[The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set]
[Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set]
[Some characters may be displayed incorrectly]
Yes, after a full break of watching anime and writing fanfiction, I have
returned... with a new story. This is just a fanfic idea that's been
sitting in my head for a month waiting for me to finish watching Saber
Marionette J so that I wouldn't be putting my foot in my mouth with
bogus facts. The story takes place halfway through the series (those
familiar with the storyline should be able to place it from context),
but there may be spoilers for the end of the series. However, I'm hoping
to save those for another story. If you have anything to say about the
story, particularly C&C, don't hesitate!
It was a quiet day in Japoness so far. This was mostly due to the
fact that it was still early in the morning. So early, in fact, that
Otaru Mamiya had not yet awoken. Not that he awoke particularly early,
by any means, but the fact that he was still asleep was the other main
contributing factor to the relative peace of Japoness. It wasn't until
he was awake that his Saber Marionettes usually began to cause trouble.
Cherry lightly shook Otaru by the shoulders. "Master Otaru, wake up!
It's time for breakfast!"
"You won't wake him like that," said Bloodberry. "Put some oomph
into it!"
"But I don't want to hurt him," replied Cherry.
"You won't hurt him! Just give him a good shove!"
"A woman's touch should be light, Bloodberry."
"Then I suppose we'll just let him sleep all day," said Bloodberry.
Fortunately, Lime solved the problem by charging into the bedroom
and leaping onto Otaru's pallet. "Otaru! Otaru! Wake up! I made you
breakfast!"
Otaru's eyes watered as he waited to regain the breath that had been
knocked out of his lungs. "Lime... don't do that again."
Lime climbed off of Otaru and pulled him up into a sitting position.
She thrust the plate under his nose. "Look, Otaru! Isn't it shiny? Eat
it! Eat it!" Otaru's stomach heaved, and he barely managed to keep the
previous night's dinner from joining the breakfast on the plate.
The front door of Otaru's apartment opened. "Otaru! Are you still
letting these Marionettes make your food? You should know better than
that by now! I, Hanagata, am the only one who can cook fit for the Hero
of Japoness!"
"Master Otaru can eat whatever he wants!" shouted Cherry.
"Are you serious?" asked Hanagata, striding across the room. "You
want him to eat this..." He looked down at the plate. "Is that real
gold?" He picked up Lime's breakfast and bit it. His eyes glazed over,
and his face turned blue as sweat covered his skin.
"Hannie, no!" shouted Lime, grabbing the nugget from his mouth.
"That's Otaru's breakfast!"
"That's okay, Lime," said Otaru. "I'm not very hungry any more."
Cherry sniffed. "Another wonderful breakfast, wasted."
"What did you want anyway, Hanagata?" asked Otaru.
Hanagata coughed and produced an envelope. "I just stopped by to
give you this."
Otaru grabbed the envelope and looked at the date. "This letter is
dated over a month ago!"
Hanagata shrugged. "Well, you were busy! I didn't think you'd have
time to explore the catacombs of Japoness palace while you had so many
public appearances. I had to think of your career, you know. And
remember, I still haven't forgiven you for blowing our - I mean your big
shot."
Otaru snatched the envelope away. "Don't tell me you read it too!"
"I had to make sure it wasn't a scathing rebuke from an irate fan
that would hurt your feelings!"
"Thanks, but no thanks," said Otaru, pulling the letter out of the
envelope and unfolding it.
"What does it say?" asked Lime eagerly.
Otaru read the letter aloud. "'Otaru:
"'Well done! If you're reading this note, you have successfully
turned away Gartlant's invasion. I'm sure that you and the Marionettes
are growing quite close. Take good care of them, and they will take good
care of you.
"'I would like to ask a favor of you. Now that you've saved Japoness
from Faust... could you help me clean out my basement? There's a door
behind a stack of crates that leads to the secret catacombs beneath the
palace. You may find something that you like there, and you are welcome
to it.
"'Have a happy and wonderful life,
"'Shogun Ieyasu the Fifteenth.'"
"He sent us a note asking us to do chores?" asked Bloodberry.
"I don't think it's a chore," said Otaru. "I think he wants to give
me something. It says that I might find something I like there."
"You're right," said Cherry. "He probably just doesn't want to make
a public spectacle out of it. It's a private gift."
"Grampa wants to give us something! We have to go get it right
away!" said Lime.
"Don't call the Shogun Grampa," snapped Otaru.
"Come on, Otaru!" cried Hanagata. "We've got to go find out what the
Shogun wants to give you! And of course, there will be a rich reward for
the only human who assisted you during the mission..."
"You're not coming, Hanagata," said Otaru. "Lime, Cherry,
Bloodberry; let's go."
"Otaru!" shouted Hanagata as they ran toward the palace, leaving him
behind. "Someday you'll appreciate the trouble I go through for you!" He
stormed back into Otaru's apartment and began to eat the breakfast that
Cherry had made.
Saber Marionette J: The Ticking Saber
Chapter 1: Smashed Watermelon! A New Friend In Need Of Repair
"I found it!" shouted Cherry, lifting the stack of crates aside to
reveal an iron door covered in rust.
Otaru slowly pulled the rusty door open. "I can tell this door
hasn't been used in a while," he said, but his words were drowned out by
the squeaking of the hinges.
"Who would have thought that there were ancient catacombs under the
Japoness imperial palace?" asked Cherry. "The building's architecture
certainly doesn't suggest anything of the sort."
"I just wonder what could be down here that's so important," said
Bloodberry.
"I bet it's treasure!" said Lime. "Grampa wants us to bring him back
lots of beautiful stuff!"
"It's possible that even the Shogun doesn't know what's down here,"
said Cherry.
"No way!" protested Lime. "Grampa knows everything!"
"You really have a lot to learn about the way the world works," said
Otaru.
"Well, we should probably go down there and see what the Shogun's
been keeping such a secret all this time," suggested Cherry.
"I'll go! I'll go!" cheered Lime, charging down the stairs.
"No, wait!" shouted Otaru. "We'll all go!"
"We'd better get down there before she breaks something," advised
Bloodberry.
Lime reached the bottom of the stairs and found herself in a small
stone room. A stick with a red ball on the end of it stuck out of one of
the walls at an upward angle. "I wonder what this stick is for," said
Lime, pulling on it. The stick swung downwards to point toward the floor
as Otaru, Cherry, and Bloodberry reached the foot of the stairs.
*************************************************
START
PROGRAM IV
WATERMELON
PROGRAM START
PROGRAM ERROR: SYSTEM CORRUPTION DETECTED
LINE 10097: UNABLE TO EXECUTE
LINE 10098: UNABLE TO EXECUTE
LINE 10156: UNABLE TO EXECUTE
LINE 10172: UNABLE TO EXECUTE
LINE 10234: UNABLE TO EXECUTE
...
*************************************************
"Hey! Lime! Don't play with that lever! You don't know what it
does!" shouted Otaru, knowing full well that the Marionette had no
intention of heeding his warning.
"Lever lever lever!" Lime shouted back. "It's such a funny word! But
what does the funny lever do?"
"I don't know! That's why we shouldn't touch it!" Otaru dove at
Lime, hoping to push her away from the mysterious lever with the red
handle, but she moved to the side to admire the lever from a different
angle, exposing the wall to his path of movement.
"What a great lever!" said Lime. "It's so much fun to move it up and
down and up and down..." She grabbed the lever and began to manipulate
it in time with her words.
*************************************************
PROGRAM SCAN COMPLETE
PROGRAM PROFICIENCY: 74%
PROGRAM PERFORMANCE QUOTIENT WITHIN TOLERANCE FOR ANIMATION
PROGRAM SAFETY MARGIN: 56%
POTENTIAL HARM TO HUMANS PRESENT
CONTINUED OPERATION OF UNIT UNSAFE
SAFETY MARGIN INTOLERABLE EXCEPTION THROWN
CATCH: INITIATE BACKUP PROGRAM
BACKUP PROGRAM ERROR: BACKUP PROGRAM ERASED
BACKUP PROGRAM UNABLE TO EXECUTE EXCEPTION THROWN
CATCH: INITIATE AUTO-SHUTDOWN
*************************************************
"Lime! Master Otaru told you not to touch that lever!" shouted
Cherry. "And now look at what's happened to him!" She knelt beside
Otaru. "Master Otaru, are you okay?"
"I'll be fine..." groaned Otaru. "I've had worse before."
"That's right!" cried Hanagata from the other side of Otaru. "Otaru
happens to have the part of the Ieyasu DNA which gives him a very thick
skull! This is a trait he shares with myself, the charming Hanagata,
which is why he and I should -" His sentence terminated abruptly as
Cherry pounded him through the ceiling and into the toilet of one of the
restrooms on the ground floor of the palace.
"Otaru needs quiet, you idiot!" she shouted after him. "Your
shouting is only going to make his headache worse! Isn't that right,
Master Otaru?" She gasped as she realized that even this last question
had been shouted. "I'm so sorry!" she whispered. "Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine..." he repeated. "Just get Lime to stop playing with
that lever before she gets us all in trouble..."
*************************************************
AUTO-SHUTDOWN ERROR: SHUTDOWN FUNCTION INACCESSIBLE
AUTO-SHUTDOWN UNABLE TO EXECUTE EXCEPTION THROWN
CATCH: DETACH POWER SUPPLY
POWER SUPPLY ERROR: PHYSICAL SYSTEM DAMAGED
POWER SUPPLY UNABLE TO DETACH EXCEPTION THROWN
CATCH: INITIATE SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE
*************************************************
Bloodberry bent down to address Lime face-to-face. "You know, Lime,
I don't think Otaru wants you to play with that lever. In fact, you
might make him mad if you keep playing with it."
"I'd make Otaru mad?" asked Lime, pausing with the lever in the down
position.
"I'd say he already looks pretty steamed," replied Bloodberry. "Take
a look."
Lime looked down at Otaru. "Ooh! His head is all lumpy like a bunch
of grapes! Lumpy lumpy lumpy!" She tapped one of the lumps, eliciting a
scream of pain from Otaru. "Does this one hurt, Otaru?"
"Lime, don't touch his poor head!" warned Cherry. "He's already been
hurt enough!" She cradled Otaru's head against her chest. "Just rest,
Master Otaru. I'll take care of you."
Bloodberry stared at the lever. "Well, it doesn't appear to have
done anything. Perhaps it's broken. Or maybe -"
*************************************************
SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE INITIATED
UNIT WILL SELF-DESTRUCT IN 99:59:59 HOURS
PROJECTED SAFETY MARGIN: 12%
POSSIBILITY OF PROXIMITY TO HUMANS AT TIME OF DETONATION EXISTS
DETONATION UNSAFE EXCEPTION THROWN
CATCH: SET DETONATION TIME TO 0 HOURS
*************************************************
Everyone froze as the room shook. "What was that?" asked Bloodberry.
"The whole room shook!" replied Cherry. "Maybe it's an earthquake!"
Bloodberry shook her head. "No. That came from somewhere within the
palace. Somewhere close to this room!"
"Someone is shaking the palace?" asked Lime. "Why would anyone shake
the palace?"
"It must be the Gartlant Sabers!" said Cherry. "They're attacking
the palace!"
"From inside?" asked Bloodberry. "If they were inside, why would
they bother to make such a ruckus? They'd head right for the Shogun."
"Then what else could it be?"
"It felt like it came from behind this wall," said Otaru weakly.
"Bloodberry, maybe we should -"
"Right!" shouted Bloodberry, drawing a large sword.
*************************************************
DETONATION TIME SET ERROR: UNABLE TO CHANGE DETONATION TIME
DETONATION EXECUTION IRREGULAR OPERATION EXCEPTION THROWN
UNCAUGHT EXCEPTION PASSED TO MAIN O/S
O/S: TERMINATE PROGRAM "WATERMELON"
ERROR: COMMAND "TERMINATE" NOT FOUND
RETURNING CONTROL TO PROGRAM "WATERMELON"
ENTERING MAIN PROGRAM LOOP
MAIDEN CIRCUIT 04 ONLINE
ANIMATE MARIONETTE BODY
*************************************************
Bloodberry easily sliced a man-sized hole in the wall behind Otaru.
The stones fell into the room, revealing a solid wall of dirt behind the
original wall. "That's odd. There's nothing there."
"But there has to be something!" said Cherry. "Maybe it's inside the
dirt?"
"Maybe it's a cute mouse!" said Lime. "Mousie mousie mousie!"
Cherry tensed her servos to control her shuddering. "It couldn't be
a m-mouse," she stuttered. "They're too small to shake a big building
like this."
"Maybe it's a GIANT MOUSE!" shouted Lime. Cherry fainted.
"Get serious," said Bloodberry. "It's not a mouse at all."
"Then what is it?" demanded Otaru.
"I know!" said Lime. "It's the funny lever! The lever shakes the
palace! Shake shake shake!"
Bloodberry smacked herself in the face. "Of course! How could I have
forgotten the lever?"
"I hope we didn't break anything," said Otaru, getting to his feet.
Staring at the ruined wall, he swallowed. "Maybe we should just leave
now."
"But, Otaru," began Lime, "wasn't the funny lever pointing up when
we came in?"
"I don't think we should touch it any more," said Otaru. "It's
caused enough trouble."
"But what if the palace shakes again? We have to put the lever back
up!"
"All right! If it'll make you happy, I'll put the stupid lever back
up!" Otaru gripped the lever in both hands and pulled. "It's stuck, I
think..." As he tugged with all of his might, the wall in front of him
exploded in a shower of masonry and a cloud of dirt.
"Maybe I just broke through the wrong part of the wall," said
Bloodberry.
*************************************************
MAIDEN CIRCUIT DIRECTIVES:
1) PROTECT TARGET FROM <DIRECTIVE ERROR>
2) <DIRECTIVE ERROR>
3) <DIRECTIVE ERROR> OF TARGET
4) LOVE TARGET
RESPONSE: ACQUIRE TARGET
COMMENCING TARGET ACQUISITION
*************************************************
Cherry snapped awake. "What happened?"
"We don't know!" said Bloodberry. "Something just came out of the
wall!"
The dust began to settle, revealing a human shape. Cherry's eyes
took in the shape of the legs and hips. "It's a Marionette!"
"A Marionette?" asked Otaru.
"Yay! We're going to have a new friend!" cheered Lime.
"Something's wrong with her," announced Bloodberry. "She's damaged."
"Huh?" asked Otaru. "What do you mean?" He gasped as the
Marionette's body came into full view at last. Her clothes were in
tatters, barely covering a bosom that offered almost as much fullness as
Bloodberry's and hips to match. From the waist down, she appeared to be
in perfect condition. However, the left side of her torso had been
crushed as if she'd been hit in the side by a speeding auto-palanquin at
chest height. Her left arm terminated in a clump of sparking wires at
the elbow, and a large chip was missing from the green cover on her
chest that would otherwise be protecting a maiden circuit. The long
green ponytails that fell to either side of her face failed to hide the
mark of an impact to the right side of her head, similar to her side
injury.
The Marionette's eyes opened, and she raised her right arm to point
at Otaru. "You - you woke me?"
Otaru shook his head, then looked down at his hands, which were
still holding the lever in the down position. "No! It wasn't me! I
mean..."
The Marionette took a step forward, nearly falling over. She
regained her balance and looked up at Otaru again. "Water... melon..."
Otaru backed away. "What do you mean? Is that your name?"
"My... name..." The Marionette continued to advance, pausing to
regain her equilibrium with each halted step. "Water... melon... you..."
She reached toward Otaru with her only good arm.
"Get away from her!" shouted Cherry, throwing herself between Otaru
and Watermelon. "She's broken! There's no telling what she might do!"
Watermelon froze. Her eyes glowed blood red. "GET AWAY FROM HIM!"
she shouted, clenching her right fist. She swung her arm at Cherry,
knocking the smaller marionette aside like a paper doll.
"Hey! Pick on someone your own size!" shouted Bloodberry, drawing
her sword. Watermelon turned her head and blasted the sword with a beam
from her eyes, removing the blade from the hilt.
Lime wrapped her arms around Watermelon and struggled to hold her
back. "Don't hurt Otaru!" she cried. "I won't let you hurt him!"
Watermelon ignored Lime's efforts and continued forward.
Bloodberry darted forward and grabbed Otaru's arm. "Come on! We've
got to get out of here!"
Watermelon growled. "DON'T TOUCH HIM!" She charged forward, dragging
Lime along for the ride, and grabbed Bloodberry's upper arm. Bloodberry
screamed as Watermelon squeezed, slowly crushing her arm. She quickly
let go of Otaru and backed away, nursing her injured limb.
"She's a monster!" shouted Bloodberry. "Keep her away from Otaru!"
Lime swung herself around Watermelon's body, only to be flung
headfirst into the wall. Otaru backed away from the rampaging Marionette
until he tripped over Cherry and fell backwards. The glow in
Watermelon's eyes winked out as she dove forward to catch him before he
hit the ground.
"O-taru?" she asked quietly. "Are you... okay?"
Cherry sat up abruptly. "What are you doing to him?" She watched as
Watermelon ran her hand through Otaru's hair. "Hey, stop that! Leave
Master Otaru alone!" Watermelon casually stuck her arm out and punched
Cherry, sending her flying across the room and into the wall, before
returning to her ministrations.
"Lime! Cherry! Wake up!" shouted Bloodberry. "We can all gang up on
her and take her out!"
"No, wait," groaned Cherry as she got to her feet. "Look! She's not
hurting Master Otaru at all."
Bloodberry started. "She's - she's caressing him!"
"Apparently, she thinks we're enemies, and she's trying to protect
Master Otaru from us," was Cherry's analysis.
"But - but - but she doesn't have to do THAT to protect him, does
she?" Bloodberry asked, pointing at Watermelon. "What part of protecting
him requires putting her hands all over him like that! And look at the
way she's dressed! What a tramp!"
"Well, she's not hurting him," Cherry pointed out. "I suppose we can
be grateful for that, at least."
Lime slowly approached Watermelon, ready to retreat at the first
sign of aggression. Once she was within arm's reach, she knelt next to
Watermelon, keeping her hands well clear of Otaru. "What are you doing
to my Otaru?" she asked.
"I must protect Otaru," replied Watermelon.
"Protect him? From what?" asked Lime.
Watermelon shook her head. "I - I don't know. My mission is to
protect Otaru from... something."
Lime smiled. "It's okay. We're all friends. We won't hurt Otaru."
She threw her arms around Otaru. "See? I love Otaru too!"
Watermelon tore Lime away from Otaru and threw her away. "I have to
protect Otaru... and love him... and... something else. I don't know...
I don't know what my mission is!" She buried her face in Otaru's chest
and began to cry.
"Well, it's not to hurt us!" shouted Lime. Then she opened her eyes.
"What? Crying?"
"Why is she crying?" asked Bloodberry. "She's protected Otaru, even
if he was never in any danger to begin with."
"She's scared," said Cherry. "The damage must have affected her
maiden circuit. That's why she's attacking us. Her directives were
partially erased. She knows that she has to protect Master Otaru, but
she doesn't know what from; so she protects him from everything, even
things that wouldn't possibly cause him any harm."
"Well, it's okay, Watermelon," Bloodberry assured her. "There's no
need to protect Otaru from us. We're no danger at all."
"But what if my mission is to protect Otaru from you? I have to -"
"That's silly!" said Lime with a chuckle. "Who would program you to
protect Otaru from us?"
"Who DID program her, anyway?" asked Bloodberry. "And why didn't the
Shogun tell us about her before?"
"You're right," agreed Otaru. "This is definitely why the Shogun
sent us down here. I wonder if he knows that she's broken."
"I'm... broken?" asked Watermelon.
"You mean you don't know?" shouted Lime. "You're missing an arm!"
"No I'm not," replied Watermelon. "It's right here, see?" She held
her right arm up proudly.
"Not that arm," said Bloodberry. "The other one. You've only got
half an arm."
Watermelon looked at the stump of her left arm. "There's supposed to
be an arm there?"
"Her circuitry has adapted to deal with whatever trauma left her in
this condition," said Cherry. "She thinks that the way she is now is the
way she was created."
"Maybe it was," said Bloodberry. "Maybe she was designed by someone
with a sick sense of humor."
"Designed?" asked Watermelon. "What do you mean?"
"Yep, she's pretty out of it," said Bloodberry.
"Why do you talk about me as if I wasn't here?" demanded Watermelon.
"Yeah!" added Lime. "Just because Watermelon's smashed doesn't make
her any less a person!"
"She's not a person," said Cherry. "None of us are. We're
Marionettes, built by humans to take the place of human females in a
society of men."
"Otaru, is this true?" asked Watermelon. "Are we really...
different?"
Otaru nodded. "I'm afraid so, Watermelon. But that's okay. Lime,
Cherry, and Bloodberry are all Marionettes, and we get along just fine.
We'll get you repaired and then you can come home with us."
Watermelon swallowed. "Does being repaired hurt?"
"Of course not!" said Lime. "You fall asleep, and then when you wake
up, you're all better!"
"Fall asleep?" Watermelon clutched Otaru protectively. "But what if
something happens to Otaru while I'm asleep? I must protect him!"
"We'll protect Otaru," Bloodberry assured her. "I promise that
nothing will happen to Otaru while you're being repaired."
"But... if something did happen, I'd never be able to forgive
myself!"
"Neither would we," said Cherry. "But it will be okay. Nothing will
happen to Master Otaru. We all love him and want to protect him, just
like you do."
"But -"
"No buts!" said Otaru. "I'll be fine, I promise! But you need to get
repaired, or you won't be able to protect me."
Lime nodded her affirmation. "No one will lay a hand on my Otaru
while you're asleep!" She rolled up her short sleeve. "If anyone tries
to hurt him, POW! Right in the nose!"
Watermelon smiled. "You really do love him... but I love him too.
How can we all love Otaru?"
"It's easy!" said Lime. "You just look at Otaru and you get a warm
feeling in your heart, and that's happiness! Right, Otaru?"
Watermelon shook her head. "That's not what I mean. I mean, if we
all love Otaru, how can we ever be happy? He can only truly love one of
us..."
"That's not true!" Cherry insisted. "Master Otaru loves all of us!"
"That's right," agreed Bloodberry. "But he loves me the most. Don't
you, Otaru?"
"That's not fair!" shouted Cherry. "You can't make Master Otaru
choose between us!"
"Choose me! Choose me!" shouted Lime.
"This isn't the time to fight," said Otaru. "Watermelon needs
repairs right away."
Bloodberry squatted beside Watermelon. "Do you need help getting out
of here? You can ride on my back if you want."
"But I need to stay close to Otaru," said Watermelon, waving
Bloodberry off. She stood up and almost immediately fell down.
"You can't walk like that," said Otaru. "Ride on my back."
"I think she's faking it," said Bloodberry disdainfully as
Watermelon gratefully accepted her piggyback perch. "She just wants to
climb on top of Otaru, so she's pretending she can't walk. She was doing
just fine before."
"I'm sorry to be such a burden," said Watermelon. "Maybe I should
just walk, if it's going to make your friends jealous."
"Don't worry about it," Otaru assured her. "There's no reason for
them to be jealous. And you're not a burden to me. You're actually quite
light for a Marionette."
"He's never said that about us," sobbed Cherry.
"I still don't see why my back isn't good enough," said Bloodberry.
Lime leapt onto Bloodberry's back. "You can carry me, Bloodberry!"
Bloodberry reached up and lifted Lime's hands off of her shoulders,
dumping the smaller Marionette onto the floor. "Sorry, but my offer only
extends to the lame, and I don't mean you."
"Come on, guys," said Otaru. "Let's get going." He carried
Watermelon to the stairs and started to climb out of the basement.
"Don't feel bad, Cherry," said Bloodberry. "She's only light because
she's missing an arm."
"You really think so?" asked Cherry. She followed Otaru up the
stairs, with a slight spring in her step.
"Are you coming, Lime?" asked Bloodberry as she made her own way up
the stairs.
"Here I come!" shouted Lime. Hanagata fell through the hole in the
ceiling and landed next to her. "Hannie! What are you doing here?"
"I followed you to make sure Otaru didn't get into trouble," replied
Hanagata. "Where did he go?"
"He's taking Watermelon to get repaired," said Lime.
"Who's Watermelon?" demanded Hanagata. "Another new Marionette?"
Lime nodded. "She's all funny-shaped and broken. And she ticks."
"Ticks?"
"Yep! She makes this really quiet ticking noise that you can barely
hear if you listen really carefully. Tick tick tick! It's a fun word,
too."
Hanagata shrugged. "She sure sounds broken, all right. That's good.
It means she won't stand between myself and Otaru. In fact, I may decide
to offer my own services in Marionette repair to Otaru in his time of
need. When he sees how well I repair his Marionette, he'll have no
choice but to accept me, Hanagata, as his one true..." He stopped and
looked around. "Lime? Where did you go?"
The sound of a slamming door echoed down the empty staircase. "No!
Wait! Don't leave me down here!" Hanagata charged up the stairs and
threw himself against the door. His frantic pounding was drowned out by
the sound of heavy crates being pushed in front of the door from the
other side. "Open the door! Let me out! I'm too young and beautiful to
be trapped here forever!"
Lime leaned against the crates. "I wonder why Watermelon ticks like
a clock. I wonder if she'll ring when it's time to wake up?" She
shrugged and took off running, tearing through the halls of the palace
at supersonic speeds. "Otaru! Wait for me!"
----------------------------------------------------
BURNS: What is this? Some kind of force field around these vegetables!
HOMER: That's the sneeze guard. You have to lean under it to get food or
sneeze on stuff.
JOHNNY BRAVO: *sigh* The only woman I ever really loved... and she's
gone. I wonder if I'll ever get over - Hey! Nuggets!
JACKIE CHAN: Oh, sorry. I broke your spy camera! (pause) SPY CAMERA?!
My webpage: http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~katinamp