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Zeppo paced around me.
"So, what you're saying is, that guy was drunk?"
I nodded. "Only reasonable explanation. He was staggering around like he was, and he was slurring his words."
Zeppo snorted. "He staggers and slurs a bit, so he's drunk? He could have been high for all we know."
"But he wasn't," I retorted, "and you know full well that there would have been other signs."
Zeppo sighed. "I know. I just can't believe that he could defeat thost thing while drunk, while that kid... he couldn't fight them off while sober."
"Get over it." I nudged Zeppo with my shoulder. "We knew him for a day, not even."
Zeppo nodded. "'Kay. Now, let's get back to finding some people to help us. Starting with that DiPi guy. Why did you let him join us when we didn't even know him? We still don't know him. All we know is that his name is DiPi and that he knows how to fight."
"Pretty damn well," I added. "He fought off those things alone without a weapon a hell of a lot better that we could have."
"Are we letting him join?" Zeppo asked. "We don't know him. He could very well be a safety risk."
"I told you already, I've already allowed him to come with us. If things turn ugly, both of us will be able to defeat him."
Zeppo snorted, then turned and walked away.
"What's his problem?"
I jumped a good foot or two into the air, then spun around. "Jesus Christ!"
DiPi looked at me ponderingly. "What?"
I shook my head. "Geez. Try not to sneak up on me like that.
DiPi looked confused. "Am I that quiet?"
I snorted. He was either drunk, high, or just plain wierd. "Yes. Did you want anything?"
"Yeah. I was wondering why that guy... um, Zeppo, right? Well, I was wondering why he looked so pished off."
I noted the slur. He was drunk, after all. "Speaking of which, are you always drunk? Drunk in a battle, that takes some skill... or stupidity. Which would you be?"
DiPi burst out laughing. "Skill! Duh!" His laughter grew louder and more hysterical.
I held out one hand in front of me. "Are you sure you're not high?"
DiPi took a few audible breaths and stopped laughing. "Nah, just drunk. I'm always like that. Gives me my fighting style. 'DiPi style', I like to call it. Gives me some originality. No copying other peoples' styles. I used to live near this group of newfags, and they all idolized Terkoiz."
"The guy who defeated everyone except for Hyun?"
"Yeah, him. Every single one of them was trying to emulate his style. Then, when the FAgs came-"
I cut DiPi off. "FAgs? Like, capital eff, capital ay?"
"Yeah. They've come here recently, and there's been riots all over the place. They've been here for weeks, and the riots are a fraction of as bad as they've been, but they've been spreading out more."
"You're telling me that there are Fluidanims rioters here? In Stickpage?"
DiPi looked at me like I was from-well, from the Pivot section. "Haven't you heard about the merge?"
"No."
DiPi whistled through his teeth. "You're out of touch. Where do you live?"
"Doesn't matter. What merge?"
"Fluidanims merged with us. The borders were erased. We're now officially one country."
I felt my jaw drop, and made a physical effort to being my teeth together. "So, those rioters Zeppo and I saw the other day..."
"Those were probably the remnants of the major riots. Did you really not know about the merge? Crazy Jay himself came to make the announcement."
I snorted, disbelieving. "Crazy Jay never makes announcements any more."
"That just proves how important the merge was," DiPi replied. "Fluidanims people even hold government positions."
I shrugged. "That's no big deal. We're merging as equals, right?"
"Right."
"So, it just makes sense that those who held positions of power there should hold them here, as well. The merge'll probably give our population and economy a boost, one that we pretty desperately needed, after the attacks. If they didn't riot, there would have been nothing wrong with the merge."
A look of confusion passed over DiPi's face. "The riots...? Those were actually mostly Stickpage members, who didn't want any former Fluidanims officials to have any official standing in our government. I'd thought that the riots were all over..."
