[color=snow][b][u]More Winter Highlights[/u][/b][/color] --------- [b]Leo the Patriotic Lion:[/b] [i](narrating)[/i] Leo the Pattoic Lion here. We pick up where we left off last time with the highlights. This is a lot shorter than most journal entries, but it will allow us to keep everybody up to date on what is happening. In the U.S., the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl were just around the corner. Elsewhere around the globe, life continued on with other local events. [b]Levi the Mountee Lion:[/b] [i](narrating)[/i] It began with me talking to a potential successor for Prime Minister, since I said I wasn't wanting to do it forever. Thankfully, there was way more good than bad that came out of my administration, and I pray hard that whoever does take my place continues Canada going in the direction is, instead of forcing everybody to flip-flop back to the way it was, which is what those idiots attacking my Russian counterpart were wanting to do. [b]Leonid the Cold Lion:[/b] [i](narrating)[/i] They were Putin supporters, and so I regret letting them inside the Kremlin. However, even the news media is saying there was no way of knowing whether or not I did the right thing in that instance, because they still would have found ways to attack me. In the end, I beat them, and Hollywood was already in the process of wanting to start offering me lucrative contracts ensuring I would be paid more money than the wealthiest human American actors put together. [b]Leo:[/b] [i](narrating)[/i] At the moment, the nation's wealthiest actor is Jerry Seinfield, with a net worth of $950 million. Most people think of him as a stand-up comic as well as the television show "Seinfeld," but as far as movies are concerned, you can find him in films such as "It Could Happen To You," "The Hangover," and "Dumb and Dumber." -------- ---------- --------- *Later, after the International Yogurt Festival, we all return home. This time, Poilievre, a member of Parliament, speaks to Levi P. about being his possible successor for Prime Minister.* ------------ *Ottawa, Canada* [b]Poilievre:[/b] I really love what you have done for our great and beautiful country. You've done so much, the world sees us as a rising superpower along with America. I see you are a Mountee as well, and that's a tough job. Being in politics is stressful as it is, but thanks to you and Rainier, both of you made it more enjoyable. I know the elections are far away, and you know that I have filed to be a candidate. I was curious if you have planned to retire after your term or run for election again. ------------------- *Pasadena, TX, USA* *The city has rebuilt itself from a series of floods and tornadoes.* [b]Civilian 1:[/b] It was barely a scratch. Easy to cleanup and rebuild. [b]Wrangler Wolf:[/b] Looked way more than a scratch to me. [b]Civilian 2:[/b] Y'all know we've been through them disasters before. We had chemical plant explosions here before. Nothing is going to stop the city of Pasadena. We're gonna keep working and growing our community. [b]Civilian 3:[/b] Nothing we can't handle. [b]Civilian 4:[/b] And we just started attracting conventions and festivals so no disaster is gonna stop us from that either. [b]Civilian 5:[/b] Pearland gets disasters, too, you know. [b]Wrangler Wolf:[/b] Thought them tornadoes and flood wiped y'all out that y'all wouldn't be able to rebuild so fast. [b]Civilian 2:[/b] Can't doubt us. This city produces materials and chemicals to our nation's hospitals and clinics to our United States Space Force. [b]Civilian 6:[/b] Houston and everything around it may not be the prettiest compared to many other places in America, but we got our hidden gems as well that make us special. Feel free to chill here with us! I know some places. ------------ *St. Petersburg, Russia* *Elias casually visits the city with some random tourists.* [b]Elias:[/b] I love what I've been seeing throughout Russia! Friendly people, lovely bakeries, it's truly fantastic and safe! [b]Civilian 1:[/b] It's been a year since Putin got disposed of and it's a whole different world today. Sometimes, it feels like freedom was just yesterday. [b]Civilian 2:[/b] Leonid transformed Russia from the inside to out. [b]Civilian 3:[/b] Now all the gay furries here are safe and sound! Even the agnostics and atheists are safe in Russia! [b]Elias:[/b] I didn't know Putin was persecuting agnostics and atheists. [b]Civilian 3:[/b] It was like that, and he even asked our Forsythians to follow his sick orders, but they refused. So glad to know our Forsythians know better. [b]Civilian 4:[/b] Forced conversion of beliefs and identity used to be common under the Putin era. Let's just say that those methods would not have flown in the Forsythe System when it was still around; it's gone now, of course. Putin and his followers interpreted Kriegland's values all wrong for themselves. Apparently they forgot about the history of Timothy the Terrible. [b]Civilian 5:[/b] And executing people with sledgehammers? Seriously? That's beyond barbaric! In any society where execution is allowed, they made sure it's easy to cleanup and it's not done outside in front of everybody suddenly like that. [b]Civilian 6:[/b] Also when it comes to furries, Russia aims to be the top destination for tourism for them. We got furry conventions left and right as well as up and down all over Russia! In Russia, we attack with love and kindness not shells and bullets! [b]Civilian 7:[/b] We also get a lot of American soldiers as visitors and none of them are close to anything how Putin portrays them as. Many of them would ask us to pose with them for pictures to share with us and their friends. [b]Civilian 8:[/b] Please enjoy our culture and hospitality! ------------------- *Ottawa, Canada* *Levi wears a red suit-and-tie combination here, but is padding (out of habit).* [b]Levi P.:[/b] I was planning to retire after this term, actually, but we're quite a ways away from that, yes. What you have to remember is that I probably wouldn't have had the job in the first place if I had kept my mouth shut and not snapped at Justin Trudeau. I have the dubious distinction of replacing him not once, but twice! Funny how those things work out. We are looking for somebody who will not repeat Trudeau's mistakes, but also won't repeat mine. In my first term, I was so gung ho on morality that I basically tried to transform Canada into another version of Singapore. That failed. To punish me for my sins, the public voted Trudeau back in office. Then the coup Rainier Belrose happened; Trudeau abruptly resigned (again), and the public just as abruptly put me back in office (again), now wishing they had voted me in the first place. Go figure. I think CNG was pressuring them into picking me, though. Thank heavens that stuff is dead! Should you win the election, what are you ultimate goals for Canada? --------------- *Russia* *Leonid and some others also visit with some of the civilians. Because everybody's talking in English, they does.* [b]Leonid:[/b] *to Civilian 2* Thank you for the compliments. *to the others* What you have to bear in mind is that he was called Timothy the Terrible by the people who hated him, but he wasn't a tyrant. He was the longest-serving monarch of Kriegland, reigning 61 years, and from what I understand, played classical guitar really well. [b]Cold Snare:[/b] Yes. He did. All the monarchs played musical instruments or sang. And yes, Putin got the morals all wrong. There were executions given for somebody who was caught smoking, drinking, cursing, or exposing their eyes to unbiblical content (porn), in addition to other reasons you might get the death penalty, but the number of times that happened was rare. He even asked me to bang my drum as part of the executions. I didn't. I only play my drum when it is time to perform. ------------- *Ottawa, Canada* [b]Poilievre:[/b] My ultimate goals for Canada are, at the minimum, to return many of this country's domestic policies back to the people by delegating government powers and decision-making to the lowest levels of governments. Taxation, for example, should be decided for the cities and towns by their people, not by higher levels of the government. For our First Nations people, the revenue they generate from their projects and businesses will go to them and no amount of them will be withheld by any level within our government, especially our central government here in Ottawa. I want to reduce the higher levels of our government where the majority of their duties is to have representatives on behalf of their communities. In times of peace these days, it is more ideal to give the citizens more influence on what happens to their local communities than their representatives. As for other things like same-sex marriage, those will continue in Canada without interference. Your immigration policies will continue the same way under me. Returning the power to our people and communities is my ultimate goal and you helped set the road for that. [b]Courtney:[/b] These are very good goals. Ambitious, but great goals. A lot of this sounds like what Leo did for his country, too. [b]Poilievre:[/b] About so, but ultimately, any decisions involving local issues should be up to our citizens and their communities. As for First Nations, we want to support their rights and way of life more. They will continue to deserve our attention first and foremost, as promised under Dominique, who is Levi's Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations. What I also want to implement is a federal law, where any level of government that decides to increase their spending must cut spending somewhere else. It may seem like a bitter pill to swallow at first, but a policy like that, or similar to that, will force all levels of our government to put our people and communities first. Levi opened the road for a fiscally responsible government, and it is excellent. But letting our people decide where the tax money goes to is more important. Taxation will be the policy of our cities and towns and no one higher than that because the higher levels of government already collect taxes from their local government budgets. [b]Dominique:[/b] What about healthcare? [b]Poilievre:[/b] Allocate our healthcare funding to local specialized private clinics to provide efficient and quality care to local residents before our public hospitals. The healthcare industry is rapidly changing around the world as specialized clinics with the latest technologies become more commonplace than hospitals to help alleviate resource use in emergency rooms. Yes, surgical robots are very common, but they're not the only ones that are making healthcare services more efficient, affordable, with better quality. We are also seeing more hospitals specialized in maternity care these days than general hospitals. Thus, instead of government-controlled hospitals, providing local public funding to these private clinics would be a far more efficient solution for our people. We don't need higher levels of the government telling our healthcare workers what to do when they have local governments that will help them serve their residents first. I also like the idea where every civilian has a health savings account with no limit where a portion of their income is deducted into their health savings accounts. Leo experimented with that idea in America, and it actually did wonders, so let's give it a try here and see what happens. [b]Courtney:[/b] Based on your ideas, this also requires more people to work in the administrative side of healthcare, which helps alleviate burdens from our physicians. [b]Poilievre:[/b] Correct. This will make it much faster for claims to be submitted. And don't forget that working from home is popular these days and here in Canada, when it comes to administrative work like that, we have the perfect environment. Of course as typical in our national culture, those who work from home meet up at least once-a-week. Remember, in Canada, we emphasize community and collaboration. America emphasizes individualism and free-will. So even under Levi's and my policies, I still want to take our values into consideration as well. [b]Courtney:[/b] Acceptable, acceptable. Levi, did you have any further questions or concerns for Mr. Poilievre? ------------ *Russia* [b]Elias:[/b] There needs to be more clarification between what Putin wanted and who the Krieglandonians actually are to better understand why Russia's Forsythian community had a problem with his policies. *To Leonid* Your administration leaked a lot of Putin's e-mails, which, like many people around the world, I find rather concerning. In those e-mails, Putin wanted the Forsythians here to engage in abduction against targeted people for "forced conversion" at least. But the Forsythians here told him that what he requested involves invasion of privacy and that they cannot do that. Not to mention, Putin's plans for war in Ukraine sounded similar to what Hitler would do during WWII in Ukraine. Apparently, Putin hasn't even used a mirror when talking about alleged Satanism and Nazism. [b]Vladimir:[/b] Putin has his personal propaganda; that's why. He thinks the reunification of Germany means the revival of Nazism. Apparently he forgot that Zelensky is a Ukrainian Jew. [b]Elias:[/b] Putin has anti-Semitic tendencies, too; yet, that was underreported, even by outside media. As we all know, Russia must remember all the genocides that happened here throughout its history, including the Holocaust, should Russia continue to be part of the world. [b]Civilian 1:[/b] Germany was never a threat to Russia after their reunification. The collapse of the USSR is meant to be an opportunity for us to improve ourselves. I just wished that Yeltsin stayed out of Chechnya and didn't let Putin into the government. Many said that Yeltsin brought the modern golden age to Russia, but to me, he was the start of something darker. I never saw Yeltsin as a hero because if he did, he wouldn't have started the First Chechen War. [b]Civilian 3:[/b] The Third Chechen War was the final one started by Kadyrov against Leonid. That's three wars too many! In this case, third time was not the charm. [b]Civilian 4:[/b] Nope; instead, it was a case of "three strikes and you're out." ------------ *Korea* *Everybody is snowed in as many work from home as others hang out indoors in many places.* [b]Civilian 1:[/b] *In Korean* Wow; wintertime sucks here! It's nothing but snow outside! [b]Civilian 2:[/b] *In Korean* I hear the Americans get worse storms than we do. [b]Civilian 3:[/b] *In Korean* Americans use flamethrowers when they get snowed in, and for some reason from what I heard, it's legal to own one and do not require a license, or at least in most states there. [b]Civilian 2:[/b] *In Korean* What? How is that even possible even under Leo? [b]Civilian 3:[/b] *In Korean* Don't ask me. Apparently that's just how America is set up. [b]Civilian 4:[/b] *In Korean* Elon Musk used to manufacture flamethrowers for his customers and the government didn't even say a thing there. Apparently the Americans have a much more lax definition on what is considered "arms" or "weaponry" there. [b]Civilian 5:[/b] *In Korean* Flamethrowers today are ineffective weapons for military use as one can just shoot the fuel source and kill the user through an explosion yet the GSAF uses them. These days, the deadliest average soldier is a sniper in their own homeland territory. We already learned from WWII about what one Finnish sniper can do against at least 500 men. We have thousands of snipers fairly close to our borders where conventional invasions today are practically impossible. ----------- *Ottawa, Canada* [b]Levi P.:[/b] Those are indeed excellent goals. I also want to put First Nations individuals (human and furry) first. I just thought of something, however. How do you feel about how minimum wage is conducted? Although it is divided up by province, there's also a factor stating the minimum wage, accounting for inflation, has been set at $15.55 per hour, effective later this year if I am not mistaken. This is a ludicrous number given that the cost of living has gone up with it. That's in spite of us having a surplus, although that's partially resulting from the fact Cripto unconsciously bailed us out of death; he was having a nightmare one night, he said, and he went to bed with the U.S. in debt. He woke up the next morning, and hey, presto; there was enough money to retire the debt 500 times over. I revealed to him recently that when he did that, he accidentally did the same thing to Canada. However, most people don't know that; they think it was just an act of God. If this doesn't work, how would you change it? Also, do you think this number is too high? ----------------- *Russia* [b]Leonid:[/b] No, it wasn't. Kadyrov could have just asked me nicely, and we would have been able to talk something out. But, no. He had to resort to violence, and he paid the ultimate price for it. And for the record, I do not view Yelstin as a hero either. *to Elias* What I'm most thankful for is the fact we didn't have to get Lennart involved; even I am afraid of him, and I am his Russian counterpart. How's he doing? [b]Civilian 3:[/b] What the Viking does...oh, I don't want to think about it! [b]Civilian 2:[/b] Nobody does. It's too terrifying. On the other hand, the world is ultimately a better place because he's in it. ----------------- *Korea* *Kyu cleans out his driveway once it is safe.* [b]Kyu:[/b] *to himself in English* Not the first time I've had to do this. ----------- *Ottawa, Canada* [b]Poilievre:[/b] I do think the minimum wage is awfully high. More countries are doing away with minimum wage laws because they are the source of inflation. You can't increase wealth by forcing businesses to pay more for their workers. You also have the rise of robotics and technology to tackle labor costs; thus, training workers on new skills is what actually brings more wealth than having minimum wage laws. Technology performs jobs that serves our wants and needs for the most part. But with people, they serve to expand businesses to continue to serve the community. Of course, there will always be jobs that require people, but as the world changes, so do we. I think getting rid of minimum wage laws will be a great start of cost control, which is the complete opposite of what Trudeau was doing, which is legislating costs. When you legislate costs and prices without considering their sources, you are going to run out of resources. In other words, we are referring to socialism, along with policies that the GSAF wants. We will not allow that here. [b]Courtney:[/b] I see. The Zanicchi Administration has done away with federal laws regarding the minimum wage because of those issues. [b]Poilievre:[/b] Leo chose the right experts to carry out his vision for America, and what a job he has done so far. Same with Levi here, and I want to take his vision further here. [b]Dominique:[/b] Understandable. Anything else you want to say, Levi? ------------- *Russia* [b]Elias:[/b] He's actually doing great. Even better is that your enemies didn't get to see nor feel his presence. Sadly one of your enemies died to his own comrade's mistakes. Even worse is that I didn't get to deliver him soap to clean himself of his sins before he died. [b]Civilian 4:[/b] Nah don't worry about it because in the end, karma bit him for his mistakes and crimes. ---------------- *Ottawa, Canada* [b]Levi:[/b] That's true; during Trudeau's second era before that coup, the new wage was set. I may be wrong, but I think that was when it happened. Some companies will still pay those rates, though; down in the US, Walmart just raised its starting pay to anywhere from $14/hour to $19/hour, depending on the department. I can remember when I last visited Wildcat City, for instance, I heard someone saying when they started there that they were in the highest-paying department and were making $6.50/hour. How times have changed. I don't think I have any more questions right now. ----------------- *Russia* [b]Leonid:[/b] Oh, that's good. I meant about Lennart, not Kadyrov. I, too, wish we could have saved him for the law, just as I did with Prigozhin; in his case, he died from a falling chandelier. They put up a new chandelier when they rebuilt the Kremlin. ------------------ ------------------ [b]Leo:[/b] [i](narrating)[/i] Sounds as if Canada has a bright future ahead of them. Levi is not going away anytime soon, though; he's just retiring from politics. He's already retired from his position as a Mountee, because he did that when he got into politics. We move on to the next highlight, which isn't a pretty one. It does prove that there's always somebody that will be doing stupid things. ------------------ ------------------ *Later, life continues on as normal peacefully.* *Washington D.C., USA* [b]Zax:[/b] All right. Since Leo was President, we did agriculture, sports, and wildlife as themes for his birthday. So for this year, I'm thinking music in Wildcat City! [b]Shadow Hunter:[/b] I was thinking about aviation. [b]Marshall:[/b] I was thinking robotics and manufacturing. [b]Juno:[/b] Space-themed? Though music in Wildcat City would be the best choice. On top of that, Furry Fury would partake in that theme with their performances in Wildcat City. [b]Zachary:[/b] Music-themed birthday party for Leo in Wildcat City. [b]Zax:[/b] Yeah; let's do that. After all, we're going to assume things will be fairly slow this year. *To Leo* Let's make your birthday plans music-themed in glorious Wildcat City this year, since we are going to assume that this year will be slow and peaceful. What do you think about that? ------------------ *Reykjavik, Iceland* *As Snowstorm and the others help clear the snow with shovels, at least two policemen are chasing a foreign drunkard on foot.* [b]Police 1:[/b] *In Icelandic* We haven't had anything like this for years! [b]Police 2:[/b] *In Icelandic* What a way to start this year! *On communicator.* We got a foreign drunkard on foot; initiating pursuit! [b]Drunkard:[/b] *Runs right into Snowstorm and falls back.* Ow! [b]Snowstorm:[/b] Hey! What's your problem? [b]Drunkard:[/b] *His vision clears up but is still drunk.* What is this place and why are you so huge? *Notices Leonhard the Mighty Lion, Leo's Icelandic parallel.* Holy {BLEEP}! You're gigantic. Why are you so tall and extremely muscular? What are you?! [b]Police 2:[/b] *In Icelandic as he handcuffs the drunkard.* Got him! [b]Drunkard:[/b] *Looks up to Leonhard.* Good {BLEEP} {BLEEP}; you're so {BLEEP} big and tall! Your hands are huge, too! Who are you?! [b]Police 1:[/b] *In Icelandic* Should we tell him who he is? [b]Police 2:[/b] *In Icelandic* Nah. He's going to learn before we deport him. [b]Civilian 1:[/b] *In Icelandic* Drunken foreigners are so rare here. What is he doing here? [b]Civilian 2:[/b] *In Icelandic* I don't know but this usually doesn't happen, especially during this season. [b]Civilian 3:[/b] *In Icelandic* What's up with him, and why is he here? [b]Drunkard:[/b] *To Leonhard* Where is your shirt?! How do you go outside in this weather like this?! Are you not freezing to death?! ---------- [b]Leonhard the Mighty Lion:[/b] [i](narrating in English)[/i] A bit embarrassing, but the man was drunk. What I was doing was seen as normal in our culture. Hot or cold weather, I parade around on my bare paws with no shirt. Sometimes, I'll have a top part if I am to wear a suit-and-tie combination, or a drum major uniform, but I still live barefoot. ------------ *Washington, D.C., USA* [b]Leo:[/b] I thought that we had made our minds up already, but yes; let us go ahead and make Wildcat City our spot for this year's Independence Day celebrations, with a music theme. That way we can celebrate America's musical heritage. The Golden Fife and Drum Corps, for example, can be a featured ensemble of the parade. I always said the field drum (rope-tensioned snare drum) was a sacred symbol of American patriotism. [b]Tom:[/b] You, Zachary (if he is willing), and I can do a live recreation of that painting, Spirit of '76, because you are drummers, and I play the fife among other instruments. I also play the bugle. [b]Leo:[/b] *to Zachary* Are you up for that, soldier? ------------ *Iceland* [b]Leonhard:[/b] *to the drunkard* What's the matter? Have you never seen a talking lion before? *He sniffs the air.* Yep; he's drunk, all right! *in Icelandic to the cops* Get him out of here! ------------ *Iceland* *The police takes the drunkard to the police station to book him for public intoxication before deporting him through a recall pod, which for some reason, sends him to the front of the White House instead.* [b]Police 1:[/b] *In Icelandic* There he won't be coming back ever again. [b]Police 2:[/b] *In Icelandic* Hopefully we don't have to deal with this again. ----------------- *Washington D.C., USA* [b]Zachary:[/b] I can help out with that! [b]Shadow Lord Coy:[/b] Hey; let me join! [b]Mechayote:[/b] Don't leave me out! *The sound of a recall pod landing on front of the White House is heard.* [b]Zax:[/b] What was that? [b]Shadow Hunter:[/b] I'll take a look. *He goes outside and opens the recall pod and sees a drunkard shivering in fear on the ground.* Are you- *Sniffs the air.* Drunk? [b]Drunkard:[/b] This... This lion is huge! His arms are thick and strong like tree trunks! His body is built like a mountain! He's huge! And the other Icelandic male furs... Are they usually that big?! [b]Shadow Hunter:[/b] Iceland? What were you doing there?! [b]Drunkard:[/b] Just wanted to spend some time alone and party alone. I thought I'd be safe because Iceland looked like a lonely country at first. But still! That lion! What the {BLEEP} is he made of and why is he so {BLEEP} huge?! [b]Shadow Hunter:[/b] You met Leo's Icelandic parallel? [b]Drunkard:[/b] So that's what he was the whole time?! He makes Leo look so tiny! He wasn't even wearing a shirt, and he looks like he crushes boulders with his bare hands! He's got huge hands! I don't understand how he isn't freezing to death in his country! Is he a superhero? [b]Police 1:[/b] What's going on here? [b]Drunkard:[/b] *He stumbles out of the recall pod and tries to run but keeps stumbling.* Ooof! Ow, ow! [b]Police 2:[/b] Great; right in front of the White House, too! ------------- *Iceland* [b]Leonhard:[/b] *to himself in English* Good riddance! *He goes back into his home and begins to rehearse another timpani solo.* ---------------- *Washington, D.C., USA* [b]Leo:[/b] *to the drunkard* You weren't hallucinating; Icelandic male furs are like that. *The police handcuff the drunkard.* [b]Tom:[/b] Take him away! *They do so. Leo then contacts Snowstorm.* [b]Leo:[/b] *via G-52 app* Hi; it's President Zanicchi. If you deported a drunk person out of Iceland back into the States, we just apprehended him. He apparently can't wrap his head around how Leonhard parades around in the cold weather without a shirt and doesn't freeze to death. I think he also pads if I am not mistaken. Did you deal with this drunkard? ------------ *Iceland* [b]Snowstorm:[/b] He does pad, and as for that drunkard, I wasn't even aware that he was here when he ran into me. We're buried under several snowstorms, and, ironically enough (due to my name), I'm helping my people shovel the snow out of the way here. And, yes; it's common for Icelandic male furries to be hugely tall and muscular like that. It's why we have Drumbums here. I guess he forgot the obvious fact that we descended from the Vikings here. [b]Civilian 4:[/b] *In Icelandic* I guess we're not safe from foreign weirdos, huh? [b]Civilian 5:[/b] *In Icelandic* I'm afraid not. [b]Guitar Guardian:[/b] *In Icelandic* That's what happens when you drop your guard. We may be a safe country, but always watch your surroundings. ------------ *Washington, D.C., USA* [b]Shadow Hunter:[/b] *Walks back into the White House.* That's just strange. Why would a random guy go to Iceland to get drunk there? [b]Zax:[/b] Good question. [b]Jack:[/b] He probably thought no one would know but forgets the fact that everybody in Iceland knows each other meaning the entire country knows about this drunkard now. [b]Marshall:[/b] Iceland is one of the worst countries to get drunk in because of that reason. Thailand is arguably the worst country to get drunk in due to the country being the transgender capital of Earth and lets just say the drunkards who think they're hanging out with women are actually men in disguise, where once they sober up, they start freaking out. [b]Zax:[/b] Sounds like New Years parties in Thailand are quite interesting and disturbing. [b]Marshall:[/b] You could say that. Weather Wolf tells me that Bangkok, Phuket, and Pattaya are Thai cities that are no strangers to seeing drunken passed out tourists all over the streets every January 1. [b]Zax:[/b] Lek is a saint to keep his cool then. [b]Marshall:[/b] He has to, and he's better off to just let the Thai cops do the work in deporting them for public intoxication. ----------- *Iceland* *Leonhard continues his percussion practice. Sometimes he marches while drumming.* ------------------ *Washington, D.C., USA* [b]Leo:[/b] *to Snowstorm via app* Well, in any case, great job on apprehending him and sending him back to us. As we speak, he's being taken to prison for being drunk and disorderly. My guess is he wanted to find a place where nobody would suspect him. -------- *Laos* *Loy the Mountain Lion bangs on his drums while his disciples practice their Muay Lao.* --------- *Iceland* [b]Snowstorm:[/b] Iceland wouldn't be the place for that, because we know each other very well across this country here. ------------- --------------- [b]Len the Outback Lion:[/b] [i](narrating)[/i] If you thought that was bad, just take a look at what was happening on the other side of the world, underneath the equator. [b]Renata the Maori Lion:[/b] [i](narrating)[/i] It wasn't the first time New Zealand had flooding. Still, it was frustrating. --------- --------- *Later, the city of Auckland in New Zealand gets flooded so badly, mass evacuations have been planned ahead of time to get everybody to head down south. The city's drainage systems got so overloaded, their lower floors got flooded. There is, of course, ongoing severe thunderstorms.* ---------- *Auckland, New Zealand* *David S. a Kiwi UN1024 fox, is in a dropship rescuing stranded survivors from the rooftops.* [b]David S.:[/b] Good heavens I haven't seen anything like this before! [b]Soldier 1:[/b] Here's the worst part; this isn't even record-breaking. Auckland has suffered worse before. [b]Soldier 2:[/b] So much rain here! I can't see anything past a few meters! [b]David S.:[/b] Renata is in a separate dropship helping survivors. [b]Civilian 1:[/b] *He lights up a flare and drops it on the rooftop.* Over here! [b]David S.:[/b] They're using flares! Help them! *He prepares to throw out a ladder for the survivors.* [b]Civilian 2:[/b] I didn't think this could be possible here! [b]David S.:[/b] Let me give you a hand! *He deploys a ladder to help the survivors as they climb up to safety.* [b]Civilian 3:[/b] I should've left earlier! But man this place is a mess! Everything is flooded up to the brim and it's going to get worse with this storm! [b]Civilian 4:[/b] *Watches a streetlamp get snapped off from the ground due to the flood.* Oh; it's bad! It's bad! [b]David S.:[/b] Wow I didn't think that was going to happen. *He calls the G-52s on his headset.* Super C and Cripto! Can you send everything you got here in Auckland? This city is not only flooded to the brim, we're having nonstop storms here! We still have survivors on the rooftops and some are using flares to get attention! [b]Civilian 5:[/b] Everything's went from bad to worse! Somebody save us from Auckland! *Several military dropships arrive to search for survivors.* [b]Dropship Pilot 1:[/b] The storm is too strong! It's going to be challenging to remain stable in midair! [b]Dropship Pilot 2:[/b] Just do the best you can! You got this! *Nearly gets hit by thunder.* WHOA! I almost got hit by lightning! ------------- *Washington D.C., USA* [b]Mechayote:[/b] *On his communicator.* Cripto! Can you warp some of us to New Zealand, please? Auckland is flooded to the brim with nonstop storms. -------- *G-52 HQ* [b]Cripto's voice:[/b] [i]Here they come. I'm going to go there myself shortly.[/i] *He provides portals, and we warp.* ---------------- *New Zealand* *We arrive, and Cripto is airborne, helping out. Captain Kiwi arrives on the scene. It seems the entire G-52 organization is on the scene; even Leo's parallels. Nobody panics at the sight of Lennart, however; everybody instead is thankful he's helping them out.* [b]Cripto:[/b] How are you holding up? [b]Captain Kiwi:[/b] We're doing the best we can. [b]Lennart the Viking Lion:[/b] I'm here to help you folks; don't panic because it is me! [b]Civilian 5:[/b] I'll take you over this! This is almost Noah's Ark level of flooding! I know the whole world won't flood, but this reminds me of that story. [b]David S.:[/b] *He helps pull in more survivors.* Whew! We still got room! *Another lightning strike occurs, followed by thunder.* [b]Civilian 4:[/b] Watch out for lightning, guys! The wind here is picking up! [b]Mechayote:[/b] *He picks up Civilian 4 and puts him into a dropship.* There. [b]David S.:[/b] We do have our rainstorms, but nothing like this. *A destroyed GSAF aerial drone is seen floating on the flood.* [b]Soldier 1:[/b] What is that? [b]David S.:[/b] Looks like a spying drone. [b]Soldier 2:[/b] Don't worry about it! Focus on the survivors first! *The other G-52s help the civilians also.* [b]Super C:[/b] Oh, no; not another GSAF weapon! [b]Renata:[/b] It's busted, though; nature is really furious with the terrorists. [b]Lennart:[/b] That's good. *He helps the civilians into the dropship.* [b]David S.:[/b] *He helps Lennart into his dropship.* There! Looks like that's everybody! -------------- ---------------- --------- [b]Renata:[/b] [i](narrating)[/i] And that was everybody. What we don't know is what the GSAF was doing in New Zealand, but it's obvious that nature is picking up where CNG left off, except CNG wanted the humans dead first. Nature is punishing all evildoers, regardless of whether they are animal or human. However, this wasn't that kind of case. That was just the way the weather was choosing to behave. We will keep everybody posted on any necessary updates. In the meantime, we are grateful to the entire G-52 organization (even Lennart) for their help in getting the citizens to safety. [b]Leo:[/b] [i](narrating)[/i] We would oversee the rebuilding of Auckland after the flooding, showing how the surplus from Cripto's donations would be put to good use. However, we'll take a break here and pick it up next time. The next Pro Bowl and Super Bowl LVII are coming up shortly, so stay tuned for that. We'll feature highlights from our perspective for that as well, since some of (if not all of) the G-52s and their allies always attend it in person. Even if I was not President, I'd be going to it. Thanks, folks; have a good evening. -------------- [color=aqua][b]THE END[/b][/color]