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? {Well, they'd gotten desperate enough to think about hiring that total loser, Sakuma Suzu, but after a few minutes of listening to her judge everything by how cute it was, they concluded she was a superficial idiot and hired me instead. Shut up, Hayama.} 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. {That's because you can't tell she's an idiot when she's saying lines someone else wrote, and you can't see how ugly she is in a cartoon.} ] 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. **************** "" Ginta read out loud in English from the exercise book. "" Yuu, Miki, and Meiko repeated. Meiko said it calmly and fluently, while Miki and Yuu stumbled over the 'l' sounds. "" Ginta continued. "" Yuu and Miki said, stumbling along on this part as well. "" Meiko paused and stared at Ginta. "Are you sure you read that right?" The doorbell rang, and Rumi went to go get it. "" Ginta concluded, then said to Meiko, "Did I pronounce it wrong?" "" 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. " 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. "I'm here to record the show that will drive YOUR show off the air and back to the garbage can where it belongs!" Sana exclaimed. "In a few weeks, no one will care if Softball Warrior V lives or dies, because I'll be the queen of the airwaves." "Or possibly go down in flames," Hayama said. "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?" "I'm going to be 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?" "Oh come on, everyone knows monsters aren't real," Sana said. "And neither are the Tennis Warriors. But it could make for a great show. And it's not like imaginary people can sue." "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 inferior your show looks compared to mine!" 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 biddy 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?" "My pimp always finds me plenty of work," Sana said. "Whores never lack for work, so I'm sure Sana will be okay," Suzu replied. "Speaking from experience?" Sana asked. That finally did it, and they leaped at each other, immaculately groomed and pain-inducing nails bared. The desk went over and sketches flew everywhere. Kenji began running about trying to save them with Hayama's help, while Miki and Meiko plowed in, trying to break up the fight. This wasn't easy, but with some effort, Miki managed to subdue Sana, and Meiko pulled back Suzu. "I'll kill you!" Sana shouted, her face red. Hayama frowned at her, but it didn't help. Suzu shouted back, "I'll bury you!" "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." ****************