For those that have been waiting to receive an update on how I have
been faring, I found that I have another section more or less ready
for general review. It could still use a little tinkering and refinement,
but it should be sufficiently good until I can get the final version
done.

Chapters 1-10 are available at:

http://members.tripod.com/DNyx/NETTG.html

And all the rest are currently only available upon request.
(We've had some setbacks getting the website updated.)

So, what has gone before...

Departing from the main storylines, such as Nephrite's
continued battle against a bunch of powered-up youma
and Jadeite's quest for sanity, Terra Incognito has
entered a flashback. As Princess Terrifying, she met
the Younger Inner Senshi, challenged them to a duel,
and lost. Terra cried about it, so they all decided to
make up and be friends. That is where this part begins...

(Continued from Ch.10 P.2 11/??)

...

    The group started holding hands and singing "Kumbaiyah" while
swaying back and forth in a tremendous burst of good karma.

    A minute after that, First Advisor Luna arrived and announced
that it was time to depart for the short trip to the circus.

    The girls were elated. Arm in arm, they made their way to the
Royal Coach, named Herc, who was going to be their driver on the way
to the circus grounds.

    The six princesses boarded the spacious buggy and the voyage
began. Wooden wheels creaked on the paved marble causeway and six
friends shared a conversation, wondering about what was to follow.

    "Are all of you excited?" asked Herc.

    "Yes!" all replied in unison, grinning widely.

    "We'll be there in just a few more minutes," announced the
hulky coach, titanic muscles flexing as he shook the leather straps,
urging the horses onward. "Yah!"

    The white horses whinnied, happy to follow the commands of
their favorite trainer and rider. Their gold-rimmed, feathered
head-ornamentation jingled while they trotted.

    "Althea," Terra whispered, "tell me more about Venus."

    The blonde shrugged. "Well, it's fairly boring, for the most
part, but there are some places, like the hottest spot and the
coolest spot where it's sooo beautiful," her eyes glittered with
stars in them as she explained, "where the shriners and the leopards
play their ukuleles all day, and where everyone on the street would
gladly shave your back for a _nickel_!" She shivered with excitement.
"Waka-waka-doo-doo-yeah!"

    Althea put an arm around Terra's shoulders, waving in the air
with a finger as if showing off a grand landmark. "Then there's this
place where they've got these big trees and mushrooms all over, and
we invite the elves, pegasusses, dwarves, stardragons, and pixies
over for a really big, month-long kegger. Sometimes, people who
find the special Magical Mumbling Mushrooms get teleported there
after a transmortifying trip all over the universe, but Mommy says
she hasn't seen that happen for, like, six hundred years, and..."

    The Venusian Princess trailed off, looking more proud of herself
as she drawled onward. "Oooh, home is such a fun place!"

    "You really like Venus, don't you?" Terra observed, smiling
back and trying to look like she actually enjoyed making friends with
the blonde.

    Althea nodded emphatically. "I love Venus, and Venus loves ME!
There's no place like it in the universe!" She paused, trying to
remember something. "Except for maybe Asteroid Akis. Sometimes they
get lucky."

    Princess Terrifying nodded and smiled to herself.

    <This is the BEST plan ever!>

    <Well, not THE best plan, but-->

    <At the cost of abasing myself and borrowing from a highly
inferior power-->

    <And having taken a few slight hits-->

    <Bah! I barely felt those pinpricks!>

    <Chibi, chibi!>

    <Chibi is right. Runty little spits! Barely worth the effort!>

    <-Not only did I get to beat the crud out of these, these
THINGS, I also repaired my outward relationship with them and, in
just a few more years and a little more tinkering, they'll all be
at my beck and command.>

    <Just before we torture and kill them, that is.>

    <...>

    <Well, yes, but that's kind of a given, isn't it?>

    <Can't we destroy them now?>

    <Well, we CAN. They're not all that->

    <Noooo, you twit! Haven't you looked at our power level
lately?>

    <What about it? We could still take out a soldier-class
Sayajin and have a good, old-fashioned barbeque.>

    

    <Well, who asked you? I know I didn't.>

    <You did. I did. We all did.>

    <NO WE DIDN'T!> an inner chorus boomed out.

    <YES WE DID!>

    <Who wants to barbeque Sayajins anyway? Their meat's all
stringy and stuff.>

    <Not if you flash-fry 'em with a pseudostellar burst!>

    

    <Sure they do! Like those... whateveryawannacallems->

    <Juraians? Klingons? Invid? Borg? Daleks? Cha'Teau Bry'Onnes?>

    <Ah, Daleks, the Spam of the universe!>

    <Yeah! Them! Honorable death in battle and all that rot.>

    <Aren't they going to have a circus?>

    <Who cares about the circus?>

    <Are they going to have clowns? I like clowns!>

    <I... HATE... CLOWNS!!!>

    *Wham!* Terra slammed her right temple against Hermione's
forehead, her smile starting to get a bit strained. <SHUT UP!>

    "Ow!" the blue-haired girl cried out.

    <Piiink... Eshugaaaaah... Braynuuuuu... Hemorah-juuuu!!!>

    *Bling-bling-bling-bling* An inner force slapped Terra's head
against Princess Jupiter's shoulder at a frequency of thirty hertz.

    "Hey!" Iolanthe whined, suddenly sliding away. "What did you go
and do that for?!"

    Terra blinked in response.

    <Ooops.>

    <HEY now, make up and be friends!>

    <That's not too hard...>

    <This is TOO easy.>

    <Heh. Yeah, bunch of suckers!>

    "Sorry," Terra put on her best innocent look. "It's kind
of a bumpy ride, isn't it?"

    Iolanthe and Hermione sighed, shook their heads, grumbled to
themselves, then moved back to their previous positions.

    "Have any of you ever been to an Asteroid Circus?" the
Royal Coach turned his head around and asked.

    "Meeeee!" Princess Serenity raised her hand.

    <Must gather data,> Terra thought to herself. <Neither
the queens of the Moon, Saturn, or any of the Elder Senshi had
information about this 'circus' at the time of the adaptation.>

    <It must be something new...>

    <How come Sis got to go that one time and I didn't?!>

    "Ummm," Terra began, "what's it like?"

    "It's GREAT," Serenity replied. "They have," she counted off
on her fingers, "five full rings, lions, elephants, a flying
trapeze, and they had CereCere and PallaPalla," she giggled.
"They're funny!"

    "This is going to be great!" Althea rubbed her hands together
in anticipation.

    "PallaPalla," considered Hermione quietly. "She is known for
her comic capability."

    "I've never heard of them," Pyra said. "Are they any good?"

    "Yeah, but they're not going to be hosting it this time,"
Iolanthe commented. "Are they?"

    "I do not believe so," Hermione replied.

    "CereCere," Terra whispered to herself. "PallaPalla?"

    <The Asteroid Senshi? They're in a circus?>

    <Well, they are kinda circusy, come to think about it.>

    <Maybe Starlight has some info.>

    <Yeah. Hey! Knight-guy! Know anything about the Asteroid
Senshi?>

    There was a short silence while the other end picked up the
line.

    <MMMPH! Uhhh, not right now!>

    *Click*

    <...>

    <Hey! He can't do that! ... Can he?>

    <Hmmm... AHEM! NUKE-KNIGHT! REPORT!>

    <I'm kind of busy right now. Please leave your name and a
brief message at the tone of the beep..... In case you haven't
noticed, there's no beep. Have a nice day. Bye!>

    <No! You're MY Knight in Shining Armor, and YOU obey ME,
got it?!>

    <Heh heh. Whatever. I'm sort of, well, VERY with my wife
right now. We're catching up, and--aaaah. She sure knows how to
kiss, almost as good as->

    <Answer the question, construct!>

    <Oh, fine. The Asteroid Senshi. Hmm. Nope, nothing. Well,
with a surprise attack, I could kill all of them in under six
seconds. Sometimes they work with a male auxiliary group, also
from the asteroid belt, but they're not that tough.>

    <And...?>

    <That's all I need to know. Bye-bye, kid.>

    *Click*

    Terra froze. She hated being treated like that by herself. One
of these days, she would have to remind the energy being just who he
was and whose will he was to carry out.

    <One of these days, Starlight, POW! Right in the kisser.>

    No one on the other end responded.

    "Awww." Princess Serenity, completely unaware of Terra's
inner conversation, looked disappointed. "No PallaPalla?"

    Herc turned around. "Don't sweat it. I'm sure the ones they've
got hosting it this time'll do just fine!"

    "No PallaPalla?" Serenity repeated to herself.

    Terra sighed. <What's so great about this PallaPalla person,
anyway?> The redhead shrugged in reply. <Beats me.> Aloud, she
asked, "Are we there yet?"

    "Just a little further," Herc replied.

    "Who's going to be hosting, then?" Pyra asked.

    "Some performers from a pair of the smaller asteroids," Herc
said. "Their names are," he broke off, paused, then continued, "I
don't remember."

    Althea pointedly frowned at the driver. "You don't remember?"

    "I don't remember," the sports coach replied.

    "He doesn't remember," the Venusian princess whispered aside
to Terra.

    "He doesn't remember," Terra whispered back calmly.

    "He doesn't remember?!" Hermione asked Iolanthe, looking a
little confused.

    "He doesn't remember," Iolanthe sighed.

    Pyra shook her head in disappointment. "He doesn't remember?"

    "I doesn't remember!" Herc called back, then paused, thinking
of his grammar.

    "Gotcha speakin' roight propa' now, they does!" an odd accent
from a bulge in the neck of Herc's tunic commented.

    "Shh!" Herc whispered into his tunic. "Keep quiet until I can
get you back to the lab!"

    "Alroight."

    "I think one of them was Akey-something," Iolanthe whispered
while trying to remember a poster she had seen in the Moon Palace's
hallway.

    "Are we there yet?" Princess Terrifying repeated.

    "Just a little further."

    "Are we there yet?" Pyra prodded.

    "Not yet."

    "ARE WE THERE YET???" all the girls asked at once.

    Herc, the Royal Lacrosse Coach, suddenly got the impression
that this was going to be a very long ten minute drive. He
looked longingly ahead toward the giant multicolored circus
tent hanging in the air a couple of miles away.

...

    Ah, 'twas a fine day for a circus! There was a full Earth
out, and the black sky was emblazoned with stars. The sun shone
brightly, thoroughly illuminating the Lunar capital.

    It was obvious that the atmosphere had been magically
enhanced. Truly, if the Moon had its own natural or terraformed
ecosystem like the Earth, Mercury, or Mars, everyone would have
been seeing blue skies and cirrus clouds on a day like this. In
this case, it was very wise to use magic, especially since the
day with respect to the sun lasted a little under a month, and
that would have most definitely have made things uncomfortable.

    "That just goes to show what human beings will do to get a few
more acres of taxable property," Princess Terrifying whispered to
herself as Herc lifter her off the buggy by her waist.

    "Why are you always talking to yourself?" Iolanthe asked
while Herc took her under the arms and placed her on the ground.

    "I don't talk to myself," Terra denied. "You must be imagining
things."

    "Uhhh, yes you do."

    "No I don't."

    "Do too!"

    Terra folded her arms and turned her head. "Don't infinity."

    Iolanthe frowned. "But!" She took off her right earring and
threw it to the ground. "Darn your debate skills!"

    *Pop!* The earring exploded in a puff of orange smoke.

    "Hey!" the Jovian princess griped, looking at the small
hole in the ground. "That was a birthday gift!"

    "Now it's an UN-birthday gift," Terra quipped.

    "OOOOOOH, Ter-raaaaa..."

    Pyra and Althea ignored the Jovian and Lunar princesses and
looked around like a pair of starving, crazed weasels, obviously very
anxious to get inside the giant, balloon-ringed tent. "Ooooh," they
awed.

    "'Oooh' is right," Hermione agreed. "Look at everyone!"

    Dozens and dozens of children crowded the entrance to
the Asteroid Circus. Judging from their appearance, they were
from many walks of life, boys and girls of the peasantry, of
the middle class, and of a few well-to-do kids whose parents
had paid the shuttle fees to let them come from other worlds.

    It was a big event. While the children filed in, a few
jolly, fat-and-jiggly clowns walked, skipped, and rode unicycles
around in order to entertain the children.

    "Oh. No." Terra frowned and began to tremble.

    One might ask what could truly frighten an omnipotent, immortal
being that had the power to obliterate multiple galaxies within a
matter of seconds. The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.
Or, riding unicycles, rather.

    The galactic destroyer's left eye twitched. "Clowns..."

    Princess Serenity clapped her hands together in joy. "Waaaaai!
Clowns!"

    One clown rolled in close to Serenity. He smiled down
at her, honked his nose, and juggled a set of five big, red
rubber balls for her enjoyment.

    Serenity smiled very broadly in response to this, hopping
up and down some to express her excitement.

    Terra made a mental note to the effect that most children
seemed to be enjoying themselves a great deal, and therefore
if she wanted to act her part, she would have to make like she
was as well.

    <But. . . the. . . CLOWNS!>

    Princess Terrifying folded her arms and shivered, feeling her
skin crawl a little. She looked around to see all five princesses
being entertained by clowns, and seeming to enjoy it.

    Terra suddenly felt someone draw close. Her eyes widened
slightly. <Please don't be a clown. Please don't be a clown!>
She turned around.

    "HELL-OOOOOOH!" a very strangely dressed twenty-three-year-old
man enthusiastically greeted the redhead. He had black hair that was
combed straight up and was held with a yellow headband, making his
pointed ears all the more evident. His attire was suited to the
occasion: He wore brightly colored striped tights and brown soft-
leather boots. His shirt was thin, white, and sleeveless. A red
sash went across his chest from his left shoulder. His left ear had
an earring with a black and gold jewel that looked like a cat's eye.
His cheery expression and extra-large smile was probably his most
frightening feature.

    Princess Terrifying carefully resisted the urge to scream.
Straining, she somehow managed to say nothing when the man picked
her up, swung her around twice, and planted a quick kiss on her
lips before setting her back down.

    "You must be little Princess Terra!" the strange man deduced.
"Delighted to meet you, little miss!"

    He picked her up and repeated the previous gesture, allowing
the kiss to last twice as long.

    The girl's expression went blank.

    <GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!>

    <No, no, noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!>

    <That's just plain WRONG!>

    After the man released her, Terra breathed an agonized sigh of
relief, but continued to tremble, finding herself left with the
unbidden desire to go chew a LOT of gum, chug eighteen gallons of
mouthwash, burn all her clothes and jump into a cold shower,
screaming.

    "Yes. Who might you be?" the redhead asked, barely able to keep
her voice from cracking.

    "I'm Catseye!" the man replied, and struck a pose. "I'll
be your ringleader for this morning!" He put his hands on his knees
and looked down at the girl. "Would you like a front-row seat?! We're
going to need a volunteer for a VERY oh-so-special act!"

    Terra stared at him like a squirrel looks at an oncoming
thermonuclear shockwave, her eyes wide and her lips trembling.

    <NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!>

    <No, no, no, NO, NOOOOOOO!>

    <For the love of all we find good and holy, no!>

    <That's funny, I can't think of anything I'd hate more.>

    "Sure, I'd love to!" Terra replied brightly, the human heart
in her chest pounding from the anxiety of it all. <A high-pitched
voice. WHY does he have to have such a high-pitched voice?!>

    <He. Scares. Me.>

    <We. Must. Destroy.>

    <Calm. We. Must. Have. Yes?>

    <Can. Not. Talk. Faster.>

    <Must... Control... Fist of Death...>

    <We are destined to kill him. Right now.>

    "Can we come too?" Princess Serenity asked, tugging on
Catseye's sash. The other four princesses behind her were smiling
and nodding at the ringleader.

    "Of course!" Catseye said, gleefully tapping a small, black
stick against his shoulder. "Everyone, come along!"

    Princess Terrifying shuddered, already getting traumatized
flashbacks of being touched by the circus performer. Nevertheless,
she knew that she had to at least act like she enjoyed it, and she
repeated that fact over and over in her mind like a mantra.

    

    The group pushed past the crowded children. They left
Herc at the ticket booth with the rest of the sane adults and took
their seats in the front row.

---

    All was darkness, but it was not by any means quiet. Amidst
the air of anticipation, a great murmur of children went up from the
bleachers. Circus music, played with clarinets, trombones, and
xylophones echoed around the pavilion.

    Whatever complaints there were could barely be heard.

    "Awwww," Serenity grumbled, "there's only one ring!"

    "It's a lot smaller than I expected," Iolanthe said.

    Hermione nodded in a lopsided manner. "Perhaps."

    Althea sipped on her carbonated, candy-flavored beverage.
"We're getting gypped, aren't we?" She looked very disappointed.

    "Naaaaw," Terra laughed, a broad smile gracing her face.
"This is great! They're funny! I mean, just look at the c-c-clowns!
Hee-hee-hee-hee." She twitched noticeably.

    "The clowns are nice," Serenity said, trying to find some
redeeming quality in the experience.

    "Yeah, the c-c-clowns. I like them. They're," Terra spasmed,
"cute and fluffy and fuzzy and all that."

    <Bzzzttt... Brain functioning at thirty-three percent.>

    <Safety protocols disengaged.>

    <Warning: Behavioral restraints at one hundred-fifty percent
beyond recommended operational limits.>

    <Overload will occur in ten minutes.>

    "Do you have a nervous tic?" Hermione asked Terra, having
just made an important observation.

    "What (twitch) ever do (twitch) you mean, (twitch) Hermie?"

    "Hermione," the Mercurian Princess corrected.

    "That's (twitch) what I said."

    Pyra glanced at them, then took another lick from her very
tall soft ice cream cone and watched the circus ring intently.

    Finally, there came a drum roll, signifying that it was time
for the show to begin. Someone with a very loud, very high voice
began to speak.

    "BOYS AND GIRLS! PEASANTS AND ROYALTY, WELCOME TO THE BEST
SHOW IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM!"

    *Poof!* In a puff of yellow smoke, a curtain magically
appeared in the center of the ring. It started small, but it grew
to a width of about four meters before parting. Three people now
stood in the center of the ring. In the middle was Catseye, looking
just as happy and smug as ever. To his sides stood a pair of very
short women. 

    "HELLO, EVERYONE!" the girl to his right greeted. She was
barefoot, wore a leopard-skin leotard and twirled around a very
long baton.

    Pyra lowered her ice cream for a moment. "That's JareJare!"
she whispered, recognizing the women. "And AkiAki!"

    Iolanthe tilted her head and squinted at the circus performers.
"I've never seen them before."

    "Well, I've never heard of them either," Althea commented.

    "There's a big surprise," Pyra muttered under her breath.
"You don't seem to know much about _anything_."

    Princess Venus looked at the black-haired girl. "Hey, what's
that supposed to mean?"

    "Errrrr! Nothing!"

    AkiAki had on a jeweled turban and a long, loose-fitting,
glittering robe. "WE'VE PRACTICED A WHOLE BUNCH FOR YOU!" she called
out. "WE HOPE YOU ALL LIKE IT VERY MUCH! Kah-kak-kah-kah-kaaaah!"
Her laugh was very odd.

    They started with a small clown chariot, drawn by a pair of
pygmie marmosets. Out of it came a horde of oversized people that
were dressed funny. They ran around, honking their noses and
squirting each other with fake flowers.

    Terra started to hyperventilate uncontrollably.

    <Warning: Behavioral restraints exceeding recommended
operational levels by four-hundred percent.>

    <Shutting down cognitive functions...>

    "Tee-hee!" Terra giggled, bouncing up and down a little.

    A few garish stagehands rolled in a huge cage with wild
animals in them, and Catseye performed a quick lion-taming act.
However, the lion and the three tigers were very old, and had
very little fight left in them. They all stood--or slumped, rather--
on the red pedestals without question. Catseye seemed to be
snapping his whip for little more than effect.

    To her credit, JareJare was an excellent acrobat, but no
extraordinary feats of agility could be performed on the
exceptionally small flying trapeze.

    After that, a pair of young elephants came in. AkiAki and
JareJare hopped up on top of them and ran around in circles,
juggling some flaming Molotov Cocktails.

    The acts basically went downhill from there.

    "This stinks," Hermione said succinctly, watching a giant,
long-legged mime come riding out on a unicycle, putting his hands
out and pushing off an imaginary wall.

    "You said it, girlfriend," Princess Venus added with a nod.

    The mime fell off his unicycle without a sound, then got back
up and leaned against an imaginary wall before getting back on his
unicycle.

    "I like this!" Terra announced, her eyes glazing over as
she continued to force her smile.

    "You do?" Iolanthe asked, scooting away a few inches.

    "Yeah!" the redhead twitched. "It's great stuff! I love it!"

    <Cognitive functions deactivated.>

    <Sheep mode engaged.>

    The redhead gazed ahead blankly, her face twisted into a
warped, permanent smile. "Hee-hee-hee!"

    The action in the single ring slowed back down. The mime
exited, stage-right, and the three primary performers once again
took their positions at the center. They took a bow.

    The echo of a single girl cheering and applauding echoed
thoughout the large tent.

    *Clap*Clap*Clap* "Yaaaaay! Way to go! Good job! Four Stars!
Woo-hooo!!!"

    Princess Serenity raised a nervous eyebrow at her sister. The
other four princesses hunched down, sweating very big.

    The rest of the audience started staring at the redhead.

    Terra's applause slowed down and stopped. She looked at her
peers. "What? It's good, isn't it?!" For a split second, all of
her muscles tensed up, and then relaxed.

    <DANGER: Behavioral protocols degraded, functioning at nine
hundred percent of safe levels!>

    <Frontal lobe shutting down.>

    Hermione looked at the girl, felt Terra's forehead as if to
gauge the temperature, then pulled out her computer and started
typing, periodically lifting her gaze to glance at the subject of
her study.

    Terra frowned at this. "What?" she asked, twitching a bit more.

    "She's delirious," Princess Mercury concluded, "with fever,
nausea, hallucinations, and going through epileptic shock." She
paused. "Are you tasting metal? Do you see spots before your eyes?"

    "Just a little bit," Terra admitted, continuing to force
herself to smile. "Oooh, lookit the pretty ponies!" She twitched a
couple more times.

    "Err, Terra, I believe you are having a stroke as well!"

    "I am not!" the twitching girl snapped back. "Besides, girls
my age don't have strokes."

    It was Serenity's turn to frown. Looking her sister straight
in the eyes, she asked, "Are you feeling bad?"

    Terra whipped out a pair of darkened spectacles and placed
them over her eyes. She cocked a smile at Serenity, made a clicking
noise, and waved a finger at her. "Yo!"

    "Noooo!" Serenity shook her head. "Are you okay?"

    "I'm fine," the adopted princess replied quickly. She removed
her spectacles and her head suddenly jerked to the side and returned,
but she kept smiling. "Really." She twitched.

    Interrupting their conversation was the ringleader trio.
"BOYS AND GIRLS, WE HAVE ONE FINAL ACT TO SHARE WITH YOU!" Catseye
announced dramatically, his voice echoing throughout the tent.

    *Th-rapp!* The ringleader snapped his whip, causing a black
curtain at the back of the sawdust-encrusted stage to part,
revealing a large, gothic statue of an elephant. Fire burned out
its upturned trunk.

    "AND FOR THIS ACT, WE NEED A VOLUNTEER!" Catseye continued
to shout. He held out a hand.

    "Oooh," Terra awed, her expression devoid of thought, "are
they going to rip someone's heart out and drop it into lava?"

    Pyra frowned at the girl. "What did you just say?"

    AkiAki stepped forward, and with her magically amplified
voice, called, "PRINCESS TERRA OF THE MOON KINGDOM, PLEASE STAND
UP."

    A hush went over the crowd.

    Terra looked to the left, looked to the right, then cupped
her hands and called, "Uhhhh, sorry, I've changed my mind!"

    <Attempting sanity reinitialization...>

    JareJare shot a narrow-eyed grin at the girl, then made a
huge, twenty-meter flying leap across over to where Terra was
seated, grabbed her by the back of her dress, and with a great
ripping noise, the circus performer made a spiraling backflip,
returning to present the green dress to Catseye.

    Several childish giggles erupted from the audience.

    "Kah-kah-kah-kah!" AkiAki laughed, pointing a mocking finger
at her co-worker. "You forgot something."

    JareJare looked puzzled for a moment, then winced when she saw
what she was holding. "D'oh!"

    "This is like one of those dreams I've been having," Terra
noted to her sister as she sat calmly in her underwear. "Oh, I get
it. I'm going to be waking up aaany second now." She folded her arms.
"Laaa, la la la laaa. This is a dream. I'll wake up now--thank you,
g'night!"

    <Sanity reinitialization failed.>

    <Brain overload confirmed.>

    <Explosion will occur in five minutes, thirty seconds.>

    <And it's gonna be messy.>

    Princess Serenity and the Younger Inner Senshi could only watch
in confusion, being too shocked to say anything coherent. "Uhhhhh!!!"

    Catseye glared at JareJare and thwapped her on the head with
the handle of his whip, undoing her ponytail. "Go back and get the
GIRL this time."

    JareJare laughed nervously and put a hand behind her head.
"Sorry, sorry!" She straightened her posture and retied her ponytail.
"Now, for real!"

    Terra seemed to have calmed down a little since the show had
taken a pause. Her twitching and gagging motions had almost stopped.
After a moment's thought, she decided, "Okay, so maybe this isn't
a dream."

    This time, JareJare made the same flying leap, but she also
slapped Terra's dress back on the girl, then took her under the arms.

    *UUMPH!* The acrobat struggled, but was unable to lift Terra.
JareJare looked down at her. "Man, you're heavy, girl!"

    "Nnnnno," Terra replied. "My mass is actually quite average,
I'll have you know. You're just a weakling that can't even pick up
a ten-year-old girl."

    "It's so true!" JareJare wept, burying her face in her hands.
She looked at the redhead, her eyes full of hope. "Would you mind
walking with me to the center ring?"

    "Pues, �ya qu�?" Terra replied in an asteroid dialect,
signifying that, yes, she knew that it was kind of too late to back
out of the volunteer job right now.

    "Thank you, thank you!" the acrobat squealed thankfully.
She put a hand at Terra's back and escorted her to the center of the
stage.

    The crowd was just plain confused. They were completely missing
the irony of the situation.

    The five seated princesses continued to stare with their
mouths hanging open.

    "This isn't anything like what they had last time," Serenity
whimpered.

    "All right, Mister Nyastimaan," Terra spoke to Catseye,
casually examining a tear on her dress from the collar to halfway
down her shoulder, "what do I do?"

    "Just stand there," Catseye replied, his overly cheerful
voice sounding more and more like a mouse being squished by a mallet
as the minutes dragged on.

    "Fine," Terra agreed she stood up straight and proud. She
casually waved to the crowd. "Hello out there!"

    The children cheered, swaying back and forth. "Terr-ah! Terr-ah!
Terr-ah!"

    AkiAki laughed her weird laugh. "Kah-kah-kaaah! We said 'stand
still,' not 'greet the crowd!'"

    JareJare smiled. "Not that it matters."

    "Get on with it," Terra prodded.

    "Hmmmph." Catseye's smile deepened. "Very well." He snapped
his fingers.

    A pair of cloth-lined rods flickered into being above AkiAki
and JareJare. The cloth descended, forming curtains in front of
the two small women. A second later, the curtains parted to reveal
AkiAki and JareJare dressed as Sailor Senshi. Their outfits were
mostly unaltered, aside from the addition of a short skirt,
knee-length boots, and a tiara.

    Terra shrugged, not looking particularly impressed. However,
just to keep up the act, she hopped up and down, clapping her hands
together and giggling maniacally.

    "One," Catseye whispered.

    A tall, elongated purple stone pentagon sprang up from the
sawdust-encrusted floor in a ninety-degree arc to rest right behind
Terra's back.

    "Two," Catseye added.

    Iron manacles appeared on the coffin-shaped monolith, locking
down Terra's ankles and wrists.

    Terra said nothing, but her frowning expression and wide eyes
indicated that this was not what she had anticipated to happen.

    Catseye pulled out a fist-full of knives, and with an evil
gleam in his eye, he said, "Three."

    A gasp went up from the audience.

    "Is anybody else feeling something weird?" Pyra asked.

    Hermione started scanning with her computer while the others
watched the events intently.

...

To be continued, real soon...

Comments? Suggestions?

Anybody wanna see more? ^_^

Big thanks go out to:

Jason Hanks!
Jason Liao!
Tefloncat!
And Steven Avery, who withstood my banter!

Did I miss anyone?

-------------------------------
Benjamin A. Oliver
boredcollective@aol.com

    "We are the Bored. Lower your shields and surrender your fics.
     We will add your standup and slapstick comedy to our own.
     Your humor will adapt to entertain us.
     Resistance is and always has been: Futile."
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