Miki was bored, bored out of her skull.  She was busily writing an
entry in her diary that she shared with her best friend Meiko.  They would
each write an entry, then pass it to the other person, who would reply and
talk about their life.  Normally, Miki really enjoyed this, but she wasn't
sure what to write today.  'Today, I found a cat that some children were
picking on.  They were dressed up in silly 'Gastaman' outfits and were
chasing it around with their water pistols.  So I charged them with the
towel I had taken to practice tennis and drove them off, shouting that I
was the Towel Monster.  After a while, we all started laughing and had fun
running around being silly.  Sometimes, it's nice to be a little kid
again, at least in spirit.  After they finally left, the cat came over and
rubbed up against my legs.  She was a really beautiful cat, with soft
black fur and a white patch on her forehead.  I tried to take her home
with me, but she ran off.  I guess cats can't make up their minds.'

      Miki tried to think of what else to say.  'The weather is very
beautiful, but my life is so boring.  I wish something exciting would
happen.'  

      She turned and looked out the window, put down her pen and
stared at the posters on the wall of her bedroom.  Sometimes, I wish I
could be glamourous like all of you.  It'll never happen, though.

      An odd scratching noise from her 'diary' caught her attention.  She
stared in shock as her pen moved across the page, apparently under its own
power.  Whatever was moving it had beautiful handwriting.  The pen wrote,
'Your wish is granted.  Signed, Sealed, and Notarized by Urd, Second Class
Goddess of the Goddess Relief Office.'  

      Miki blinked.  "What?"

      'For more details, go downstairs and turn on your TV.  Moving this
pen is making my wrist cramp up.'

      "..."  Miki got up and went downstairs.  

      As she entered the living room, she could hear her mother in the
kitchen.  Various banging and crashing noises indicated she must be
cooking something.  "Would you like some cake, dear?"

      "Umm...in a minute, Mom."  She turned on the TV, having concluded
this must be some kind of dream.  The scent of lemon frosting wafted
through the air into her nostrils from the kitchen, making her smile.  Mom
will never be a great cook, but I guess she can make frosting, at least,
Miki thought.

       The image of a beautiful, exotic woman with long white hair, skimpy
clothing, and a blue tattoo on her forehead, lying on a sandy beach, 
filled the TV screen.  "Hello, Miki.  I'm Urd, from the Goddess Relief
Office."

      Miki stared mindlessly for a moment.  "Um...hi."

      "I was spying on people because I was bored, and noticed you were as
bored as me, so I decided to grant your wish to make both our lives a
little more exciting."

      "..."

      Urd smiled and sat up.  "Of course, your life was about to become
more exciting anyway, I just turned up the level of excitement a tad.
You've been marked by destiny for a long time."

      "Am I dreaming this?"

      "This is quite real."  Urd's tone became more serious.  "I can be a
little obnoxious at times, but you can trust what I say.  The bargain has
been sealed.  I can't undo it even if I wanted to.  History has already
been changed."  Now she sounded a little nervous.  "But I think you can do
the job better than that screamer, anyway."

      "What are you talking about?"

      "I suppose you can't even tell, yet, but you will.  Don't worry, you
WON'T be bored!"

      "I am dreaming this."

      Urd smiled.  "Well, maybe you are Buddha dreaming of being a
Butterfly dreaming of being Lao Tze dreaming of being Dogbert, but..."

      Miki tried to understand that and failed.  "Are you REALLY a
goddess?  What are you doing inside my television?"

      Urd stepped out of the TV, and Miki nearly fainted.  "How's this for
a start?"

      "Uhh...good start."  Miki shrank back on the couch.  

      "What would you like for a sign, oh daughter of Eve?"

      "My mother isn't named Eve."  Miki said.

      Urd sighed.  "Doesn't anyone...never mind.  What can I do to
demonstrate my power?"

      "Make my mother a good cook?"

      "I'd have to be a first class Goddess.  How about..."  Urd looked
around and smiled.  "SPIRITS OF AIR, WATER, EARTH, AND FIRE, HEED MY
CALL!  REDECORATE THIS ROOM IN A PLEASING MANNER!"  Streamers of fire and
light rushed forth from Urd, washing across the room, reconfiguring
everything in their wake. The ceiling now had a disco ball hanging from
it, the floor was a deep blue shag carpet, and the furniture was now in
neon colors.  The TV was now 25 inches and sitting on top of a very
elaborate stereo system, which was the only thing Miki considered an
improvement.  The walls were decorated with pictures of couples embracing,
nymphs and satyrs in the forest, and palm trees.  Urd sat down hard on the
couch.  "Now that made me thirsty."

      Okay, she IS a goddess, Miki concluded.  The goddess of Bad Taste,
maybe.  "I don't think Mom is going to like this."

      Miki's mother stepped out of the kitchen.  "Why, Urd!  How nice
of you to drop by."  She looked around.  "Hmm.  I think this place needs a
nice stuffed parrot to go with the palm trees."

      "I'll bring you one the next time I stop by."

      Miki stared mindlessly at her mother.  "Umm...You know her?"

      "Of course I know my own sister!" she pronounced.  "Don't you
recognize your Aunt Urd, Miki?"

      "..."

      Urd whispered, "Don't worry, I only lightly fuzzed her mind to avoid
problems."

      "..."

      "Oh, Miki, we have some exciting news for you!"

      Miki had already hit her excitement quota for the month, maybe the
year.  "What kind of news?  Did something exciting happen in Hawaii?"  Her
parents had just gotten back from a trip to Hawaii.

      "Yes.  We met a nice couple, so your father and I are getting
divorced and marrying them."

      "..."

      "We're having dinner with them tonight, so you might want to get
dressed up."  She turned to Urd.  "You'll help Miki pick something nice,
right?"

      Miki fainted before she could hear any kind of answer.

*******************

       That night, before going to bed, Miki was in a mildly frantic
state.  Everything had gone horribly wrong.  Her parents and the Matsuuras
were quite set on the whole deal of swapping partners and remarrying.
Their son, who she had hoped would be her ally in opposing the
deal...didn't CARE!  Was he insane?  

      At least the crazy goddess had taken off, but the living room still
looked like a love hotel...and her parents didn't seem to care.  Does
anyone besides me care about ANYTHING?  She stared at her diary,
wondering if she had dreamed it all.  There was too much evidence to
believe that, though.  

       Maybe I should call Meiko and see what she thinks.  She called
Meiko on the phone, and the maid answered.  "Hallo?"

       "Is Meiko there?"

       "Meiko has gone out for the evening with Miki."

       "..."

       "She'll be back around eleven."

       Gone out with me?  But I'm RIGHT HERE.  Maybe she lied to the maid?
Better not to blow her secret.  "Okay.  I'll call back later."  She hung
up.  Now what?  She sighed.

      The meowing of a cat at the window caught her attention, so she went
over.  It was the cat from earlier in the day.  She opened the window and
let it in.  "Wow, you're a smart kitty, finding your way here?  Are you
hungry?"

       The kitty purred and climbed into her arms for a moment, then
sighed in a rather human manner.  "I can eat later.  We have important
business to attend to!"

      Miki fainted, of course.

*********************

Marmalade Moon

A SM/Marmalade Boy fusion (with just a touch of AMG)

Episode 1:

"If wishes were horses..."

by

John Biles

**********************

       Miki woke up on the floor with the kitty on her chest, licking her
face.  I must have imagined it talking to me, she thought.  She petted the
cat on the head.  "I'm so silly.  I thought you started talking."

       "I DID start talking.  Are you going to faint again, or are we
going to get down to business?"  The cat looked disturbingly human as it
gazed at Miki, and it sounded a little irritated.

       "Did Urd send you?"

       "Who?"  The cat sounded utterly baffled.

       Maybe someone tied a weirdness magnet to me while I was asleep last
night, Miki thought.  "Um...what kind of business?"

       "I have been looking for some people for a very long time, and I
believe you're one of them!"  The cat sprung out of Miki's arms and up
onto her desk.  "My name is Luna, and you...You are the Senshi of the
Moon."

       "The what?"  Miki tried to boggle, then realized she'd used up her
allowance of funny faces for the day, and for Miki, that was pretty rare.

       Luna did a backflip, which stunned Miki further, since she herself
couldn't do a backflip with help, and chanted something that sounded like
pig-latin.  A small golden locket on a chain appeared.  The cover of it
had a crossed tennis raquet and golf club over a silver crescent moon.
"This is your transformation locket."

       Miki picked it up hesitantly.  "It's for me?"

      "Absolutely.  Put it on."

      Miki quickly put it on, then curiously opened it. She found a tiny
picture of Meiko being attacked at a jewelry store by a monster inside it.
"What the..."

      Luna stared at the picture.  "Your friend is in danger!  Quickly,
you must say, "Love Forty, GAME POINT!"

      "..."

      Luna shouted.  "JUST DO IT!"

      Miki gulped.  She stood up and shouted, "LOVE FORTY, GAME POINT!"  

      Every photon in the room suddenly converged in on her body, then
exploded outward.  She corkscrewed around, suddenly caught in an upward
spiral of air.  Her hair spilled upwards as it ripped loose from the
ribbons and ties that were adorning and controlling it, although being
short, it couldn't go very far upwards.  Her clothing apparently decided
it would join the photons as it dissolved away into the spray of light
that helixed around her.  The light formed into bands, and the bands
converged inwards from all sides, becoming a uniform of durable, but soft,
pink cloth, a headband and blue visor, and white sneakers.  The skirt of
the uniform was banded with blue and white stripes, and the visor had a
bright gold crescent moon embossed on it.  The locket hung down her
chest in front.  Four swirling ribbons coalesced in her right hand into a
golden racquet, and another ribbon encased six shining motes of light in
her left hand, forming a small case of moon-marked tennis balls.  While
this was happening, Miki was experiencing the greatest rush of her life.
She had never felt so energetic and strong in her entire life, and when
the process was finished, she instinctively struck a triumphant pose.  

       "Wow,"  Miki said, then looked at herself.  "Hey, this looks like
my Tennis Uniform."

       "That's because the modern girl's tennis uniform is a distorted
cultural memory, derived from the combat garb of the Tennis Warriors of
the Moon Kingdom,"  Luna said.  

       Miki tried to think of some coherent way to respond to that and
failed.

*********************

       Tennis Warrior Moon (Aka a very embarrassed Koishikawa Miki) stood
outside the OSA-P jewelry store.  "Are you SURE this is a good idea?"

       "Yes,"  Luna said.  "Your friend is in danger!  Stop yammering and
get in there and sock it to them!"

       TW Moon gritted her teeth and charged inside.  A red haired woman
was sitting on the jewelry cases, laughing maniacally at a room full of
unconscious people.  The air was thick with glowing energy.  TW Moon
looked around and quickly spotted Meiko who was lying with a necklace in
her hands on the floor.  Miki felt a burst of anger running through her.
Whatever this thing was, it had hurt her friend Meiko.  

       "You...you...you whatever you are!  You hurt my friend!
I'm...uh..."  TW Moon hesitated.

       "The Lovely Tennis Warrior Moon", Luna whispered, reading from a
script.  "You need to pose more, too."

       TW Moon drew on her knowlege of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman and
began striking a series of extravagant poses, as she continued, "The
Lovely Tennis Warrior Moon!  Stealing energy from innocent shoppers is
EVIL!  I will punish you in the name of the moon!"  She paused, trying to
decide if she had REALLY just said that.

       It was too busy laughing maniacally to notice her as she popped
open the can of tennis balls and extracted one, then tossed it into the
air.  She leaped high, shouting, "MOON SLAM!", as she struck the ball with
the golden racket in her right hand.  The ball glowed, shining brightly as
it cut through the energy and slammed into the monster's head.  It went
flying, crashing into another jewelry rack and slumped over.  "Yatta!  I
won!"  TW Moon said, then ran over to Meiko.

       "Meiko!  Wake up!"  TW Moon shook Meiko, who moaned slightly.  She
turned to Luna.  "How can I wake her up?"

      "She'll recover with some rest.  You did a great job, Moon."

      TW Moon smiled until the youma's hands suddenly wrapped around her
throat and flung her into the wall.  "INTERFERING MORTAL!  I WILL KILL YOU
FOR RUINING MY PLANS!  AND FORCING ME TO SPEAK IN ALL CAPITALS!"

       "Wasn't...my...idea...make...you...talk...like that..."  TW Moon
choked out, beating on the youma's arms with her racket.  

       A golfball flew across the room, striking the youma in the arm.
It howled and lost its grip on TW Moon.  "Don't despair, Tennis Warrior
Moon!" a voice cried out from the window above.  TW Moon and the youma
both looked up and saw a cute guy wearing a Zorro mask and a golfing
outfit.  He had a bag of clubs slung over his shoulder, and was carrying a
nine iron.  

        The youma howled and tried to throw an entire jewelry case at him,
but he dodged.  TW Moon got to her feet and grabbed another tennis ball.
"MOON SLAM!"  This time it did the trick.  The youma screamed and
dissolved away into a spray of light.  The aura of thick light that
suffused the room dispersed as the light flowed back into its rightful
owners.  
     
       TW Moon turned to the mysterious Masked Golfer who had aided her,
but he was gone.  He had been reaaaaaallllly cute, too!  She sighed.  "Who
was that Masked Golfer?"

      "And why did he use a nine iron when a seven iron is recommended for
indoor combat?"  Luna replied.

****************************

       The school was abuzz with rumors the next day about the jewelry
store incident.  It was pretty flattering, but Miki had other problems on
her mind.  Her family dinner with the Matsuuras the previous night kept
running through her mind. I can't BELIEVE my parents are getting divorced
and remarrying these people they just met on a trip, she thought.  On
second thought, it was a little too easy to believe.

      "Hey, Miki, you need to change!"  a boy's voice said.

      Change?  The voice sounded familiar...could it be...the Masked
Golfer?  Did he know her secret?  Miki turned around VERY slowly, only to
find herself face to face with her friend Ginta, who was in his tennis
club uniform.  "What do you mean by...change?"


      Ginta blinked.  "Your uniform.  We have practice!  I'm already
late."

      Miki shook her head.  "I have stuff...to do with my parents.  Bye!"
She ran off, feeling a little relieved, but still worried.

***********************

      Miki sat at home, trying to figure out exactly where things had gone
wrong.  She had fully intended to lay down the law to her parents and
negate this whole silly affair.  She had hoped the Matsuura's son, Yuu,
would help her, but apparently, he had thought it would be fun, and it had
ended up as Miki vs. the world.  The world won.

      Miki sighed.  "Am I the only person who thinks this is crazy?"

      Luna curled up against Miki's legs.  "I agree with you, Miki.  This
is crazy.  But unfortunately, I couldn't go help you."

      "Well, they do seem like nice people at least."  She sighed.  

      "Well, they'll probably turn out to be monsters and you'll have to
kill them, but..."  Luna said.

      This was NOT the best way to cheer up Miki.

*****************