"In here, Sasuke," commanded the noble Blue Thunder of Furinkan High.
"Master Kuno, I... what the heck are you doing, Master Kuno?"
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Tatewaki Kuno asked of his servant haughtily.
"...you really don't want me to answer that..." muttered Sasuke under his breath.
"What was that?"
"Oh nothing, Master Kuno. Just wondering why you were playing with dolls."
"I am planning strategy, fool. Now why to your interruption of my latest plan to break the foul Saotome's spell over the pigtailed girl and the fair Akane Tendo."
Avoiding saying what it looked like his master was doing with the dolls, Sasuke took out his notes. "I found the identities of the combat cheerleaders. Nabiki said something about finding another way of collecting the remainder of her usual fees, but I also asked around and cumulated the results."
"Excellent," said Kuno, putting another five dolls out on the table. "I must incorporate this into my strategies. Speak on!"
Sasuke gave another untrusting look at the tableau. "Okayyyyy. In any case these combat cheerleaders are known as the Sailor Girl Scouts. They normally operate in Juuban. They are apparently owned by Bandai, who uses them to promote sales of Sailor V merchandise and related materials. When they're not going door to door selling cookies, that is."
"I see, then perhaps I should buy that contract so that they work directly for myself," pondered Kuno.
"There's a thought," agreed Sasuke with serious reservations unspoken. "In any case, following typical sentai group tradition - the one in red is the one in charge. That would be Sailor Martian. She's from the planet Mars and has power over flame."
"I see, that does make sense," admitted Kuno.
"Their mascot is this girl with strange odango hairstyle and her name is Sailor Moon Unit. She's related to Frank Zappa, an American who apparently writes folk songs. She's also apparently in some sort of relationship with the leader, but I'm still working on the details of that."
"I see," repeated Kuno, rubbing his chin. "Could it be - this and that?"
"Most likely," said Sasuke. "She was observed once saying something about punishing someone with her high heels."
"Zounds!" Kuno exclaimed. "I grow more intrigued. Go on, dear Sasuke."
"Right. Oh yes, the girl in blue is apparently a yuki-no-onna that has been constrained and brought into the group by Sailor Martian."
"Was she recruited by this and that?" Kuno asked, eyes wide.
"I did run across such a rumor," admitted Sasuke.
"ZOUNDS!" Kuno declared.
"Quite. Sailor Blueberry is her name, and she's apparently fairly irresponsible. Rarely gets involved in any battles as she hangs back and plays videogames on her computer." Sasuke looked over his notes, scanning ahead.
"Such a strange lass," commented Kuno.
"Indeed. The last two are Sailor Sporty Spice and Sailor V. The tall one is the sporty girl, who apparently was a singer with a group of unrelated girls in England and recruited by Sailor V while she was overseas."
Kuno considered that. "A gaijin? That explains her unseemly height."
"Just as you say, Master Kuno." Sasuke bowed. "Sailor V is the more experienced and seems to fulfill a function similar to Kamen Rider Black. In fact, she has been known to dress as a guy in full tuxedo and cape and appear to give advice or speeches much like your own to raise the morale of the other Sailor Girl Scouts in times of crisis."
"I had no idea," said Kuno. "Wait, that must mean that they need a true male presence. I must dress in the appropriate raiment and then affect their rescue. That will place me within their group immediately."
"Tuxedo, top hat, mask, and cape then," said Sasuke, making the necessary notes.
Grauf continued to watch as the group of "escaped" slaves continued to follow some boy who was apparently leading them on a scenic tour of his homeland. Very nice, in a way, but also very frustrating.
Which was when the tour abruptly hit a stop and Ryoga unintentionally left the girls he was leading behind. They had stopped to stare, Ryoga hadn't. It took an hour to find his way back.
Grauf in his niche - stared too. THIS was mighty magic beyond anything he'd ever seen before.
Ryoga hadn't paid any attention to it. Just a construction site next to Narita International Airport. They were excavating and would eventually put a tall building there, slowly encroaching on the hills and woods that he'd somehow wandered out of.
To the elves, aasimar, tiefling, pixie, and the eavesdropping mage however - this was a scene of wonder.
Close up, huge metal devices driven by humans moved earth at a rate that was astonishing. A dragon sized scooping device rent the ground in another area, lifting the soil away to massive metal wagons that had no animal to pull it. Metal birds screeched overhead and landed in the distance and it was only when they were close could you tell they were the size of ancient dragons themselves!
Other odd insect-birds, also fairly big, flew overhead despite having an odd arrangement of wings that rotated like a wheel at high speeds.
The noise was a painful assault but the sight of those devices like gnomish clockwork gone mad fixed them to the sight. No matter which way they looked it was another unbelievable sight.
"Magic is so common here that they squander it like water in a flood," muttered one of the elves.
Grauf thought that maybe, just maybe, he had found something that could challenge his race back into greatness.
Either that or something that could exterminate his people. He'd have to get more information.
They were young, relatively. In terms of relative age, in human terms, they'd be nineteen years old and promising talents.
Dejrae nodded to her cohorts.
"The Matron Mother is too cautious, we'll never get anywhere at this rate," said Magista.
"Calm yourself, this is our opportunity to shift the scales," said Dejrae with a quiet venom.
"You have a plan then?" the quiet voice of one of the other drow asked.
"Of course. We sacrifice these two escapees, kill the gnome, loot the lair of this Sorceror, and accumulate the favor of Lolth while the favor of her head priestess diminishes. When we've done that, we go ahead and study whatever we've hidden away of the Sorcerer's notes and we use it as a secret weapon for later in life."
"Now is the time to strike, we are yet acolytes and not watched as carefully from below and above as we will be," said Magista. "I think I have the perfect minions to accomplish this."
Kodachi looked at the representation of the Sun briefly before the card exploded with light and she felt a thump at her feet. The words echoing briefly in the dojo didn't register with her as she felt something rush through her and she felt somehow more capable.
There was also the item at her feet, embroidered with a black rose symbol. Clearly this was now hers, a response to the magic much as had occurred with the sword that Ranma's father had procured from another such draw.
Touched by the Moon Healing Escalation, having seen and been rescued by an elf (with the most intriguing coloration) Kodachi was off her usual mindset and considering new ideas.
So when she picked up her new wondrous magic item (medium power), it was in this newly speculative mindset that she contemplated the:
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Wed, 15 Oct 2003 12:39)
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.