A small town in Brazil... Narrow streets, small, dirty buildings, salesmen offering their wares on the street and many, many people...
Two Japanese girls were busy trying to find a way through this crowd.
"Well this town is the closest spot civilization has to offer before we reach the valley Sting spoke of," Nabiki said.
Rei looked at the many souvenir stands and sighed. "I'd love to bring home a souvenir for grandpa," she murmured.
"Rei, this is no vacation, we are no tourists." Nabiki reminded her.
Rei looked at her travel companion darkly. "Okay, okay, I got it." She really didn't like the attitude of that girl. At first she didn't mind going with her, she always wanted to go to South America for some time...
But already when they were sitting next to each other aboard the plane, Rei started to regret her decision. Nabiki was always so... cold, it seemed. Always all business, never talking about her friends or what she did in her free time...
When Rei had her prophetic dream and realized that there might be several more Senshi, she was somehow glad, because she hoped that they would become good friends with each other... When Rei learned of her own destiny as a Senshi, she was happy. With Usagi and Ami, she finally had friends who understood her. And when Makoto and Minako joined the team, it got even better. They always had something to laugh about. Minako always managed to cheer her up. Ami always was there for the others if they needed help. Makoto was a great cook as well as a great friend. And Usagi... well, Rei loved to tease Usagi, but both girls really liked each other, so it was just for fun.
But this Nabiki... Rei just couldn't imagine how someone could ever like someone with such a COLD attitude.
"Are we finally there?" Rei asked impatiently.
"Only a few more streets," Nabiki replied.
Sting looked out of the little bag that was hanging around Nabiki's body. "You know, I really don't know if I can describe the exact way for you. I walked through the jungle on my own, and it took me days until I reached civilization."
"That's exactly the point," Nabiki said. "We're going to charter a small airplane to reach this valley of yours. If we were to travel on foot, it would take too much time... Ah, this must be it."
They reached the outskirts of town. Next to a small building, a big hangar was situated, complete with maneuvering area. Jutting out of the hangar was the propeller of a small airplane that looked like it came out of a museum.
In front of the small house, a big, blonde man was lying in a hammock and snored.
Rei looked at him doubtfully. "And that's supposed to be the best pilot around here?"
"That's what they told me," Nabiki shrugged. "After all, it's the only plane in town, so I think we have no choice."
She approached the man and coughed. "Um... excuse me, please?"
The man stopped snoring. He blinked, looked around and asked: "Huh? Did someone call my name?"
"Um... yes, sir, we did. We heard you would offer flights into the jungle... and we would like to charter your plane."
"Oh, sure," the man grinned and jumped out of his hammock. "When you need to fly somewhere, Larry Hawkins is your man."
"Well, Mr. Hawkins..."
The man smiled. "Please, call me 'Falcon'!"
Nabiki blinked. "Umm, sure! Well, we need to get to this valley..." She pointed to it on their map.
'Falcon' looked around. "Where? I don't see anything..."
'Oh man,' Rei thought. 'What's wrong with that guy?'
Nabiki pushed the map closer to his face. "THIS valley!" she repeated and put her finger on it. "Can you bring us there?"
"Oh, I see now. Of course, I can bring you everywhere. But you know... it's not gonna be cheap... You saw the price list hanging at the wall?"
"We know," sighed Nabiki and pulled out her wallet. "We have enough money for the trip, don't worry."
"Money?" Falcon asked and looked around. "Where is it... OUCH!" In his confusion, he ran against one of the trees his hammock was hanging from.
'And that guy calls himself 'Falcon'?' Rei shook her head. 'He's blinder than a mole...'
Falcon took the money from Nabiki. He snickered. "Well then, ladies... please come this way."
He led them to the small plane. It really looked like a wreck. It was covered in rust, and the front window had a big crack.
Rei had a real bad feeling about this. "Shouldn't we find another way to get there?" she asked.
"Well, we already payed for it," Nabiki said. "And I'm not willing to waste it." She stuffed their backpacks into the plane and got in.
Rei sighed and followed her fellow Senshi, preparing herself for the worst.
When they all had fastened their seat belts, Falcon tried to start the engine. The airplane gurgled and banged a few times.
"Well, Scrappy?" he said to his machine. "Why don't you finally start up?"
The engine coughed a few more times. Falcon angrily hammered onto his console. "Dammit, start already, you worthless piece of scrap metal!"
After another loud bang, the engine finally came to life. Falcon smirked at his two passengers. "See? A little cajoling is all that's needed."
And after rolling to the very end of the small airport's maneuvering place, the plane called Scrappy finally rose into the air.
'Oh my god,' Rei thought in a panic. 'We're gonna die, we're gonna die...'
See other episodes by Shritistrang
(Posted Sun, 27 Aug 2006 12:02)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.