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DISAPPEARING INK
The "I-Maniac Fan Club" Newsletter
Issue #30
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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1. A Word from the Publisher
2. A Word from our Stand-Ins :)
3. Special Events
4. A Word from the Campaign Director
5. Operation: Visible Ink
6. Sound Off!
7. What Happens Next?
8. Important Addresses

<*><*><*><*><*><*>
A WORD FROM THE PUBLISHER
<*><*><*><*><*><*>

Hi Fellow I-Maniacs!

The deadline to register for I-Manicon 2002 is coming
up fast, February 15th to be exact! If you want to
attend the first ever convention dedicated to "The
Invisible Man", don't let this deadline pass you by!
Please see our Special Events section for more
information.

Now for some sad news... some of you may have read in
the transcript of Mike McCafferty's radio interview
that he and his wife Sarah were expecting a baby.
Sadly, Sarah has had a miscarriage. Mike asked that we
pass this news on to everyone and has requested that
people NOT send emails or cards as they are trying to
keep it low key during this healing period. So please,
let's keep them in our thoughts and prayers, and
respect his request. Also, if you join in the chat
with Mike next week, please be considerate and do not
bring up this topic.

Now, grab your favorite snack food and beverage and
get ready for a lot of fun and information. This issue
of "Disappearing Ink" is chock full of great stuff...
enjoy!

Gina

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A WORD FROM OUR STAND-INS
<*><*><*><*><*><*>

Hi everyone!

Once again we're your Stand-in Grand Poobah's
Adelheide and OboeCrazy, trying to take the place of
our wonderful leader R2. Stacey and Jacob are doing
great, happily bonding together and causing cuteness
to break out all over the place. Wherever Jacob goes,
you can be sure to hear a crowd of "Awwwww"'s :-)

And now hang on as we say "Hello and welcome!" to all
the newbies to our wonderful family! Say Hi to Abby1,
Aeryn503, Agency_Man, Amberly, Amosdoodle, apox123,
Bigfatty5999, blue-fr, Cassima, Catherine Parker,
Chrisherr, Cptnmrvl, Curiousj, Darieniswar,
Dariens_Muse, Dark_Fawkes, Daroos, Dawnwind,
DCAviatrix, Fawkes_Fantastic_Mr., Feak, flipper9496,
Furious_D, Hobkito, Iamtheinvisiblegrl. Idiotjed,
Image, Imanx, ImQuicksilverMad, Invisible_Cat,
Invisible_Drunk, Johnunderbed, junk_dna, jvstorm,
Kahlan, katfish184, katsmeow384, Kcosmo,
KnightinQS, Laydiveee, lbfbaries96, Lionheart,
Lizzy733, Madmike, Master_Ikelos, MatrixXena,
Mdrac, Melissai, (**deep breath, more coming!**),
Mesonuktion, Moondoe, NiftyKitty, Nobodysgirl,
Oflacey, PreyTell, QsinSF, Red, rel333, robertsonick,
Shogi, Simplyaida, Slayme, Tanyl, TJ Pridonoff,
VisiblePixie, vv_maniac and xbloodykisses!!!! YEA!!!

That brings our group up to 700 wonderful members!!!
WO HO!!!

In the next few weeks, we're fortunate enough to get
chats with our favorite actors!! These are Scifi
chats, so remember you have to go to the #auditorium.
First is Mike McCafferty on Tuesday Jan. 29th at 9pm
(EST), then Shannon Kenny on Wednesday the 30th at 9pm
(EST), Brandy Ledford on Thursday the 31st at 9pm
(EST), and the big finale after the last episode with
Vincent Ventresca and Paul Ben-Victor on Friday, Feb
1st at 9pm (EST). We'd like everyone to show up "in
costume", by changing your nickname to SaveIManNick...
so we'd be SaveIManOboeCrazy and SaveIManAdel. Java
users can just change their nick, mIRC users will have
to go into the options menu and update it before
logging on.

That's all for now! Keep working hard gang!
Lauren (OboeCrazy) and Carrie (Adelheide)

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SPECIAL EVENTS
<*><*><*><*><*><*>

Hi, everyone!

It's been a while since my last article, so I thought
I should check in. :-)

For the East Coast I-Maniacs (and any other fans who
can travel), there is IManiCon2002 scheduled for April
6 and 7, 2002, in Baltimore, Maryland. There are some
exciting events planned, and lots of great items for
prizes. It's likely we will get to see director's cuts
of some of the episodes as well as a few other
surprises. :) A big thank you goes out to Emerald
Cleya for her organization of this event. For more
information and/or to register for this event, go to:
http://sparklingemerald.com/imanicon/
Preregistration is required, so if you haven't already
done so, please sign up soon!

I've had some people asking about another I-Maniacs
get-together taking place during ComicCon
International this August in San Diego (August 1 -
4th). After the wonderful time we all had last year, a
few club members have already indicated that they plan
to travel to San Diego again this summer. I do intend
to create a new yahoo!group for this year's event, and
will keep you all posted as to our plans. Watch future
newsletters for further information.

Please mark your calendars for the Sci-fi moderated
chats with the cast. Mike McCafferty is chatting on
Tuesday, January 29th, Shannon Kenney on Wednesday,
January 30th, and both Vincent Ventresca and Paul
Ben-Victor on Friday, February 1st. All chats are at
9 p.m. EST and are held in the #auditorium. Unlike the
fan club chats, Sci-fi chats are fully moderated
(i.e., you will be unable to talk to the main room),
and you have to send your questions to the moderator.
The moderator then chooses which questions to ask. To
chat, go to http://www.scifi.com/chat/chatnow.html and
fill in your handle and go to the #auditorium. For
mIRC users, type /join #auditorium. Remember to log in
as SaveIman[yourhandle]! Let's show the cast our
continued support!

See you all in chat!

KatrynSedai
Special Events Director

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A WORD FROM THE CAMPAIGN DIRECTOR
<*><*><*><*><*><*>

Hi guys!

We've all done wonderful work, bringing attention to a
fabulous show like I-Man to the networks. Here is one
other thing we can do, requested by newbie Kathie Fish
:

Let's set aside few minutes of our day (say Fri.25th)
and have everybody (and our relatives or friends) call
UPN programming line (310) 575-7123. We could all
leave messages that we think they would be pleased
with the results if they could find a way to pick up
The Invisible Man, a truly original, great show!

Don't mention that you are calling on behalf of a fan
club or any organized call in campaign. We have 700
people in the club alone! If all of us and our
friends and family called, I think they'd notice. And
NOW is when we'd want them to notice!

Thanks! And God bless,

Deb/MrsSpooky
I-Maniacs Campaign Director

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OPERATION: VISIBLE INK
<*><*><*><*><*><*>

Hello fellow I-Maniacs!

For those who may not know me, let me introduce
myself. My name is VisBall (a.k.a. InvisibleBallerina)
and I'm obsessed with saving The Invisible Man. Yep, I
admit it. Just because the show is nearing its last
new episode does not mean that I'm giving up. Nope,
not by a long shot! As long as the cast is willing and
able to do the show, I'm willing and able to fight for
it. I love this show and am bound and determined to do
everything I can to save it!

To that end, I started and manage the publicity
project, Operation: Visible Ink, which OboeCrazy so
kindly introduced to you above. Along the way, many
fans, who are too numerous to mention here, have
helped me out and I give my heartfelt appreciation. A
big huge thanks to you all! I've also picked up a
couple of partners along the way, Pipsqueak and
Devilbird. These two gals have a combined total of 28
years of marketing, journalism, and public relations
experience between the two of them. Let me tell you,
folks, those two are just awesome and I could never
have taken on a project of this size without their
help and expertise. But now we're here to you to ask
for more help. That's right; Operation: Visible Ink
needs you!
__________

Follow-Up Calls

First of all, to reiterate what OboeCrazy has already
said, we really need help making very important
follow-up calls to the media. If you feel comfortable
talking to the media, can commit to making these calls
every week, and can afford a small increase in your
phone bill, you are just who we're looking for. Even
if you can only commit to doing one or two calls a
week, every little bit helps and is greatly
appreciated. While my partner, Pipsqueak, has prepared
a sample call script to help everyone out with this
task, we also need people who can think on their feet
and can be professional. If you are interested in
helping out, please email me at
invisibleballerina@yahoo.com.
__________

Photographers Needed

If you live in New York City, Los Angeles, or Atlanta
and have a camera, boy, have we got a job for you! Our
fun and cheesy publicity stunt needs to be
photographed in order maximize our impact on the media
and get the most bang for our buck. Interested?
Contact me at invisibleballerina@yahoo.com and I'll
fill you in on the details.
__________

Call for Letters and Pictures

My partner, Devilbird, is working with MrVesham, a
freelance graphic designer, on a collection of letters
from the fans expressing their love and appreciation
of the show. I'll let her tell you in her own words
what they need:


Visible Ink: Letters from the Fans of The Invisible
Man

As part of an upcoming publicity project, MrVesham and
I are working on putting together a booklet that will
be sent to the networks and some key media contacts.
But we need your help in order to make this work.

The booklet will consist of your letters of support
and love for The Invisible Man, and will be enhanced
by photos of you (the fans), the cast, and the crew.
We are planning to produce this booklet in an 8 1/2 x
11 format, with either spiral or comb binding and a
slick-looking color cover by MrVesham.

Letters: We have already obtained Emissary's
permission to reprint selections from the Passions
page at Perseus Project, so if you have posted a
letter there or anywhere else, and would like to give
your approval for including it in this booklet, please
email me at shari@shinies.net and indicate which
letter is yours and how you would like to be credited
in the booklet. If you would like to update or edit
your letter in any way, please send the new version of
the letter either in the email itself or as an RTF
attachment. Of course, we'd also be glad to take new
letters, as well!

Photos: We need photos that have been scanned in at
150 dpi so they will reprint without that blocky
pixellation most web graphics have. Right now we're
looking for photos of the fans, the cast, and the crew
-- or any combination of the above. Con pics are
great! Copyrighted photos are not. Photos used on the
front cover will most likely be reproduced in color;
photos used in the interior of the booklet will be
reproduced in
grayscale. If you have photos to submit, please
contact me or send 150 dpi scans
to shari@shinies.net -- and please don't forget to
include how you want to be credited, and a caption or
description of the photo.

If you would like to have your own printed copy of the
booklet, please let us know either by posting to the
I-Maniacs board or by email. Once we know how many are
interested, we'll figure out how much they'll cost to
produce and mail out. (Wouldn't this make a cool
autograph collector if Vince & Mike do show up for the
I-Mani-Con?) Alternatively, we could also make the
booklet available in PDF on the web for you to
download and print yourselves.

Unfortunately because of the time crunch and mailing
considerations, we may not be able to use everything
we get for this particular project -- so if you want
to be part of it, get your submissions in ASAP!

If you have questions or need more info, please let us
know...

Shari/devilbird
Regular email: devilbird@shinies.net
Project Submissions: shari@shinies.net
__________

Vote for Your Favorite I-Man Scenes

Included in the gift baskets that we will be
delivering to the networks during the publicity stunt
will be a video tape containing a collection of the
fans' favorite I-Man scenes. For now I'm calling it
the Viewers' Choice video, but if anyone has a better
I-Man themed title for it, I would appreciate any
suggestions.

Now in order to accomplish this, we need you to vote
for your favorite scenes! The categories are listed
below. Have fun deciding and send your votes to me at
invisibleballerina@yahoo.com. I'll total everything up
and be sure to let you all know what the results are.
Get your votes in right away! Voting ends Saturday,
January 26, at midnight, Pacific Time.

-Best dramatic moment:
-Most gut wrenching moment:
-Best example of clever writing:
-Most awkward/embarrassing moment:
-Best example of Darien/Hobbes bantering:
-Most creative scene:
-Most humorous scene:
-Scariest QSM scene:
-Funniest QSM scene:
-Best example of cast chemistry:
-Most creative use of Quicksilver:
-Funniest use of invisibility:
-Best romance scene:
-Best action scene:
-Best villain scene:
-Most cinematic scene:
-Most touching scene:
-Best Counteragent shot scene:
-Best thief Darien scene:
-Best Darien fashion scene:
__________

For the full story on our project, check out our
website at http://qsm.shinies.net. It's still under
construction, folks, but should be in full swing soon.

If you have a talent or idea that you think we could
use, please email me at invisibleballerina@yahoo.com.
I'm always looking for talented people and great
ideas!

Well, I think I've taken up enough space on this here
newsletter. I want to give a big thank you to the
I-Maniac Board of Directors for allowing me to use
this forum to bring this new Save I-Man project to the
attention of all you I-Maniacs. I also want to thank
Perseus Project for their support of our project. By
all working together, I know we can save this show!

Amanda (a.k.a. VisBall, a.k.a. InvisibleBallerina)

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SOUND OFF!
<*><*><*><*><*><*>

In this section of the newsletter we offer all of you
the opportunity to give us your opinion on various
Invisible Man subjects.

Last newsletter I asked the question, "If you were
allowed only three words to describe 'The Invisible
Man' what would they be?" After much thought, here's
what some of you creative I-Maniacs came up with:

I-MANIAC 3 WORDS

Pixie funny, unique, intelligent
FawkesFox interesting, cool effects
SilverLass Hilarious, Heartbreaking, Hot
Bookwormgirl Amazing! Priceless!
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
liz_Z delectable, versatile, hilarious
krysalys73 Engaging, Mesmerizing, Magnificent
Maxdout riot, rapturous, riveting
fawkesgirlmulder terrific, impressive, magnificant

New Topic:
We've all heard of "Webster's Dictionary" but who
really needs to know all those words! I think to get
to know some one, it would be great to have their
personal dictionary containing the words most
important to them and their definition of them. To
that effect, let's see if we can come up with "Hobbes'
Dictionary". What words do you think Bobby would
include in his personal dictionary and how do you
think he'd define them? For example, he might include:

Partner: The guy you never bail on

You can Sound Off by sending your opinion to
imannewsletter@yahoo.com and be sure to put the words
"Sound Off" in the subject of your email.

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WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
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In this section of the newsletter you get the chance
to get your creative juices flowing and write the next
part of an ongoing story. Below, you'll find the story
so far. Your mission is to write the next part of the
story in about 150 words or less. It'll be difficult
(or impossible), but I'll then choose one to continue
the story in the next newsletter. Ready? Here goes!

The teaser:
Darien was a happy guy. He had just gotten a shot of
counteragent and wouldn't need a new one for a while,
things were quiet at the agency, and most importantly,
he was going to spend a nice relaxing evening at home
with a home-made meal and his favorite book "The Story
of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the World's
Greatest Philosophers". "It doesn't get any better
than this", he thought as he headed toward his
apartment with a bag of groceries in one arm.
As he unlocked the door, the scene inside made him
stop in his tracks. "Aw crap!" he said as the smile
disappeared from his face and was replaced by a look
of dismay. His apartment had been ransacked and very
thoroughly at that. After taking a moment to digest
the situation, he walked cautiously into the apartment
careful not to step on anything breakable, which had
not already been broken, and checked to make sure that
whoever made the mess wasn't still there.

Part 2 by R2:
Glass crunched under Darien's feet as he made his way
through his destroyed apartment. Nothing had been
spared and Darien felt violated. Unknown hands had
rifled through his possessions, going over his
personal affects. The intruder, or intruders, had been
quite thorough. He could feel his heart pounding in
his chest, his small abode abnormally quiet. With a
deep breath, Darien allowed the quicksilver to coat
his body, neatly rendering him invisible. If whoever
had done this was still here, he saw no need to give
them the advantage. There was a small noise from
inside the bathroom, Darien's head snapped around at
the sound as he began to make his way toward the
closed door.

Part 3 by R2
Slowly, Darien reached out and grasped the cold handle
in his equally cold hand. Fear and anger were vying
for attention, whoever had ransacked his home was
still stupid enough to be here. Big mistake.
He flung the door open and blindly launched himself
inside, grabbing a stunned individual around their
waist. There was a startled shout as he and the
intruder fell to the ground in a tangle of arms and
legs, Darien could feel them struggling to get out
from under him and he knew that he had the upper hand.
Darien gripped a flailing hand tightly as he glanced
down at the person who had destroyed his apartment.
His breath left him in a horrified gasp as he
recognized the man, "Hobbes?"

Part 4 by Kathy Czechowski, a.k.a. Hei_Mao
Hobbes snorted, jerking from Darien's grip and
standing. "Thanks for the hospitality. Love what
you've done with the place," he said, brushing broken
glass from his sleeves.
"What do you mean by that? I didn't do this." Darien's
brow furrowed as he let the quicksilver fall away.
"What, and I did? You called me here."
"No, I didn't." His voice trailed off as he stared at
the mess.
"Yeah, you did. You said you wanted to talk to me
about something, the door would be unlocked, I should
just walk in. I walked in, and POW! I woke up in here.
Then you came barreling in...."
Darien paused, shaking his head. "I didn't call you.
This doesn't make sense."
"Right. If someone wanted to frame me for tossing your
apartment, why call me here?" Hobbes rubbed the back
of his head. A large bruise was rapidly purpling
beneath a dozen small cuts. He winced, mumbling
curses.
"Somebody wanted us here at the same time. The mess is
just a distraction. Someone wanted us out of the way,"
Darien declared.
Hobbes nodded, his expression grim. "I was thinking
the same thing."

Part 5 by FawkesFox
Hobbes' cell phone began to ring. He took it out of
his pocket and answered it, "Hobbes... What?... Where
are you?... Stay there, we're on our way." He hung the
phone up and turned to Darien. "There's trouble
partner." Hobbes started for the door, Darien
following closely behind him. Within minutes they
arrived at the Agency. Once they got there, they
knocked on the door of Charlie's office. There was no
answer so Darien kicked the door in. Inside, Charlie
was tied to the chair, a gag in his mouth.
"Hello, Darien." A familiar voice said from behind the
door. Darien turned to see the man who was responsible
for his brother's death.

Part 6 by Allison Riley
Darien's couldn't speak. He never, in his wildest
dreams, thought that Arnaud would come back for a
third time. Then, the memories of Kevin dying in his
arms came back to him. His speechlessness disappeared.
Darien tried to punch Arnaud, but he wasn't quick
enough. Arnaud grabbed his fist and squeezed it
tightly. Pain rushed through Darien's arm. Then he let
go. The pain vanished. Darien ran to the center of the
room and quicksilvered. Arnaud just laughed. Darien
tried again to punch him, thinking that he couldn't
stop his fist this time. But he did. Hobbes had been
standing there staring. Now he could see Arnaud
holding something in midair. Arnaud squeezed Darien's
fist even harder than before. Forcing him to become
visible again. Arnaud laughed. "How did he do that?"
Darien, Hobbes, and Charlie all said quietly to
themselves.

Part 7 by jakgirl
"Back off, phoneboy," snapped Hobbes, aiming his gun
between Arnaud's eyes. Arnaud nodded and stepped back
as four goons came out of the shadows to grab Darien
and Hobbes. Arnaud snatched Hobbes' gun and
pistol-whipped the agent unconscious.
"Hobbes!" shouted Darien.
"That's 'Fohn'", said the terrorist. He gestured to
the Official. "Free him," he told a goon. "Sssso.do we
have a deal?" he asked the fat man.
The Official glared with bloodshot eyes at Arnaud.
"Take him," he snarled. "And bring him back in one
piece or I'll destroy you myself."
"Wait, whoa, do you mean me?" Darien struggled.
"No deal!" Arnaud laid the gun over Darien's heart.
"Move or quicksilver and I blow your ear off."
"Just do what he says, Darien!" bellowed the Official.

Part 8 by jakgirl
"Are you selling me out?" cried Darien.
Arnaud perched on the Official's desk. "I think we
should tell him, don't you? Otherwise he will waste
his time and my patience trying to discover the
answers." He quirked an eyebrow at the Official and
continued,
"The explanation is simple. Using nanotechnology, I've
perfected special contact lenses with tiny viewers,
which enable me to see quicksilver: a superior version
of the Agency's viewers. I have proven to your
employer that they work. Now he knows I can find and
kill you anywhere, at any time, and he has agreed to
let me.borrow you for a little job I have. Otherwise,
I shoot you and harvest the gland. Don't think I
won't do it."
"What's the job?" asked Darien warily.

Part 9 by FawkesFox
"My neice has been kidnapped by some very ruthless
people." Arnaud said.
"More ruthless than you?" Darien quipped.
Arnaud ignored him and continued, "I can't stand
seeing my sister so upset."
"Well, well... Never would have figured you for a
softie." Darien said.

Part 10 by Sasscat
"Ordinarily no," Arnaud said smoothly, "but Jessica
shows a lot of promise. Her mother is right to worry."
Darien froze, barely hearing Arnaud's next words. He
knew he was being stupid - it wasn't exactly the most
uncommon of names - but somehow he had a feeling, low
in his gut, that he was about to hear some unpleasant
news. "Your niece is called Jessica?"
"Jessica Semplar. She's in grade three at
Heatherfield Elementary. If you'll come along I'll
give you all the information you need."
"My god," Darien said softly. "Jess." He stumbled
backwards until he found the wall, and clung to it for
support. Jess had been kidnapped. Jess was related to
*Arnaud*. And that was something even her
invisible best friend Ralph couldn't save her from.
But he could try. Darien lifted his eyes to Arnaud's,
coldly determined. "I'll do it."

Part 11 by Mandy, a.k.a. fawkesielady
"Good" Arnaud said with a slight smile. They walked
out of the building, guards on either side of Darien
just incase he decided to change his mind, and got in
Arnaud's car.
"So, what do these people want with Jessica?" Darien
asked as the car pulled out on the street.
"That I am not sure of yet. She is a very bright girl,
very bright for her age." Darien thought he saw a
tinge of hurt behind Arnaud's hard exterior. He would
have felt sorry for him if he wasn't Arnaud.
"Yeah, I know." He mumbled.
"What was that?"
"Nothing. Tell me what you want me to do. But
understand one thing, I'm not doing any of this for
you."
Arnaud chuckled, "I'd hope not. After this is over, we
can go back to hating and wanting to kill each other.
But for now, I'm afraid we have no choice, we must
work together."

Part 12 by The_Mad_Fangirl
"You hate me?" Darien asked. The guards flanked him
in the limo's back seat. "Why? I mean, I hate you
because you killed Kevin, and," his voice hardened, "I
will kill you for that, but what did I ever do to
you?"
"You're in my way," Arnaud replied, leaning over the
limo's back seat, gun sideways. "That's always been
sufficient for me, but even if it weren't, there's the
small matter of nine or ten invisible grenades."
"Oh, yeah," Darien replied, smiling slightly. "Yeah,
that was a good one."
"Obviously not good enough. Story of your life,
Fawkes, which is why you'll be dead and I'll have the
gland, but not until after Jessica is safe." Arnaud
turned forward again and looked out the front window.
A few minutes later, "Ah. We're here."
Darien looked over a guard's shoulder. "Jessica's
house."
Arnaud's head whipped around. "And you know that how?"

Part 13 by Maxdout
"Well, It's too small for a villain such as yourself,"
Darien remarked cautiously but slyly. Arnaud seemed
unimpressed so Darien added, "and your oversized ego."
Arnaud still seemed unconvinced, "I suspect it was
just a lucky guess."
The driver opened the door and Arnaud got out while
staring at Darien probingly. Darien glanced at
Arnaud's thugs as he pointed to the door and said,
"Ladies first."
They were not amused. They grabbed Darien, one on
either side, and pushed him out the door. It was
apparent they were fighting the urge to throw him.
They all walked together up the drive to the door of
Jessica's house and Arnaud rang the doorbell. Just
then Darien became very afraid that Jessica's parents
might recognize him from Jessica's painting of Ralph.

Part 14 by liz_Z
Mrs. Semplar opened the door, a curious expression on
her face. "Arnaud, what are you doing here?"
Arnaud gave her a wan smile. "I'm here to help find
Jessica."
Mrs. Semplar's lip trembled for a moment, and then she
broke down into tears. Arnaud immediately pulled her
up in a hug, whispering soothing words in her ear.
After a while Mrs. Semplar began to calm down. Darien
watched in surprise. He had never thought that Arnaud
was capable of anything like compassion.
Mrs. Semplar frowned and gestured at Darien. "Who is
this?"
"Someone who can help us."
"He looks familiar... Oh well, it must be my
imagination. His face just reminded me of... a
painting Jessica made..." She broke down into tears
again.
Arnaud frowned. "What painting?"
"The one of... her invisible friend..."
Arnaud pulled her up in another hug, but his eyes were
filled with cold anger. "I see."

Part 15 by IMFreak
After a moment Mrs. Semplar took a deep breath, pulled
away from Arnaud enough to wipe her eyes briskly, and
said in a voice that sounded as though she were trying
to be cheerful, "Well, where are my manners? Come in,
come in."
Arnaud kept an arm around his sister and after a quick
glare backward at Darien they walked into the house
together. Darien was practically hustled inside by the
two bodyguards behind him. Once they were in the
living room, Mrs. Semplar sat down on a couch, Arnaud
beside her. She gestured toward the other chairs
arranged in a semi circle around the room for the
others to sit in. Subtly, the two muscle men pushed
Darien toward one that was pretty much between the
other two. Just enough nudging so that Mrs. Semplar
wouldn't notice.
"Thanks. How are you holding up Mrs. Semplar?" Darien
asked once he had sat down, a look of sincere concern
on his face.
Mrs. Semplar, who had been looking more at the beige
rug than anything else, brought her head up sharply to
look at him. "Fine, thank you." Her voice was a bit
tight.
"It's alright, Dear, I told you. He's here to try and
help."
She looked earnestly into Arnaud's face, "But why?
What makes you think some stranger can find Jessica
when the police can't? I mean, how well do you know
this man?"
"Trust me. He will do his best to find her." Arnaud
looked at Darien with stern eyes that seemed to add
"or he will be very, very sorry" to his last
statement.

Part 16 by Mandy AKA fawkesieladyandEd
"I'm sorry." Mrs. Semplar said to Darien. "I just
can't get over how much you look like Ralph."
"Ralph?" Darien asked trying to sound confused.
"Yes. Jess's invisible friend." She said as she stood
up. Mrs. Semplar left the room and returned a moment
later with the painting. "See, this is a painting of
Ralph."
"Wow." Was all Darien could force out of his mouth.
Mrs. Semplar sat down wiping away fresh tears. "It's
alright dear." Arnaud said as he put his arm
around her shoulders. "We'll bring her home safe."
He looked at Darien with angry eyes. "May I speak with
you a moment?" He said through clenched teeth. He had
tried to sound friendly, but his sister flinched at
his tone.
"Sure." Darien said and left the house with Arnaud.
"Do you want to tell me why Jessica painted a picture
of you?" Arnaud asked when the front door was closed
behind them.

Part 17 by bookwormgirl
Darien stepped up to Arnaud real close and said, "Do
you want to find Jessica or do you want to waste time
with a history lesson?"
Arnaud stared back at Darien. "We'll talk later,
after Jessica is safe. But trust me, Ralph," he said
with venom in his voice, "we will talk." With that,
Arnaud opened the door and the two reentered the
house.
"Is there a problem?" asked Mrs. Sempler.
"Not at all, my dear. We were just discussing the
best place to start our investigation. Mr. Fawkes and
I have different," Arnaud paused, "techniques."
"Mrs. Sempler," asked Darien, "did the kidnappers
leave a note? A clue of any kind as to who they are or
what they would want with Jess?"

Part 18 by Veronica aka Scout
Mrs. Semplar ran into the kitchen and returned with a
piece of paper and something else in her hand. "Here
is what we found on the front stoop yesterday morning.
A letter and a dead butterfly.
What does it mean?" Arnaud shrugged his shoulders and
looked confused.
Darien knew exactly what the butterfly meant,
"Crysalis."
Arnaud grabbed Darien's arm, "What?"
Darien repeated, "Crysalis is behind this and I know
why they went after Jessica."

Part 19 by RGtwilight
Arnaud's grip on Darien's arm tightened even more and
Arnaud seemed to turn purple. Darien turned away from
Mrs. Semplar and quicksilvered his arm. Arnaud quickly
released his grip and said "Merde!"
"What is Crysalis?" asked Arnaud's sister wondering
why both men seemed to be so agitated with each other.
Darien shook off his quicksilvered arm and studied
Arnaud-he seemed to recognize the name Crysalis!
Darien then said "Look I am sure these people won't
hurt Jessica but I think we should stay calm and look
at the note to see what they want."
Arnaud, still agitated grabbed the note from his
sister and began to read it. But before he finished he
looked up at Darien and hissed, "What do you know
about Crysalis?"
Darien asked Mrs. Semplar "Can I use your phone?" Then
he dialed a number and looked at Arnaud and said, "I
really think I am going to need help with this. I need
Bobby Hobbes. He will know the best way to infiltrate
Crysalis. Now what does the note say?"

Part 20 by Sasscat
Arnaud pressed his lips together for a moment, then
handed the note over. "Very well, but warn Mister
Hobbes not to come armed. I don't think he'd like the
consequences."
"Armed?" Jessica's mother looked worried. "Arnaud, is
this man dangerous?"
"Of course not, _ma chere_," Arnaud said soothingly.
"You know I would never do anything to put you at
risk." He looked daggers at Darien, as if daring him
to argue.
Darien managed to keep his mouth shut, barely. He
turned his attention back to the phone, rattling
instructions off to Bobby as he held the note up to
the light.
_In lieu of promised payment, the girl is ours.
Consider your debt discharged. J.S._
Stark. Darien scowled and resisted the urge to
crumple the note up into a ball. It looked like
Arnaud and Chrysalis had had some business dealings.
But Arnaud had double-crossed them, and they'd trumped
his double-cross.
If Jessica weren't caught in the middle of it, Darien
would have been inclined to sit back and watch them
fight it out. Instead... well, he could only imagine
the things Chrysalis could do with an impressionable
kid.

Part 21 by fawkesieladyandEd
"Story?" What the hell does that mean?" Darien asked
as he looked at Arnaud.
"You are the one that knows Chrysalis so well, you
tell me." Arnaud returned.
Darien thought for a moment, "I don't know." He said
finally.
"Hello boys, good morning Mrs. Semplar." A voice
called from behind them.
Darien turned, "Hobbes? What are you doing here?"
"You called Darien."
"Yeah, but you never answered the phone."
"Let me see that." Hobbes said as he took the note
from Arnaud. He read the note then looked up at
Darien. "It was Chrysalis, and they want a story."
"We figured that part out Hobbes, but what kind of
story?" Darien asked.
"This is a clue Darien. Chrysalis wants us to have a
little treasure hunt. The next clue is in the
children's section of the library."
"Alright then," Arnaud said, "Let's go."

Part 22 by KAT_bboard_lurker
Apparently, the local library didn't realize a girl's
life was on the line. They had yet to open the
massive, locked doors, when Darien, Bobby, and Arnaud
arrived. Arnaud thought it best if his sister stay
behind and his thugs guard her.
"Go find a way in, Fawkes," he barked.
"Yes, my Swiss Miss," Darien said under his breath.
Bobby started to follow, but Arnaud stopped him dead
in his tracks by firing his gun so close to Bobby's
face, he could feel it pass by.
"Oops, I missed," Arnaud said innocently enough. "I
wonder if I will next time."
"I think I'll stay here with him, Darien," Bobby
squeaked out.
Darien walked behind the building. There was a small
window, towards the ground, perhaps to a basement. He
climbed down into the black abyss. What's that moving?
He couldn't see. "Oh my." he thought. "HEY YOU GUYS!!!
YOU BETTER COME LOOK AT THIS RIGHT
NOW!!!"

Part 23 by dakFinv
Arnaud and Hobbes ran to where Fawkes had entered the
library. "What is it Fawkes?" questioned Hobbes.
"It's one of Stark's guys. He looks pretty beat up,"
answered Darien
Darien helped Arnaud and Hobbes into the library.
Fumbling around in the dark Hobbes found a light
switch and lit up the dark room. The room was
completely trashed.
"Whoa. It looks like a wrestling match took place down
here," said Hobbes.
"You. What happened here?" Arnaud snarled as he shook
the already half-conscious Chrysallis agent.
"I...I...I can't...a struggle...gunshots...other
people...other than Chrysallis," stammered the man. He
slowly started to create more understandable
sentences. "My partner and I were supposed to wait
here and watch you while you were at the library, but
there were other men here other than us. I don't know
who they were, but they took my partner."
"You have no idea who they were?" asked Darien.
"No, but they left this. Maybe it will help."

Part 24 by Kimpire
Darien reached out to take the note from the Chrysalis
agent, but
Arnaud slapped his hand away and grabbed it himself.
While Arnaud read the
note to himself, Hobbes pulled Darien over. "Why the
hell is he offering
this information up to us?" he asked.
Darien frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," said Hobbes, "That if this guy really was
attacked by someone
else, he wouldn't freely tell us that. It's obvious he
recognizes us,
so why is he volunteering information?"
Darien paused for a moment. "Hobbes..."
"Trust me, Fawkes, I'm the expert here, and we're
being set up, my
friend."
Darien sighed. "Well, only one way to find out." He
turned to Arnaud,
who had finished reading the note. "What's it say?"

Part 25 by iwomans_sister
Arnaud looked at Darien, than back at the note. "It
says: There are new players on the team. We have the
girl, and we want the Invisible Man in trade. Signed,
A.F.C."
Darien and Bobby's mouths dropped open. "Aw crap!"
they both said, at the same time. Darien started to
fidget a little.
"What, do you know who they are?" Arnaud asked.
"Lets just say we have ran into them before." Darien
answered.
"Listen Fawkes, if we are going to find Jessica you
need to tell me what you know."
"This could take a while." Darien replied.

Part 26 by Quicksilvermad
Meanwhile...
"Where's my mom?!" Jessica strained her little arms
against the duct tape and tried to blink away the odd
feeling of the same tape over her eyes. Her captors
had her stuck to a very uncomfortable chair. No answer
came to her, and she began to wonder.
*Did they just leave me? Are they going to kill me? I
wish Ralph was here...*
Ralph? Where did that come from? She hadn't really
thought of him in a while.
Jessica's chin jerked up from its place on her chest
as the door to...wherever she was clicked open.
"Who's there? Where am I?"
An unexpected tug came on the tape over her eyes, and
Jessica shrieked. She swore that most of her eyelashes
and eyebrows came off with it.
"Shut up, kid! We're waiting for someone, okay? Just
shut up until he gets here!"
Jessica couldn't help it. She tried not to look at the
guy. "Who gets here?"
The man raised his hand as if to contemplate cuffing
her, and she cringed.
"The Invisible Man."
Jessica's eyes widened.

Your turn! Send your version of What Happens Next to
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"What Happens Next" in the subject of your email.

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IMPORTANT ADDRESSES
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