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SENSHI MUYOU! 
Episode 19 - Conspirator Roll Call!
By Sybillium(Aaron Woods)
Original concept by Mervyn the Wonder Slug (c) 1999, 2000
Hosted by Indie Madnesse
(http://www.students.rhodes.edu/~knoke/indie/indie.html)
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Last time on Senshi Muyou!...

Nyuyokumiro, also known as the Agent (at least he thought so) was 
apprehended by Dark Elf Perky after a botched assassination 
attempt and a vicous slap attack by Uzume.  He was then taken 
away, and the rest of the show proceeded without a hitch, ensuring 
high ratings and many loyal viewers for Uzume (WAI!).  Meanwhile, 
Moonshine and D-chan planted life-sucking daisies, Yuriko caught 
up on her reading, and somewhere, a clown died. (In brutal hand to 
hand combat against a battle-hardened mime ninja death squad, but 
that's beside the point - right?)

	*******************

In the throne room of Uzume's Fortress of Happiness and Terror, 
Uzume lounged across her throne (in a pose that would send any 
self-respecting fanboy spiralling into nasal hemhorrage induced 
unconsciousness), eyes glazed in thought.  Or at least we think 
it's in thought.

"I need villains for my next show", she murmured to herself, "and 
my old group is still in the hospital."  "How could I get those 
other sailors and that yummy guy in the armor to come?"  She began 
to idly swing one leg back and forth, causing certain other parts 
to move in interesting ways.  "I can't go and visit them - that 
mean girl will yell at me again..."  "Wai!  I know!  I'll go visit 
those nice people at the television station!"  "And I can send one 
of my adorable youmabibbles to visit the other sailors!"  She 
jumped up and performed happy bounce #734 (Wai!  My very own 
commercial!) then hurried out of the throne room, calling 
"Shiryo..."

	*******************

Meanwhile, in the depths of the the Fortress, Nyuyokumiru sat tied 
to a chair, a dishtowel stuffed in his mouth and the four generals 
looming menacingly over him.  At least they were looming, but it's 
kinda hard to be menacing when you're dressed in black tights, 
pointed shoes, and a floppy hat with a bell on the end.  Muffled 
snickering could be heard from under Nyuyokumiru's makeshift gag.  
Schein stopped glaring at Nyuyokumiru and turned to Tallis, 
prompting a brief jingle from his hat.  After yanking off the hat 
and stomping it thoroughly into the ground, he turned back to 
Tallis.  "Are you sure this is the most painful thing you could 
find?" he asked, motioning towards their giggling prisoner.

Tallis shrugged, prompting another jingle and a fresh fit of 
giggling from Nyuyukumiro.  "Honest, Schein, we searched the 
castle top to bottom!"  "The Queen's been at everything, putting 
curtains here, cute little embroidered throw pillows there..."  
"We couldn't find so much as a folding chair and a jagged club!"

Sighing in resignation, Schein turned back to Nyuyokumiro.  "This 
will have to do, I guess," he said, eyeing the large overstuffed 
yellow armchair and the soft cotton ropes that bound Nyuyokumiro 
to it with disgust.  "We'd might as well start the interrogation 
now."

"Why are we doin' it this way anyways, Schein?" asked Marais.  
"Why don't we just use spells to pick his brain?"

"I tried that already!" snapped Schein at the the other general.  
"He's being protected from it somehow, as I would expect from the 
Agent."  "Sometimes, the old fashioned ways are more effective 
anyways," he said, turning back to the would-be assassin.  
"Tallis, could you please hand me the wire whisk and the vinegar?"

	***********************

Meanwhile, a few hallways away, Shiryo crept through the Fortress, 
warily peering behind him and around every corner.  "Who could the 
Agent be?" he wondered.  Everyone was a suspect, as far as he was 
concerned, except for the Generals and Uzume.  Uzume, because she 
certainly wouldn't eliminate her only financial supporter, at 
least the way Shiryo wrote his will.  The Generals obviously 
disliked their current terms of employment, but all of them had 
been in view when Shiryo's mysterious assailant grabbed him.  "Who 
could it be?" he whispered.

Suddenly the sound of footsteps started echoing down the hallway.  
Shiryo froze for a second, then slowly turned to face the 
cheerfully skipping form.  "Wait a moment", he thought, 
"skipping?"  He relaxed slightly when he saw that it was just Dark 
Princess Moonshine, with a small rabbit tucked under her arm.

"Oh, there you are, Shiryo-niisan!" the small girl chirped.  "I've 
been looking all over for you!"

"What can I help you with, Princess Moonshine?" asked the relieved 
Dark Litigator.

"Uzume-neesan sent me to look for you since you weren't in your 
office."  "She wants you to go with her to the tv studio."

"Ah, financial murder," murmured Shiryo, "now that I can handle."  
"Thank you, Princess, I'll go meet her now" he said, turning to 
head down the hallway.

"Wait, niisan!" Moonshine called. "I have something for you!"

Shiryo started to turn back towards the magical girl, until she 
started to draw a long, black knife from her flowing cape.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed, and took off full speed down 
the hallway, robes flapping behind him.

Moonshine blinked, then turned her large-eyed gaze onto D-chan's 
adorable glistening one. (yes, evil rabbits have it too)  "I guess 
niisan doesn't want his letter opener back."  Then a bloodcurdling 
scream echoed through the halls, and Moonshine and D-chan headed 
off eagerly to investigate.

	********************

"Oh, Shiryo, there you are!"  "I have the greatest idea to get us 
some more publicity..."

"NotimeletsgonowpleasepleasepleaseIdon'twannadie..." Shiryo 
gasped, grabbing Uzume's hand and running for the front gates.

"Wait, Shiryo!"  "What about the others, and what about..."

"Gotthecheckbookandthecreditcardstheotherswillbefinecmon!" he said 
as they cleared the gates.

	**********************

At Carlisle and Whittington's house, they were having a strategy 
meeting.  At least that's what Whittington called it, Meryl just 
called it a cheap excuse to get her to look at that paperwork 
again.  Meryl and the two cats were sorting several enormous 
stacks of paper, Kagi was idly flipping channels on the tv, and 
Sachiko had taken Fushin outside to help him work on his 
swordwork.

"Is it just me, or is there more of this than before?" asked an 
annoyed Meryl.

"Well, we did gain a new member, and we also have to keep notes on 
your current level of power, as well as the fulfillment of your 
mystical destinies..." began Whittington.

"Hmm... in that case, why don't I see any forms on that Princess 
Cheer person here?" asked Meryl, flipping through a stack of 
papers.

"Uhh, 'couseshe'snotours..." mumbled the grey cat.

"What was that again?" asked Meryl, turning towards Whittington.  
"I didn't catch that."

"He said," interjected Carlisle with a sigh, "because she's not 
ours."

"What do you mean she's not yours?!" shouted Meryl.  "People don't 
just find magic wands, establish alter egos and start firing beams 
of happy death at each other!"  "Whose is she?"

"We think he's working with another Mystical Advisor Cat named
Macavity," replied Carlisle.  "The problem is, we've never been
able to establish his motives."

"Ah," said Meryl, leaning forward to rest her now throbbing head 
on the table, "and you were going to tell us this when?"

"Ano...," said the two cats, who after glancing at each other 
continued, "when it came up in conversation?"

Meryl just groaned, stood up, and walked over to slump down onto 
the couch beside Kagi.  Kagi looked over at her and seemed about 
to say something, when a quick headshake from the cats silenced 
him.  Settling back down on the couch, the two watched tv in 
companionable silence for a while, until suddenly Meryl sat bolt 
upright, staring narrow-eyed at the screen.

"Turn it up, Kagi," she said in a quiet near-whisper.

"Ano... sure," replied the bishonen, who after seeing the 
expression on her face decided that any further comment might be 
unwise.

Meanwhile, from the tv, Uzume's voice became gradually audible as 
Kagi turned up the volume.  "And so, to celebrate the start of our 
new show, we're having a special presentation in Ureshii Park 
today!"  "We've even invited children from the local schools to 
join in the fun!"  "Isn't that right, Molly?"

"Uh-huh!"  "Arigatou, obaasan!"

"Ano... hai," said Uzume, sweatdropping slightly."  "Anyways, be 
sure to join us this afternoon in Ureshii Park!"  The screen then 
switched to several youmabibbles dancing and singing in a circle, 
hand in hand.

"Happy!  We are so happy!
You should be happy too!
Let's all be happy together!
Let's all be happy forever!
Forever and ever and ever!
Follow our every command!
And you'll be so happy too!"

Kagi stared at the screen in disgust for a second, before a steady 
buzzing sound drew his gaze to Meryl, by his side.  She was 
floating about six inches off the ground, her hair was moving in a 
serpentine manner, and her eyes were glowing softly.  Then she 
spoke, and at the same time that he heard it, he [Heard] it.  "If 
she energy drains my sister," Meryl said, "my parents are gonna 
kill me."  Then her face curled into a sneer, and her eyes started 
to glow white.  "But not until I kill HER."  "Kagi. [Come]. Now."  
She then grabbed him by the hand and floated out the front door.

Whittington turned to Carlisle, and uttered a heartfelt, "Well 
$#!+."  The two then sprinted for the backyard, calling out, 
"C'mon you two!"  "It's showtime!"

	*********************************

Meanwhile, in Nadako's room, the young girl sat at her desk, 
humming contentedly as she colored a picture.  In through the open 
window came Macavity, springing silently onto her windowsill from 
a nearby tree.  "Hiya, kiddo," he said as he strolled across her 
bed towards her.  "It looks like we've got a job to do."

Nadako looked up from her picture then, which appeared to be of 
her in Princess Cheer mode, holding hands with a man in blue-grey 
samurai armor.  "Kitty-san?" she asked, "Ano... when is the 
handsome older man supposed to fall in love with me?"

Macavity sweatdropped slightly, then simply replied, "get your 
wand, and we'll explain on the way."

	*****************************

Fushin, Sachiko, and the two cats finally managed to catch up with 
Meryl and Kagi at Ureshii Park.  By the time they got there, 
Uzume's show appeared to be in full swing.  Uzume, the generals, 
and the Youmabibbles were on stage, dancing and singing a series 
of painfully sugary songs.  Some of the children were up there as 
well, including Molly, to Meryl's displeasure.  The children 
appeared to be fine, and to Carlisle and Whittington's relief, 
Meryl's feet were resting firmly on the ground.  She was still 
glaring daggers at Uzume, however, and she still had a deathgrip 
on Kagi.  A large crowd had gathered in front of the extravagant 
stage, thick enough that the four humans and the two cats couldn't 
get anywhere near the children.  After a quick look around the 
area, Carlisle led the group to a nearby copse of trees, which was 
conveniently close to the lightly guarded back of the stage.

Once they were well within the small forest, Whittington and 
Carlisle turned and looked expectantly at the other four.  "Well, 
it's time," said Carlisle.  "Transform, all of you."

"High Power Hyper OL Henshin!" called Sachiko.

"Mystical Secretarial Soldier Sepia, Make Up!" called Meryl.

Fushin and Kagi just watched the ladies' elaborate transformation 
processes, shrugged, and pulled out their respective items of 
power.  One moment later, and everyone was transformed.  "Well 
guys, get on in there," urged Whittington.

"Wait a moment, don't we need some sort of plan here?" asked 
Fushin.  "We can't just charge in there!"

"I don't see why not," replied Whittington.  It looks like they 
only have two guards, and they don't look like they have guns."

"Whatever," growled Meryl, "I'm going to get my sister."  Mystical 
Secretarial Soldier Sepia took off at a run for the back of the 
stage, and the others followed behind her.  As they approached the 
guard, Fushin braced himself for the man's inevitable command to 
halt and identify themselves, but instead he simply peered at them 
as they ran past and nodded at them.  Unfortunately, Fushin had no 
time to consider this development as the group arrived on stage 
opposite Uzume and the generals.

"Using children as shields now, eh Uzume?" taunted Meryl.  "I'm 
gonna take great pleasure in hurting you."

Uzume turned to face the four, bringing her hands up to her cheeks 
in feigned shock.  "Oh no!"  "It's the evil office ladies and 
their captured henchmen!"  "They've come to end our happy songs 
and dances!"  "Whatever can we do, my loyal elves?"  Unnoticed by 
Uzume, Molly peeked out from behind her and waved happily at 
Meryl.

"We cannot stand against their evil might, unless the Youmabibbles 
join the fight!" boomed Schein.  "Forward, my brothers!"  "Protect 
the queen mother!"  With a mighty (yet somehow rather cute) roar, 
the Ewok-like creatures charged forward at the intrepid office 
warriors.

The initial rush split up the group, as each person dodged away 
from the Youmabibbles' razor edged claws in a different direction.  
The stage was actually fairly large, so the Youmabibbles split up 
in order to pursue the four, one to each.  The group was 
immediately on the defensive, as their own attacks were relatively 
harmless against the creatures.  Meryl was kept dodging 
constantly, as every time she attempted to charge up a Hundred 
Words-Per-Minute Strike, she would have to close the laptop and 
avoid a claw slash.  Sachiko would have tried one of her attacks, 
but early on in the fight she had drawn her green-glowing letter 
openers to fend off her monster.  It had several small cuts on 
it's forearms, but was still attacking.  Meanwhile, Fushin and 
Kagi were doing better than either had expected.  Fushin's sword 
work had improved enough, thanks to help from Meryl and Sachiko, 
that he could put up a decent defense, and Kagi kept his on the 
defensive with a constant rain of hurled razor-edged air 
fresheners.  They all could see, however, that if the battle 
stretched out for long, defeat was inevitable.

"This isn't working!" called Fushin.  "We need a plan!"

"I'm certainly open to suggestions," gasped Meryl as she ducked an 
attempted bear hug.

"I've got one," said Fushin, blocking a swipe and slashing the 
creature's shoulder in return, "but we have to work together."

"What is it?" asked Meryl's voice in his head suddenly.  Fushin 
froze slightly in surprise, taking a hit across the thigh.  The 
armor kept the claws from his skin, but the bruising force still 
knocked him back.  "Sorry."  "Think it to me, and I'll relay it to 
the others."  Pushing aside this new development for now, Fushin 
quickly explained the simple plan.  After Meryl relayed it to the 
others, the group swung into motion.

Fushin started to force his Youmabibble back with a series of 
power slashes, taking one more hit on the shoulder in the process.  
Meanwhile, Kagi and Sachiko started to drive theirs back with 
missile fire, as Sachiko discovered that her knives seemed to 
return when hurled.  Meryl started to dodge towards the others, 
leading her creature to the same place the others were herding 
theirs.  When the four Youmabibbles weren't more than three feet 
away, Fushin leaped back, and called out, "Now!"

Sachiko launched her Razor Fury attack, and Meryl started to 
launch her Hundred Words-Per-Minute Strike - when a different 
series of words came to mind.  "Soldier Sepia Crushing Deadline!" 
she yelled out, and as green glowing knives embedded into 
Youmabibble flesh, a glowing white sphere appeared around the 
monsters and started to contract.  It contracted to a sphere about 
five feet in diameter, as the Youmabibbles screamed in pain.  When 
the white sphere dissipated, only one Youmabibble was left, 
hunched over in pain.  The creature stood and looked at the girls 
with red-glowing eyes, and as it growled progressively louder, the 
glow intensified.

"It's going to attack!" yelled Kagi with a hint of fear.

"Not if we can stop it!"  "Now, Valet Parking Kamen!" Fushin 
yelled, an odd note of command in his voice, and charged the 
creature, sword drawn.  Kagi charged it from the other side, 
drawing an odd melee weapon from his cape as he came.  It looked 
like the urban warrior's version of the Club, with a long, double 
edged blade opposite the handle.  The two reached, then passed the 
creature on opposite sides, their weapons slicing cleanly through 
its hide.  When the two slid to a stop six feet from monster, all 
was still for a moment, both on the stage and in the crowd.  Then, 
with a rumbling sound, the body of the Youmabibble toppled and 
split at the waist, and out flowed... candy.  Several pounds of 
candy, of all different varieties, spilled out to cover the stage.  
The silence broke then, as with a muffled rumble, all the children 
on stage and in the crowd poured onto the stage and started 
filling pockets.

Kagi, Fushin, and the sailors limped together to regroup then, as 
Uzume did bounce #658 (Wah!  You killed my bit players - but I got 
a good crowd response!).  "You'll pay for that, you mean office 
ladies!" she called, then teleported away.  Shiryo had left at the 
first sign of trouble, and all of the generals except Schein 
followed after Uzume.

Schein stopped for a moment at the edge of the crowd and gazed 
speculatively at the ragtag group of heroes.  "I may have 
underestimated them," he murmured to himself.  "Not just the 
ladies, either."  With one last glance at the group, he teleported 
away.

	****************************

Inside the vase, Rei peered down at the chessboard, slightly 
distressed.  "They are not Macavity's," she whispered.

"Yet they have power of their own," replied the flames in the 
fireplace.

"And I do not control them," said the chessboard.

"I will watch them," said Rei, "and I will act if I must."  
"Meanwhile, I must regain control of my own pawn, and neutralize 
Macavity's."

	*****************************

Fushin limped into his office, the bokken from his practice that 
afternoon still in his hands.  Yuriko peeked out at him as he 
passed by, looking up from her copy of "How to Gain Power and 
Terrify People".  "Fushin-san!" she called.  "What happened to 
you?"  "Oh, I didn't know you did kendo."

Fushin stopped and turned, "just an accident, that's all."  "It 
happened during practice today."  "I'm just starting after all, 
though it's kind of a family tradition."  "If you'll excuse me, 
Yuriko-san, I have to see if there is any work waiting for me."  
Fushin turned and continued towards his office, still slightly 
limping.

"Ooh, he does martial arts too!" thought Yuriko.  "I definitely 
have to have him!"  She then went back to her book, visions of 
herself and her royal consort Fushin running through her mind, 
sweeping the world under her countless armies.

	****************************

Uzume bounced into the interrogation room with a box under her arm 
and peered down at the semiconscious Nyuyokumiro.  "Schein says 
you don't want to help us!"  "That's not true, is it?" she said, 
pouting slightly

"Hah," he coughed, "do your worst!"  "The others couldn't get 
anything out of me, and you can't either!"  "Break out the whips 
and irons!"

"But I'm not into the whips and chains, and things any more!"  
"Why, when I have... Disney!"  She sat down at a table and started 
taking videotapes out of the box.  "Mary Poppins and Little 
Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast and Sleeping Beauty..."  "We're 
gonna sit down here and watch movies and become the best of 
friend!"  "Maybe later Princess Moonshine will even join us!"  
"Won't that be fun?"

Once again, screams of utter torment rang through the halls of the 
Fortress of Happiness and Terror.

	*****************************

In a dimly lit room, three black and white figures stood before a 
fourth, taller one.  One was going through an elaborate set of 
movements and gestures while the tallest one simply watched.  "So, 
Uzume is employing a clown, eh?" thought the large mime.  "She 
could have stayed out of this conflict, and yet she has Nishida, 
an active agent of the other side, on her payroll."  "I must find 
out if she has truly allied with our enemies."  When his underling 
stopped, the large mime gestured for the other three to go and 
watch.  They bowed, then sprang away silently, despite the massive 
amounts of really sharp steel each was carrying.

"You could have stayed out of the Silent Smiling Doom, Uzume," 
thought the leader.  "Now let's see how you pick sides."  The 
large mime then drew a long, black stiletto, made a vertical cut 
in the air, and stepped through into nothing.

	**********************************

Author's notes:

Sorry folks, it's late and I waited for the last minute for this, 
so I didn't get a chance to get it really preread.  About Nadako, 
if you think that was a cop-out - you're right.  I can't seem to 
properly write Nadako and Macavity properly, really.  On Fushin - 
he doesn't have his ancestor's presence, he has no special 
attacks, and he is a very meticulous person.  I figured a little 
bit of marginal tactical skill was okay.  And about Meryl - she's 
in a family of psychics, yet she never seems to use any psionics.  
I figured she just needed a little "motivation". ^_^  On the Happy 
Smiling Doom - clowns seem to die fairly often, yet we never see 
the mimes - gotta be ninjas, right? ^_^