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It was around 1:00 am. Hikatte Hane, Iteno Uma, and Tsuchino Ushi were standing in the Hikatte living room listening to the plentitude of curses, both in Japanese and in Hindi, of Hane’s mother, who was in addition to the curses, stomping and breaking things in the other room. Hane was the tallest of the three, with long lime green hair which ran down her back. Her dark-skinned hands were trembling. Standing on the left was Uma. She had long black hair that shined dark green in the light, and when down it dragged along the floor. She was almost as tall as Hane, most of this being her legs. She wasn’t shaking at all and even looked somewhat confused.
“What’s her deal?” Uma said.
“Well,” started Hane, her Indian accent adding seriousness to her words, “we did steal her car,”
“But we brought it back without a scratch. And we even put gas in it! Exclaimed
Uma.
“We’re dead we’re dead we’re dead we’re dead . . .” droned Ushi, standing to the right of Hane. She had short, fluffy pink hair, sky blue eyes, and an overall homely look about her. She was trembling. The screaming stopped and moments later a composed Mrs. Hikatte entered the room.
“Uma, Ushi, I’ve called your parents and they’ll be here shortly. Hane, I’ll talk to you after they leave.” And with that, she went into her room and closed the door.
Hane watched her two friends leave, all the while her shaking growing worse. When they had both left, Hane made way to her mother’s door.
“Mother?” Barely pushing the door open, Hane saw her mother sitting on the bed and reading a letter.
“I’m very disappointed in you, Hane.” Her voice was composed. “I would expect such recklessness from you Japanese friends, but you,” She looked at her and it was apparent she had been crying, “You who were raised by an upstanding Indian family, taught all the morals and teachings of Krishna, pulling a stupid prank like this . . .”
Her voice cracked and she paused for a moment to compose herself. “I got a letter from your eldest brother today, and in it he said something very interesting. Apparently, many of the young men of the village have been wondering about you, about when you’re coming home. This morning I would have said, ‘After your schooling, of course,’ but now I’m not so sure.”
“Mom!”
“Silence!” Hane’s eyes were welling up. “I’m not cruel to you, am I? I don’t intentionally hurt you, do I? I know you love this country and its people. But know this: if I am ever, EVER again awakened at 1:00 in the morning because of something like this, the morning after such an incident you will find a plane ticket back to India on the coffee table. Am I understood?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Hane closed her mother’s door and walked swiftly to her room. When the door was softly closed and her head safely immersed in a pillow, she began to sob.
After school and cram school, Ushi found herself walking through the park with a bowl of steaming fried rice and a pair of chopsticks. She soon came upon who she was looking for, a young artist with short curly brown hair and deep brown eyes, which were magnified by his square glasses. He was staring intently at his canvas.
“Hi, Katachi,” she said, handing him the brown rice.
“Sustenance,” he said and began to eat. “I heard what happened. That was harsh. Did your Mom flip?”
Ushi nodded. “She said I needed to focus on my studies more. She called the Conservatory and said that I couldn’t intern anymore.” Katachi’s eyes widened. He knew how much her job at the conservatory meant to her.
“Sit down.” She sat beside him he began to pet her hair. She looked down at what he was painting: a young woman with dull brown hair who was lying in the grass admiring a dandelion. Ushi craned her neck to see past the canvas and there the woman was.
“What’s her name?” she asked him.
“You seem preoccupied with names for a girl whose best friends is a hippie,” Katachi said, grinning.
“Oh, come on,” said Ushi. Katachi leaned over the canvas.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Hanako,” the girl replied, and for once her attention changed from the flower to the painter.
“Oh! I didn’t mean to make you move.”
“Sorry,” she said, again focusing her attention on the flower.
“Hey man,” said one of the nearby hippies, “tell her about the flower girl, man.” Katachi started laughing and going through his smaller sketchpad.
“I was in my Intro to Psych class, right, and this new girl sat beside me. She was really tall and she had dark black hair and deep green eyes. Anyway, back to the story. During class she was drawing small flowers all over her lecture notes. I thought, ‘Groovy, man,’ so I started drawing her. But then, damn the Man, the class was over and she bent over to put her notebook into her bag, right, and when she opened it, all these flowers popped out. There were hundreds of ‘em, man, these little flowers all up in her bag. Oh, here it is.” He showed her a sketch he had colored in with colored pencils. It was a lanky girl with short black hair and green eyes leaning over a black bag full of small multi-colored flowers. There were other students in the background but none of them seemed to notice her, save one young man with short orange hair and severe red eyes, who was staring.
“Who’s that?” Ushi asked, pointing. This made Katachi start laughing again.
“That’s Kano Yagi. He’s this guy I know. A Psych Major, you know the type. Serious, cold, severe, and he fits it to a T. But boy, was he cracked today. He was staring at her, all class period. He had to ask me for my lecture notes after class!” This caused Katachi and some of the other hippies to laugh hysterically. Ushi began to smile.
“Cool.”
Ganymede paced back and forth in his chambers, waiting anxiously for the Queen’s channel to open. Suddenly, her gray face filled the screen. He bowed to her.
“My Queen. You wished to speak with me?”
“Why was I not forwarded immediately?” she said in a voice that booked no opposition.
“I was . . . um . . . scanning the area, yes, for . . . um . . . more gladiators,” he stammered, causing her to smile.
“You don’t have to hide your personal tasks from me, Ganymede, it is of no consequence.” Then, reverting back to a more commanding tone, “I called because I have new orders for you. The specimens you supplied are strong, healthy, and, in a word, excellent, with but one exception.”
“Tell me the fault and I shall correct it at once,” he said.
“They aren’t very swift or agile.”
“A compromise on strength I should say”
“Yes, of course. I want some smaller, swifter specimens to combat those in the arena.”
“Yes, my Queen.”
Uchuno Momoko walked out of the girls’ dressing rooms and into the gym. There were two large volleyball nets set up, one for each of the teams. The boys’ team, in their black shorts and purple shirts, were warming up and she stopped for a moment to watch them. Just then she took a blow from behind and fell.
“Hey!” she looked up to see a short boy with blue hair and freckles getting to his feet.
“Oh gosh! I’m sorry!” the boy said, helping her up. He was wearing the same black and purple school colors.
“Sorry! My name’s Ningen,” he said once she’d gotten to her feet. She began to laugh.
“You’re so cute! Don’t worry, I’m okay. My name’s Momoko.” Just then, the pocket on Ningen’s shirt began to move.
“Oh! Nana Niwatori, are you okay!?!” he said, reaching into his shirt pocket and taking out a small yellow chick, which he cupped into his hands.
“Awwwwwww!” she squealed and held out her hands. “Let me hold the chick!” He obediently handed her the chick, which she held close to her face. “Aren’t you so kawaii?!? Bee bee ba bu ba . . .” she reverted into baby talk. Just then, a blue light encased several of the volleyball players that were practicing. Ningen pushed Momoko under the bleachers, which he then proceeded to dive under himself. Ganymede appeared.
“Where are they?” he said, looking around. He was floating within his own translucent bubble. “Where are the Sailor Senshi? Well, I guess we’ll all just have to wait, now won’t we?” Several people screamed in agony.
Fushika and Shishiko sat cross-legged in the floor in their room. In between them was a game board with a world map on it and two sets of bronze and silver soldiers.
“My army marches on Berlin! Ha ha ha! Burn little villages! Burn!” Fushika gave her sister an incredulous look. Just then, Cosma, who had been curled up on the bed, jumped up as a compact began beeping across the room. Cosma leapt over the dresser and nudged the compact open.
“I’m getting a massive dark energy reading. It’s source is . . .” he paused, pushing a few buttons on the compact with his nose, “. . . Sekai Modo Gakuen,” he finished, his eyes widening. Without a word, the girls ran out of the room.
A few of the teenagers had collapsed from the pain and were floating lifelessly in their bubbles. The rest were still screaming in agony. Momoko began to whimper and buried her face in Ningen’s chest. Nana Niwatori’s chirps were muffled in Ningen’s pocket. Just then, there was a bright reddish-orange burst of light from the gym doors.
“You should be ashamed of yourselves, standing in the way of children’s fun! We are the soldiers of justice, Sailor Aries,”
“And Sailor Leo. You aren’t going to escape our wrath this time, bubble boy! Cataclysmic Shock!” and beams of lightning lanced from her fingertips at the bubble. It flickered for a moment as it took the blow, then returned, albeit a lighter shade of blue.
“There you are. I was beginning to fear you wouldn’t show. You’re awfully late,” Ganymede said, a smile curling up his face.
“Are you in a hurry to die?” growled Sailor Aries. Suddenly, the two were encased in angular blue bubbles. Ganymede began to laugh.
“With your potential, you will make a great addition to the Queen’s collection.” The two were struggling inside the bubbles, wincing from the pain. “Once you’re inside the bubble there’s no way out,” he said triumphantly. “You will be Chrysobera’s gladiators and slaves to her bidding.” Aries narrowed her eyes in concentration.
“Fire Phan . . .” Ganymede’s eyes widened. “ . . . tasm!” Fire lanced out from the dissipated bubble. “Don’t damage yourself, you suicidal bitch! I can’t deliver you damaged! Had I not released the containment field in time, you would have been a pile of steaming rubble! All that potential, lost!” Ganymede shouted.
“Better to die free than live enslaved,” Aries growled.
“Cata . . .” Ganymede released the force field and Leo didn’t bother finishing it. He narrowed his eyes.
“You warped humans. I have what I came for, but don’t fret, I’ll return,” he said as he disappeared, and with him, the captured teenagers.
“Damnit!!!” Leo shouted, her fist clenched. As her sister began to reassure her, Ningen and Momoko timidly stepped out from under the bleachers. Momoko’s face was streaked with still wet tears. The two Senshi turned to look at them. Inside Ningen’s pocket the chick began to move and poked its head out.
“Thank you,” Momoko whispered. Sirens began to wail. The two Senshi turned and ran.
The two Hinoyona sisters sat in front of the mini TV in their room.
“. . . when another twenty-six people were abducted, this time from Sakai Modo Academy Gymnasium.”
Shishiko clicked the TV off. Cosma stood up.
“I’m afraid I also have some bad news to report. I found out that of the five Sailor Legends- Genesis, Nova, Pyro, Cygnus, and Sunburst- only one is still alive.”
“What about the pens you entrusted them with?” Fushika asked.
“Well, Pyro got out much before the fight was over and refused to accept the pens of Aries and Leo, which you have, but other than Genesis, all the other pens I entrusted to them could be lost to us forever, that is the pens of Scorpio, Pisces, and Gemini.”
“What about Genesis?” asked Fushika.
That’s what I’m going to find out now,” he said, walking towards the window.
“Hey, it’s getting late. Don’t you need your kitty Zzz’s?” asked
Shishiko.
“Other than research, I’ve had nothing to do except nap all day, which is what I did. I’ll be fine,” he said, climbing up on the windowsill and jumping out the window. Shishiko shrugged.
“Whatever,” she said. |