"-that doesn't sound good-"
"-we've only got a few minutes left!"
Mercury had tried to collect data. They'd gotten bored, they'd gotten impatient, and then they had fallen into this new problem.
"The ocean is restless."
"Knock it off with the quasi-mystical gumbo, you don't know more than any of the rest of us."
Bleep "Uh oh. We just ran out of time."
The area of the Gates collapsed, becoming a shimmering spacefield. There were a few attempts to grab someone standing nearby, but those quickly ended and the various Senshi found themselves falling in all different directions.
CRASH!
The orange "meteor" which had slammed down into the junkyard was quiet for quite some time, stunned from the force of impact and having landed on some unyielding surface.
"owie," said Minako when she was able to respond that much.
Her fuku was torn, she was dirty, she was sore, and she was alone. Minako Aino thought that this recent set of developments truly sucked. That wasn't even getting into what Sailor Pluto had apparently done.
It took her longer to get herself up and observe her surroundings. A junkyard, but with an unusual number of dayglo items - some of which looked completely bizarre.
Idly, Minako picked up one of the objects and hefted it. A hammer, but instead of the sort that one used to pound objects with - it had red squeakee heads. More objects like it, little bits and pieces of things that were completely unusable. Several sets of tennis shoes that one sniff indicated should have been treated as hazardous waste. A mountain of clean socks, none of which matched.
Minako frowned as she made a circuit of the area. There were two reasons for this, everything around her fell into the category of 'discards' and that she had ended up here indicated something she'd begun to feel hanging around with her friends. After all, everyone else in the group did something better than she did. Even the yoma or daimon and such always went after the other Senshi first when menacing came around. That bothered her.
The other thing causing a frown was that she felt she was being watched.
"Hmmmm," hmmmmed Minako, looking around. She wasn't even close to being Rei much less Michiru. Nonetheless, it seemed to be coming from... "You."
The discarded automobile, crumpled and lying on a heap of other refuse, flickered its remaining headlight.
"You don't look like you belong here either," said Minako.
The headlight flicked dimly again.
"I think we've both seen better days," said Minako. "Oh heck. I just realized. I de-transformed."
There was a couple of clicks from the car.
"I forgot, I am the beautiful warrior of love and justice, Sailor Venus!" introduced Minako. "Except that Ami-chan told us that magic was different here and we might not be able to turn into Senshi."
There was a clunking noise from somewhere inside the car.
Minako considered the mass of metal and rubber. "I don't know why, but I feel..."
The headlight flickered again.
"No, my leg hurts a bit, but that isn't it," said Minako. "Kinda like we're kindred spirits or something."
A couple of clicks sounded within the vehicle's engine compartment.
"Yeah," said Minako, guessing what the car was trying to say. "Hmmmm. Maybe..."
The headlamp flickered dimly and started to go out.
"Hey now, don't go dying on me," said Minako, a little alarmed she was going to be left alone again. "I mean, I just lost... I just lost..."
Minako started to cry, the enormity of what she'd lost coming to her in full. Leaning on her new friend, she just let go and let the waterworks commence.
So she didn't immediately notice as her tears fell on the hood of the car. As rents in the metal closed up and dents slowly straightened out. As the rust fell away from chrome. As the Venus symbol appeared in orange on the hood of the engine. She noticed when the tires re-inflated and the sounds of the frame straightening jarred her out of her funk.
"Whoa," said Minako when she wiped away the tears and took a good look at it. "When Ami-chan said that magic might operate differently, she wasn't kidding."
The car beeped tentatively, then beeped more enthusiastically, almost shaking itself as if a dog after a slumber.
"You still need some repairs, but I'm not exactly a mechanic. Well, since we're going to have to get out of here, let's be friends," said Minako, a bit more cheerfully, slipping behind the wheel. Not exactly first-class but comfortable, she decided. Her knee was still sore, so this beat walking. "Since I can't transform, why not call me Minako?"
The car tootled in reply.
"Okay, Herbie! Let's go!"
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(Posted Tue, 25 Apr 2006 20:50)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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