Beryl was feeling benevolent today; she'd finally
programmed her staff to let her play Quake. Millions of
icons programmed to look like Generals Horny and Ego were
dying in droves, making her feel quite happy with the patch
that Youma Microsoft had cooked up for her. Until her staff
suddenly flashed the words 'General Protection Fault' and
went dead.
She growled at her staff. "I was playing, dammit!"
"You can play with me, Beryl-sama!" General Horny
announced, climbing into her lap.
Beryl sighed. "Go find Pluto."
She handed Beryl a copy of _The Republic_. "Here you
go, Beryl-sama. Can we play with your staff now?" Beryl
contemplated beating her to death with it.
*******************
Marmalade Moon, Episode 8:
"Sana vs. Suzu.
We WISH it was mortal combat."
http://www.maison-otaku.net/~rhea/MMoon
by John Biles
********************
Suzu physically trembled as she turned the pages of
'Teen Idols Monthly'. They'd actually dared to interview Sana
before they interviewed her. How dare they? What was
worse, it was for Sana's upcoming appearance in 'Soft
Moonlight Dreams', a movie that Suzu had also auditioned
for. They'd almost given her the part...until Sana applied for
it.
She ignored the first few insipid questions they'd
asked Sana; who cared why Sana was a model or what her
future plans were? The important thing was to see if she'd
been honest and fessed up to sending her pimp to bribe the
director to hire her instead of Suzu. Or maybe she'd sent
that inspid pit of depression boy who seemed to be hanging
around Sana all the time now. He could have threatened to
come live with the director if the man didn't hire Sana. I'd
think he was her boyfriend, but even Sana couldn't have such
bad taste, Suzu thought.
[ SO, HOW DID YOU GET THE ROLE OF PRINCESS
KAMEKO IN YOUR NEW FILM?
"Oh... before they asked me, I think they
weretrying to find some unknowns, like... what's hername,
she's not important anyway"
(Interjected by her companion, a boy
named Hayama: Sakuma Suzu...)
"Oh yeah, _her_. Anyway, after they tried
her out they decided they needed someone properly innocent
and naive, like me, so here I am, from the stage of Kodomo
no Omocha to Soft Moonlight Dreams. I've always been a
princess in my dreams, and now I get to play one! It's
great."
SHE ISN'T THAT BAD, IS SHE? SHE WAS RATHER
IMPRESSIVE IN THE VENUS PERFUME ADS, AND HER VOICE
ACTING IN THE TENNIS WARRIOR V SHOW GOT HER AN
AWARD.
"Well, she's adequate, but she has no
improvement skills (to which Hayama interjected,
'Improvisational') and you see, you really can't see
how badly she emasculates (Hayama: Enunciate) when she's
only voicing for animation, you know what i mean? She
hasn't got the grace, the charm, thebeauty... *beams*
And I've done a great job, didn't I, Hayama? Didn't
I?" (Hayama: Uh-huh.)
Suzu would have frothed rabidly, but it wouldn't have
been ladylike. Instead, she ripped the entire magazine into
one inch squares. By the time she finished, she had calmed
down enough to begin plotting a blood curdling revenge. Suzu
was not normally a hateful person, but for Sana, she would
always make an exception.
*************
"You want me to do what, sir?" Youma Britannia looked
very surprised.
"You're going to become an exchange student," General
Zwei-lite, said. "We need to construct a believable 'secret ID'
for you. And this makes most of your past in another
country where they can't check it. I will make the
arrangements. What would you like for a name?"
"Perdita X."
"That doesn't sound very British."
"Well, it was in a British book."
"And the Spanish Inquisition was too," he replied. "Try
a British name."
"Hmm. How about Guenevere Alice Bulwer-Lytton?"
"Yes, that should do nicely," he said. "Go buy yourself
some normal clothing, and I'll arrange for your new life."
"How am I supposed to pass my classes with no
education?"
"You just need an excuse to be around them. They'll
expect foreigners to be incompetent, anyway; it'll make you
more believable."
"..."
"We're heading for the endgame, anyway. Only three
more rings to go."
"Yes, sir." She didn't sound very enthusiastic.
****************
Meiko walked down the street with Miki and Yuu,
watching them bicker on the way to school. She smiled; it
was playful bickering, not hostile. After three days at the
Koishikawa/ Matsura house, she felt like part of the family.
I couldn't possibly safer, except if I could stay with Na-chan,
she thought. But that will come soon enough.
Miki turned to Meiko. "I don't really act like a monkey,
do I?"
Meiko giggled. "Monkeys are better behaved."
"Hrmph. See if I ask you anything," Miki said, pouting.
"Well, we could try putting a thousand Mikis in a room
with typewriters and see how long they take to write one of
Shakespeare's plays," Yuu said, grinning.
"Faster than you would, judging by that short story
you wrote for class today," Meiko said.
Yuu winced. "It's not that bad."
"Eight pages of someone wandering through a house
and looking at everything is not a plot," Meiko said.
"Although your descriptive prose is good. I felt like I'd been
there once I finished. But absolutely nothing really
happened. No conflict."
"I've never liked conflict," Yuu said, staring off down
the road.
"Was that an old house of yours you were describing?"
Miki asked.
He shook his head. "One of Miwa Yoshimitsu's best
designs. It's a house in Kyoto I got to tour once. Very
beautiful." He smiled. "I'd love to build a house like that."
Miki blinked. "You want to be an architect?"
He nodded.
I never knew that, Miki thought. But I guess I don't
know a lot about Yuu; he doesn't ever talk about himself.
"How long have you wanted to be an architect?"
"Years," he said. "Not sure how long, exactly."
"Miwa...any relation to Miwa-kun?"
"His father," Yuu said. "I'd like to meet him some day."
"You should ask him, then," Miki urged Yuu. "I'm sure
he'd be happy to introduce you."
Yuu was silent for about half a minute, then said, "I
wouldn't be sure what to say."
Miki poked him in the side. "Chicken. Afraid to meet
your hero."
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
They stuck out their tongues at each other, and Meiko
giggled. "Just like real siblings," she said.
They both looked embarrassed.
***********
Setsuna danced around as she came to the lunch table.
"He said yes!"
Miki asked, "Who? What?"
"Ginta's going to come give me some private lessons
tonight," she said. "I suppose I ought to give up on him since
he does have a girlfriend, but...he's just so cute!" She then
sat down and started gushing.
Once she finished, Meiko said, "Why are you getting so
red in the face, Miki?"
"Nothing." I'm not jealous, she thought. I'm not. I've
got no reason whatsoever to be jealous. Nope.
She glanced two tables down where Miwa, Ginta, and
Yuu were eating lunch and talking about something. Every so
often Yuu pointed their way. She tried to listen in, but had
no luck.
"Oh, Miki," Meiko said. "Suzu gave me two passes to
come visit the animation studio where she does the voice for
the Tennis Warrior V TV show. Would you like to come with
me?"
"Sure!" Miki said. "Sounds fun." An idea struck her.
She whispered, "When I point, everyone laugh, okay?"
"Uh, okay," Setsuna said.
Miki pointed over at Yuu's table, and made her mouth
move as if she was speaking. The three girls laughed, and
the three boys turned and stared at them. They then acted
as innocent as they could. Miki did this two more times, and
finally, Yuu got up and came over.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing," Miki said, giggling. "Much."
He looked at the three of them, then pointed at her
school medallion. "Hey, something's wrong with your
medallion."
She looked down, and his finger came up and snubbed
her nose and chin. He jumped back, laughing. "Oops, I guess
nothing much was wrong with it."
He soon got to demonstrate nothing was wrong with
his running abilities either.
***********
"As she gazed upon the handsome tennis player, she
could feel her blood race in her veins," Setsuna said. "As his
hand closed the gap between them, she found herself
yearning for his touch, for it excited her more than she
could express in words." She spoke with a slowly mounting
passion, while most of the rest of the class was either
staring in shock or plugging their ears. "She took it with her
hand, and guided it to slide down her back as she stepped
closer to him. Now, they..."
Na-chan was heavily regretting having his students
read passages from their stories. "That's enough, Setsuna.
Thank you."
"As he swept her into his firm embrace, he found it
hard to believe he could have ever thought he loved any
woman but her. To feel her firm breasts pressed into his
chest, her lips touching his, that was his food and drink now.
It was all he needed," Setsuna continued, oblivious to Na-
chan, the class, or anything but the eight page story she
was holding (she had just moved onto page three), and Ginta,
who she kept glancing at.
Ginta tried to crawl inside the drawer under the top of
his desk and hide. It didn't work.
"Clumsily, he fumbled at her belt, until she took his
strong, weathered hand with her soft, gentle touch, and
helped him to undo the clasp. It fell to the ground, and her
skirt fell to the ground. Then she reached for his..."
Setsuna was reading faster and looked flushed.
"That's enough, Setsuna," Na-chan tried saying again.
"You can let Meiko read now."
"This was the moment of which she had dreamed, when
the man she loved would finally be hers, once and forever,
washing away her memories of the man who had dumped her
for liking tennis more than him. Of course, he had been a
total jerk, so she was much better off with this kind and
loving soul, who also shared her favorite hobby, and didn't
cheat at mah jong, unlike one of her friends. But that's
another story entirely." Setsuna rambled on, calming down a
tiny bit and flipping the page.
Many of the class members tried to pretend they
didn't exist, while the rest were trying to resist the urge to
do things not normally done in public. Yuu raised his hand.
When Na-chan turned to him, he said, "Should I take action,
sir?"
"Please," Na-chan said.
He went to the class locker and got his backpack,
carefully emptying it, then walked up behind Setsuna.
"They sat on the edge of the bed, hesitating, for
neither of them had ever gone this before. Then, he gently
laid her down, undoing her bra top as he did so," Setsuna
said. Then the backpack came down over her head, plunging
her into darkness. "What the..."
"Black out! Everyone head for the door!" Yuu said,
taking her by the door and leading her off towards the
hallway.
The class laughed, and Na-chan gave a sigh of relief.
"Meiko, if you will read a selection from your story now?"
She stood up. "My story is called 'The Silver Pin'. It's
the story of the illicit love between a teacher and a
student." She soon launched into a spirited reading of her
tale.
Na-chan started trying to remember who else brought
a backpack to school.
***************
"Anyway, I thought we could meet at Cafe Totoro and
plan out our next effort," Arimi said to Ginta over the phone.
"When?" he asked.
"At five?"
"I'm going over to Setsuna's to help her work on her
serve," he said. "Tonight isn't good." He sounded rather
nervous, as if it was...a date.
She felt a pang of jealousy run through her, and nearly
dropped the phone from surprise. It's not like we're REALLY
dating, she thought. He can certainly go out with another
woman if he...Why am I thinking this way? She's just a tennis
buddy of his and it's not like I'm his girlfriend. But the
jealousy remained. "How about tomorrow at five, then?"
"I'm supposed to study with Miki and Meiko and Yuu for
a test."
Arimi tried desperately to think of some excuse she
could get to wangle an invitation to that. "Hmm...how about
if I show up at some point during that, to take you away for
dinner to make them jealous?"
"Yeah, that could work. Make it about 6:30; that'll give
me time to get to the most important stuff before we go."
"Done." She began running over possible dinner
reservations in her head. I deserve a nice meal, she thought.
*************
General Ego was one of the most worthless beings in
all of space and time, although her friend General Horny
could actually top her for this. However, at times, she
transcended herself and did something useful, or at least
successful. Ninety-five percent of the time this was
something intended to help her slake her insatiable lust for
women.
But just this once, it was the other five percent. While
it had taken a while to sink in, she'd finally concluded that if
she actually did what Beryl wanted, Beryl would stop
punishing her for not doing it. The idea of doing what
someone else wanted was fairly alien to her, so she was
having to go slow and adjust to the concept.
She'd gone down to the archives, run by an old youma
named Iron Pyrite. He was getting senile, but he kept the
records in good shape. Getting any information out of him,
though, was a challenge worthy of Hercules. "Pluto is not an
animated dog," she repeated for the eighth time.
"He most certainly is. You think I made all those
commemorative plates myself?" He scratched his head.
"I'm a librarian, not a proctologist, you know."
Ego curbed her instincts, which shouted for her to
have him sent to the dungeons. Not now, she told herself.
Not until I don't need him. "Proctologists don't make plates."
"Exactly," he said. "Oh wait...you mean the other
Pluto."
"YES!"
He went and dug around the shelves for about fifteen
minutes, then returned with a hefty tome bound in gold and
leather. "Here you go." It was labelled _Bullfinch's
Mythology_. "Everything you'd ever want to know about
Zeus' brother."
Ego twitched. "Tennis Warrior Pluto."
"I don't think they had tennis in ancient Greece."
"Beryl wants me to find Tennis Warrior Pluto."
"Well, I don't have him."
"Her!"
"While Pluto probably did sleep with everything that
moved since everyone else in his pantheon did, he was
definitely a guy."
Ego fled screaming.
"Kids these days, I just don't get them," Iron Pyrite
said.
***********
Ginta felt like a man who was about to be thrown to
the lions as he walked up to Setsuna's front door. Maybe
that story was just a coincidence, he thought. After all,
Meiko isn't really having an affair with her teacher, and Yuu
doesn't really wander around through houses just looking at
the furniture, and Miki isn't really Tennis Warrior Moon. My
story was about two kids playing with a cat; it wasn't some
thinly disguised version of my life. I hope.
And she's probably gotten it out of her system by now,
he thought. I'm sure she won't come to the door and jump on
me and pull off my shirt and... He stomped that line of
thought flat. Miki is the woman for me, and I'm dating Arimi,
so...I mean, I'm not really dating Arimi, but... His brain
missed a gear and derailed.
A few seconds later, he shook his head. I like Miki, but
I just don't think Arimi's plan is going to work. Miki's got in
her head that we're serious, and even if we told her it was a
trick, she'd probably think we were joking. His hand knocked
on the door on autopilot as he pondered.
Setsuna answered the door, wearing a light green
blouse and a matching skirt, along with her tennis club visor,
and holding her racket. "Hi! Ready to play?"
He gave a great sigh of relief. "Yeah." He twirled his
racket. "Ready and raring to go."
"Good, good." She let him in, then started through the
house. "I was hoping maybe you could help me work on
revising my story after we finish."
Ginta began mentally composing his will.
************
Ryouko turned the corner, and saw Namura-kun at
Junk Jungle, just like she expected. He was drinking coffee
with Kijima-kun and with a girl she didn't know, about the
same age as Miki and Meiko. Whoever she was, she didn't
look Japanese; her skin was too pale and her features were
wrong as well. Perhaps she's related to one of Kijima-kun's
friends from America, Ryouko speculated.
Hearing them conversing in English as she approached
gave more justification to her suspicion. Once she reached
them, she said in English, "I came as quickly as I could, but
the train was late."
Namura smiled at her. "Good afternoon, Ryoko."
Kijima laughed. "I didn't mean you had to rush that
much. I thought you'd like to meet Namura-kun's new
student, since she is interested in playing tennis. Her name
is Guenevere Alice Bulwer-Lytton."
Guenevere stood and bowed clumsily. She was
remarkably muscular for someone her age, and seemed
nimble; her ineptness at bowing was obviously from a lack of
experience. "Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Momoi Ryoko," she said, then
sat down. Yuu brought her a cup of coffee, just the way she
liked it, then flashed a smile at her and vanished back into
the store. "Now that's service."
Guenevere sipped her coffee. "It's very good."
"Well, we're not a fancy place, but I do my best to buy
high-quality coffee," he replied.
"So you're interested in tennis?" Ryoko asked
Guenevere.
Guenevere nodded. "I played on our team back at Saint
Mary's in Shrewsbury. I assume the rules are the same
here?"
Ryoko nodded. "We have a men's team and a women's
team, and we also do mixed doubles. We have a tournament
against Mugen Gakuen in two weeks."
"I'm sure you'll do well," Kijima said.
Namura shook his head. "We'll be lucky if anyone
besides Ginta and Kaji win, but we'll give it our best shot." He
paused. "Out of the boy's team, that is."
"Well, I think Miki and Setsuna and Naoko can probably
win their matches, but...it's going to be rough."
Guenevere nodded. "Well, I'll give it my best shot."
Kijima waggled a finger. "Don't be so down. You can't
win unless you know you're going to win. Expect to lose and
you're toast."
Guenevere nodded. "I always fi...play to win. I'm sure
you have a good team; we'll just have to work hard."
Ryoko smiled. This was the sort of spirit she liked her
team to have. "Well, come to practice tomorrow, and I'll
introduce you to everyone." She thought for a moment.
"Hmm, we don't have any extra guys for the mixed doubles
matches, do we?"
"Hmm? Oh, we have three, I think," Namura said.
"Assuming any of them come. I have a sinking feeling some
of them are planning to 'be sick'." He sighed. "But my best
people will be there."
"And mine," she replied.
"Then there's nothing to worry about," Kijima declared.
"Sometimes one's best is not enough," Namura
fretted.
"Well, one's worst CERTAINLY isn't," he replied. "I
never saw you as someone who would give up in the face of
adversity, Namura-kun."
Namura looked embarrassed and fiddled with the white
gold crossed racquet pin on his shirt. "I've just had a lot to
worry about, like the house of one of my students burning
down, and my landlord wanting to raise the rent.
Unfortunately, my salary won't be increasing any time soon."
"You're already paying highway robbery for that place,"
Kijima said. "Well, if it gets to be too much, I can put you up
for a while while you search for a new place."
Namura nodded. "Thanks. I'll probably be moving some
time soon."
"I can help you move...if you need the help," Ryoko said.
"Thanks," he said, smiling at her. "I'll probably pay
some students to help as well." He rose. "I've got to run; I'm
supposed to meet a student's parents and try to explain why
their child is a plagiarist."
Ryoko winced. "Good luck."
"If you don't see me tomorrow, call the police," he said,
smiling. "I'll take you by your host family's place, okay,
Guenevere?"
"Okay." She rose. "Nice to meet both of you."
"Nice to meet you too," Ryoko said, smiling.
Once the two disappeared out of sight, Kijima said,
"Don't wait too long, Ryoko." He got up. "I suppose I should
go pretend to work now."
She blinked, then realized what he meant. "I think he...I
mean..."
"Good luck."
"Thanks."
****************
Ginta sat and twitched mindlessly, praying it would get
late enough for him to gracefully bow out before it came
time to 'help Setsuna with her story'. It wasn't that he
didn't find her attractive, but he couldn't afford a fling with
anyone, not when he was dating one girl and trying to win
another one's heart. My life is insane, he thought.
Setsuna had gone to shower after their session; he
feared what she might change into before her return. Thus
it was that he was quite relieved when Setsuna's mother, a
middle-aged woman with green black hair and violet eyes,
swept into the room. "Setsuna told me to entertain you
while she was getting clean," she said with a smile, sitting
down across the room on the couch. "You're on the Tennis
team with her, right?"
He nodded. "Yes, ma'am. She's very good."
"With all the money we've spent on private lessons for
her, I'd be very disappointed if she wasn't. I understand you
two were going to work on a story she wrote," Setsuna's
mother continued.
"Um, yes, if we have time." He looked at the clock, but
it was still only about eight. "Depending on how long her
shower is."
"Good. I'm looking forward to it. She writes very well;
I've told her she ought to become a writer, but she wants to
be an idol singer. Even though she's a horrible singer."
Why is there never a youma attack when you need one,
Ginta asked himself.
****************
"So why won't you date my cousin?" Suzu asked Meiko.
"A pretty girl like you should have a handsome boyfriend like
him."
Meiko twitched, especially when she heard Rumi giggle
in the kitchen. They were in the living room, and she was
trying to tutor Suzu, who she had concluded might be the
only human being able to survive without a brain. "He's not
my type."
"Oh, you'd rather date a cute blond like Yuu?" she
asked. "I'm sure he'd go out with you if you asked."
"My parents are in the hospital, and I'm a refugee. I
can't date anyone right now," she replied, instead of boring a
hole into Suzu's head to see if she found anything in it at all.
"Are you ready to study instead of talking about boys?"
"Not really."
"Too bad. Now, pluralize the following words..."
**********
In the backyard, Artemis and Luna lay in the grass,
supposedly planning a new course of action. Instead, Luna
said, "Did you trade Venus' brain for fish?"
"She's a twelve-year old. Give her time," Artemis said.
"Did you trade the Moon Princess for fish?"
"Hrmph. We'll find her soon enough. In fact, I think we
may have. I think Meiko may be the Princess."
"Well, it would fit some of the evidence. But until we
get the Moon/Earth ring or assemble them all, we can't be
sure," Artemis said, batting at a fly.
"We never even saw Zwei-lite make off with it," Luna
said. "Or found out where that Britannia woman came from."
"Britain, I think," Artemis said.
"Brilliant deduction, Sherlock," Luna said. "Maybe she
took it. She might be working for the enemy."
"She helped defeat the Dooms, though," Artemis said.
"I think we can trust her. I mean, for all we know, the
Masked Golfers might be working for Beryl too, but until we
have reason to distrust them, I'm inclined to trust them."
"I think they're the Prince's Guardians," Luna said.
"We'll find out soon enough, I'm sure."
"Then we'll have to find Zwei-lite and recover the ones
he has. We haven't done so well getting them."
"Well, we now outnumber him badly, and two of our
Tennis Warriors can Super Size themselves. Next time, we'll
stomp him," Artemis said.
"Try not to talk so loudly; my parents might hear you,"
Miki said, sending both of them flopping over in surprise.
"Do you think Meiko is the princess?" Artemis asked
Miki.
"Maybe. I have no way to tell. But either way, she'll be
safe here."
Artemis nodded. "A stroke of luck for us, if not for
her."
Miki sat down. "I feel sorry for her."
"So do I," Luna said. "I know what it's like to lose one's
home. This world, in your time, is so strange to me."
Miki picked her up and started petting her. "I guess it
is all new to you."
"Yeah, although the fish are still good," Artemis said.
"That helps me get by."
"Feed him, and he's satisfied," Luna said.
"Hrmph."
****************
Ginta had been in worse positions before, but most of
them involved getting beaten up. Setsuna emerged in a long
purple skirt and a dark purple blouse, and seemed utterly
unruffled by the fact that her mother was going to listen to
the story. This filled Ginta with the most fear he'd ever
experienced in his entire life.
Sadly, no youma came to his rescue. Instead, Setsuna
launched into her story. "Mei had always dreamed of having
her own horse."
Ginta blinked. Obviously some heavy revision had taken
place. Either that or...he prayed that was a literal sentence.
"That chance came when her family moved out to the
countryside, buying a farm. They got four horses in the
deal, and she took one and named him Dapple."
The story continued, and Ginta offered various
comments, wondering if he'd somehow hallucinated the
entire incident at school. Finally, they finished the story,
and Setsuna showed him to the door. He asked, "Umm...was
that..."
"It wasn't. I couldn't possibly read that with Mother
listening," she said.
"You read it to the entire class."
"I didn't realize he was going to make us read them
aloud," she said, blushing. "I'd rather have just read it to..."
She stared into his eyes. "The one who inspired it."
His mind flashed back to that, and his hormones
surged. For a moment, he felt the impulse to kiss her, and
only the knowledge of how close her mother was stopped
him. It didn't stop her. She closed her eyes and leaned
forward, and their lips met for a few seconds.
Then she jumped back and said hurriedly, "Thanks for
coming over, see you tomorrow!" The door shut, leaving him
to stare in shock.
****************
"Ready to go to the studio tomorrow afternoon?"
Meiko asked Miki at lunch the next day.
"Yeah! I'm pretty excited," Miki said.
Setsuna ran up and sat down, bouncing around like she
was a jumping bean. She tried to open her lunch, but was too
perky to have much luck, nearly knocking it over on herself.
"Hi!"
"What's got you in such a good mood?" Miki asked.
"Ginta kissed me!" she announced.
Meiko's eyes widened. "He what? But he's dating
Arimi-san."
Miki couldn't believe it. No way, she thought. He'd
never do that to Arimi, and... Her heart sank. She knew it
was irrational to be jealous, but...he never kissed me, she
thought. Even when he...liked me. She must have dreamed
it from reading her story too much. Yes, that has to be it.
"True passion cannot be bound or caged," Setsuna
said. "It triumphs over all barriers." She got up and danced
around. "Wahoo!"
"Ummm..." Meiko fell silent again, glancing over at Miki.
Miki stood up. "I have to...check my air pressure." She
ran off.
Setsuna blinked. "Huh?"
"It's part of something she's helping Yuu with, I think,"
Meiko spontaneously lied, instinctively covering for Miki.
"Some tire inflation test or something." Hmm. I bet if I try
hard, I can come up with an even stupider excuse, she
thought.
"Oh, okay," Setsuna said. "Did I mention how cute Ginta
is?"
"Yes."
"He is sooooooo cute," Setsuna said, then began to
sing his praises more than Meiko could stand, although she
was too polite to flee screaming.
****************
"Everyone, this is Guenevere. She's an exchange
student from Britain." Ryoko then introduced everyone in
the club one by one. Guenevre smiled and nodded pleasantly
to everyone.
"I hope I can contribute to the club while I'm here, and I
hope we all have a lot of fun this year!" Guenevere said.
"Okay, everyone, let's split up and have some practice
matches. Miki vs. Setsuna. Keiko vs. Guenevere. Naoko vs.
Nabiki. Momiji vs. Momoe." She continued on, rattling off
names until everyone had someone to play against.
"Tomorrow, we'll be doing some mixed doubles practice with
the guys."
Guenevere demolished Keiko and then Momiji while Miki
and Setsuna were still going at it. This was a reflection of
both her own skill and of the fact that Miki and Setsuna were
too good for either of them to lose very quickly. Setsuna
had a little more power, while Miki had more speed.
Finally, everyone was around the court, even the guys,
watching them go at it. In the end, endurance told. Miki
didn't seem capable of getting tired, while Setsuna began
breathing faster and heavier, until finally, she stumbled
instead of returning a shot, and Miki got the winning point.
Kaji, a tall skinny guy with short black hair, said, "Geez,
I heard about women having more endurance, but yeesh, that
was just...yeesh."
Setsuna staggered over to Ginta and practically fell on
him. "Water."
He helped her over to the water fountain, but not
before saying to Miki, "Wow, you've gotten good. Looks like
we'll be doing well at mixed doubles tomorrow."
Miki smiled, carefully stomping on the fit of jealousy
she felt at seeing Setsuna draped over Ginta. "Thanks. You
were looking pretty good yourself! We're still studying for
the test together tonight, right?"
"Yes," Ginta said as he helped Setsuna over to the
fountain.
Guenevere came up to Miki. "That was incredible."
"I've seen pros do a lot better."
"If you had more power, you'd be ready for the pro
circuit. How'd you get so quick?"
"Running to get to school on time," Yuu said, coming up
to them through the crowd.
Miki jumped. "What are you still doing here?"
"I decided to come watch you play. She's right, you do
need to work on your power and your serve. You keep
serving to the same place every time," Yuu said.
Ryoko nodded. "I'd noticed that too. Except for the
times you served right at Setsuna's head."
Monster hunting instincts get the better of me, Miki
thought, feeling a little embarrassed. "Okay, I'll work on it."
"You were playing very well too, Setsuna," Ryoko said.
"I think you'll do well at the tournament. It would help if you
didn't keep looking over at the men's games, though."
Setsuna turned red and nodded. "Right."
It's not the games she's watching, it's the men, Miki
thought. Ginta is taken! If I...I mean... Miki frowned at
herself. Don't get jealous, she thought. Just don't.
****************
General Ego sat at one of Beryl's computer terminals,
trying to figure out how to get it to work.
Youma Microsoft said, "Where do you want to go
today?"
Ego jumped. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"
"Trying to find something by an internet search?"
"Yes. Tennis Warrior Pluto."
"She probably isn't listed online."
Ego grabbed Microsoft. "You WILL find her for me."
"Urk. Okay, okay. Click on Search."
The machine hummed and a new page loaded.
"Now in the box there," he pointed to it, "type 'Tennis
Warrior Pluto'."
She did so, then hit return.
There was more whirring, and a new page came up.
[Your search has found 251,004 sites. Now displaying
1-20 of 251,004]
"..."
"Behold the power of the Internet."
"Do I have to read ALL those pages?"
"Only until you find the one you want. And half of them
will actually be porn."
"Really?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
"Well, let's get to it! Show me the porn!" General Ego
said and went to work.
****************
"<I would like,>" Ginta read out loud in English from the
exercise book.
"<I would like,>" Yuu, Miki, and Meiko repeated. Meiko
said it calmly and fluently, while Miki and Yuu stumbled over
the 'l' sounds.
"<To feed your fingertips,>" Ginta continued.
"<To feed your fingertips,>" Yuu and Miki said,
stumbling along on this part as well.
"<To feed yo...,>" Meiko paused and stared at Ginta.
"Are you sure you read that right?"
The doorbell rang, and Rumi went to go get it.
"<To the wolverines,>" Ginta concluded, then said to
Meiko, "Did I pronounce it wrong?"
"<To the wolverines,>" Miki and Yuu finished.
"How exactly does the book say that translates into
Japanese?"
He read the line in red under it. "Please move your
hand." He scratched his head. "You know, it takes an awful
lot to say that in English."
Rumi returned with Arimi following her. "Ginta, your
girlfriend is here," she said.
"I've come to take Ginta away for our dinner date," she
said, looking right at Miki, then taking Ginta by the arm.
"C'mon, we'll be late if we don't hurry."
Miki said, "I thought you said you were going to eat with
us, Ginta."
"I forgot," he said, and honestly he had, helped along by
how good the food smelled.
"Why don't you eat with us?" Yuu suggested. "We
always have a lot of food."
"Well, we did already make the reservation," Ginta
began.
Arimi said, "Sure, we can stay." She sat down by
Ginta, still holding onto his arm. "Studying English?"
"English is awful and impossible," Miki said. "And it's
not like I'll ever need it."
"Not going to go to Hawaii like your parents?" Meiko
teased gently. Rumi and Chiyako, both at work in the kitchen
cooking, paused in their work and laughed.
"I'd like to visit America like Kijima-san, some day," Yuu
said.
"English is easy," Arimi said. "Here, I'll show you." She
picked up the book and began to read aloud. "<May your
bowels be eaten by a rabid ferret if you do not immediately
get the hell out of here.> That means...Hey, wait a minute."
She scanned the page again. "That doesn't mean 'please get
out of my way'. Who wrote this book?"
"That's what I was wondering," Meiko said.
"We should have asked that British girl to come help
us," Ginta said.
Arimi continued to read through the book, her eyes
widening. "What sort of maniac wrote this?"
Miki got up. "I'll call Ryoko-sensei. Maybe she can get
ahold of her for us."
************
Guenevere quickly paged through the book when she
arrived. "This is a parody of a phrasebook," she said.
"Where did you get this?"
"I found it in the library," Ginta said.
"Well, you can't burn it then, but...okay, let's see what
we can do."
By the time dinner arrived, they'd been through an
hour of linguistic hell. One can only get so brutal in studying
English, but Guenevere had pushed Ginta, Yuu, and Miki as
hard as she could. Miki was starting to feel like she was
under attack by a conjugation youma. Meiko and Arimi, on
the other hand, had little trouble.
Dinner was a welcome break, even if Rumi had cooked
half of it. After they'd gone through the usual parental
routine of asking how school was, Jin asked Guenevere, "So
you're playing on Miki's tennis team now?"
"Yes, sir," she replied. "They seem to be pretty good."
"How do you think you'll do against Mugen Gakuen?"
"I'm sure we'll do well," Guenevere said. "We have two
good coaches, and everyone seems very enthusiastic."
Miki said, "It's going to be pretty rough. Mugen Gakuen
is very, very good."
Ginta nodded. "Miki will probably have to go up against
Kaiou Michiru, their best player. She's one of those geniuses
who does everything well. Perfect grades, plays violin
professionally while still in high school, paints...does just
about everything."
Arimi gave him a sidelong glance. "You seem to know
an awful lot about her." There was just the teensiest bit of
sharpness to her voice.
"She writes poetry too," Meiko said. "I read some she
wrote for a contest I entered. She got second prize."
"I...uh..." Ginta looked embarrassed. "My parents took
me to one of her concerts a few months ago."
"And that's all?" Miki asked.
"That's all," he said.
Four parents glanced at the various children and each
other, then nodded. Only Guenevere and Meiko actually
noticed this, although Yuu was frowning slightly for no
discernable reason.
Guenevere said, "Don't worry, Miki. After seeing you
play, I doubt she has a chance against you."
Miki blushed slightly. "I wasn't that impressive."
"Normally, no," Yuu said, "But you were incredibly good
today." He turned to Miki's parents. "You ought to come see
her play. She wore Setsuna out, and that isn't easy."
"You can say that again," Ginta muttered, then shrank
in on himself when many pairs of eyes turned and focused on
him.
"It certainly took a blackout to stop her when she was
reading her story about you," Yuu said, laughing. Miki blushed
at the memory, and Meiko looked embarrassed as well. Ginta
looked like he was going to die.
"She wrote a story about you?" Arimi asked Ginta
suspiciously.
"It was NOT about me," Ginta said. "Any more than my
story was about anyone real."
Guenevere simply listened quietly, looking confused.
Rumi said, "Ooh, was it a confession of love?"
"That's one way of putting it," Yuu said, laughing.
"Shall I quote?"
"No!" Miki and Ginta said in unison.
"Yes!" The four parents said in unison.
"Do tell," Arimi said coldly.
Yuu started to speak, but Ginta stuffed a rice ball in
his mouth. "No, no, no," he said. "Let's just forget it ever
happened, okay?" I will not mention Setsuna kissed me, Ginta
thought. I won't. I won't. Not if I want to live. "We certainly
haven't done anything like that in real life."
"So what do you all think about the Tennis Warriors?"
Guenevere switched the subject.
"Are they a wrestling team?" Jin asked.
"I feel safer with them protecting our school," Miki
said. "Given all the monster attacks we've had. And Tennis
Warrior Moon is just so cool."
"Mars is much cooler," Arimi said.
"I think Jupiter is sort of cute, although she is kinda
old," Ginta said.
"Ahh, but some people say older women make better
lovers," Yuu said.
Miki and Arimi both frowned at the two guys, and Meiko
giggled. Meiko said, "I like Tennis Mask myself."
"See? Some people want a mature lover."
The four parents whispered and laughed at that,
obviously pleased.
Guenevere said, "So they really are real? I thought
someone was playing a prank on me."
"They're quite real," Miki said. "But don't worry, they
keep everyone at Torio safe." The parents all whispered and
giggled, and Miki suddenly realized they were thinking this
was all some elaborate joke on the foreign exchange student.
Now I know why they haven't seemed worried about the
monster attacks. "Would you like to tell us about your
home town?" She changed the subject.
Guenevere launched into a long rambling monologue,
while Miki contemplated whether and what to tell her parents
about the monster attacks. I can't hide it from them
forever, she thought, but if they really believe it,
they...they'll do something crazy. Like trying to move us all
to Hawaii.
****************
"Welcome to Studio Wombat," Suzu said to Miki and
Meiko as they came in the front door and looked around
nervously. "They're with me," she said to the receptionist.
"I'll pray for their souls," the brunette replied.
Meiko smiled, while Miki blinked and Suzu frowned.
"Don't you have work to do?"
"No."
Suzu stared blankly for a few seconds, then sniffed
loudly and turned to her friends. "This way!"
She lead them around the studio, showing off the
various artists hard at work drawing, the computer room
where various CGI experts were hard at work producing
computer animation of a cow mutating into chocolate milk,
and through a gallery of cels from various shows the studio
had done like 'Dread Pirate Bailesu', 'Senior Citizens from
Space', 'Chocolatey Mami', and 'Magical Knights Rayovac'.
"Oooh, a cel of Chocolatey Mami from the Chocolatey
Mami vs. Strawberry Shortcake movie!" Miki said. "I wish I
could have it!"
"You can probably get a print at the studio store,"
Suzu said. "I'll see if I can get them to make you one if not."
"Thanks! I really loved this show when I was little."
She struck a pose as if she was holding a long baton.
"Chocolatey Power, Make Me Big!" She swung the invisible
baton upwards. "And then she'd turn into a grownup."
"Didn't work for you, I see," a fairly flat young male
voice said. He was standing a few feet away, pushing his
unkempt blond hair away from his eyes.
"Hayama-kun, don't make fun of her. I'm sure she
knows it was just a show. And I like that show too!" a girl
said quickly from behind him, soon coming into view. Like
him, she was around twelve years old, with red hair gathered
into two short ponytails jutting out sideways above her ears.
To Miki, she said, "Don't mind Hayama. He's just a pain in the
butt that I can't understand why I invited him to come to the
studio to see me record my first episode of my new show!"
She paused. "I'm sorry, I'm starting to advertise myself
again. What's your name? I'm Kurata Sana!"
"I'm Koishikawa Miki. Nice to meet you," Miki said.
"And this is..."
"YOU! What are YOU doing in MY animation studio?"
Suzu demanded, stepping forward.
"Oh, were you here?" Sana said in a catty fashion.
"I'm only here to record the show that will drive YOUR show
off the air and back into the garbage can where it belongs!"
She beamed, even as Hayama glanced upwards towards Suzu.
"In a few weeks, you can go back to playing in the sandbox,
and I'll just be busy making the very best show as only
Sana-chan can!"
Suzu glanced over at Hayama, who glanced back at her,
shrugged, and made a *bang* motion with one hand.
"Hah! No animated show that used your hideous
screeching voice could POSSIBLY beat mine!" Suzu turned to
Meiko. "Isn't my voice much more beautiful than hers?"
"Not when you're shouting and carrying on like a five
year old," Meiko replied.
"I think you both have cute voices," Miki said. "So what
is your show going to be about, Sana?"
"Today's photo of Sana-chan:," she said, then struck a
pose that Miki knew well. "Tennis Warrior Moon!"
Miki stared in shock, and Meiko laughed. Miki said, "But
she's real! How can they do a show without her permission?"
"Monsters aren't real. Everybody knows that!"
Sana said. "And neither are the Tennis Warriors. But it'll
make for a great show. And it's not like imaginary
people can sue, are they, Hayama?"
He looked over at Sana and nodded.
"They're real! And they'll end this ATROCITY!" Suzu
proclaimed. "And I'll go get them!"
Meiko grabbed her by the collar as she began to storm
off. "Calm down, Suzu." She turned to Sana. "Can you show
us any of the work they're doing on it? I'm curious to see
what they think Tennis Warrior Moon should look like."
Sana said, "I'd be happy to! C'mon, Suzu, we have to
show you how NEAT my show is! You can show me your little skit
later!"
Suzu ground her teeth and followed along with the
others.
****************
>Is Meiko the Princess?
[RICH YOUNG HEIRESSES ARE OFTEN CALLED
PRINCESSES.]
>Is Meiko the Princess of the Moon?
[PLEASE ENTER YOUR PIN NUMBER]
>I don't have a PIN number!
[I GUESS YOU'RE UP A CREEK, THEN]
>Why do you make everything so difficult?
[IT'S A KNACK]
Nanami fought to resist the urge to smash her
computer to flinders.
Makoto looked thoughtful. "I've got an idea," he said.
"Go for it," she said, getting up from her desk and
letting him sit down at it.
>Search for Moon Princess
[START SEARCH WITH?]
>Akizuki Meiko
[DAMN YOU FOR BEING CLEVER]
>Get to it.
[PRINCESS FOUND]
"Stupid thing. It could have told us before this!"
Nanami shook her fist at it. "You could have saved us a lot
of time!"
[YOU NEVER ASKED THE RIGHT WAY]
**************
Meiko looked at another character sketch and laughed.
"This one has Tennis Warrior Moon smacking herself with her
own racket," she said, showing everyone.
"Well, rackets aren't exactly designed for combat," the
animator, Hashimoto Kenji, a pudgy blond man in an ill-fitting
suit said. "Plus, everyone knows she's a total klutz."
"I am NOT a total clutz!" Miki said.
Meiko smiled impishly. "He's talking about Tennis
Warrior Moon, not you."
"But...oh, right."
"Hey, she looks suspiciously like Sana," Suzu said,
looking at a set of profiles pinned up over the man's desk.
"Well, no one knows what she really looks like, and
since Sana-chan already has high recognition value, it makes
sense. The same reason we made Softball Warrior V look
like you."
"Yes, but with such an ugly lead character, no one will
want to watch it. Unless maybe you call it Tennis Warrior
Monkey Girl and make it a comedy," Suzu said.
Hayama wandered over and looked at another sketch
and frowned. "Who's this?" he asked, pointing at a young
blonde boy shown in one sketch with 'Tennis Warrior Sana', in
civilian clothing.
"Her younger brother, who is a major pain in
the...rear...for her," Kenji said. "Utterly worthless,
constantly depressed, causes her all sorts of trouble to get
attention."
Hayama might have fumed at that, but it was hard to
tell at the best of times if he was ecstatically happy or
terminally depressed.
"Causing trouble to get attention is more Sana's line of
work, though," Suzu said. "And she's still ugly."
"At least I'm not an over-the-hill dried up old PRUNE like
you," Sana said. "And you calling me ugly is like a cow calling
a horse black!"
There was a brief moment of silence.
"That's a pot calling a kettle black," Meiko said. "Now,
you two shouldn't fight. Isn't there enough work for both of
you?"
"Rei-kun always finds me plenty of work," Sana said.
Suzu grabbed Hayama by the hand. "You won't be needing him,
then, with your boyfriend as your manager."
Hayama stared at Suzu.
"Hey, don't grab him! And Rei-kun's not my boyfriend anymore!"
She grabbed Hayama's other hand.
As Miki and Meiko looked on, they started to tug of war Hayama
back and forth, while he alternated between staring at each of them.
This gradually got wilder and wilder, as they began to move further and
further with each tug, and quickly Sana backed into the desk, causing it
to topple, sending sketches everywhere.
Kenji began running about, trying to save the sketches, while
Miki and Meiko tried to free Hayama before he ended up like a wishbone.
With some effort, Miki managed to pry Sana's hands from Hayama's left
arm, while Meiko pulled Suzu away from his right arm.
"Your mother is a bleached blonde!" Sana shouted at Suzu. "You
look like a canary!"
"YOUR mother has a squirrel in her hair! What is she, a tree? I
guess that makes you a shrub! Gonna keep a gerbil in yours?"
Hayama looked back and forth between them, not moving, as the
insults flew past him.
"Now, stop being idiots," Meiko snapped, her temper
coming out. "You're carrying on like children."
"Ah, there you are," the receptionist said, levelling a
small golden crystal. "You must have snuck in without me
noticing." The crystal fired a beam, which to her surprise
split, striking Sana and Hayama. They both glowed and began
to transform, growing to a good six feet tall and visibly
aging.
At the same time, a ring burst from each of them's
forehead and began to fly towards the receptionist. Kenji
ran for his life, and Meiko let go of Suzu. "I think we're in
trouble," she said.
"You've got that right," the receptionist said. "Gloom!
Don't let any of them leave!"
The aged Hayama, stared at them intently, now turned
into a larger, stronger, version of himself dressed all in
black and wearing a silver ankh, his face painted white like a
mime and his blonde hair turned black.
They found themselves unable to move, or call for
help, or do anything but listen to every song by the Cure
they'd ever heard repeating itself inside their heads.
Meanwhile, Miki and the transformed Sana, now clad in
a red bodysuit with a yellow lightning bolt on a white circle on
her chest, rolled about as Miki tried to keep her hold on
Sana. Sana, now become Speed, simply vibrated right
through Miki's grasp. She then shouted something that no
one could hear because the entire twenty sentence speech
lasted only a second and took place at frequencies which
only a dog could hear.
The two rings were about to land in the receptionist's
hands. "Excellent. General Zwei-lite will be pleased to have
the rings of Saturn and Pluto. Strange, this has been much
easier than he thought it would be."
Then a golf ball struck the rings. The ring of Saturn
simply fell into the receptionist's hands, but the ring of Pluto
arced off and landed in Meiko's hands. "That's because the
game isn't over until the last birdie," the Masked Golfer said.
Well, one of them did. This particular one had longer hair
than the usual dark haired model, and was accompanied by
Artemis, who leaped onto Gloom, disrupting his
concentration.
Soon, Artemis fell to the ground, whimpering about
Robert Plant, but Meiko and Suzu were free to run.
"Run! I'll cover your retreat," the Masked Golfer said.
"Get the Tennis Warriors!"
"But we..." Suzu began.
Meiko simply dragged her into motion; arguing with
Suzu tended to be like trying to make water flow uphill with a
small pyramid.
**************
Several vehicles roared into the studio ten parking lot
at once. Makoto said for the twentieth time this trip, "I
think borrowing my dad's car was a bad idea."
"Hey, you didn't wreck it, so it's okay," Nanami said,
jumping out. "Besides, he wasn't using it."
"He's going to stomp me flat," Makoto said gloomily.
"I'll tell him it was my fault," she said. "Keep the
engine running, in case we need a getaway car, okay?" she
said as they pulled up near the front door.
Nearby, Ryoko's car pulled up into a parking space, and
she and Arimi got out, running over to Makoto's father's
Toyota. "Come on, we need to hurry," Arimi said.
Nearby, a golf cart driven by Masked Golfer I (the blond
one), and being ridden in by Masked Golfer II drove in through
the front doors, which swung open to accomodate it, and
right through the empty reception area.
"We need a Tennis Warrior van," Arimi decided,
watching it go.
"We'd need a budget for that," Nanami said, getting out
of the car. "Let's go, Joe!"
"Who's Joe?" Arimi asked Ryoko as they ran after her.
"I'm not sure, but he often solicits people to eat at his
place," Ryoko said, shrugging.
*************
"Kill the Masked Golfer!" the youma receptionist
commanded Speed.
Speed, however, couldn't hear and comprehend
anything said that slowly. Instead, she paused for a
spontaneous rap, then began to flit around the room, poking
into everything. Then she said, "Ahah! I think I'll go destroy
Suzu!" Sadly, this took about three nanoseconds to say, and
thus no one else could understand or even notice it. She
sprinted off.
The youma receptionist sighed, and walked over to the
Masked Golfer III. Transforming into her monster form,
which looked much the same, except for having rugose off-
mauve skin riddled with veins visibly pumping green ichor,
she said, "I'll just kill you myself."
However, when she got close enough to kill them, she
was caught in Gloom's power, only able to think about how
every youma that faced the Tennis Warriors died. The song
'Suicide is Painless' began to drift through her mind. Unable
to move, she was still there when Zwei-lite walked in.
He shook his head. "Caught by Gloom, I see. Quite a
potent power, he has, does he not?"
She would have answered him, but there was no point
to it.
He walked closer. "Despair is the mindkiller; only those
who have faced it and won can avoid Gloom's power."
He walked over to her and took the ring of Saturn
from her hands. "I faced despair before I came to Beryl's
service, and I have since overcome it, though perhaps not in
ways she would fully appreciate. Hmm, I see you lost one of
them."
Speed zipped by, pausing to check inside Zwei-lite's
pockets. "Nope, no Suzu." She zipped off.
"Hmm, I see that pure stupidity also protects one," he
said. "Well, this will have to do. The laws of drama try to
restrict those of our kind from achieving more than partial
victories. I believe that allowing you to be destroyed and the
Dooms liberated should sate the laws' hunger for my blood.
They are fair, but ruthless, so I must be moreso to
overcome them. "
He looked over at Gloom. "And I fear I would soon find
myself too depressed, having him around." He laughed and
began to walk away. "Don't worry, I will praise your valor to
Beryl; you will be remembered well."
His laughter echoed in her ears, drowning out 'Don't
Fear the Reaper', which was now being played by her own
mental DJ. She wasn't sure which was worse.
************
"Moon SLAM!"
"Burning Passion Serve!"
"Power Serve!"
"Game Called on Account of Rain!"
"FORE!"
More balls than he knew what to do with pelted Gloom,
who quickly collapsed under the assault, turning back into
Hayama. This freed the youma receptionist, who simply
raised her arms. "I surrender!"
"Really?" Masked Golfer III asked.
"No, I lied to gain time," she said, then vanished in a
teleportation flicker.
Couldn't she have just done that in the first place?, he
asked himself. He then turned to the others, looking around.
"Zwei-lite was here; he took the other ring. Where's Meiko?"
"Super Sized Venus is taking her out to the car where
she'll be safe," Tennis Warrior Moon said, then looked at
Hayama. "I hope he's going to be okay."
"We've got to find Speed," Jupiter said. "Can you find
her with your computer, Mercury?"
"The problem isn't finding her; it's that she never
stays in one place for long. Right now, she's heading for
the...lobby."
"The car's right out front!" Tennis Warrior Moon said.
"She could stumble onto Meiko."
"And Makoto-chan!" Mercury said in a moment of
panic. "Let's go!"
**************
Meiko walked as fast as she could, clutching the ring of
Pluto. I should have thought to give this to Miki, she
thought. It would be safer than it is with me. Or maybe I
should have Super Size Venus hold onto it. "Do you..." she
began.
Then a red blur ran by, shouting something incoherent.
It paused and came back around, slowing down enough to be
recognizable as Speed. Before Super Size Venus could
react, she charged forward, unleashing a barrage of punches
at Meiko, who closed her eyes and winced.
Speed went right through Meiko, still not used to her
powers, and having gone so fast she simply vibrated right
through her without impacting her at all. She made forty
more passes, still not quite able to get enough of a grip on
her abilities to stop phasing through everything.
Meiko closed her eyes and prayed, wishing she had
some sort of power, something she could do to stop Speed
before the girl learned to stop vibrating through her and
really do some damage. She could hear Super Size Venus
leaping about, trying to intercept the attacks and flailing
about with the Love-Me Neuronic Whip. But Speed was too
quick for her.
The ring dug into her hands, and she realized she had
it. Quickly putting it on, she told it to do something,
anything, to stop Speed. Help me, she begged.
And a voice answered, her mother's voice, but lighter
and more joyous than Meiko could remember ever hearing it,
except on a handful of rare ocassions whose memory she
treasured like diamonds. I cannot help you, she said, but I
can tell you how to help yourself. But I warn you, if you
begin down this road, there is no turning back.
She heard Super Size Venus howl, and took a peek.
SSV was rolling around on the floor with Speed, who was
punching her repeatedly, having apparently finally gotten the
knack of what she was doing.
For a moment, Meiko just wanted to crumple up into a
ball, or run away before Speed could turn her attention
Meiko's way. She felt utterly powerless, but then she came
back to herself. I don't care about the cost, I have to save
Suzu.
The voice took on a note of pride to go with its joy. I
knew I could count on you, she said.
Meiko winced; her mother never sounded like that to
her, and being reminded of it hurt. She had long craved
hearing her mother address her in that way, then given up on
it, but now... She refused to wallow in self-pity. Tell me
what to do, she said to the woman who sounded like her
mother.
Tell the ring to call upon Pluto's power and slow Speed
down to normal. Speed was created to slay Tennis Warrior
Pluto by forcing her to stop time in order to defeat her...or
so Beryl hoped. But Beryl never really understood anything
she was doing, the voice said. But you must do it swiftly, my
beloved daughter.
Meiko nodded and opened her eyes. Speed was
swinging Super Size Venus around by her hair, while Venus
screamed in pain. Meiko couldn't believe Venus' hair hadn't
come ripping out by now, especially since Speed was swinging
around faster and faster.
Taking a deep breath, Meiko shouted, "I CALL UPON THE
POWER OF PLUTO TO SLOW SPEED DOWN!" A reddish-purple
nimbus surrounded her, and upon her brow the sigil of Pluto
blazed brightly. As she pointed at Speed, the nimbus formed
into a serpent and struck at Speed's feet. They slowed
faster than the rest of Speed did, causing her to fall and
twist her ankle.
Speed lost her grip on Super Size Venus, who went
flying into a wall. At the same time, the Tennis Warriors and
Masked Golfers drove up in the extremely crowded cart.
They poured out like debarking clowns.
"You shoved your elbow in my face!" Super Size Mars
snapped at Tennis Warrior Moon.
"Maybe if you hadn't decided to Super Size yourself
while we were in transit, it wouldn't have happened!" Tennis
Warrior Moon fired back.
"Maybe we should beat Speed first, okay?" The Masked
Golfer said.
Meiko advanced on Speed, who tried to stand up, but
couldn't. The nimbus of Pluto power still surrounded her,
and the serpent arched upward from her left hand, on which
she wore the ring. She offered her right hand. "The game is
over, Sana," she said. "Come back to us. I'm sorry I hurt
your ankle."
Speed looked at her, then over at Super Size Venus
and the snoozing Hayama on the cart. She tried to say
something, but all anyone could catch was something about
'pimp'. Then she dwindled, turning into Sana, who fell into
Meiko's arms, wincing in pain. "I don't understand," she said.
"My ankle! Did Suzu do this to me?"
The nimbus of power faded as Meiko lifted Sana off
the ground and carried her over towards the cart. "No, I'm
afraid it's my fault. I didn't quite know what I was doing."
The third Masked Golfer put a hand on her shoulder.
"You did very well."
"Thank you," she said.
Tennis Mask rushed in through the doors. "My stupid
car broke down on the way here! I had to run the last
quarter mile, and it's blocking traffic." He sighed, then his
eyes widened. "Hey, what happened to her?"
"I had to break up a fight," Meiko said.
"How did you do that?" Tennis Warrior Moon asked her,
helping her set Sana down next to Hayama.
"My mother told me what to do," Meiko said softly.
"Your mother?" Masked Golfer III asked in surprise.
"It sounded like her, anyway," Meiko said.
Across the room, Super Size Mars caught Masked
Golfer II as he began to slip off. "Not this time you don't!
You've got to let us know who you are!"
"Must...slip...off...to...drag...out...mystery..." he
mumbled.
"I think not." She reached over and ripped off his
mask. His golfing costume dissolved away, becoming normal
clothing and revealing him to be Ginta. "Ginta!"
He blinked and rubbed his eyes. "This isn't K-mart."
"You're the second masked Golfer!"
Artemis popped up, sensing a need for exposition.
"The Earth was defended by a golfing foursome, so I would
expect that there's a fourth one, too. Plus, it's possible
that the Prince of the Earth has been reborn, and he might
be running about as a Masked Golfer as well. He was the
Moon Princess' lover, before everyone died."
"Did they have some sort of codenames? All this
Masked Golfer I, II, III is starting to confuse me," Super Size
Mars said.
"Hey, is that cat talking?" Ginta asked in disbelief.
"It just gets stranger from here," Artemis said.
"Anyway, most of the Earth's Golfers were dating various
Tennis Warriors before the big whoops. Now, as to figuring
out who was who... Mars was seeing Vulcan, Jupiter was
seeing Zeus, Mercury was dating Hermes, Prince Endymion
and Princess Serenity were lovers, and Moon was frequently
caught smooching Orion."
"Sounds like a soap," Super Size Mars said.
"Anyway, I'd guess you're Vulcan," Artemis said to
Ginta.
"But I don't have pointed ears," he replied. "And I don't
feel very logical."
"So what was Endymion like?" Meiko asked Artemis.
"All I can remember is darkish hair, and he was older
than you."
Masked Golfer III and Tennis Mask both smiled.
Then all the alarms in the building started going off.
"Time for us to amscray," Masked Golfer III said. "All
aboard to take our injured superstar to a doctor."
"Why thanks," Venus said, "But I don't need one."
"I was talking about Sana, actually," Masked Golfer III
said. "But you can come too."
Venus frowned as they all piled on and pulled out.
**************
"So, where you able to transform when you wanted to,
or did it just happen?" Miki asked Yuu once they were all
back at their house.
"It just happened while I was on my way to work. Then
Golfer Vulcan showed up." Yuu shook his head. "That just
sounds silly."
Meiko, who was seated next to Miki on Miki's bed while
Yuu sat at Miki's desk, said, "Well, maybe he's Vulcan. We
can't be sure everything will play out the same way it did
before. We need to learn more about what their powers
were like."
"That's true," Miki said. "That would let us tell." She
thought for a little while, then said, "And I guess you must
either be Tennis Warrior Pluto or the Moon Princess, since
you were able to use the ring like that, Meiko."
Meiko, who was wearing the gold band, which had a
garnet set in it, said, "I wonder if the voice I heard was
Queen Serenity. But she sounded like my mother."
From the floor, Luna said, "Perhaps that's a result of
mingling of memories. It could be a sign your memories will
begin to awaken. Although the Tennis Warriors haven't
recovered all their memories."
"I just have bursts of memory at times," Miki said.
"Like remembering riding a horse through a great forest of
trees with silver leaves."
"Or seeing the Earth from space," Yuu said. "And
watching it recede. I dreamed that last night."
If I'm the Moon Princess, then Na-chan must be
Endymion reborn, Meiko thought. "So what was Endymion
like, Luna?"
"Very cocky and sure of himself. A bit arrogant, but
also very loyal. He spent two years winning over Princess
Serenity; it wasn't easy. She hated him at first, but
eventually, he broke down her defenses. I remember the
first time I met him, she'd just thrown him out a window into
the great reflecting pool."
"..." Miki stared at Luna in shock. "You're kidding."
"It ruined his clothing, too, since they hadn't cleaned
the algae out of the pool recently enough. He got up, got
new clothing, went back, and took another bath that day. It
was definitely an uphill battle to love."
Then again, maybe it's not Na-chan, Meiko thought,
then frowned and shook her head. Our love is destined, she
thought. It has to be. And surely he can't be one of the
other guys. A tiny voice nagged at her as to how Luna's
description fit someone else she knew, but she stomped on
it until it passed out. He has to be Na-chan. Has to be.
***********
"Grounded? But I didn't do anything!" Nanami said to
her father.
"Mizuhara-san chewed my ear off for a half hour over
you and Makoto's little escapade. I had half a mind to whip
you for an hour, but your mother convinced me a month's
grounding would be better. I don't know what gets into you
two when you're together. But I'm not taking any chances on
you disappearing like your lunatic brother. I wish I knew
where he was...so I could whip him too. Now, go to your room
and be miserable." Her father raised the newspaper, and
Nanami knew her audience was over.
She sighed and headed for her room to do homework. I
hope Makoto didn't get in too much trouble.
*************
"Hmm, no damage at all. And you filled it up," Makoto's
father said.
"That was Nanami's idea."
"The girl has no common sense, but is sometimes
clever," Mizuhara Taiki, a middle-aged salaryman, said. "Well,
since no damage was done, I'm only grounding you for two
months. You'll come straight home from school, and you're
not going anywhere else without a chaperone."
"Yes sir," he said, feeling relief it hadn't been worse.
His father stared at him sternly, then softened. "Did
you have a good time with your girlfriend?"
"She's not my girlfriend," he said, feeling embarrassed.
"Uh huh."
Makoto wasn't really sure how he felt about Nanami.
She was certainly his closest friend, but whether you'd call it
love in a romantic sense was another matter. She was cute,
but she didn't make his blood race or his soul soar. But at
the same time, it seemed natural to be around her, to do
things with her, and probably no one else really understood
him like she did.
She's going to go nuts, stuck in her house, he thought.
Although her nutcase parents may decide tomorrow that
they approve of running off in other people's cars and
unground her. You never could be sure what they would do.
He often wondered how she'd managed to stay sane, living
with them.
"I will miss Nanami, though."
"Well, if she wants to come over and study, I might say
yes if you clear it first," Taiki said. "Because I wouldn't wish
several months with her parents on anyone."
"Me neither."
****************
John Walter Biles : MA-History, ABD, Ph.D Candidate at U. Kansas
ranma@falcon.cc.ukans.edu
rhea@tass.org http://www.tass.org/~rhea/falcon.html
rhea@maison-otaku.net http://www.maison-otaku.net/~rhea/
"The connection is so abstract, that we have people whose job
it is to make sure the paperwork doesn't get totally disconnected
from the world. Theoretically, I handle millions of dollars a day,
but it is less real than this e-mail. I have never seen our product.
I have never seen the sales people. I have never seen a customer."
--Robert Lane describes his work as an accountant.