Rehkloos again, but as she advanced towards the girl, she noticed that she had taken one of the matches out of her matchbox, and that beside where she stood was the start of a wick to some sort of explosive.

Adrenaline surged through Uni’s body, forcing her to move at speeds she had not known that she could go, all for the sake of reaching Rehkloos before she could light the match, before she could release the match, before the match could light the wick.

But Uni was just barely too late, the wick already starting to burn as she was face to face with Rehkloos.

“Awww, what a shame! Looks like you won’t get to have your sweet little Latté after all!” Rehkloos taunted her.

“And neither will you.” Uni remarked with a scowl.

“That’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.” Rehkloos confessed, which did make Uni feel bad, even if only a little bit.

Rehkloos, in the end, deserved just as much to live as Uni or anyone else. She was just a troubled child from a troubled home who got unhealthily attached to the wrong people.

But there they were, Uni and Rehkloos, staring down each other’s eyes, both of which were already without life even as their bodies still stood, about to be blown into bits just like the schoolhouse.

Just as Uni could hear the wick about to run out, she heard an all too familiar voice cry out.

“Rehkloos!! WAIT!!”

[delectablywaywardbeard-blog]

Due Ford Ranger T1+ pronti al via della Dakar edizione 2024

Due speciali pick-up Ford Ranger T1+ saranno al via il prossimo 5 gennaio dell’edizione 2024 del rally raid Dakar che, com’è noto, si svolge in in Arabia Saudita. A tentare l’avventura di una delle gare motoristiche più dure al mondo saranno I due equipaggi ufficiali del team M-Sport Ford, Nani Roma-Alex Haro (al via con il numero 210) e dai sudafricani Gareth Woolridge-Boyd Dreyer (225) Il…

[scontomio]

💣 Hot Wheels Track Builder Il Set Delle Acrobazie Deluxe 🤑 a soli 40,98€ ➡️ https://www.scontomio.com/coupon/hot-wheels-track-builder-il-set-delle-acrobazie-deluxe/?feed_id=184385&_unique_id=655a55626dce5&utm_source=Tumblr&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=Poster&utm_term=Hot%20Wheels%20Track%20Builder%20Il%20Set%20Delle%20Acrobazie%20Deluxe Il set delle acrobazie Deluxe di Hot Wheels Track Builder offre un'esperienza di gioco emozionante e creativa per i bambini. Con oltre 3 modi diversi per costruire e giocare, i bambini possono creare configurazioni come la Rally Cross, il Testa a Testa e sfide con corsie multiple. I pezzi di pista riconfigurabili consentono acrobazie e gare uniche, stimolando la creatività e le abilità di risoluzione dei problemi dei bambini. Questo set è pratico da riporre e trasportare, ideale per divertirsi con gli amici ovunque. #coupon #hotwheels #giocattolidacollezione #offerteamazon #scontomio

[pneusnews]

Mitas lancia la gamma di pneumatici da competizione Enduro Trail-Rally

Mitas continua a spingere per essere il marchio preferito dagli appassionati di gare endurance, questa volta con il lancio della nuova linea di pneumatici, l’Enduro Trail-Rally. Questa linea di pneumatici di nuova generazione è il risultato di anni di sviluppo e test fuoristrada da parte di piloti di rally ed è realizzata per affrontare terreni difficili e qualsiasi condizione atmosferica. La…

[lamilanomagazine]

Il 23 e 24 settembre torna il Rally a Messina

Il 23 e 24 settembre torna il Rally a Messina. Dopo alcune edizioni lontano dalla città dello Stretto, torna il Rally di Messina, 20esima edizione della manifestazione automobilista organizzata da Top Competition, con il supporto della Delegazione ACI Sport Sicilia e dell'Automobile Club di Messina, patrocinata dal Comune di Messina ed in partnership con la Città Metropolitana di Messina. Sabato 23 e domenica 24 settembre 2023, Piazza Duomo si trasformerà nel fulcro dell'affascinante e storica gara che celebra i suoi quattro lustri e che sarà valida anche come "6° Rally Storico Messina", come "Coppa Rally 8^ Zona" e "Campionato Siciliano per auto moderne e storiche", la serie regionale promossa da ACI Sport Sicilia, guidata da Daniele Settimo. La manifestazione, negli scorsi anni realizzata in provincia, torna a Messina anche grazie ad un forte interessamento da parte dell'Amministrazione comunale, in primis del sindaco Federico Basile e degli assessori con delega allo Sport ed alla Protezione Civile, Massimo Finocchiaro e Massimiliano Minutoli. "Finalmente questo storico Rally torna a Messina e ne siamo entusiasti", ha dichiarato il sindaco Basile. "Abbiamo sostenuto l'organizzazione dell'evento perchè crediamo nella sua forte valenza promozionale per il nostro territorio e con Piazza Duomo, il fulcro storico della Città che tornerà ad ospitare una grande iniziativa sportiva. L'Amministrazione continua così ad essere sempre vicina a sostenere eventi di varia natura ma uniti da un unico comune denominatore, la promozione di Messina protagonista dentro e fuori i propri confini", ha concluso Basile. Già cospicuo il numero di adesioni ad una gara che, ancora una volta, si conferma come appuntamento di grande livello nel panorama rallystico internazionale. Nella serata di sabato 23, a partire dalle ore 20.30, all'ombra del Campanile del Duomo saranno accolti equipaggi e vetture. La partenza è prevista alle 22, quando prenderà il via la Prova Speciale "Messina 1" che riporterà in riva allo Stretto il fascino delle gare automobilistiche in notturna. Domenica 24, invece, saranno tre i percorsi cronometrati "Roccavaldina", "Colli 4 Strade" e "Campo Italia", da coprire per tre volte fino al traguardo finale, programmato alle 19, sempre a Piazza Duomo. Nell'edizione 2022 l'arrivo si tenne a Villafranca Tirrena. In quell'occasione trionfarono Marcello Rizzo ed Antonio Pittella su Skoda Fabia; in seconda posizione arrivarono Roberto Lombardo e Andrea Spanò su Peugeot 207 Super 2000, davanti ad Ernesto Riolo e Maurizio Marin su Peugeot 208. I dettagli dell'evento saranno presentati, martedì 19 settembre, alle ore 10.45, presso il Salone degli Specchi a Palazzo dei Leoni.... #notizie #news #breakingnews #cronaca #politica #eventi #sport #moda Read the full article

[siciliatv]

A Favara e ad Agrigento la II^ edizione dei “Giochi cinofili della Magna Grecia”

Il 29 e 30 Aprile prossimi nel campetto polivalente di via Brindisi a Favara e poi ad Agrigento presso il centro cinofilo Villa Adriana il 1 maggio, ci saranno i “Giochi cinofili della magna Grecia”, giunti alla loro seconda edizione. L’evento, che accoglierà molteplici binomi cane-conduttore provenienti da tutta l’isola è patrocinato dal Comune di Favara e organizzato dal Csen comitato provinciale di Agrigento con la collaborazione delle associazioni “Un cane per amico”, “Nova Art” e “Virtus Favara”, gestore del campo di gara. L’evento prevede 2 gare nazionali di Agility Csen e Fidasc, 2 gare nazionali di rally obedience Csen, una gara nazionale di treibball Csen e una gara nazionale di dog balance Csen. All’interno della manifestazione, il 30 aprile alle ore 15, ci sarà anche un’esibizione di dog dance. L’evento rappresenta un unicum in Sicilia per le molteplici discipline presenti, un evento certamente imperdibile per ogni appassionato cinofilo. “Per il secondo anno Favara si pregia di ospitare questo importante appuntamento per tutti gli amanti degli animali e dei giochi cinofili – commentano il sindaco Antonio Palumbo e l’assessore allo Sport Angelo Airò Farulla -. Una manifestazione d’eccellenza che per due giorni porterà in città tanti appassionati del settore e rappresenterà un ritorno economico per le attività del territorio”. Read the full article

[breakingnews-880]

NEWS - We must bring Macron down

After weeks of targeted strikes, French workers launch an indefinite strike against pension reforms. French President Emmanuel Macron refuses to alter his plans to reform the country's beloved pension system. In an effort to compel his hand last week, unions across France raised the stakes and launched an indefinite strike.

The French government has so far refused to change course despite weeks of targeted strikes by workers against President Emmanuel Macron's plans to raise the national retirement age and reform the country's beloved pension system. For that reason associations across various enterprises raised the risk last week, sending off an endless strike until laborers' requests are met. "We have no choice, we must make Macron back down, make the employers back down," said Eric Challal of the Solidaires Unitaires Démocratiques (SUD) Railway Union. We have this chance to fight together as workers because wages are too low, prices are skyrocketing, the threat of war is real, and there is no shortage of money in this society. Brandon Jourdan, a video journalist and contributor to TRNN, covers the most recent escalation of strike actions in France from the streets of Paris.

This video is part of a special Workers of the World series that looks at the crisis with Europe's high cost of living.

Brandon Jourdan, the storyteller: The ongoing strike wave in France against President Emmanuel Macron's pension reforms entered a new phase on March 7, 2023. The government claimed that 1.28 million people participated in strikes, while the unions estimated that 3.5 million people took part in the largest single day of action in decades. The sixth day of national strikes in two months was the most extensive according to either estimate. After the main day of action, tactics have escalated toward continuous strikes in many key sectors because the national strikes have not prevented pension reforms from moving forward.

TotalEnergies: Eric Sellini, General Confederation of Labor (CGT). It is abundantly clear that the government is still carrying out its plan. The presentation was made in the National Assembly; it is now in the Senate. We have the impression that, regardless, Macron is not ready to give up immediately. In this way, that is the reason every one of the associations, and specifically the CGT, we chose to take the preparation up a score and today to check the start of a significant stage as far as preparation which is the start of the ceaseless strike in many organizations the nation over.

Brandon Jourdan (storyteller): A general assembly of railway workers at Gare du Nord was held prior to the main rally in Paris to decide whether or not to continue their strike beyond March 7.

SUD Railway Union's Eric Challal, speaking before the assembly: We haven't seen the strength of workers on this scale in a long time. We also know that because we have all witnessed what transpired in Parliament and the Senate, as well as all of the parliamentary motion pictures, we should not anticipate anything different. A new phase of the movement—the strike—the continuous strike—begins here.

Therefore, I propose that we continue the strike. We accomplished this by holding a general assembly here at 11:00 a.m. Therefore, the general assembly will be reconvened and the strike will continue through tomorrow, the eighth, at 11:00 a.m. https://shazam2-onlinsubtitrat.statuspage.io/ https://shazam2-online-subtitrat-2023.statuspage.io/ https://shazam2-filmulonline-2023.statuspage.io/ https://filmul-shazam2-furyofthegods-online-subtitrat.statuspage.io/ https://scream6-onlinesubtitrat-1080p.statuspage.io/ https://screamvi-onlinesubtitrat-2023.statuspage.io/ https://urmariti-scream6-filmulonline.statuspage.io/ https://filme-scream6-2023.statuspage.io/ https://johnwickcapitolul4-onlinesubtitrat2023.statuspage.io/ https://filmul-johnwickcapitolul4-1080p.statuspage.io/ https://johnwickcapitolul4-filmonline-2023.statuspage.io/ https://vezi-johnwickcapitolul4-filmhd-2023.statuspage.io/ https://creediii-filmulonlinesubtitrat-2023.statuspage.io/ https://filmul-creed3-2023-onlinesubtitrat.statuspage.io/ https://urmariti-creed3-hd-2023.statuspage.io/ https://creediii-filmhd2023-onlinesubtitrat.statuspage.io/ https://vezi-ramon-2023-filmonline-1080p.statuspage.io/ https://filmul-ramon-filmonlineromana-1080p.statuspage.io/ https://urmariti-ramon-hd2023.statuspage.io/ https://ramon-filmhd2023-onlinesubtitrat.statuspage.io/ https://vezi-theperfectescape-filmonline-hd1080p.statuspage.io/ https://filmul-theperfectescape-filmonline2023.statuspage.io/ https://urmariti-theperfectescape-hd2023.statuspage.io/ https://theperfectescape-filmhd2023-onlinesubtitrat.statuspage.io/ https://vezi-rominavtm-filmonlinehd1080p.statuspage.io/ https://filmul-rominavtm-onlinesubtoitrat2023.statuspage.io/ https://urmariti-rominavtm-hd2023.statuspage.io/ https://rominavtm-filmhd2023-onlinesubtitrat.statuspage.io/ https://filmul2023-shazam2-onlinesubtitrat.statuspage.io/ https://newsworld-223.blogspot.com/2023/03/we-must-bring-macron-down.html https://fnw-2023.blogspot.com/2023/03/fnw.html https://hutananak35.medium.com/we-must-bring-macron-down-2023-1e146aa66581 https://groups.google.com/g/world-football-news-2022/c/noZj-PlVTOE

[personal-reporter]

Le grandi auto: Ford Escort

La Ford Escort dagli anni Settanta è diventata il simbolo per diverse decenni  della casa automobilistica dall’Ovale blu, in forme ed aspetti sempre differenti, ma unici… La prima auto di questo modello venne lanciata sul mercato europeo  nel 1968 al Salone di Bruxelles con lo scopo di mandare in pensione la progenitrice Anglia, che aveva fatto  il suo debutto sulle scene oltre 20 anni prima negli anni della Seconda Guerra Mondiale. Se la vettura, realizzata in completa autonomia da Ford Europa, non mostrava caratteristiche particolarmente innovative o dotazioni all’avanguardia per l’epoca, era estremamente solida e affidabile e pertanto adatta alle gare di rally, infatti sullo sterrato la RS1600 ottenne un discreto successo in quegli stessi anni. A 7 anni di distanza dalla prima apparizione, nel 1975 arrivò la seconda generazione della Ford Escort, fabbricata interamente in Germania , che manteneva lo schema tecnico tradizionale e le soluzioni della prima versione, come la classica ma ormai ampiamente superata trazione posteriore a ponte rigido. La vera rivoluzione sarebbe arrivata 5 anni più tardi con il lancio della terza serie della media dell’Ovale Blu, che era  la prima Escort ad adottare la trazione anteriore e capace di aggiudicarsi il premio di migliore auto dell’anno nel 1981. A metà della stessa decade, Escort vide  un profondo restyling e continuò ad essere messa in circolazione fino al 1990. Alla terza generazione ne seguì una quarta che fu prodotta tra il 1990 e il 2000, quando si concluse la vicenda ultratrentennale di Escort per via della concorrenza interna di Focus, la cui prima serie faceva il suo esordio proprio sul finire del Millennio. Inoltre un modello dal nome Escort, che aveva poco o niente a che vedere con l’omonima autovettura prodotta in Europa, comparve tra il 1981 e il 2003, anche sul mercato statunitense. Dal 2004 in poi il nome Escort non venne più utilizzato dalla casa di Deanborn almeno fino al 2014, anno in cui fu nuovamente impiegato per indicare una vettura destinata al mercato cinese e strettamente imparentata con l’occidentale Focus. Read the full article

[ginostigliani]

Cesare Fiorio "The Leggend". Ha vinto 18 titoli mondiali: nello specifico 10 mondiali rally costruttori di cui sette con Lancia (1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1983, 1987, 1988) e tre con la FIAT (1977, 1978, 1980), ottenendo anche 5 titoli riservati ai piloti (Sandro Munari su Lancia nel 1977, Markku Alén su FIAT nel 1978, Walter Röhrl su FIAT nel 1980, Juha Kankkunen su Lancia nel 1987 e Miki Biasion su Lancia nel 1988); inoltre ha ottenuto 3 titoli marche con Lancia nel mondiale endurance nelle stagioni 1979, 1981 e 1982. Il legame instaurato in questo periodo con la famiglia Agnelli e il mondo Fiat lo portò inoltre sul finire degli anni 1980 a entrare nel consiglio di amministrazione della squadra di calcio della Juventus. È stato direttore sportivo della Ferrari in Formula 1 dal marzo 1989all'inizio del 1991, periodo in cui ottenne 25 podi e 9 vittorie su 36 GP, di cui 3 nel 1989 e 6 nel 1990, quando con Alain Prost la Scuderia sfiorò il titolo piloti che mancava dalla stagione 1979. Dopo le prime quattro gare del campionato 1991 lasciòÈ lui che 50 anni fa ha portato la Lancia FULVIA COUPÈ nella storia mondiale del rally. (presso Bari Palazzo Della Città Metropolitana) https://www.instagram.com/p/CjfUoLUj4Ow/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[rallytimeofficial]

Andrea Nucita pronto al ritorno per il 47° Rally 1000 Miglia

🔴🔴Andrea Nucita pronto al ritorno per il 47° Rally 1000 Miglia

Andrea Nucita è pronto a fare il suo ritorno in gara al 47° Rally 1000 Miglia, dopo due mesi di lontananza dall’abitacolo. Il pilota Hyundai Rally Team Italia tornerà al volante della sua i20 N Rally2, gommata Michelin, in una delle gare più iconiche del Campionato Italiano Assoluto Rally Sparco, in programma dal 12 al 14 settembre. (Iscriviti gratuitamente al canale Telegram di Rally Time per…