The Quest For the Key
Another slice of quality insanity
brought to you by the lovely ladies of Piccolo Inc.
It was a relatively quiet day at the headquarters of Piccolo Inc. NaK was relaxing in a beanbag chair, catching up on all the fics she had gotten behind on reading, while across the way Sherri was updating her fics again (thus creating MORE for NaK to catch up on!!). Utena could be seen in the kitchen, singing merrily as she pulled yet another batch of cookies out of the oven. Sabrina was curled up in a corner of the large, cushy sofa, typing away on a laptop. Mia was at a table beneath the wide window, nibbling on the end of a pencil as she stared down at the sketch pad open before her. In the strangely Darkened Corner ™, Piccolo Raper (aka Valeria) was assaulting yet another of her action figures.
Utena poked her head out of the kitchen. "Hey, has anyone seen Hana today?" she asked the others.
"Don't think so," NaK replied absently, turning the page of the story she had printed out to read.
"She said something about a hot date last night right before we all left," Mia contributed, lightly adding a line to her sketch. Piccolo Raper left her Darkened Corner ™ to peek over Mia's shoulder at the sketchpad.
"That hussy!" Sabrina exclaimed. "I thought we all took an oath to remain faithful to Piccolo." At the sound of The Name, they all grew silent, sighing in delight. One or two of them actually drooled slightly.
"Say…" Sherri turned away from the computer, looking suspicious. "You don't think…"
"NAHHHH!!" they all chorused, turning back to their activities. A loud knock then sounded at the front door, making them all jump.
"I wonder who that could be?" Utena wondered, hurrying from the kitchen to answer the door.
"Yeah," NaK added with a smirk. "No-one WE know bothers to knock."
"Maybe it's a salesman," Piccolo Raper said with a bloodthirsty grin, playing with her favorite knife.
Utena reached the door, smiling brightly as she opened it. "Hello, can I help…. you..." Her last word came out in a pinched squeak as she stared in amazement.
"Who is it?" Sabrina said, closing her laptop and looking up. The door swung open wide, banging against the wall so hard that the knob knocked a hole in the wall. A tall broad shouldered figure stood framed in the doorway. Every heart in the room immediately started beating double time.
"Holy shit, it's PICCOLO!!" Sherri shouted, standing up to get a better look.
The Namek warrior glared at the roomful of adoring women. "I didn't want to come here," he rumbled, his deep voice bringing forth more sighs of delight. "But I didn't have much of a choice." His glare darkened. "Where's the key?"
"Key?" Mia parroted, managing to get the word out.
"What key?" Sherri asked, looking at Piccolo thoughtfully. There was something odd about the way he was holding his right arm…
"Hana said the key was here, and one of you," his eyes swept over the women, making them all shudder. "would know where to find it."
"Wait a minute," Utena said, tilting her head to stare up at Piccolo. "Where's Hana anyway? Did you do anything to her?" Concern for her friend had outweighed her normal shyness.
Piccolo sneered down at the slender girl, one fangtip barely visible. Sabrina and Piccolo Raper both licked their lips at the sight. "Like what??" he asked. "I wouldn't hurt any of my authors." He let out a gusty sigh and glared at someone beside him. "I told you this was a dumb idea. Why couldn't you have just called on the phone?"
"It was busy," came the defensive answer from behind the wall. Another woman stepped into view, wiggling her fingers at the astonished group. "Hi, guys."
"Hana!!" Mia and Utena cried, starting to rush to their friend, but hesitating at the severely pissed look on Piccolo's face.
"You've been holding out on us," NaK accused, giving Hana a disappointed look.
"Not really," Hana replied with a shrug. "I only got him yesterday."
"Can we get back to the problem?" Piccolo asked irritably.
"It would probably help if we knew what the problem was," Sherri said reasonably, turning her chair to face the door.
Piccolo glared at Hana, who blushed, hanging her head. The repentant look was ruined, however by the small, slightly smug grin pulling at her lips. He pulled his right arm into clear view, dragging Hana along. A gleaming silver ring was clamped firmly around his right wrist. A short length of chain joined it to a matching ring on Hana's left wrist. They all stared in amazement, then Sabrina snickered. The room was filled with howls of laughter as they all rolled at the sight before them.
"Those aren't the kiddie cuffs with the safety release on them, are they?" Piccolo Raper asked, tears of mirth running down her face.
"Of course not," Hana said, looking insulted by the idea. "These are the re-enforced, extra durable, unbreakable handcuffs that Sabrina stocks in the Toy Room." She pointed to the door across the room, clearly marked "Toy Room". The others looked suitably impressed.
"Did you forget to take the keys?" Sabrina asked, unable to quit grinning.
"No, I remembered them," Hana said, getting slightly annoyed. "I've just… misplaced them somewhere. That's all!" She glared at her friends, who were all snickering again. "I'm not totally brainless."
"No, not totally," Piccolo muttered. Hana shot him a disgusted look and kicked his shin. He retaliated by yanking the long ponytail atop her head.
"Ouch!" she yelped, rubbing her head. "No fair, pulling hair. Just because you don't have any…" Piccolo smirked at her, his expression speaking volumes. "Kisama…"
"Baka onna," he shot back. "Don't think I don't understand Japanese. It's my second language."
"Point," Hana muttered, giving him a wry grin. He started to fold his arms across his chest, and paused when he pulled her arm up as well.
"When you've finished squabbling?" Sherri asked, looking bored by their verbal sparring. "So, you've misplaced the keys, huh?" They nodded. "So we'll need to find them." Nods again.
NaK jumped up and struck a dramatic pose. "A quest!" she declared. "A quest, comrades!!" Everyone else facefaulted. "What??"
"Look," Piccolo growled, staring at each of them in turn. "Let's just find the damn keys, okay?"
Insert cheesy FUNi DBZ style voice over narration
What will happen next? Will the Quest for the Key begin? Will Piccolo and Hana ever get separated? More importantly, does Hana even want to get uncuffed? ^_~ Tune in for the next action packed episode, dear readers!!
