If you haven't read The Sting, Part I, you'll want to read that first. If you have, you'll remember that Stephen and Brunnen-G were hatching a devious plot, and that I was volunteered to help out by removing operator status from all the regular operators (which include Stephen and, more importantly, Darien) so that Darien would not be able to foil the scheme by checking the IP addresses of those involved and thereby finding them out.

At this point, the most recent twenty lines or so in the chat room suddenly disappear, for reasons that will be explained later.

Nyperold: Huh?
Stephen: Wait... what just happened?
gremlinn007: Time travel.
Kaz: Did a whole pile of the chat log disappear for you guys, or was it just me?
* Stephen is suddenly confused
Nyperold: It's a white hole.
Nyperold: "White hole, spewing time, please advise."
Kaz: Must be the y2k-and-12-days bug
Brunnen_G: What was that all about?
Darien: That was strange. Was that just me?
Stephen: Darien: Nope :)
Sam: Um.
Sam: We are having technical difficulties.
Brunnen_G: Is that the thing you were trying to fix, Sam?
Sam: No, that's what happened when I *tried* to fix what I was going to fix.
Kaz: oh.
Sam: I think we're ok now.
Darien: What's going on? Uh, I've been deopped?
Stephen: Darien: So've I. Sam's apparently doing some meddling :P
Brunnen_G: Darien: It's something Sam's trying to fix
Sam: Darien: I needed to remove the ops while I'm mucking with the chat script here. They'll be back.
[Stephen->Brunnen_G] So..uh, how do I start?
[Brunnen_G->Stephen] I don't know, just do something... :-)
[Stephen->Brunnen_G] Okay, will do
Radebur: darien i think you cuased the problem!! lol
Darien: Who's Radebur?
Darien: I don't think I've seen him before.
Brunnen_G: He was on a couple of nights ago, I think he's new
Radebur: i am new... and i am radebur!! :)
Nyperold: How do you say that?
Radebur: man you guyz ask a lot of questinons!
Radebur: nypeorld you say it radebur
Radebur: like ra de bur
Darien: Either he's new, or he's Liface. Heh. :-}
Brunnen_G: Oh right, Darien. More Lifaces is exactly what we need around here.
[Brunnen_G->Stephen] Keep abusing Darien about causing the chatroom problem. That was lucky. We can go from there.
Radebur: darien no am not liface. u crashed the chat not me!! lol!!!!~
Rivikah: radebur:your name may yet confuse me. it looks too much like someone really confused trying to spell my last name with first initial
Radebur: rikivah huh? i am radebur you r rikivah
Rivikah: yah yah. but real life. debur looks like someone misspelling my last name and my first name begins with R
Radebur: rikivah whatever
gremlinn007: radebur -> rude bar
Radebur: gremlin0007 no it is ra de bur NOT rude bar!!!!
Brunnen_G: Sheesh. It is Liface.
Darien: B_G: You might be right :-}{
* Stephen yawns, and sort of wishes he was still opped
Nyperold: Sam, can you ip?
Radebur: jeez i am not liface!!!! i am radebur or terry
Darien: So what's happening tonight?
Stephen: Darien: Not a whole lot. Well, until you came in, of course (actually, I've been gone... I hear a pun session happened)
Darien: Ooh...
Kaz has left.
Finchplucker has entered.
Finchplucker: Hello all.
Nyperold: Hello Finch.
Brunnen_G: Hello Finch!
gremlinn007: hey Finch
Darien: Hey, Finch!
Radebur: finchplucker hi that is a wierd name
Radebur: darien are you like that guy from that show bewitched???
Brunnen_G: Ah, we have another Liface in here, it looks like, Finch
Nyperold: We've gotten used to it.
Finchplucker: Oh, more Lifaces?
* Darien wishes Sam would come back
* Stephen yawns once more. Shoo Radebur, shoo.
Radebur: stephen u are a idiot
Finchplucker: Stephen: What happened to that nice little op in green brackets?
Stephen: Finch: Sam's mucking with the chat...sigh.
Nyperold: ops are down temporarily...
Radebur: what is ops???
Nyperold: kicks are disabled...
Nyperold: Sam can't even /administeralethalinjectionto anyone.
Darien: Nyp: / adminlethalinjection??
Brunnen_G: Darien: That was something Sam was doing before
Brunnen_G: About Nyperold's puns
Radebur: finchpucker r u a bird??
[Brunnen_G->Stephen] I'm going to suggest to Darien that Rad is Sam now
[Stephen->Brunnen_G] Good call :)
Brunnen_G: Maybe Rad is really Sam playing with us while he's away.
Stephen: BG: LOL! He would do something like that!
Radebur: i am not sam or liface or anyone but radebur or terry
Finchplucker: Hey Radebur, are you a guy?
Radebur: finchplucker yes i am
Radebur: a/s/l!?!?!
Stephen: Uhhh... Rad, kindly knock it off
[Finchplucker->Stephen] Just ignore him, he just wants attention.
* Darien is getting a little irritated
Radebur: darien you are irritated??? lol maybe you shouldnt have borken the chat!!!! lol!!!
Darien: Can't someone kick this moron?
Radebur: darien i am not a moron!!!
Rivikah: no one's here to do any such thing.
Darien: This would happen when Sam is away.
* Darien pouts
[Stephen->Brunnen_G] So should I pretend to be possessed?
[Brunnen_G->Stephen] yeah!
Radebur: darien u r stupid
Radebur: would somboedy kick daren?
Radebur: he is abusing me!!!
Brunnen_G: Radebur, will you lay off? Or at least start using better spelling. :-P
Rivikah: no one can kick darien and the fact that you wuould call him stupid aptly demonstrates the fact that the situation is the other way around...
* Nyperold wishes someone could demonstrate the secret weapon.
Radebur: Sam could do something about me, seeing as he is all-powerful. But he finds it sort of amusing, and hopes it teaches you all to use your ops better.
Radebur: wut!?!?! i didnt rite that!! i think chat is busted again!!!
Darien: Heh. It is Sam.
Stephen: LOL
Brunnen_G: LOL. It's Sam, all right
gremlinn007: At least it was, for a second.
Finchplucker: Doh, stupid Sam and his stupid tricks.
Radebur: darien u broke chat again!!!
* Darien would like to know what he ever did to Sam to deserve this
Radebur: This is not Sam. He's far too clever for such childish games.
Brunnen_G: Well, it sure as heck isn't Liface. *grin*
Radebur: what!?!?!!?
Radebur: theres something wrong with my computer!!! i think theres a virus!!!
Radebur has left.
Stephen: LOL. Hahahahaha :)
gremlinn007: he's been ahcked!!
Darien: OK, I'm confused.
Brunnen_G: You're not the only one, Darien
Nyperold: Sam just "Revenge"d someone.
Rivikah: that was very interesting. I think I'll go to bed now. I've had far too much excitement for one day
Rivikah has left.
Liface has entered.
Darien: Gah. Now we have Liface too.
Radebur has entered.
Radebur: oky i'm back!
Brunnen_G: Liface and Radebur, oh terrific!
Radebur: i ran scandisk and something was broken but now its better
Darien: Scandisk? Err...
Nyperold: Did Norton find anything? :)
Liface: Darien: I now have your rinkworks password
Liface: I now havve Brunnen-g's password too
Liface: I have Finch's password
Liface: Hint: cal me liface'
Radebur: ok so whats up???? i see darien is still here you idiot
* Darien sulks. He *knows* it's Sam.
Kiki has entered.
Kiki: helloha
Brunnen_G: Hello Kiki
Balanthalus: hi Kiki
Darien: Hey Kikiki!
Nyperold: Hello again Kiki!
* Liface wants to know if Radebur is bad
Radebur: lifcae no im not
Liface: Oh ok
Liface: good you didn't say liface. If you did, i'd have your password
Liface: So who are you in disguise
Kiki has left.
Brunnen_G: You totally do not have my password. Give me a break.
Liface: eric_sleator, i do
Brunnen_G: eric_sleator? This guy is getting weirder by the minute.
Liface: I'm lying when I dont say your real name
Liface: If i address you Brunnen_G, I am telling the truth
[Stephen->Brunnen_G] So... should I msg Darien and tell him Rad is somebody else?
[Brunnen_G->Stephen] OOOH. Nasty!!! ....yep
* Darien slinks into a corner and cries
[Stephen->Brunnen_G] Oh, wait, I'm thinking we should pull the Craig thing again
[Brunnen_G->Stephen] OK, have Rad call me Craig
[Stephen->Brunnen_G] and then I'll tell Darien I'm you :)
Radebur: craig shut up
Brunnen_G: UH. What?
Darien: Who's Craig?
Radebur: craig is brunnen_g duh you idiot darien
Brunnen_G: OKAY...
Brunnen_G: Radebur HAS to be Sam, all right?
Radebur: craig jeez u r a weirdo
* Stephen is slightly confused
* Liface is more than slightly confused
* Darien is totally confused
Darien: Did B_G reveal something you guys didn't tell me about?
Liface: RADEBUR SUCKS!
Radebur: liface you suck!!!!!!
Liface: Oh ok
Liface: Sorry for insulting you Sam
Brunnen_G: Now LIFACE can spell?
Brunnen_G: I don't believe this.
Radebur: craig whatever
[Radebur->Darien] LOL. I can't do it any longer. This is Brunnen_G. Pretend I'm Sam, I'm messing with Stephen (and the rest of the chat)
[Darien->Radebur] Ahh...
* Liface is about too leave if this gets a bit more confuing
Radebur: you watch that lexx show wich is stupid so just shut up...lol i bet u watch it with that idiot darien!!!!!!
Radebur: liface you are actually the only cool one out there
Radebur: you totally rule u ahcker u
Darien: OK, I know what's going on. You can stop now.
Brunnen_G: You know what's going on?
Liface: Wow!
Stephen: Okay, thanks Sam. That's enough...er, Rad
Liface: ITS SAM!!!!!
Brunnen_G: Of course it's Sam.
Liface: Well you had longer to figure it out.
Nyperold: I think it's only Sam part of the time.
Darien: No, I don't think it's Sam.
Radebur: d00d guys i am radebur or terry not sam
* Darien knows who it is. :-}
Stephen: Uhm... Who, Darien?
[Stephen->Brunnen_G] Oh boy, this is getting good :)
* Brunnen_G is getting WAY confused now.
Liface: Logout in 5...4...33...2..2....1.....3...
Liface has left.
Radebur: hehehehe... liface u are funny as heck d00d
Radebur: It's never been Sam. I just think Sam rocks
Radebur: oh no!!! ive been ahcked again!!!!
* Darien changes his mind. Gah
Darien: OK, it does have to be Sam.
[Radebur->Darien] There you go... keep them believing that :)
Stephen: LOL. Of course it's Sam, Darien!
Brunnen_G: Darien: Who did you think it was before?
[Brunnen_G->Stephen] I think you should tell him. I can't keep this up, I'm dying of laughter here.
Radebur: the guy i hate is darien and stephn. i 0wn j00!
Stephen: Radebur/Sam: This is getting sort of old
Radebur: i ahte you!!!
* Darien sulks.
Radebur: yeah thats right darien
Radebur: hey how do u write in blue????
[Stephen->Darien] Rad just PMed me and said he was really Finchplucker...lol!
[Darien->Stephen] I am so going to kill Sam for this.
[Darien->Stephen] Of course he isn't Finch.
[Stephen->Brunnen_G] I just told Darien (as Stephen) that Rad told me he was Finch
[Brunnen_G->Stephen] HAHAHA! What did he say?
[Stephen->Brunnen_G] He's convinced it's Sam.
* Radebur is going to get ahcked again
Radebur: OH NO!!!!!!!!
Radebur: craig u know i am terry tell them all
Darien: B_G: Craig? Really?
Brunnen_G: Darien: I have no idea how he knows that.
Stephen: BG: Seriously? No way.
Brunnen_G: Stephen: It has to be Sam, he's the only one who knows that.
Radebur: This is the Ghost of Radebur.... I am someone not in this room at all... or maybe I'm really just a total idiot that has you all confused. (Sam is the rulingest guy in here, only he knows for sure)
gremlinn007: It's DAVE!
Radebur: okay i think darien brooke this chat again its hacked me once mroe
Nyperold: Who's brooke?
Darien: Everyone's against me. You're all a pack of ringleaders. :-P
Stephen: Darien: Yeah, I know I'm against you. They paid me off. Sorry
* Darien puts his hands over his head and weeps
Darien: Will someone please tell me what this is all about?
[Radebur->Darien] I'm really Brunnen. Honestly, how do you think I've got the whole "Craig" thing down?
[Brunnen_G->Stephen] Oh come ON, let's tell him.
[Brunnen_G->Stephen] I might have to go soon anyway.
[Stephen->Brunnen_G] Okay, fine
Radebur: Well, my co-conspirator has told me to end this facade
Radebur: So I shall
Darien: OK Sam. Thanks.
Radebur: But first, I want to know who everyone thinks I am...
Grace has entered.
Liface has entered.
Brunnen_G: You're Sam.
Nyperold: Sam, sometimes.
Liface: Rad: You're Stephen
Liface: Wait: You're Ref
gremlinn007: It's Sam's brother!
Balanthalus: You're me, obviously.
Stephen: Rad: Uh... I think you're really an AI
* Darien screams "Of course you're Sam!"
Brunnen_G: ARRGHH! Tell us, will you?
* Brunnen_G KNOWS it is Sam
Radebur: Okay fine. It was I, Stephen all along!
Stephen: Indeed!
Liface: AHA!
Liface: I guessed Stephen!
Radebur: Of course, I couldn't have done it without the help of Sam and Brunnen_G
* Darien isn't sure who to believe...
Stephen: Why else do you think we got ops removed?
Brunnen_G: LOL. It was us, yes, Darien.
[Grace->Brunnen_G] umm...what have I walked in on here? :)
Stephen: You see Darien, this really was a plot against you :)
[Darien->Stephen] Really?
[Stephen->Darien] Yeah, really.
Darien: I hate you guys.
Darien: OK, I have to admit it...
Darien: Stephen: You are incredible.
Darien: I admit it, you are better than me. :-}
Stephen: Darien: LOL, thank you
Darien: Then why am I smiling?
Darien: Because I know something you don't know.
Darien: I...
Darien: am not....
Darien: DARIEN.
* Darien hopes Stephen is paying close attention.
Stephen: Darien... uh, is that why you're not on AIM?
Stephen: Harumph. I thought something was odd.
Stephen: Dang dang dang.
Darien: I am Brunnen-G, and I WIN.
* Brunnen_G wins.
Stephen: Sigh. Okay, you win
Brunnen_G: Now, that did indeed rule.
Grace: WHAT the heck is going on in here?
Stephen: Grace: Apparently, BG decided to get revenge on me for a similar stunt I pulled the other night
* Stephen bows in deference to BG this time
* Brunnen_G thinks Stephen damn well ought to.
Brunnen_G: And all hail to the real Darien for letting me use his name.
Balanthalus: Ok, ok, I confess. I am, and have always been, Sam.
* Grace is Grace.
* Nyperold is Nyperold.
Radebur has left.
* Stephen feels so beaten, it's not funny
Brunnen_G: MAN, that ruled.
* Brunnen_G has vanquished the Supreme Dictator.
* Brunnen_G is going to gloat about this for a LONG time.
Stephen: Okay, well, I can't wait to see the archive.
Liface: I can't wait either, because I didn't understand any of this
Stephen: The thing is BG, I was planning on telling Darien and messing with you! But I decided against it...
Stephen: Argh!!!
Stephen: The sheer genius of this astounds me
Stephen: Man oh man oh man.
Stephen: And you had WITNESSES too
Stephen: At best, my original will get an archive. Only eric was here for it
Stephen: I should've known something was up when Darien wasn't online
Stephen: Oh man. I like that one
Stephen: You did an awesome Darien impersonation, btw
Brunnen_G: Thank you.
* Stephen is so very, very impressed
* Brunnen_G is so very, very happy
Stephen: You know what's hilarious? That's essentially the same thing I did to you, only with an extra level or two added
Stephen: I should've seen this coming
Sam is back.
* Sam thinks Stephen got what was coming to him.
* Brunnen_G LOVES Sam, and Stephen, and Radebur, and Darien, and EVERYONE. That RULED.
Brunnen_G: OK, I'll stop gloating about it now.
Stephen: You know BG, I was also sort of wondering why you didn't have an alter ego or two as promised...
Brunnen_G: Stephen: I was going to, but I didn't think I could cope with more than two of me here at once.
Stephen: BG: Yeah, that's probably wise. Two's tough
Brunnen_G: ...And I thought you might think I was Liface, after he came in, anyway.
Stephen: So Liface is really Liface then? Because he came in just as soon as people were accusing Rad of being him
Sam: Yeah, it was really him.
* Stephen thinks that this entire thing is extremely cool
* Brunnen_G agrees.
Sam: You guys are hilarious.
Stephen: Well... here's what I think was great. I was messaging you as two different people. And I was also messaging Darien, who I thought thought Rad was Sam. But of course it was really you. It was like our chat taken to one more exponent
Stephen: BG: Apparently, I'm not as great as I thought I was. You did a good job of puffing up my ego
Stephen: (What do they say about pride and falling?)
* Brunnen_G thinks Stephen is reasonably great, in fact. :-) Especially right now.
Stephen: This is the most deviously complex thing I've ever been part of...
Brunnen_G: Yes, me too.
Brunnen_G: I've never tried anything like this before.
Brunnen_G: Being Darien is a lot harder than just making up a new personality like Radebur.
Stephen: Heh. Well, remember, I was Darien too when I was Rad :)
Stephen: But Radebur is easy
Dave has entered.
[Dave->Sam] Over yet?
Sam: Dave: It's safe to come out now. :-)
Stephen: Hi Dave!
Nyperold: Hello Dave.
Dave: Hey everyone.
[Stephen->Brunnen_G] So you want to get Darien for real now?
[Stephen->Brunnen_G] Kidding!
[Brunnen_G->Stephen] Not on your life. :-) This is my last attempt at evil.
[Brunnen_G->Stephen] It just had to be done once, though.
Balanthalus: Night all, it was, um, er, interesting.
Balanthalus has left.
gremlinn007: It's harder to fool someone who has fooled you before, because they are expecting the revenge to come.
* Brunnen_G thinks it is safe to say Stephen was not expecting revenge.
Stephen: grem: That's the thing. He made me believe we were fooling Darien! He went on about my greatness for the past 2 days
Stephen: The worst thing is that BG prevented me from telling everybody until he could one up me in front of you all
Sam: Darien's going to get on for real now, and no one will believe it's really him.
Stephen: Sam: Hehehe :) Probably. Serves him right though, for being privy to this little scheme
RinkChat: User Stephen has been made an operator by Sam.
Stephen: Ah, thanks
* Brunnen_G thinks, for my first attempt at being evil, this wasn't bad. I must be a natural. :-)
Brunnen_G: Is Darien on AIM or anything? Can someone tell him the fun's all over and he can have his identity back?
Stephen: BG: He's not on AIM
Stephen: We could e-mail him I guess
Brunnen_G: He was expecting me to do this later in the day. He said he might not be able to make it tonight to watch.
Stephen: Mailed him
Brunnen_G: OK, cool.
* Brunnen_G would sort of like to know what Stephen wrote in that email ;-)
Stephen: BG: "You suck. You and Sam and Brunnen. But it was hilarious. If you're online right now, BG says it's all over and to come back to chat (you're not on AIM, but then again you weren't the entire time "you" were in chat)...
Stephen: The title was "I hate you"
[Stephen->Brunnen_G] Sigh. I feel defeated, yet that was extremely cool
[Brunnen_G->Stephen] It was. Anyway, that's exactly how I felt the other night. :-)
[Brunnen_G->Stephen] I think I should have some rank here at least equal to yours now. LOL
[Brunnen_G->Stephen] You really do rule, you know. That whole thing was your idea originally. I just took it from there.
.
.
.
Darien has entered.
Darien: :-}
Stephen: Is this the real Darien?
Stephen: I can't tell; he's still not on AIM
Darien: Wa-ha, you'll never know.
Stephen: Especially since BG left...
Stephen: Dangit, get on AIM
Stephen: I'm not believing it's you otherwise
Darien: Well, I'll tell you one thing - it's really me.
Darien: Now, which me it is, you'll have to guess. ;-}
Darien: Well, to make Stephen happy...
Stephen: Yay! It is you
Stephen: I'll have you know that you and your co-conspirators are all evil
Darien: Stephen: I already knew *that.*
Darien: I want to see the transcript. :-}
Stephen: If I hadn't agreed not to seek revenge, I'd be working on that right now
Darien: Hehee. You're lucky I didn't follow through with my alternate plan to confuse the living heck out of *everybody.* ;-}
Stephen: Darien: That would've been good stuff :)
Darien: Stephen: You know what I was going to do?
Stephen: Darien: Log in? :)
Darien: Yep. As both me *and* Brunnen-G. ;-}
Stephen: Darien: ? You had BG's password?
Darien: But my roommate needed my computer, so I didn't get a chance.
Darien: Stephen: Yeah. The original plan had me logging in as him and him logging in as me, so we did a password swap.
Stephen: Ah, too bad :-(

And that's how the story wraps up. But there's a little more to tell. Remember how a big chunk of the chat room messages mysteriously vanished? Brunnen-G did the same thing Stephen had at the beginning of The Sting, Part I and said the wrong thing in the wrong window:

Darien has entered.
* Darien has entered! Taa daa!
[Brunnen_G->Stephen] YAY!!!!!!
Brunnen_G: Hello Darien
Nyperold: Hello Darien.
Darien: Good evening!
Brunnen_G: Uh, I'm not an op any more? What's up with that, Sam?
Darien: DAMN.
Brunnen_G: Oh, bugger.
Brunnen_G: So much for that idea.
Brunnen_G: LOL, Stephen. I was going to get you back.
* Brunnen_G cracks up. I blew it on the very first attempt.

When I realized what had gone wrong, I also noticed Stephen hadn't said a word since Darien entered, so I scurried to the chat room message file and did the fastest thing I could do to preserve the situation, and that was mass deletion. By some miraculous stroke of luck, Stephen hadn't been watching at the time, and the charade was afoot once again.