As some of may or may not know, Soap Lady has ressurected the Plush Universe in a brand new story involving Kain. (It's number 3242997 . Forget about this incomplete scrap, go read and review it right now.)
It's thanks to her effort that I decided to go through my archives, where I discovered this incomplete scrap from December 2004. It's unfinished, unchanged from when I lost steam and gave up.
Late one afternoon, there was a knock at the door. Jennifer opened it to find a woman and a young boy standing on her porch. The boy was completely involved with the gameboy in his hand.
"Hello?" Jennifer asked apprehensively.
"We have never met, but I believe you know me as Zaran," the woman said.
Recognition lit in Jennifer's eyes. "Yes, we've talked online." She stepped out onto the porch. "What brings you here?"
"It wasn't easy," Zaran said. "Chris still had your old address, and the landlord gave me your new address, as well as some mail that didn't get redirected."
Jennifer took the offered envelopes. "Why are you stalking me?"
"Because Raziel and Janos are living with you. Kakarot told me about it." Zaran said.
Jennifer rolled her eyes. "Figures. By the way, who's the kid?"
Zaran gave the boy a distasteful look. "It turns out that I've got an aunt in town, so I decided to visit her so I could come here. Greg's my cousin, and I couldn't leave the house without dragging him along."
"Wait here," Jennifer said, "I'll see if Raziel wants to meet you. He's not fond of rabid fangirls, but he won't hurt you if you're nice."
"I'm not rabid," Zaran pouted. "What about Janos?"
Jennifer shrugged. "I'm not sure where he goes, but he's not here at the moment."
When Raziel came out, Zaran said, "You don't look anything like what I imagined."
"I am Raziel," he said.
Zaran's face lifted when she heard his voice. "How did you manage to change your appearance?"
Raziel shrugged "It's something that I picked up. I can't do much in this world as a wraith."
They left Zaran's cousin sitting in the parlor with his gameboy and went out to the garden to chat. For a while, their conversation was no different than ones that Raziel had with other fans.
"You know, Jennifer used to have a little plushy of your wraith form," Zaran pondered. "Have you seen it?"
Raziel considered how best to answer that for a moment. "Yes," he said confidently.
"Do you know where it is now?" Zaran asked.
Raziel waffled uncomfortably.
Zaran apparently did not notice Raziel's hesitations. "I tried using the patterns that she uploaded to make my own, but I'm hopeless at sewing."
That got Raziel's attention. "What do you mean, you tried using the pattern?" he demanded.
Zaran smiled. "Everyone was jealous that Jennifer had managed to make a plushy. She made a couple for other people, but the company told her to stop. They didn't have any problem with her sharing the pattern, though."
Raziel shuddered and lost control of his form.
"What's wrong?" Zaran asked.
"It's nothing," Raziel said. "I just have trouble maintaining that handsome disguise sometimes."
"You know, your wraith form has its own charms," Zaran said. She pondered for a moment. "How did you manage to get out of Nosgoth, anyway?"
Raziel shook his head. "I have to take care of something. If you'll excuse me…"
"Of course," Zaran said. She watched Raziel as he quickly walked away.
Raziel found Jennifer in the kitchen. "Zaran just told me that you made other plushies of me and gave them to people," he said angrily.
Jennifer turned off the burners on the stove. She wasn't sure if Raziel was in his wraith form deliberately or because of his emotional state, but she decided not to upset him further by telling him that she'd sold the plushies instead of simply giving them away.
"I didn't know at the time that I could pull you out of the game when I did it," Jennifer explained calmly. "I had you for months before I even dreamed of trying it."
"How many others are there?" Raziel asked testily.
Jennifer thought for a moment. "Four," Jennifer said then she reconsidered. "Wait, one of them never got finished, and the other one was a different character that was supposed to look almost exactly like you."
"So there are two others out there," Raziel said, slouching against the counter.
"By my hand," Jennifer said, sensing that she was going to make Raziel upset again. "I'm not sure how many people got a hold of the pattern before I pulled it off the net. I know there was at least one."
Though Raziel's head was tilted slightly away from her, Jennifer could sense that the wraith had turned his focus directly at her. Jennifer couldn't remember any other time when the gaze from those glowing sockets had unnerved her.
"I'm sorry, Raziel."
Raziel lifted his head so that he was staring directly at Jennifer. "For what, exactly?"
Jennifer took a deep breath. "For the other plushies, for bringing you here, I'm not sure." Jennifer tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "For the way I've treated you."
Raziel gently clasped Jennifer's shoulders. "You've been the kinder to me than most of the people I've met. As for the other plushies, that was a mistake, wasn't it?"
"Yeah," Jennifer said, meeting Raziel's gaze.
Raziel stepped back from Jennifer. "I suppose that there's nothing to be done, now. What are the chances that those others could become sentient?"
Jennifer blinked in surprise as she thought about this. "I'm really not sure. It might be that a person could only call a plushy that they sewed themselves. I've never tried it."
Raziel shifted back into his human form. The half-cooked meal forgotten, he and Jennifer walked back outside to find Zaran talking with Azrael. Raziel noticed Azrael's mischievous grin.
"Don't even think of it," Raziel warned the vampire.
"What?" Azrael asked innocently.
"I know what you are thinking; I can see it on your face," Raziel said.
"What I think is my own business," Azrael retorted.
"Not when you're going to act on it," Raziel insisted. "I can sense your hunger."
Zaran backed away suddenly and turned to Jennifer. "I thought you said that Raziel wasn't likely to hurt me."
"The wraith probably wouldn't, but Azrael might," Jennifer said.
"I only wanted a taste," Azrael insisted.
"You don't need blood," Raziel said firmly.
"Need has nothing to do with desire," Azrael said. "Don't you ever crave it?"
"No," Raziel said.
"I was getting jealous that you have two of them," Zaran said, "but I think that I'm glad that they're your problem."
Jennifer nodded. "It's even worse when Kain drops by. Fortunately, he doesn't stay very long or that often."
"They're plushies, aren't they?" Zaran asked.
Everyone stared at her in shocked silence. After a moment, Azrael declared, "I am not a plushy," and stomped away.
"What makes you say that, Za?" Jennifer asked uncomfortably.
"You had a Raziel plush, but now it's not around. The fact that Raziel got very uncomfortable when I mentioned it leads me to believe that he knows that he's that plush," Zaran said confidently.
Jennifer opened her mouth in an effort to contradict Zaran, but Raziel laid a hand on Jennifer's shoulder.
"It's true," Raziel said.
"Wow," Zaran said. "What about Azrael?"
"He's a plush, even though he denies it. They all are," Jennifer said in surrender.
They all went inside as Jennifer and Raziel explained a bit more about the strange situation. Brightflame had been in a state of hibernation so that she would look like an ordinary stuffed dragon, but at Jennifer's invitation she joined in the conversation.
"Don't bring it up around Janos," Jennifer added as an end to the account. "He's very uncomfortable about that."
"I can imagine," Zaran said. "It's still amazing. No wonder you've taken down the link to the photos and the pattern."
Jennifer nodded. "I can't keep people like you from remembering, but I can keep the new fanatics from having all the pieces."
"I suppose that I can't beg you to make a plushy for me," Zaran said sadly.
"Why?" Jennifer asked, grimacing a little.
"Well, if Janos is a plush, that means that you must know how to do him." Zaran blushed. "I don't want the real thing, but I would love to have a Janos doll to snuggle."
Jennifer grinned nervously. "You'd have to talk to him to see if it's okay."
Zaran squeaked. "I couldn't do that."
Raziel stared at Zaran. "You like him, don't you?"
Zaran was saved from having to answer that question when her cousin came into the room and said, "Can we go soon? My batteries are dead."
"This is more important than Pokemon," Zaran said angrily.
Raziel grabbed something off of Greg's jacket. "What's this?" he asked, holding a tiny stuffed creature.
"That's a Squirtle," Greg said, "It's my favorite Pokemon."
Raziel gave Jennifer an odd look. "You were wondering if you could pull a character into another person's plushy."
Jennifer's eyes widened in shock. "Raziel, no."
"What's going on?" Greg quietly asked.
"Jennifer can bring video game characters to life," Zaran explained to him. She turned to Jennifer. "Personally, I'd love to see how you do it."
Jennifer rooted around in a drawer for some batteries and handed them to Zaran's cousin. "I'm not sure if I could do it with a Pokemon, and even if I could, I'm not sure if I should."
"I imagine that you could do it," Brightflame commented.
Greg's eyes were alight. "I would do anything for a real-live Squirtle!"
Jennifer shrunk back under the weight of three intense gazes. Finally, she asked, "Do you have any pets, Greg?"
"I had a dog, but he got too old," Greg said sadly.
"You are to treat the Pokemon as you would a real pet," Jennifer said.
"I promise," Greg said enthusiastically.
Jennifer took the miniature Squirtle from Raziel and pulled some hairs from her head. She also took hair from Zaran and Greg. "This will give you control over the plush," Jennifer explained. "Za, I leave it to you to take the Squirtle if Greg can't care for it."
"Okay," Zaran said, though the thought of taking care of a pokemon didn't appeal to her.