Gold Digger: "Reading is Fundamental"

(Page 1, panel 1. Britanny is in the Ginamobile flying across the ocean. In the passenger's seat is Tiffany in a cradle. Britanny is in a t-shirt and blue jeans; Tiffany is in a little pink dress.)

Caption (N): Raising a were-cheetah/Kryn hybrid is daunting work, even for a new mother. To help her out, Britanny has decided to check out some books from a library. However, this is not just any library...

Britanny: Well Tiffany, it's been a long ride here. Are you comfortable?

Tiffany: A....

(Panel 2. The Ginamobile is seen flying towards the Shangri-La library.)

Caption (N): So what better library to find a book on than the one that has every book from all time?

(Panel 3. Britanny is now out of the car and pushing Tiffany in a stroller. She is outside the library's entrance. Tiffany seems interested in the place.)

Britanny: This is it! The library of Shangri-La! Every book you could ever want and then some more.

Tiffany: E...!

(Panel 4. Britanny stops, and bends down to pat Tiffany on the head. Tiffany is smiling.)

Britanny: My, you seem very interested in the library.

Tiffany: A!

(Panel 5. Britanny goes back to pushing Tiffany into the library.)

Britanny: Well Tiffany, mommy's going to learn a lot about how to be a mother today!

(Panel 6. The front door opens, and Khan is the one pushing it open.)

Khan: Greetings to you madam. How can we help you today?

Brittany: I need every book you've got about how to raise a kid.

(Panel 7. Khan starts walking towards the right.)

Khan: Ah, the baby care section. My wife is there right now with our son.

(Panel 8. In the baby care section, we see Empress Lynn sitting in an easy chair. She is reading a book and has her infant son next to her in a stroller. Lynn is attired in a nice dress, while the son Mitsun is dressed in a robe.)

Lynn: Well, my son, the more I read about things, the more I will ensure that you will be a wonderful young man.

(Page 2, panel 1. Subtracto enters.)

Subtracto: Empress, I detect your husband coming this way. He seems to have two females with him, one is a were-cheetah and the other is a life form I can't quite make out.

Lynn: Well, Mitsun and I are ready to meet him. I'm sure the girls are friendly.

(Panel 2. Britanny, Tiffany, and Khan enter.)

Khan: Well, here we are, madam. Every book about child care ever written is here.

Lynn: Khan darling... who's this?

(Panel 3. Khan comes up to Lynn.)

Khan: Ah, she's here to find out more about child care. Seems that like you, she became a mother for the first time.

Britanny: My name's Britanny, and this is Tiffany. It's nice to meet you.

(Panel 4. Khan's cell phone goes off.)

SFX: Bzzt! Bzzt!

Khan: Sorry I can't stay longer, darling. Duty calls.

Lynn: I understand. I'll help Britanny here.

(Panel 5. Khan exits.)

Lynn: So you've got more than a handful on your hands too, hmm?

Britanny: Well, Tiffany's been quite the mystery. She doesn't laugh or cry. the only time I can tell when she's upset is looking at her unhappy face.

Subtracto: I think I've found the data on these two. This is Britanny Diggers-'Gia, the sister of Gina Diggers. That would make the infant Tiffany 'Gia, her first child.

(Panel 6. Lynn perks up a bit.)

Lynn: Gina Diggers sister...?

Britanny: Gina's my step sister, actually. It's a long and complicated story.

(Panel 7. Britanny parks Tiffany's stroller opposite Mitsun.)

Lynn: You know, I nearly lost my Khan to Gina a while back.

Britanny (1): Hmm... must have been a good while back. Gina's very married to her job now.

Britanny (2, quietly): But I can see why she wanted him...

(Panel 8. Lynn smiles slightly.)

Lynn (1): Well, I think I got the better end of the deal. Khan has been so wonderful to me...

Lynn (2): With an occasional slip-up or two...

Britanny: My Stryyp has been the same way.

(Page 3, panel 1.)

Lynn: So what has Gina been up to of late?

Britanny: She's obsessing over the dragons. She wants to find out their origins.

(Panel 2. Lynn thinks for a bit.)

Lynn: I think we've got a book about that somewhere around here... but I'm not sure.

(Panel 3. Britanny thinks for a bit.)

Britanny: Well, this has been good, but I really need to get to reading those books.)

(Panel 4. Lynn gestures to a wall of books.)

Lynn: Well, all these books are about child care. All of them are pretty good, just take your pick.

Britanny: Oh my... there are so many of them... where do I begin?

Subtracto: Any of the books is a good place to start.

(Panel 5. Britanny takes a book off the shelf.)

Britanny: Well... let's start with this one.

Subtracto: A good choice.

(Panel 6. Britanny sits down next to Lynn and starts reading. Lynn returns to reading her book, sitting down.)

Caption (N): While the cat's distracted, the mice will play....

(Panel 7. Tiffany crawls out of her stroller and onto the floor. Panel 8. Mitsun follows her, crawling around on the floor.)

Caption (N): and away they go...

(Page 4, panel 1. Tiffany and Mitsun crawl away from Britanny and Lynn.)

Britanny: Hmm...

(Panel 2. Tiffany and Mitsun have left the area.)

Subtracto: Empress Lynn? I hate to say this, but somehow prince Mitsun has vanished. I did not detect him leaving the area...

Lynn: Oh...

(Panel 3. Lynn drops the book she was leaving, and stands up, very angry. Lynn shouts at Subtracto. Brittany looks up from her book as well.)

Lynn: MITSUN IS GONE!?

Britanny: Huh?

(Panel 4. Britanny looks up to see Tiffany gone as well. Britanny drops the book she was holding.)

Britanny: TIFFANY IS GONE TOO! Stryyp will have my hide for this!

Lynn: Can you sense them, Subtracto?

Subtracto: Something is interfering with my sensors, Empress Lynn.

(Panel 5. The two of them run in opposite directions.)

Lynn: Go that way and stop them from entering the inner library. I'll get my husband to alert the staff.

Britanny: Right.

(Panel 6. Back with Tiffany and Mitsun, we see them crawling down an aisle towards a row of books.)

Caption (N): Meanwhile...

Mitsun: E...?

(Panel 7. They arrive at the section of new age philosophy.)

Tiffany: A....

(Panel 8. The two of them stop, and pull out a pair of books.)

Mitsun: O...

(Page 5, panel 1. Lynn is talking with Khan.)

Lynn: Then I looked up and saw him gone. Subtracto said something was interfering with his sensors.

Khan: Oh dear... I'll alert the staff immediately. We should be able to find him using the internal sensors.

(Panel 2. Britanny is standing at the entrance of the inner library. Djur is calmly standing in the doorway.)

Caption (N): Elsewhere...

Djur: A were-cheetah?

Britanny: A talking tornado?

(Panel 3. Djur looks offended.)

Djur: I am an air elemental, were-cheetah. What are you doing here?

Britanny: I'm looking for my daughter Tiffany. She's an infant with blonde hair and was wearing a pink dress.

(Panel 4. Djur stops looking offended.)

Djur: Hmm... I haven't seen an infant were-cheetah around here of late... but if I do, I will alert the staff.)

Britanny: Thanks.

(Panel 5. Back with Khan and Lynn, they are in front of a complicated looking piece of equipment. It is about the size of a desk.)

Lynn: I'll never forgive myself for this...

Khan: We'll find him, darling. Let's see here...

(Panel 6. Khan pushes some buttons on the machine.)

Khan: We'll find Mitsun. This machine will tell us where he is...

(Panel 7. Both of them stare at the screen.)

Khan: He's in the new age philosophy section.

Lynn: What's he doing there?

(Panel 8. Lynn rushes off.)

Lynn: Never mind - have Britanny meet me there.

Khan: All right, darling.

(Page 6, panel 1. Britanny is walking away from the inner library.)

Britanny's thoughts: Now where is Tiffany?

Britanny: Tiffany? Mommy wants to see you again...

(Panel 2. Suddenly a demon from the inner library jumps out and attacks Britanny. It does a tackle on her, sending her to the floor. This is the one with wings and a nasty disposition.)

SFX: WHAM!!

(Panel 3. Britanny looks up at the demon, giving him the evil eye.)

Britanny: All right, pal. I was annoyed to begin with... now you've made me very mad.

(Panel 4. Britanny uses her legs to throw the demon off of her, sending the demon into the air.)

Britanny: Luckily for me I can bench press a bus. Unlucky for you, though...

(Panel 5. The demon tries to attack again, but ends up running into Britanny's fist.)

Britanny: You know, the more I come across you idiotic demons, the more I'm beginning to think that there's a severe lack of brain cells in hell.

SFX: POW!!

(Panel 6. Empress Lynn enters with her sword and slices the demon's head off. Subtracto is with her.)

Lynn: Jeez, you Diggers girls can't go anywhere without attracting trouble, can you?

Britanny: Hey, it wasn't my idea to have this demon attack me!

(Panel 7. We see the demon has died, and its dead body is lying in the background. Lynn and Britanny are facing each other.)

Lynn: Khan said that Mitsun was over in the new age section.

Britanny: Then let's get there!

(Page 7, panel 1. Britanny and Lynn find Tiffany and Mitsun in the philosophy section. Tiffany is reading the book "Real Magic" by Dr. Wayne Dyer. Mitsun is reading "Homesick for Heaven " by Walter Starke.)

Lynn: There you are! Bad Mitsun!

Britanny: Tiffany! How could you run away from mommy like that?

Subtracto: Ladies, I think I should point out that it is not typical for infants to be reading books of deep spiritual thought like this...

(Panel 2. Britanny and Lynn stop, realizing what is going on here.)

Britanny: Tiffany... you're only three months old, and you're reading...? Do you understand what's printed there?

Subtracto: It would seem that she does, Ms. 'Gia. However, my sensors are unable to properly calibrate for her hybrid genetic makeup. It seems to be somewhat different than just mere Kryn-were-cheetah.

Lynn: But Mitsun is pure human. He shouldn't be able to read at 5 months...

(Panel 3. Both Lynn and Britanny look confused.)

Subtracto: The only solution possible that I can extrapolate is that somehow Tiffany is able to influence him and enhance his comprehension of the book he is reading.

Britanny: Hm... should we let them finish? I mean, this stuff they're reading isn't lightweight stuff, you know.

(Panel 4. Lynn picks up Mitsun, but lets him continue reading the book.)

Lynn: I really don't know what to make of this. However, I think I want to put him back into his stroller.

Britanny: Hmm... I guess I could let Tiffany read this some more...

Subtracto: I must admit this is not in my computer database on Tiffany. It is very intriguing...

(Panel 5. Britanny picks up Tiffany as well, but lets her continue holding the book.)

Britanny: I really need to get back to reading though...

(Panel 6. Later on, Britanny and Tiffany are reading books together. Tiffany is still reading Real Magic, and Britanny is reading another book on motherhood.)

Caption (N): Much later...

Britanny: Well Tiffany, I don't know about you, but I'm getting hungry. It's time to go home now.

Tiffany: E...

(Panel 7. Tiffany and Britanny close their books.)

Britanny: Well, since you seem to like that book so much, we'll check it out, all right?

Tiffany: A!

(Panel 8. Show Brittany's face in a close-up. She is smiling.)

Britanny: After all, reading is fundamental...

-End-