########################################################## SENSHI MUYO Episode 8 - A Call to Arms! To the Auditions! By Mark Poa Original concept by Mervyn the Wonder Slug, (c) 1999 Hosted by Indie Madnesse (http://www.students.rhodes.edu/~knoke/indie/indie.html) ########################################################## The castle formerly owned by Dark Queen Prudence, now occupied by Dark Queen Uzume, was a huge place. At the moment, no one knows that better than a certain kobold who got himself lost looking for Uzume's office. Rounding a corner with his resume in hand, he wiped the sweat off his fur with a gray handkerchief. "Cripes! How did I let Macavity talk me into spying on Uzume? I swear, the next time he asks for a favor, I'll kick his furry tail to the next Dark dimension," he swore. Genma rounded another corner and bumped into a monster with more tentacles than legally allowed in several states. "This must be one of the hired youma around here," he thought. "Might be best if I asked for directions." He tapped the youma on the shoulder, or a part that looks like the creature's shoulder (it was hard to tell), and asked in an accented voice, "Excuse me, my good fellow, could you direct me to the office of Dark Queen Uzume?" "Urrrghh?" the monster replied, scratching its head with a tentacle. "U-zu-me's office," Genma enunciated slowly for the creature's benefit, all the while pointing at his resume as if it would lead the creature to understand his question. "Uurrgh?" the creature moaned. At this point, if Genma could have read the creature's mind, he would have run far away, pissed in his pants, and shivered in fear, not necessarily in that order. The recently-released and quite-hungry youma formerly kept by Dark Queen Prudence as a paperweight took one whiff of Genma's body and the words "edible" and "food" popped up in its mind. Genma looked at the thing's salivating maw and felt instinct and common sense telling him that he shouldn't be here. "Err..." was the last thing heard from him before the creature had lunch. ******** "Moshi moshi? Hai, it's you, Kocho-san," Nyuyokumiru said to the phone. "Yes, my employer is here." He looked across the table to Uzume, who was adding a few more zeroes into Shiryo's check. His gaze momentarily wandered into the view offered by Uzume's leaning forward but snapped back before his shift in attention was noticed. "Five o'clock Tuesday, you say?" he continued. "I think that would be satisfactory. Have the gymnasium ready. I shall bring my employer. Oh, and Kocho-san." He leaned back on his chair and smiled before continuing. "Please, call me Nyuro." He pushed the button on his cellphone to terminate the call. "Miss Uzume." Uzume looked up from her work. "The auditions will be on Tuesday at five o'clock. I trust that you will be attending?" Uzume bounced up cheerfully at the news. "Wai! Our cast will be completed soon!" Nyuyokumiru resisted the urge to sweatdrop. He bowed and left the room. "All goes well," he whispered to himself. ******** Carlisle was not having a good week. First, she received flak for flushing the last batch of transformation pens down the toilet. Second, she was almost eaten by a pet alligator. Third, Macavity appeared again which was always a bad thing. Fourth, she was getting a headache just recruiting the new senshi team. (She shuddered at the thought of actually working with this lot.) Fifth, she was running out of air from the bearhug that Molly was giving her. "CouldyoupleaseletmegobeforeIdie?" Carlisle rasped. Molly, however, didn't understand words spoken at greater than 20 words-per-minute speeds and continued exerting pressure on Carlisle's ribs. "Molly, let her go. I think she's hurting," Meryl scolded her little sister. "No, she's not," Molly answered, tightening her hug a bit. "Her eyes are starting to bug out. I think that's a sign that she's hurting." "Oh, okay," Meryl pouted. She let Carlisle go. Carlisle made a mental note never to let down her guard around the girl again. It ached the first time and the second one was hardly a pleasant experience either. "So you were saying?" Molly urged Carlisle to continue. "Umm, I think it might be better if you follow me and meet your companions in this mystical destiny." "Uh-uh, I don't think so." She held up her watch for Carlisle to see, evidently assuming that a talking cat could read time. "It's past Meryl's curfew. Mom's gonna be pissed off if we don't hurry home." Carlisle sweatdropped. "Okay, what if I go to you again tomorrow?" "I'll think about it." Meryl dragged her sister, who still wanted to hold the kitty, home. "Kids today," Carlisle sighed. ******** "And that's why you shouldn't attack with the ultimate attack at once!" Whittington ended confidently. He sat up, crossed his front legs across his chest, and beamed proudly. Sachiko and Fushin only looked at him. Finally, Sachiko couldn't take it anymore. "That has got to be the most inane, illogical thing I have ever heard!" she shouted. "Well, live with it, girlfriend," Whittington replied back. "If you have any problems with it, talk to the paw." He held up his left paw and looked away from Sachiko. "Cuz' the face is finished talking." "Aaargh! I'm being confused by a talking cat!" Sachiko threw up her arms in exasperation. "And," Whittington continued. "Just to make sure you don't do that again, Sachiko, I'm removing the Lovely OL Sparkle Wave Thrust from your powers list." "I think that was supposed to be Lovely OL Sparkle Wave [THRUST]," Sachiko corrected him. "Whatever," the cat replied back. Whittington moved his right in a half-circle in front of him. "By the power of the Head Advisor, I hereby remove the Lovely OL Sparkle Wave [THRUST] from Magical Girl Burst Angel Sailor OL Lime. It shall remain dormant until such time that she defeats twenty youma or ages one year, whichever comes first," he chanted. "So says Whittington, advisor 1st class." Sachiko, still in her Sailor OL Lime form, felt a strange sensation in her arms. She looked at them and saw a pink-colored mist rising from her jacket sleeves. One of her blouse sleeve buttons disappeared. "Hey! Explain why you just did that!" Sachiko demanded. "Page five of the Senshi Advisor's Handbook says: 'neophyte senshi should only be given level 1 attacks, defined as attacks that serve to irritate youma.' It was probably only a malfunction in the transformation bag that you got that level 4 attack. A new senshi like you won't be able to handle all that power at this stage," Whittington reasoned. "Besides, it will return to you once your power levels rise up...ACK!" A knife was lodged at the wall behind Whittington, its blade edge a mere 10 millimeters from his nose. "You know, you really should control that," Fushin piped in. "What's it to you?" Sachiko turned to add more insults when she gaped at Fushin. More specifically, she gaped at what Fushin was wearing. Because of the excitement caused by Uzume's appearance and the subsequent argument between Sachiko and Wittington, no one noticed that Fushin had already changed into his senshi persona. Pieces of armor were now connected to the business suit he wore. The whole outfit consisted of a chestplate with a tie design, arm bracers and shin guards, two large shoulder pads, boots a samurai might have worn, and a shogun helmet with an upturned crescent symbol on the front and attached shades. All those in a drab gray color to complement his already drab outfit. He held a wooden hilt with the large blue paperclip attached at the end, like a knife. To the casual Japanese observer, his outfit would bring to mind a shogun ready for a seriously confrontational office meeting. "Did you realize that you've..." Sachiko pointed at Fushin's outfit. "Oh, this?" Fushin emphasized his words by looking down at his costume. "Sure. The costume just appeared when I held this paperclip up. But you killed off that creature before I could have done anything." "What does that thing do?" Sachiko pointed at the paperclip. "This?" Fushin said as he looked at the paperclip and its wooden hilt. "You know, I have no idea." He looked at the hilt a little closer and saw an infinity symbol engraved on the wood. "Maybe this does something," he replied as he pushed the symbol. *SPROING* The blue paperclip unfurled and straightened. The steel novelty office supply distorted in shape, warped, then settled into the shape of a samurai's blade. The blade glowed an eerie yet cute shade of blue. "Cool. So that's what these shades are for," Fushin commented, while he looked at his blade appreciatively. He took a couple of practice swipes. "This is great! It feels so natural. Almost like this was made exactly for me." He held the paperclip-sword horizontally in front of him, unconsciously striking a cool pose. Sachiko noticed, however. "Oooh, he looks so cool in that," she thought. "Maybe this senshi stuff will be worth it if I get to hang around him." "Hey! You weren't supposed to get that outfit!" Whittington stated. He went to a backroom and returned with his Senshi Advisor's Handbook. He opened it and went directly to the chapter "Fukus, Tuxedos, and other Accessories." "You were supposed to get a tuxedo and a mask," he said after a few minutes. "That urban samurai outfit isn't prescribed uniform for people in your line of business." He turned the book around for it to be seen by the two and pointed at a picture of tuxedo-clad man carrying a mushroom. "See? You're supposed to look like this!" Fushin shrugged. "I kinda like this better." Sachiko nodded in agreement. Whittington laid the book down on the ground and sighed. "I wonder if Ruffers ever handled people like this." ******** "ACHOOO! Sniff, sniff. I must be coming down with something." ******** Yuriko, clad in armor which would have made any other warrior princess blush, surveyed the plain before her atop a high cliff. Amid the bodies of her fallen enemies and minions, she watched as all men in the world were lined up in neat rows, their arms bound by chains and linked to each other by more chains. She motioned for her soldiers to align them specifically in front of the arms of her specially designed torture machine. And lo, she smiled. She looked again at her captives and motioned for their handlers to stop and get into their positions. She gave her captives an icy stare and grinned. Among the captive men, she saw the one who always ignored her and her wiles; another who always told her what to do; a couple of bishounen types she hadn't seen before, but looked strangely familiar all the same; and others who were merely unlucky to be there. And lo, she saw that they were in position and smiled again. She raised her hand. Several of the men among the captives lost control of their urinary functions. Several closed their eyes and winced in anticipation of their torture. Others, resigned to their fate, waited for the excruciating pain they knew would arrive soon. Yuriko brought her hand down and her soldiers synchronously brought their swords down on the ropes that held the instruments of pain in place. Simultaneously, wooden poles with boots at their end were released and connected with the lower kick-sensitive region of the men in front of each of them. And lo, there was a collective gasp, gnashing of teeth, and shivering of pain. Yuriko saw that all was good, watching the mighty men crumbling to their knees with one hit. And lo, she did laugh. "Yuriko, quit that laughing, it's closing time!" a departing co-worker mentioned, passing by her desk. Said co-worker broke the five-minute mile leaving the building in order to catch the next train before it left. And Yuriko did stop. She looked up a bit bleary-eyed. She saw that she was still in the Amalgamated Amalgamation, Inc. office building. "Must have fallen asleep checking the shipment. That was certainly a weird dream," she remarked, rubbing her eyes. "I'm probably the last one here." She gathered her things into her office bag and prepared to leave. As she passed Fushin's cubicle, she saw the green vase she bought and stopped. "Should I bring it home now? It's going to be hard carrying that thing in the train. Maybe I'll just leave it here. That way I can still have an excuse to talk to Fushin." She giggled to herself and left. From within the vase, a word formed from a semi-existent voice: "Drat." ******** Bozo was having a good day. He grinned in a happy (not evil) way as he pocketed his money. Soon, he would be moving up the evil ladder. Soon, he would be able to buy his own circus and tend to all of his family's needs. Soon... "But for now, I better get home before the missus starts asking," he noted to himself. He turned a corner and another after that until he was in front of his house. The family pet was waiting for him at the front door and wrestled him to the ground as he entered. "Down, boy," he commanded the animal. He picked a fish from within one of his oversized pockets and tossed it. The waiting jaws of Snappy snapped them up eagerly. "Good boy." Bozo patted the reptile's head. Then, he went in the house. "Honey! Is dinner ready yet?" he called. ******** "Who left this beaver tail in the hallway?" Schein asked out loud. "Not me." "Not me." "BURP! Er, not me." "Well, anyway," Schein continued as he tossed the body part into a nearby bin. "Queen Uzume wants to see us about the show. Let's move it to her office!" After a bit of grumbling and comments, the four made their way to Uzume's office. "The floor feels a bit slimy, don't you think?" Varese noted. "Not my fault. Honest!" said Marais, when the other three looked at him. "Whatever," Tallis said as Schein knocked on Uzume's door. "Come in, we have things to discuss," came Uzume's voice from behind the door. The four stoog...er, Dark Generals entered. ******** "This is pretty boring," the dark general formerly known as Fred, often called Number 3, remarked from his perch overlooking Dark Queen Uzume's Dark Edifice of Terror and Happiness. ******** "This is certainly boring," Acheron noted. In addition, the cloak of darkness wasn't much to prevent the cold from being ... well, cold. "I think I'm gonna need some chicken soup when I get back," he sniffed. ******** Carlisle returned to their base slightly dejected. Okay, not exactly. She was majorly pissed-off. "That's it!" she swore to herself, "it's gonna be a three senshi squad! If that last one doesn't want to join, then fine! We'll make do with Fushin and Sachiko. I have had it with recruiting!" A few blocks from the unofficial senshi base, she stopped as she sensed a familiar presence following her. "Oh, it's you. C'mon, you know I can sense you. Why don't you just show yourself." Carlisle looked at her back and waited for the one tailing (no pun intended) her to appear. "Actually, I'm right here," came a voice at her right. Carlisle fought the urge to sweatdrop or face-fault as she sheepishly turned towards the direction of the voice. "Pleasant evening for a walk, don't you think?" Macavity asked, still grinning. "What do you want?" Carlisle replied curtly. "Aww, is my pwecious widdle Carlisle in a bad mood?" Macavity cajoled, rolling so that he was now lying on his back on the sidewalk. "Maybe what I have to say might cheer her up?" "Whatever it is, tell me about it tomorrow," Carlisle snapped back before turning to continue on her way. "I'll tell you anyway. Dark Queen Uzume is going to be holding an audition Tuesday afternoon at five o'clock." Carlisle stopped, suddenly interested. Macavity continued, "I believe it will be held in the gymnasium of the school of your little senshi recruit. You know, the circus girl?" He grinned once more. "Is this accurate?" Carlisle asked, still not looking back. "Like I asked you before, have I ever lied?" Macavity answered. "Fine. I don't know what you're up to but I thank you for your help." Carlisle looked back but Macavity was already gone. "I wonder what game he's playing this time," she muttered to herself. ******** "That kitty was kinda kawaii. Why didn't you let me pet her?" a girl hidden in the shadows inquired of her advisor. "It's not yet time for you to be known. Besides, what we had to talk about was personal and does not really concern you," her feline companion responded. "Oooh, is that kitty your girlfriend?" the girl squealed. Macavity was not one to sweatdrop. Instead, he grinned at the girl. "Perhaps." ******** Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, an outlet for the Japan Sewage Committee released its watery refuse. Among the assorted seaweed, vegetable carvings, yellow submarines, and whatnots that no one in his right mind would check anyway, several pens with magical powers were swept away with the water. Slowly, they sank to the grimy depths of the ocean. ******** "I have to go home. It's getting late and I don't really like the thought of spending the night elsewhere," Sachiko replied. "Even if the folks are making my life hell," she added silently to herself. She and Fushin had both changed back to their regular clothes earlier. She noticed that Fushin's transformation took only a few seconds while hers took five minutes and involved a lot of pirouettes and glitter. "I have to go, too. I have work tomorrow." Fushin pocketed the blue paperclip and started to go. "You're on vacation, remember?" Whittington reminded him. "Oh, yeah. Well, I guess I'll go work on my stamp collection," Fushin said. Whittington smacked his paw on his forehead. "You'll hurt yourself doing that," the bishounen criticized unhelpfully. "Mind your own business. I happen to like it!" Fushin shrugged. "Anyway, aren't you guys even going to wait for Carlisle? She might have something new to report." "Nope." "Nope." "Fine! We'll call you when Dark Queen Uzume has finally conquered the world." Whittington sarcastically commented. The effect he was aiming for hadn't been achieved as the two have already left the building. "Great," he sighed. "It's kind of late," commented Fushin out of the blue. "I suppose I should make sure that you arrive safely home, Sachiko. Mind if I escort you home?" Sachiko froze. Her mind raced with thoughts. "My god! Is he for real? A hunk like him, escorting me home? What should I do? If I answer yes, he might think I'm too forward. Maybe I should decline? No way! I can't let this opportunity pass up. Maybe I should demure a bit before answering yes? Right! That's the way." She mentally shook hands with her mind for coming up with the idea. Sachiko turned to Fushin. "Umm, Mister Takusan, I don't know. My house is a bit far. I don't really want to be a bother to you..." She spoke with her eyes closed and her finger to her chin, just to look the part of a shy girl. "Okay, if you say so." Fushin shrugged and walked away. "But if you insist..." Sachiko opened her eyes and turned to where Fushin was standing. He wasn't there. Sachiko saw him already hailing a taxi and roaring away. She felt the urge to scream but stifled it. "For a cute guy, he sure is dense. Dense and weird." Sachiko turned and slowly walked home. ******** For her, this was her castle. This was a place where she wouldn't be bothered by her mother asking her to take out the garbage or clean the dishes. This was where she could escape from the weirdness of her sister's esper powers as well as the responsibility of keeping her out of trouble. This was her own room. Her room. Not even that talking cat can get in her castle. Meryl listened to the music playing on her radio. It was some new pop group that appeared. "Probably won't even last a month," she noted. She returned to her book. The music ended. The DJ's voice came over the air. "...Listen, all you aspiring teen actresses out there. An audition will be held at the gymnasium of *bzzt*" Meryl gave her radio a good solid bonk at the top to return the reception. "...Tuesday at five o'clock. All high school girls are invited to join. They'll get the chance to star in a new TV show! So everyone who want this chance, go to..." Meryl took note of the name of the school. It was the one a block away from her school. "Might be interesting to audition. Besides, the longer I get out of the house with a legitimate reason, the less time I have to babysit my sister," she thought to herself. She turned off her radio and went to sleep. ******** FIN Tune in next week when Fushin agrees to wear a fuku! Or maybe not... ******** Author's Notes: Over 20K! And I wasn't even aiming for that this time! I never thought I would be using almost all of the characters in the series in this one. Well, almost all, except Uzume. Oh, my God! I gave the star of the series only ten seconds of airtime! I apologize to all of Uzume's fans out there. I already have a scene where she sings to her youma again... but the song lyrics suck. ^_^ Seriously though (yeah, sure!), I didn't read Mervyn's starter during the Impro Sweepstakes (sorry, Mervyn! ^_^). I only read it after it got 4th or 5th place (I couldn't remember. ^_^;) just to see why a lot of other guys voted for it. I missed out on one good fic! @_@ Well, anyway, I hope this part wasn't a total turnoff for everybody. I tried to stay DDD compliant but some people might disagree. I took the advice and killed off some threads before introducing new ones. (It wasn't meant to literally mean "kill off"??? You don't say.) Author's messages: Thanks go to Mervyn the Wonder Slug for prereading. Couldn't have done it without you. Well, I could have but then it wouldn't be better. ^_^ For Kate Malloy, sorry if I couldn't wait for your reply to my request. I wanted to pass this in ASAP. ^_^ Sorry. For Demota, sorry if I didn't use your suggestions and even, er, temporarily devolved Sachiko's powers, but I agree with Whittington regarding that point. ^_^; As always, email, etc. can be sent to recklessflyer@mechpilot.com.