"You okay?" Kate asked.
	I couldn't help but smile at her concern, despite what had happened.  I 
sat up and looked down at the monster slime that I was coated in.  The 
latest monster, a giant toad, had caught me off-guard by wrapping me in 
it's tongue and swallowing me whole.  Luckily, it hadn't had more than 
half a minute to digest before Kate, Susan and Cynthia forced it to 
vomit me out.  Cynthia was still pumping bullets into the Toad's hide, 
yelling at it to "DISAPPEAR, DAMMIT!".
	"I need a long, long, LONG shower." I answered, standing up.
	"Isn't going to interfere with... you know..." Kate asked quietly, 
giving me THAT look.
	"Yeah, 'fraid so.  Just can't get in the mood after being coated with 
frog vomit.  You know how it is." I answered in the same tone.
	"I've never been covered in frog vomit..." she began.
	"I never said you were, I just said that you can relate." I answered.
	She smiled.
	"Of course, I was just pulling your chain." Kate answered, looking like 
she wanted to give me a playful kiss on the cheek, but decided not to 
with me covered in slime.  It was amazing how accurate that funky dream 
I had had was about the icky slime feeling one gets when coated in said 
substance.
	I waved goodbye to the others and leapt away.  I arrived home in the 
backyard.  I grabbed the garden hose and hosed myself off, not wanting 
to feel that disgustingly icky feeling anymore and to throw Cynthia and 
the gang off the trail.  Once a majority of the slime was off, I turned 
off the hose and switched back to male, glad that the slime evaporated 
due to the magic discharge.
	I went inside, thankful that my hair wasn't wet either (more bonuses to 
being a magical being).  I went up into my room, got undressed and 
hopped into the shower, letting the hot water scald my flesh a bit 
before I changed the temperature to a more suitable one.  It was 
difficult scrubbing away that filthy feeling, but I managed to do it 
before I'd used up all the hot water.  Luckily, my family was still 
gone.
	Then I got an odd thought got stuck in my head.  Where the hell WAS my 
family?  I couldn't live in a two-story (plus basement) house all by 
myself.  I didn't see them often, since we were all out of the house 
quite a bit, but in six months, I should have seen them once or twice a 
day at LEAST.  I looked in their bedrooms.  My parents had a note on 
their bed.  I opened it and read it.
	"Dear kids, off on a free two year cruise on Carnival.  See you in two 
years, love mom and dad."
	I went to my eldest brother's room.
	"Dear everyone, eloped with sexy girl I met a month ago.  See you in 
three years."
	I went to my other brother's room.
	"Dear Ben, what the hell are you doing in my old room?  You know I 
moved out when I got married."
	I slapped myself in the forehead.  Then I went to my sister's room.
	"Dear Ben, won million dollar lottery.  Leaving for Las Vegas, be home 
maybe sometime in the next millenia.  Maybe I'll buy an exotic pet.  
Yep, like a llama or an emu."
	I growled.  Of course she'd take off if she had a million dollars.  I 
sighed.  Well, most of the loose ends were tied up.  I was the only one 
with nothing new.  At least I got a solid pay-check from work.  Not to 
mention that school was going to end in a few weeks.
	I sat down with my copy of "So, you're a magical being, but you know 
squat about your powers".  Kate, Susan and Cynthia had their own copies 
as Kate told me.  Hopefully, it had some helpful hints.
	"Lesson 10 (yes, I read the other nine. pretty generic stuff, if you 
ask me) - Ben, here's what you'll need to know to get even stronger-"
	I blinked.
	"Chapter 10 and beyond is tailored for you.  It's what makes each copy 
so special." Nabiki told me, looking over my shoulder.
	"GYAH!" I yelped.
	I turned to her and was about to yell at her not to do that when I 
decided that asking her not to do that only made her do that more often.
	"Say, I've been noticing that there's a distinct LACK of monsters in 
this area recently.  I mean normally we have a monster every week, now 
it's once a month, if we're lucky." I answered.
	"I know, I know.  With that last head baddie gone, the monsters aren't 
getting through as easily.  So, that's why I've just gotten permission 
to activate the last two senshi that are going to be in your group and 
move you to a more monster-populated area." Nabiki answered.
	"Wait a minute, so we're going to MOVE to a new town or something?  
Just like that?" I asked.
	"It's just temporary.  Besides, there's going to be a huge fight in 
this new area really soon." Nabiki answered.
	"How big?" I asked.
	"REAL big.  Bigger than any fight you've been in before.  But, you can 
handle it no problem." Nabiki answered.
	"Hmmmm?" I inquired.
	"Don't worry, you'll be getting some help." Nabiki said.
	"So when and WHERE are we going?" I asked.
	"In two weeks.  I'll activate your fellow senshi.  Where do you want 
them to meet you?" Nabiki asked.
	"You're avoiding the question.  WHERE are we GOING?" I asked.
	"Don't worry, it won't be a big problem.  You'll only be there for two 
weeks or so, so it's not like you'll be living there or anything.  I'll 
get you some nice rooms at a resort." Nabiki answered.
	"WHERE ARE WE GOING?" I demanded, standing up.
	"Don't worry, it's a nice place....." Nabiki answered.
	"Uh-huh.  And the reason you're not telling me WHERE it is is either 
because we're in for the fight of our lives or it's a dump and the 
nicest place has fifteen cockroach hotels per square foot." I said.
	"Um, how about the forest behind your school.  Yeah, that'll be fine.  
Bye!" Nabiki said, vanishing in an eyeblink.
	I fumed.  I hated it when people didn't tell me in advance what the 
heck was going on.

	That night, I had the craziest dream.  It almost felt like an opening 
sequence to an anime or something.  It felt rather stupid, but hey, who 
was I to complain.  It was entertaining, but weird none-the-less.

	The following day, I found a quiet bathroom that no one else seemed to 
use for what it was designed to be used for.  Mainly because it was the 
only unisex bathroom in the school and almost no one used it unless they 
were going to do it in one of the bathroom stalls.  And listening to the 
girl-girl couple, the boy-girl couple, the boy-boy couple and the 
unknown couples in the other five stalls, I decided it was just as well 
that I leave as soon as possible.
	I found myself standing behind the school with Susan, Kate and Cynthia.  
Nabiki had no doubt informed them too.  It took a while, but after a few 
yawns, Nabiki finally showed up with two people.  Jason in his usual 
slacker outfit and a girl I hadn't seen before in a nice light blue 
shirt and a slightly darker pair of jeans.  Of course, I didn't know 
much of the Freshman or Sophomore classes, so she could be in either.
	"Senshi, you may introduce yourselves." Nabiki said.
	"Ummmm, hi.  I'm Jason." Jason said, extending his hand.
	I shook it to be friendly.  The girl stood forward.  She was about 
Jason's height, with shoulder-length dark hair and green eyes.
	"I'm Tricia." she said, shaking my hand nervously while blushing.
	"Okay, I'm Sailor Overdrive.  This is Sailor Max-Out <I motioned to 
Kate>, this is Sailor Crash <I motioned to Susan> and Tuxedo Shotgun. <I 
motioned to Cynthia>" I answered.
	I looked at Nabiki, who shrugged.  She didn't know what else to do 
either.
	"Okay, time for you two to transform." Nabiki said, patting them on the 
backs before vanishing.
	Jason and Tricia looked at each other and at their new henshin sticks.
	"Actually, we'll turn our backs and give you two some more privacy." I 
said, turning around.
	The flash of light occurred and we turned to see Jason as a cute 4'3" 
girl with long brown hair and bright pink eyes.  She was wearing a 
sugar-pink and gold outfit.
	"Sailor Thunderstorm!" Jason-chan announced herself, then she looked 
down at herself and screamed in horror.
	I glanced over at Tricia.  She was about the same, if a tad taller.  It 
was her outfit that caught me.  It was a mix between a red leather teddy 
with a mini-skirt attached.
	"Sailor Bondage... EEEEEK!" Tricia cried, covering herself.
	Susan, of course, was no help.  She walked over to Tricia and tossed an 
arm around her.
	"No need to do that..." Susan said, smiling.
	I bapped Susan away from Tricia.
	"How am I supposed to fight for love and justice in this?!" Tricia 
wailed.
	"Well, maybe you could....." I floundered.
	I saw a whip in her right hand.
	"Um, why do you have a whip in your hand?" I asked.
	Suddenly, with a complete personality flip, Tricia leapt up and began 
cracking the whip.
	"BWAHAHAHA!  CALL ME QUEEN!" Tricia cried.
	The only thought going through my head was [I'm going to get Nabiki for 
this.]

	"No." I said.
	"Why not?  She'll be useful enough." Nabiki answered.
	"Give her another set of powers, okay?  She's already gotten most of 
the local squirrels, racoons, mice and birds to chirp out 'Forgive us, 
our queen'." I said.
	"Well, I'm afraid she's the only other senshi that'll be in this area 
for quite some time.  Not to mention it'll take another month to alter 
her henshin stick to have another set of powers.  Sorry, but the 
perverts down in R&D got out of hand." Nabiki answered.
	
"........................................................................ 
I don't like this, you realize." I said.
	"No one said you had to." Nabiki responded.
	"Once this mission is done, I want her to get a new set of powers, you 
understand?" I asked.
	"Yes, yes." Nabiki replied.
	I leaned forward.
	"Any chance you can modify Kate's stick to give her the same outfit?" I 
inquired in a hushed tone.

	Two weeks later, we were 'ready' (ha ha) to go fight this new villian.  
Nabiki appeared and brought us to her headquarters where we'd be 
transported to our temp home.  We were in civilian outfits so we 
wouldn't draw attention just in case we appeared in a crowd.
	When we arrived, it looked like the Enterprise D's hallways.  Nabiki 
blinked and looked around.
	"We must be... Computer, end program." Nabiki said.
	The hallways vanished to reveal a huge normal looking room.  We left 
it, following Nabiki into what seemed to be a cafeteria.  We all walked 
over to a toaster.
	"A toaster.  Well, everyone, we've seen everything." I remarked 
sarcastically.
	"This is no ordinary toaster.  Setting 1 will fire beams of energy that 
can destroy whole cities.  Setting 2 can create a dimensional rift.  
This is the setting it's quite often left on for some reason.  Setting 3 
can teleport people.  And Setting 4 is my favorite." Nabiki said.
	"What does Setting 4 do?" Jason-chan asked, biting.
	"Well, it scans your ID badge and makes you the perfect toast!  You 
don't even have to push the lever down a second time!" Nabiki answered.
	We all glanced at each other.
	"Okay, okay.  Maybe it's not that important to you, but when you've 
been in the business as long as me, perfect toast is really hard to 
get." Nabiki to us.
	"Uh-huh." we answered in unison.

===============================================================================================

	I was inspired to write this chapter, however, don't expect the next 
chapter to come out so soon.  I'm rather busy, but I wanted this out at 
least.

	C&C and MSTs welcome.

	Ben McCrillis
	Goofball
	Novice Paladin to Ucchan
	Author
	Liked it?  Didn't like it?  reply at akun15@hotmail.com

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com