Sailor Senshi Next Generation Part 2.9: Between Jupiter and Mars
'That's four out of four planets you've had problems with,' my mind scolded. 'First the whole booby-trapped hall and hologram mix-ups, on to nearly getting run over and everlasting grudges, moving towards getting stuck in a prison cell and ending up with the darkest princess you could ever meet, and ending with getting into a fight with a princess and unleashing some dark blessed concordat between two beings that should have stayed disjointed. Nice job your doing, Raina... Real nice...'
I rolled over in my hammock. Since the joining of Keikan, things had gone painfully smoothly. Sakryo had been the keeper of Jupiter's crystal and had handed it over without complaint. The princess had packed little and spent that time to part with her trainer. I had a feeling the two were not sharing as much as I had wanted to know, but didn't question.
I was slightly depressed when we were leaving for take off. I had almost wanted something to go wrong so I could think of a way to keep the princesses of Jupiter and Saturn apart. There was something there between the two, but I couldn't tell what it was.
So I decided to stay in my room as much as possible and pray nothing would happen. That led to surprisingly restful sleep. At the moment, I didn't want to get up from my lying position, curled up in my blue pajamas among many warm blankets. I took a deep breath and curled up deeper in the warmth in attempt to return to my comfortable sleep and forget the problems brewing on the Earth's Wings.
I was so relaxed by steady rocking of my hammock that I took little notice of the opening of my door. Only Gennom had access to my room and I had strictly told him not to let anyone else enter without permission. I had even threatened him with dismemberment if he didn't comply, so I knew he was going to follow my command.
So I should have been more surprised when I heard faint footsteps on the tile of my room, but I had figured, at the time, that they were from outside my door. Either that or I was dreaming. Gennom wouldn't have let anyone in.
"Raina..." a soft voice whispered, rather close to my ear. I rolled my head slightly towards the voice and opened my eyes slowly. I was greeted by a amiable, but alien face. My eyes widened slightly as I looked at the pale completion of the boy standing next to my hammock, his short, forest green hair that fell into surprisingly warm black eyes. It took me a moment to register that this was a complete stranger in my room.
Once it did register, however, I screamed. The boy screamed in reply and took a step back. My hands flew to my sword, which hung from one end of my bed and I drew it in one clean pull and held it at his neck level. His eyes grew wider with panic. "Raina! No! It's me!" he pleaded, holding up his hands in defense. I gave only a pause to look over his green uniform that looked a lot like the uniform a male representative of earth would wear when visiting other planets, but that meant nothing to me.
"Who the HELL are you and what are you doing in my room!?" I screamed, jabbing the sword forward slightly, coming inches from his skin. The boy gulped, taking a step away from the deadly object that was dangerously close to him.
"Stop! Please! Put the sword away!"
"That DOESN'T answer my question!"
"It's ME, Raina!"
"Neither does that! How did get in without my computer-"
"I AM your computer!"
The sword dropped from my hand and clattered on the floor. My eyes grew to twice their normal size as I started at the boy before me. His hands lowered slowly, his eyes reflecting a hope that I wouldn't attack him. I opened a loose mouth to talk, barely able to manage. "G-Gennom...?"
The boy nodded.
I screamed again and scrambled backwards, forgetting momentarily that I was in a hammock. I was reminded when the cloth bed tipped and I fell harshly to the ground, landing flat on my back. The boy was at my side immediately. "Are you alright, Raina?" he asked, his black eyes blinking. I scrambled to my feet and he followed in suit, standing at attention.
"You're... you're..." I couldn't speak at all anymore. The green haired boy blinked in curiosity at what I was trying to get across.
"Gennom..." he finished. I shook my head and poked his cheek to see if he was real. I jumped back at the feel of his cold, but definitely flesh, skin.
"HUMAN!"
Gennom gave a small chuckle and placed a hand behind his head. It was almost a nervous gesture, and he replied in a similar tone, "Not exactly." He gave a pause to come up with appropriate words to make me understand. "The term Robot or Android, is more close to the truth. I'm still quite machine."
I paused, turning from him to the monitor that hung in my room, the Gennom I was used to talking to. It was blank now, as if it had been disconnected. I pointed at it in disbelief while turning back to the boy. "But...how?"
I honestly don't know why I even had to ask. The new Gennom simply pointed a human finger towards the still gaping doorway. There stood a very happy red haired princess, smiling from ear to ear. I nearly killed the girl right there. "I thought you'd like to see my greatest achievement in the field of science!" Alita said, almost bursting with excitement and pride.
"What... the hell...?" I was barely able to speak at that moment. Words seemed just beyond my reach. The scientific princess took a few steps into the room, taking a stand next to the new Gennom. I fell into the seat available behind me.
"I gave him a more mobile body," she explained, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I figured giving him this body would greatly increase proficiency. True, he might not be always carrying everything in his monitor compartment like before, but this form gives him the ability to move into places he could not before, carry things his previous form would be too flimsy to."
I listened as she explained this to me. I agreed with it, but this was not what I truly wanted to know. I held up a hand to silence her as she started to speak again. "It's very nice... but why the hell didn't you ask my permission to do this...?"
Alita blinked, smile faded slightly upon hearing my dissatisfaction. "I thought I'd like to surprise you."
I forced a smile. "And letting him into my room to give me a heart attack when I assumed him for a stow away, assassin or worse..." I paused, letting this sink into her brain. "I congratulate you, that was more than a necessary surprise..."
I'm sure the retort would have lasted longer, but conversation was halted as a blood curdling scream filled the hallways of the Earth's Wings. I jumped from my chair and skid into the hallway. I turned only a moment to see Gemmon's black eyes go blank for a moment, before he looked back to me. "That was from the Princess Ookami, she's in the bathing room," he said with a stern face.
I gave a nod and started down the hallway, my bare feet stinging with each quick step onto the cold metal surface. Alita and Gennom stayed close behind. I skid around a corner into the hallway opposite the senshi's, nearly slamming into Ookami as she screeched to a halt. "What's wrong?!" I asked, almost apprehensively.
The blue haired princess pointed frantically towards the bathroom where she had come from. She was about to speak, but her eyes fell upon Gennom with a new sense of curiosity. "Who's he?" she asked, redirecting her point to him. I shook my head.
"I'll explain later, what happened?!"
Ookami's anger returned as she pointed back to the bathroom. "Someone put a decapitated snake in the sink!" she screamed. "Its blood is smeared everywhere!"
I made a disgusted face before pushing past her to the bathroom. I opened the door and flipped on the light. My face twisted into deeper disgust as I saw all the red splattered on every surface in eye's view. I looked at my hand and gagged slightly upon seeing some of that red smear from the light switch on my finger.
I took a step into the bathroom, the two princess' and Gennom standing at the door. I looked into the sink and frowned slightly. A long, exasperated sigh escaped my lips and I rolled my eyes. I reached my hand in and produced the frightening object. "It's fake," I muttered, showing the plastic snake to Ookami before dropping it back in the sink. I licked the supposed blood off my finger and gave a pleased smile. "So is the blood. Tastes like candy..."
Ookami blinked and whipped some off the wall, tasting it hesitantly. "It does..." she muttered. I sighed again and moved around the three to the hallway once more. I wrapped my hands about the back of my head before starting back to my room.
"Another prank from one of the princesses," I mused aloud. "That means all the princesses are going to clean it up."
"What?!" Alita and Ookami asked in unison. I gave a smile to myself, pausing to turn around.
"I'm not going to clean it up."
"But why do we have to?" Ookami asked.
"Well unless the person who did this will confess, all four princesses will clean it," I clarified for her. Ookami's face twisted into a glare that informed me I was once again hated by the little princess.
"But it's not likely that the perpetrator will confess to the crime," Alita mused aloud. I could detect a slight whine in her voice of having to wipe away all the liquid red candy from the walls. I shrugged and began to walk away once more.
"That means it is likely that all four of you will have to clean it up," I replied. Gennom began to follow me in stride. "Gennom, I'd like you to get Akutenshi and Keikan to come out of their rooms and confess, or help Alita and Ookami."
"Alright, Raina," he responded. He paused, biting the inside of his lip. "But isn't it a little unfair to make all four of them do it?"
"I could always make you help..."
"Me? Why me?"
"Because with your android body, you could of had full part in that prank."
Gennom paused and made a face, obviously offended by my remark. "I'm hurt that you'd think I'd desecrate myself like that..." he muttered. I gave a pause as I walked.
"True, you hate it when I leave a mess, you probably wouldn't do it," I pondered aloud, moving one hand to finger my lip in thought. "Course that could also be the perfect cover up."
"Raina!"
"I'm kidding!"
"You know I could throw you off this ship any moment!"
"I could always turn this ship off at any moment too..."
"..."
I gave a wave of my hand. "I'm going back to bed," I stated, giving a yawn. Gennom shook his head.
"We're getting close to Mars, you wouldn't get a good enough sleep," he commented. I turned to him and continued to progress backwards. A smirk settled on my face and he blinked in curiosity.
"You want to bet on that?" I asked. The computer made a face, and I noted that it was very strange talking to him when he seemed this human. It'd have to be something to get used to. I turned around again. "I'm going back to bed," I repeated. "Wake me when we get to Mars' orbit."
I heard the android grumble behind me and walk off. I smiled to myself and stepped proudly into my room, ready to return to my comfortable blankets. I strode with wide yet slow steps to the hammock and readied myself to crawl in. My smile faded into a dark frown as I noted another plastic snake lying atop my covers.
I gave a small growl. 'Whichever senshi pulled this one is going to get a long lecture,' my mind groaned. I shook my head, deciding to dismiss the lecture for the moment and grabbed the plastic snake by the tail, lifting it from my covers.
My body froze, however, once I had gotten the snake out of the bed. The touch of this snake greatly differed from that of the plastic snake in the sink. I blinked a few times, my teeth clenching themselves together. Almost on cue to my thoughts, the snake's head moved, it's body twisting slightly, letting it's tongue slither out and give a small hiss.
'Oh god...'
The snake twisted its body swiftly and clamped its teeth deep into the skin of my arm.
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"
Author's note: O.o two in one day... I do believe that's a new record for me ^.^ tee hee hee... Please leave a review ~.^
~Lordess
'That's four out of four planets you've had problems with,' my mind scolded. 'First the whole booby-trapped hall and hologram mix-ups, on to nearly getting run over and everlasting grudges, moving towards getting stuck in a prison cell and ending up with the darkest princess you could ever meet, and ending with getting into a fight with a princess and unleashing some dark blessed concordat between two beings that should have stayed disjointed. Nice job your doing, Raina... Real nice...'
I rolled over in my hammock. Since the joining of Keikan, things had gone painfully smoothly. Sakryo had been the keeper of Jupiter's crystal and had handed it over without complaint. The princess had packed little and spent that time to part with her trainer. I had a feeling the two were not sharing as much as I had wanted to know, but didn't question.
I was slightly depressed when we were leaving for take off. I had almost wanted something to go wrong so I could think of a way to keep the princesses of Jupiter and Saturn apart. There was something there between the two, but I couldn't tell what it was.
So I decided to stay in my room as much as possible and pray nothing would happen. That led to surprisingly restful sleep. At the moment, I didn't want to get up from my lying position, curled up in my blue pajamas among many warm blankets. I took a deep breath and curled up deeper in the warmth in attempt to return to my comfortable sleep and forget the problems brewing on the Earth's Wings.
I was so relaxed by steady rocking of my hammock that I took little notice of the opening of my door. Only Gennom had access to my room and I had strictly told him not to let anyone else enter without permission. I had even threatened him with dismemberment if he didn't comply, so I knew he was going to follow my command.
So I should have been more surprised when I heard faint footsteps on the tile of my room, but I had figured, at the time, that they were from outside my door. Either that or I was dreaming. Gennom wouldn't have let anyone in.
"Raina..." a soft voice whispered, rather close to my ear. I rolled my head slightly towards the voice and opened my eyes slowly. I was greeted by a amiable, but alien face. My eyes widened slightly as I looked at the pale completion of the boy standing next to my hammock, his short, forest green hair that fell into surprisingly warm black eyes. It took me a moment to register that this was a complete stranger in my room.
Once it did register, however, I screamed. The boy screamed in reply and took a step back. My hands flew to my sword, which hung from one end of my bed and I drew it in one clean pull and held it at his neck level. His eyes grew wider with panic. "Raina! No! It's me!" he pleaded, holding up his hands in defense. I gave only a pause to look over his green uniform that looked a lot like the uniform a male representative of earth would wear when visiting other planets, but that meant nothing to me.
"Who the HELL are you and what are you doing in my room!?" I screamed, jabbing the sword forward slightly, coming inches from his skin. The boy gulped, taking a step away from the deadly object that was dangerously close to him.
"Stop! Please! Put the sword away!"
"That DOESN'T answer my question!"
"It's ME, Raina!"
"Neither does that! How did get in without my computer-"
"I AM your computer!"
The sword dropped from my hand and clattered on the floor. My eyes grew to twice their normal size as I started at the boy before me. His hands lowered slowly, his eyes reflecting a hope that I wouldn't attack him. I opened a loose mouth to talk, barely able to manage. "G-Gennom...?"
The boy nodded.
I screamed again and scrambled backwards, forgetting momentarily that I was in a hammock. I was reminded when the cloth bed tipped and I fell harshly to the ground, landing flat on my back. The boy was at my side immediately. "Are you alright, Raina?" he asked, his black eyes blinking. I scrambled to my feet and he followed in suit, standing at attention.
"You're... you're..." I couldn't speak at all anymore. The green haired boy blinked in curiosity at what I was trying to get across.
"Gennom..." he finished. I shook my head and poked his cheek to see if he was real. I jumped back at the feel of his cold, but definitely flesh, skin.
"HUMAN!"
Gennom gave a small chuckle and placed a hand behind his head. It was almost a nervous gesture, and he replied in a similar tone, "Not exactly." He gave a pause to come up with appropriate words to make me understand. "The term Robot or Android, is more close to the truth. I'm still quite machine."
I paused, turning from him to the monitor that hung in my room, the Gennom I was used to talking to. It was blank now, as if it had been disconnected. I pointed at it in disbelief while turning back to the boy. "But...how?"
I honestly don't know why I even had to ask. The new Gennom simply pointed a human finger towards the still gaping doorway. There stood a very happy red haired princess, smiling from ear to ear. I nearly killed the girl right there. "I thought you'd like to see my greatest achievement in the field of science!" Alita said, almost bursting with excitement and pride.
"What... the hell...?" I was barely able to speak at that moment. Words seemed just beyond my reach. The scientific princess took a few steps into the room, taking a stand next to the new Gennom. I fell into the seat available behind me.
"I gave him a more mobile body," she explained, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I figured giving him this body would greatly increase proficiency. True, he might not be always carrying everything in his monitor compartment like before, but this form gives him the ability to move into places he could not before, carry things his previous form would be too flimsy to."
I listened as she explained this to me. I agreed with it, but this was not what I truly wanted to know. I held up a hand to silence her as she started to speak again. "It's very nice... but why the hell didn't you ask my permission to do this...?"
Alita blinked, smile faded slightly upon hearing my dissatisfaction. "I thought I'd like to surprise you."
I forced a smile. "And letting him into my room to give me a heart attack when I assumed him for a stow away, assassin or worse..." I paused, letting this sink into her brain. "I congratulate you, that was more than a necessary surprise..."
I'm sure the retort would have lasted longer, but conversation was halted as a blood curdling scream filled the hallways of the Earth's Wings. I jumped from my chair and skid into the hallway. I turned only a moment to see Gemmon's black eyes go blank for a moment, before he looked back to me. "That was from the Princess Ookami, she's in the bathing room," he said with a stern face.
I gave a nod and started down the hallway, my bare feet stinging with each quick step onto the cold metal surface. Alita and Gennom stayed close behind. I skid around a corner into the hallway opposite the senshi's, nearly slamming into Ookami as she screeched to a halt. "What's wrong?!" I asked, almost apprehensively.
The blue haired princess pointed frantically towards the bathroom where she had come from. She was about to speak, but her eyes fell upon Gennom with a new sense of curiosity. "Who's he?" she asked, redirecting her point to him. I shook my head.
"I'll explain later, what happened?!"
Ookami's anger returned as she pointed back to the bathroom. "Someone put a decapitated snake in the sink!" she screamed. "Its blood is smeared everywhere!"
I made a disgusted face before pushing past her to the bathroom. I opened the door and flipped on the light. My face twisted into deeper disgust as I saw all the red splattered on every surface in eye's view. I looked at my hand and gagged slightly upon seeing some of that red smear from the light switch on my finger.
I took a step into the bathroom, the two princess' and Gennom standing at the door. I looked into the sink and frowned slightly. A long, exasperated sigh escaped my lips and I rolled my eyes. I reached my hand in and produced the frightening object. "It's fake," I muttered, showing the plastic snake to Ookami before dropping it back in the sink. I licked the supposed blood off my finger and gave a pleased smile. "So is the blood. Tastes like candy..."
Ookami blinked and whipped some off the wall, tasting it hesitantly. "It does..." she muttered. I sighed again and moved around the three to the hallway once more. I wrapped my hands about the back of my head before starting back to my room.
"Another prank from one of the princesses," I mused aloud. "That means all the princesses are going to clean it up."
"What?!" Alita and Ookami asked in unison. I gave a smile to myself, pausing to turn around.
"I'm not going to clean it up."
"But why do we have to?" Ookami asked.
"Well unless the person who did this will confess, all four princesses will clean it," I clarified for her. Ookami's face twisted into a glare that informed me I was once again hated by the little princess.
"But it's not likely that the perpetrator will confess to the crime," Alita mused aloud. I could detect a slight whine in her voice of having to wipe away all the liquid red candy from the walls. I shrugged and began to walk away once more.
"That means it is likely that all four of you will have to clean it up," I replied. Gennom began to follow me in stride. "Gennom, I'd like you to get Akutenshi and Keikan to come out of their rooms and confess, or help Alita and Ookami."
"Alright, Raina," he responded. He paused, biting the inside of his lip. "But isn't it a little unfair to make all four of them do it?"
"I could always make you help..."
"Me? Why me?"
"Because with your android body, you could of had full part in that prank."
Gennom paused and made a face, obviously offended by my remark. "I'm hurt that you'd think I'd desecrate myself like that..." he muttered. I gave a pause as I walked.
"True, you hate it when I leave a mess, you probably wouldn't do it," I pondered aloud, moving one hand to finger my lip in thought. "Course that could also be the perfect cover up."
"Raina!"
"I'm kidding!"
"You know I could throw you off this ship any moment!"
"I could always turn this ship off at any moment too..."
"..."
I gave a wave of my hand. "I'm going back to bed," I stated, giving a yawn. Gennom shook his head.
"We're getting close to Mars, you wouldn't get a good enough sleep," he commented. I turned to him and continued to progress backwards. A smirk settled on my face and he blinked in curiosity.
"You want to bet on that?" I asked. The computer made a face, and I noted that it was very strange talking to him when he seemed this human. It'd have to be something to get used to. I turned around again. "I'm going back to bed," I repeated. "Wake me when we get to Mars' orbit."
I heard the android grumble behind me and walk off. I smiled to myself and stepped proudly into my room, ready to return to my comfortable blankets. I strode with wide yet slow steps to the hammock and readied myself to crawl in. My smile faded into a dark frown as I noted another plastic snake lying atop my covers.
I gave a small growl. 'Whichever senshi pulled this one is going to get a long lecture,' my mind groaned. I shook my head, deciding to dismiss the lecture for the moment and grabbed the plastic snake by the tail, lifting it from my covers.
My body froze, however, once I had gotten the snake out of the bed. The touch of this snake greatly differed from that of the plastic snake in the sink. I blinked a few times, my teeth clenching themselves together. Almost on cue to my thoughts, the snake's head moved, it's body twisting slightly, letting it's tongue slither out and give a small hiss.
'Oh god...'
The snake twisted its body swiftly and clamped its teeth deep into the skin of my arm.
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"
Author's note: O.o two in one day... I do believe that's a new record for me ^.^ tee hee hee... Please leave a review ~.^
~Lordess