| Subj: | Chapter 1 |
| Date: | 5/24/01 5:25:06 PM Central Daylight Time |
| From: | DariaCIA |
| To: | DariaCIA |
Chapter 1
After weeks of exams, papers, lectures, and hours upon hours of studying, all six girls were ready to drop. They all sprawled around Sarah, Annette, and Abby's room, just lazily sitting and talking. Annette, Alex, and Kristin had snagged the beds, but that didn't stop the others. Sarah leaned up against the foot of Annette's bed, resting her head upon it. Sue lay across the length of the floor, staring at the ceiling. Much to the protests of everyone, Abby had cleared the desk of all its debris (namely, by chucking it onto a shelf in the closet) and was now dozing on it. Surprisingly enough, everyone was relaxed.
"These classes are VERY demanding," Sue commented from the floor.
"THAT'S the understatement of the year," snorted Alex. "I can't remember the last time I was so tired."
"Neither can I," groaned Kristin, burying her head under a pillow.
"That girl is going to fly out that window if she rolls over," Annette worried, glancing over at Abby.
"Ah, don't worry about it," Sarah said dismissively. "She'll be okay."
Sarah certainly felt differently when the phone rang. It jerked Abby out of her slumber harshly, causing her to scream and topple off the desk. She jarred her head and several limbs during the fall, and landed heavily on Sarah, who had been sitting below her. Sarah let out an equally loud scream, and while everyone else rushed to the aid of Sarah and Abby, Sue calmly sat up and answered the phone.
"Sue? What are you doing there? And what the hell is going on there? A raid?" It was Kate, and she sounded royally confused.
"We're all just vegging out here," Sue explained, "And the phone startled Abby."
"Ah, jeez," Kate said. "That had to be funny."
"As a matter of fact, it was," Sue replied. At that moment, Abby had worked herself into a laughing frenzy, and everyone else was trying to calm her down.
"So," Sue said, turning away from the chaos, "What's up?"
"Your benevolent Q has something to report," Kate said triumphantly.
"You didn't!" cried Sue.
"I did," assured Kate.
"Great!" This exclamation caused even Abby to shut up. "Where should we meet?"
"That forest preserve we found. It's out of the way, and you can get some practice time in," Kate said.
"All right. We'll be there as soon as possible."
Sue hung up the phone, and everyone immediately jumped down her throat. "What was that all about?" Kristin asked.
"What's so great?" added Sarah.
"Who the hell was that who knocked me off the damn desk?!" demanded Abby. "That was SO not cool."
"It was Kate-" Sue began, but was cut off by Abby, who said, "Okay, Kate's getting a kick in the shins."
"Shut up, Abby! I wanna know what Kate had to say!" cried Alex.
"Sure, fine, whatever," muttered Abby, rubbing several bruises that had already surfaced.
"She said that our weapons are ready," Sue continued, as if she hadn't been interrupted.
"Whoo-hoo!" Sarah and Abby cried simultaneously, high-fiving.
"Awesome!" exclaimed Annette.
"When do we get them?" Kristin asked.
"As soon as we pile into cars and get to the forest preserve," Sue replied.
"Well, then, let's go!" said Alex eagerly.
"I'll take Alex, Kristin, and Sue," Annette said.
"So I've got Sarah," Abby said.
"Which is good, with that midget car they gave you," Alex teased.
"Bite me," Abby pouted.
* * * * *
"You were lucky to get pretty much the same car, Annette," Sue commented, riding shotgun in the Jeep Cherokee.
"Yeah," sighed Annette, "But I miss my Explorer."
"It's still cool," said Sue.
"I can't wait to get my weapon!" gushed Alex. "I wonder what Kate's picked out for me?"
"She's got good taste," Kristin said. "And I'm sure that our weapons will kick some serious ass."
"I wonder if our weapons contain our powers," Annette mused. "Like, if Sue got something that generated wind, or Sarah got something that generated water…"
"That'd be cool," Kristin said.
"I just can't wait!" cried Alex.
* * * * *
"I hate this car, I hate this car, I despise this car, I want to blow up this car, I want to drive it into Lake Michigan, I never want to see this car again…" Abby grumbled as she followed Annette's Cherokee.
"I take it that you're not too fond of this car," Sarah said, shaking her head.
"I don't like midget cars!" cried Abby, stabbing the radio button violently, trying to find some good music.
"Well, you'll have to deal with it, man," said Sarah reasonably.
"Sigh," Abby said. "They gave a chick who drives a huge ass wood panelled station wagon a tiny ass Saturn Coupe. I can't believe it."
A silence fell as they listened to 'The World is not Enough' by Garbage. When the song ended, Abby scared the caffeine out of Sarah by wailing, "I miss my honkin' station wagon!!"
"Ah, jeez," moaned Sarah, burying her head in her hands. "Why me? Why couldn't I be in the Jeep?"
"I heard that."
* * * * *
A family picnic was going on in the main area of the forest preserve when the six girls got out of their cars and walked down a path into the actual forest. After a few minutes, they broke off of the beaten path and headed into the forest proper. Pushing their way through the trees and bushes, they continued towards their final destination.
Finally, they burst into a clearing in the woods and saw Kate laying in a spot of sunlight that lit up the clearing. "I'm glad you guys aren't stealth fighters," Kate commented from her prostrate position. "You make more noise tromping through the woods than a herd of elephants stomping towards a wood chipper and then getting shoved through it."
"Guh?" Alex asked, bewildered.
"Leave it alone," Abby advised her, as Sarah rolled on the ground laughing.
"Like you went through the woods as if you were stalking something," Annette scoffed.
"I didn't. I just needed something funny to say," Kate said, sitting up. "You guys sure got here quick," she said.
"We wanted our weapons!" Alex said matter-of-factly.
"Well, that makes sense," Kate replied. She walked over to a tall tree, and tugged a box out from behind it. "Here they are. I'll distribute them, and show you how to use them."
"All righty," Abby said.
"First, Sue," Kate said as she reached into the box. "Here you are."
Kate pulled out two small folded up fans. "Two portable war fans," Kate explained. She flipped them open, and they grew to nearly twice their size, and everyone couldn't help but notice the edges of them. "Note the blades around the edges. Perfect for slicing and dicing."
"What about puree?" Sarah joked.
"Or gooify?" added Abby, snickering.
"Sorry, guys, they're not blenders. You can throw them, and they will return, blades out, so you don't slice and dice yourself. They're very intelligent," Kate said.
"They had a good trainer," Sue said, smiling.
"Here, try them out. Back off, everybody," Kate warned. She handed Sue the folded up fans, and then ran for cover behind Abby, where everyone else was. Abby rolled her eyes and sighed, but said nothing.
"Here goes," Sue said. She flipped the fans out expertly, and practiced moving around with them, jumping and swishing as if she were cutting up an enemy.
"Very good, Sue. Try throwing them!" Kate called out from her place behind Sarah.
"All right," replied Sue. She pulled the fan in her right hand back, and prepped herself, aiming for a grove of bushes.
"If she lets that one fly backward, my head is goin' bye-bye," groaned Abby, squeezing her eyes shut.
"Don't say that!" wailed Alex. "I'm right behind you!"
Sue heard them, but chose to ignore them. She took a deep breath, then let the right fan fly. Immediately, she reared back and let the left fan go. They all watched as the fans whirled through the bushes, mutilating them, and then returned to Sue. She caught them in the opposite hands, right crossed over left, then closed them and put both in her right hand.
"Very impressive!" Kate cried as everyone else applauded.
"Thank you, thank you," replied Sue, unfolding her fans and taking a grandiose bow.
"Okay, next!" said Kate, heading for the box. "Ah, Annette. Here we are."
Kate pulled out a bow and a quiver of arrows. "Oh, my…" breathed Annette. "This is too cool, Kate."
"I'm not nearly finished," said Kate. "You have forty arrows in your quiver. Ten are regular arrows, ten are fire arrows, ten are ice arrows, and the last ten are light arrows, like in the Ocarina of Time. The regular arrows are tipped in silver, the fire are red, the ice are blue, and the light are gold. The arrows will return to you like Sue's fans return to her. Let me demonstrate one of each."
Swinging the quiver over her shoulder, Kate deftly pulled out a regular arrow and drew the bow. "This is a regular arrow. It does just as a regular arrow would-it flies through the air and skewers an enemy."
Kate then shot the arrow at a tree, and let it stick there for a brief moment. "Simple," Kate said. "Arrow-return!" The arrow unlodged itself and flew back into the quiver. "It has voice recognition on it, and it only listens to your voice, Annette, and mine."
"Very cool," Annette commented.
"Not yet," Kate replied, pulling out an ice arrow. "Here's your ice arrow. To state the obvious, it freezes stuff."
Kate again drew the bow, and the scouts watched in awe as the tip of the arrow got a blue sparkling light around it. When Kate shot it, right past the scouts, they felt the freezing air whoosh by them. The arrow struck a small bush, freezing it solid.
"Wow!" exclaimed Annette.
Kate called the arrow back and said, "Next, fire arrow. Kristin, pull that target out of the box. Sarah, transform and be ready to put out the fire."
Kristin and Sarah complied, even though Sarah grumbled the entire time about it. When the target was set up, Kate said, "Simple enough explanation. Fire arrow. Burns stuff." She shot the arrow at the target, lighting it on fire. Immediately, Sarah called out her turtles. "Watergun, guys!"
The turtles shot water at the target, and soon, the fire was extinguished. "Way to go, turtles!" Sarah praised. She transformed, and the turtles disappeared.
"Now, the light arrows are a little different," Kate said. "They can be shot at things to be used as lanterns. They can also stun anyone with Malica's evil inside them, but only for a short time. Plus, they're just generally cool looking when you shoot them."
Kate shot the arrow at another tree, and the clearing lit up even more. When Kate had drawn the bow, the tip of the arrow had lit up with a golden light. What's even more, when it was shot, gold sparkles fell off of it.
"And there you go," Kate finished. She unshouldered the quiver, and handed it and the bow to a waiting Annette. "Try shooting a regular arrow, just to get the feel of this bow," Kate instructed.
"Should we back off?" Alex asked, already retreating behind Abby. Abby sighed and swatted her away.
"Don't worry. I've used these things before," Annette assured her.
Taking careful aim at a tree, Annette drew the arrow back and swiftly let it fly. It hit the tree, and Annette called, "Arrow-return!" It complied, and Annette smiled triumphantly. Everyone applauded again, and Annette bowed.
"Next up…Sarah, I wanna try you on the nunchukus," Kate said warily. "Here's a few uses for them. You can use them to snag onto stuff and drag it or throw it. They can be used to conk people over the head or to injure limbs and joints and such. They're also good for blocking things and generally showing off."
"Umm…" Sarah trailed off. "I don't know…"
"Just try them out," Kate said.
"All righty," Sarah said reluctantly.
Sarah took the nunchukus from Kate and looked awkward as she held one in each hand. She tried whipping them around, Michaelangelo-style, and managed to prove Kate's point by injuring nearly every joint on her body. When one hit her elbow, that arm flew downward, causing it to hit her knee. She bent over to check her knees and both nunchukus hit her ankles. Sarah fell to the ground, arms flying upward, and the nuchukus hit her in the head. "Damn," Sarah groaned weakly.
Everyone rushed to Sarah's side, except for Abby, who had fallen to the ground from laughter. "It's not THAT funny, Abby," Sarah growled.
"Sure it is!" gasped Abby, still on the ground.
Annette walked over to her and smacked her upside the head. Abby yelped in pain, but continued snickering inconspicuously.
"All right, so the nunchukus are not for Sarah," Kate said. "But Alex can use them." Kate handed them to Alex, who said, "Cool."
"Let's see if you have any better luck," Kate said.
Alex practiced first blocking with the nunchukus, then snagging. Finally, she tried some fancy handwork, and did well, despite bopping Abby on the head (on purpose, mind you). She picked it up rather quickly, much to Sarah's dismay.
"I figured something like this would happen," Kate said to Sarah, "So I have a back-up plan."
"And that would be…?" Sarah asked.
"This," Kate said, handing Sarah an umbrella. Sarah simply stared at it in utter awe and confusion, then gave Kate the same look. "An umbrella?" she said incredulously.
"Yeah. Check this out," Kate replied, taking it back. She pulled on the handle of the umbrella, and a sabre was pulled out. "Wow! Like in 'The Avengers'!" Sarah exclaimed.
"That's what I was going for," Kate explained. "Plus, now you're protected from the rain."
"Kate. Water powers," Sarah said flatly.
"Oh. Yeah. But I have one more thing for you," Kate said, giving Sarah a little bag. "I'll give you a better holder for them later."
"Ninja stars! Kick ass!" cried Sarah.
"Indeed they are," Kate replied. "Moving along-"
"What about my sabre?" Sarah asked.
"You'll have time to practice in a few moments, Sarah," Kate assured her. "Kristin! You're up!"
"Oh, yay!" Kristin said, slightly sarcastic. "Just making fun of Alex," she explained, causing Alex to stick her tongue out at Kristin.
"Your weapon I'm particularly proud of, Kristin. It's a staff. The orb on top of the staff shoots fire, and it only responds to your voice and mine. Let me demonstrate. Fire staff…ignite!" Flames shot out of the orb, and the target lit on fire.
"Somebody put that out!" Kate cried, panicking. Abby and Sue rushed over to the target, knocked it over and proceeded to stomp out the flames. When they were finished, Kate handed the staff over to Kristin. "Here you go."
Kristin brandished the staff, twirling it around impressively. "Kick ass!" she cried.
Kate then looked over at Abby, who gave her a pointed look. "Any time today, Kate," Abby said impatiently.
"For once, dear, you're not the first to do something. Feels weird, doesn't it?" Kate teased.
"Yes, yes, sure, just give me a weapon!" Abby said.
"Okay, then. And here you are-twin swords," said Kate, handing Abby two thin sheathed blades.
"Katana blades…" breathed Abby. "Just what I've always wanted…" She gave them a once-over, then shouldered each sword so that one crossed over the other on her back. She put her right hand on the handle of the left sword, and vice versa, swiftly pulled them out, and posed Ginyu force-style. "This is so great!"
"Glad you like them," Kate replied, smiling.
"Sarah, you wanna test that sabre of yours now?" Abby said. "See if you can take me."
"I gladly accept your challenge, Abby," Sarah answered, drawing her sabre.
Sarah and Abby stood opposite each other, swords drawn and ready for battle. Abby attacked first, but Sarah deftly blocked it, and parried her. Abby jumped back with a double thrust, and Sarah blocked this move as well. "I definitely like this weapon better," Sarah commented.
Seconds later, she felt her feet get knocked out from underneath her, and she fell to the ground. She looked up in enough time to watch Abby knock her sabre away with her left blade, then put the right blade to her neck. "Never let your guard down whilst sword fighting…especially with me," Abby said, grinning slyly at her.
"I'll remember that," Sarah said, as Abby helped her up. Abby then took to showing off, swinging the swords around professionally, coming too close to Alex's face for her liking. "You think you're so great!" Alex said.
"Yes, quite frankly, I do," Abby replied, swinging the sharp blade a hair away from Alex's nose.
"Prove it. Get me and Sarah an apple," Alex challenged, pointing at an apple tree not too far from where they stood.
"I'll get two apiece," Abby bragged.
Abby strolled over to the tree, saying, "I can get them backwards."
"Go ahead. We're waiting," Alex said, crossing her arms. Everyone else watched, too, wondering what would happen.
With that said, Abby stood with her back to the tree and proceeded to slice at the branches. When she finished, she swiftly sheathed the swords and held her hands out to catch the apples. Nothing happened, so Abby looked up into the tree. At that moment, she heard a crack and her eyes widened as a large branch fell right on top of her. She collapsed to the ground from the weight of the branch, and everyone ran over to see if she was okay.
When they got there, Abby lifted her head, looked at Alex, and said, "Here're your damned apples," and dropped her head again.
* * * * *
Six of the seven warriors of Suzaku were collapsed in the throne room of the Konan palace, with Tasuki actually collapsed on the throne. "Keep an eye out for Hotohori," Tasuki said. "My ass is grass if he finds me here."
"That'd be funny," Nuriko said.
"Guys, we can't go on like this," Chiriko said, stretching out on the ground.
"Definitely not," Mitsukake agreed. "It certainly isn't healthy."
"And it's not fun being exhausted all the time, either," Tamahome added.
"But what else can we do?" asked Chichiri. "We can't just not fight, no da. It's our destiny, no da."
Nuriko sighed disgustedly. "Let's just hope that Hotohori and Miaka had luck finding some help."
"It's gonna take some time, though," Mitsukake informed them. "That Imperium Crystal thing is hard to find. Believe me, Hotohori did NOT look happy to be going to search for it."
"It's the only thing left, unfortunately," Tasuki said. "We need help and we need it fast. I'm ready to crawl into a hole and die, and I'd be happy."
"Please don't do that," Chiriko said. "We kinda need you."
"Blast," groaned Tasuki.
Tamahome, who had been pacing around the throne room, waiting impatiently for Miaka and Hotohori's return, suddenly stopped and looked out the window. "I was right! They're back!"
"How'd you know that?" Nuriko asked.
"Probably that connection thing that he has with Miaka, no da," Chichiri suggested, putting his hat back on.
Tasuki, who hadn't been paying attention, jumped out of the throne as if it were on fire upon hearing the door open. "It wasn't me!" he yelped, standing at attention as Hotohori and Miaka walked in and walked over to the throne. Hotohori gave Tasuki an odd look as he sat down on the throne, but Miaka giggled at Tasuki's silliness. "Well, we have good news and bad news," Hotohori began.
"PLEASE tell us the good news first," begged Nuriko.
"We have found the guardians of the Imperium Crystal," Hotohori said. "They're six girls who work together to protect their universe."
"Six girls?" Tasuki said, raising his eyebrows at Chichiri and Mitsukake.
"Yes. They're very powerful. See for yourself," Miaka said indignantly, opening a book. The other six looked to watch the girls training with weapons. A girl with two swords was deflecting Ninja stars that another girl was throwing at her with it. A girl with nunchukus was sparring with another girl who used a staff. A third pair of girls fought, one with fans and another with a bow and arrows. A seventh girl watched over them, nodding at them approvingly.
"I'm sure that they'll help us," said Hotohori, closing the book.
"That's good," Chiriko said.
"They definitely look powerful," Mitsukake said.
"So what's the bad news?" Tamahome asked.
"They're from my dimension, my universe," Miaka explained.
"Damn it!" cried Tasuki.
"Yes," agreed Hotohori. "It creates something of a dilemma."
A silence fell over them whilst they thought of a way to solve their problem. "They're too far from The Book," Miaka informed them. "They're over three thousand miles away from it."
"Great," said Nuriko.
"I've got it!" cried Tamahome. He whirled around to face Chichiri, who had the same look of inspiration on his face. "Chichiri can use that little hat of his to go get them!" said Tamahome.
"Wait, is that going to work?" Hotohori questioned. "And will it be safe for you and the girls?"
"This hat can go anywhere and do anything, no da," Chichiri said confidently. "We'll all be perfectly safe, Emperor. Shall I embark on my little journey?"
Hotohori sighed and turned to Miaka. "Priestess?"
"Go, Chichiri, but please be careful," Miaka said.
"Yeah," Tasuki said as Chichiri disappeared into the hat. "We don't need your ass out of commission, 'cause there's no way in hell that I'm covering for you."
* * * * *
**I apologize for the length of this chapter; I just wanted to set the story, and I felt that this was the only way to do it. Thanks for sticking though it if you did. Hopefully, you liked it enough to do so. Any questions or comments? You can either post them in a review or email me at DariaCIA@aol.com. Thanks!
