Someone was shaking me. Typically, I'd halfheartedly try to remove their
arms from their torso, but it was a gentle shaking, as opposed to the
harder, persistent shaking most people tried to rouse me with.
Opening my eyes, I watched a blur slowly change into Makoto, and quirked a brow at her frown.
"Something wrong?"
"You and I have to be at work in ten minutes."
"Err," I said, intelligently, looking at the clock nearby, " shouldn't... umm... we be more worried about getting home?"
"Ami will contact us when the others are ready..."
"Why wouldn't they be now?" I asked, pulling on a clean shirt.
"They're," she paused to pull a shirt on, before continuing, "fighting some new foe. Pluto never saw it coming."
"Ohh... like that Daimon that tore up my apartment?"
"Yes, only, from what Ami said, the new enemy is slowly creating copies of our previous enemies... last time we talked, they were fighting off the Dead Moon Circus' Monster Of The Week."
"How... lame."
"No. Not lame. It's Bad. Ami said she wasn't sure what the others could expect after Galaxia's Pseudo-Senshi."
"So... you want to get home soon to help fight the good fight, eh?"
"Yes. But I also know responsibilities... and while we're here, we should do what we're paid to do. Namely, teach."
"How... assertive." I said, pulling on my shoes.
Makoto and I appeared on the school grounds a few minutes later, ready to teach. I noticed that Nabiki had yet to beam down, and considered calling for her, however, the bell chose that moment to ring, and I decided that, if she were skipping, she'd probably already have a good reason to do so.
Entering the classroom, I waited for the talking and whispers to die down, before addressing the class.
"I'm probably not going to be here much longer, so we're going to have to make this a bit faster, and a bit more self-help-ish."
When the students stared at me, obviously not understanding much of what I said, I switched to Japanese and repeated myself.
"Sensei?"
"Yes?"
"What do you mean?"
"Err... what I mean is, I'm going to have to point you all in the right direction, and let you all do the rest."
"Oh."
"Right. So! How to speak English Properly... with only a few lessons."
Thinking about how big and pointless a challenge this would be, I decided to cheat before I made too big a fool of myself, and left the room, returning a moment later with my computer and a DVD. Thankfully, SHODAN could teleport things from my apartment, as well as people. Starting the Movie quickly, I spoke as I set everything up.
"Since I can't really begin to explain the nuances of English, I'll show you a well-written action movie from America that displays differences in European and American Dialects, stresses and enunciations in times of calm or action, and things like sarcasm, irony, and dumb humor."
The class loved Die Hard.
I was watching the schoolyard, wondering why they didn't have rice-crispy treats in the vending machines, when Captain Archer appeared behind me. Typically, this wouldn't have been much of a problem, but my wondering wasn't done before the vending machines. Archer had appeared in the middle of the schoolyard, and now, everyone stared as he saluted me and began speaking rapidly.
"Lord Kyle! Lady Makoto's communicator went off, and it appears her friends need her assistance as soon as possible. They're going to try to bring her through now, and were very insistent!"
Ami? Insistent? Who'd have thought it?
"SHODAN, Three up, Makoto won't complain." I said. Quietly, I muttered to myself "I hope..."
After I'd disappeared the schoolyard silently stared at the ground I'd been standing on moments before... Finally, Tatewaki Kuno stepped forward, and held his bokken high.
"Alas, none shall contest that I, The Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, have vanquished the foul Magus from-"
The rest of his speech, however, was cut off as a green bolt from the sky turned the Blue Thunder into a blackened, man-shaped matchstick. Without Nabiki around to drag him to the Nurse's Office, the Blue Thunder spent the rest of the afternoon snoozing in the crater the light turbolaser had blasted into the sand.
Appearing upon the bridge, I jumped back as the wall flickered to life and Sailor Moon's tear-streaked face appeared.
"Mako-chan, if you can hear this, get ready... I don't know how well this will work, but we need you!"
"Usagi?" Makoto asked, her face paling. The screen went blank, and suddenly SHODAN's face replaced the upset Senshi, a scowl on her face.
"Unknown energy output from Communicator/Henshin Stick. Commencing Full sensor scan, and Retrieval of Subject: Mara."
The air beside us shimmered, but Mara failed to appear. Then the lights dimmed, and half the consoles on the bridge went dead.
"The hell?" I asked, my thoughts echoed quietly throughout the bridge. Suddenly, there was a loud pop, and Mara appeared beside me, a bottle of Sake in one hand, and a big frown on her face.
"What the hell is the big..." her anger gave way to surprise when she looked out the forward view port and to the stars, beyond.
"Mara, glad you could make it." I said, watching as the various disabled consoles began powering back up. Apparently, pulling Mara back here had taken a lot more power than a standard human would require. As the lights went back to full output, I turned to see that Makoto had become Sailor Jupiter, without the use of her Henshin wand.
" I dunno!" She said, in response to my raised brow. I was going to ask more, when I realized the air was feeling stuffy, and there was a noticeable static charge in the air.
"Sensor grid failure at 75%. Hyperdrive Sensors indicate possible Shift in five, four, three, two-"
As SHODAN counted down, the stars outside dimmed to blackness, and a steady rumble grew from beyond notice, to being too loud to notice anything else. I caught the look on my wife's face as SODAN'S countdown would have reached one, and suddenly there was a flash of white light, and I saw nothing else.
Opening my eyes, I watched a blur slowly change into Makoto, and quirked a brow at her frown.
"Something wrong?"
"You and I have to be at work in ten minutes."
"Err," I said, intelligently, looking at the clock nearby, " shouldn't... umm... we be more worried about getting home?"
"Ami will contact us when the others are ready..."
"Why wouldn't they be now?" I asked, pulling on a clean shirt.
"They're," she paused to pull a shirt on, before continuing, "fighting some new foe. Pluto never saw it coming."
"Ohh... like that Daimon that tore up my apartment?"
"Yes, only, from what Ami said, the new enemy is slowly creating copies of our previous enemies... last time we talked, they were fighting off the Dead Moon Circus' Monster Of The Week."
"How... lame."
"No. Not lame. It's Bad. Ami said she wasn't sure what the others could expect after Galaxia's Pseudo-Senshi."
"So... you want to get home soon to help fight the good fight, eh?"
"Yes. But I also know responsibilities... and while we're here, we should do what we're paid to do. Namely, teach."
"How... assertive." I said, pulling on my shoes.
Makoto and I appeared on the school grounds a few minutes later, ready to teach. I noticed that Nabiki had yet to beam down, and considered calling for her, however, the bell chose that moment to ring, and I decided that, if she were skipping, she'd probably already have a good reason to do so.
Entering the classroom, I waited for the talking and whispers to die down, before addressing the class.
"I'm probably not going to be here much longer, so we're going to have to make this a bit faster, and a bit more self-help-ish."
When the students stared at me, obviously not understanding much of what I said, I switched to Japanese and repeated myself.
"Sensei?"
"Yes?"
"What do you mean?"
"Err... what I mean is, I'm going to have to point you all in the right direction, and let you all do the rest."
"Oh."
"Right. So! How to speak English Properly... with only a few lessons."
Thinking about how big and pointless a challenge this would be, I decided to cheat before I made too big a fool of myself, and left the room, returning a moment later with my computer and a DVD. Thankfully, SHODAN could teleport things from my apartment, as well as people. Starting the Movie quickly, I spoke as I set everything up.
"Since I can't really begin to explain the nuances of English, I'll show you a well-written action movie from America that displays differences in European and American Dialects, stresses and enunciations in times of calm or action, and things like sarcasm, irony, and dumb humor."
The class loved Die Hard.
I was watching the schoolyard, wondering why they didn't have rice-crispy treats in the vending machines, when Captain Archer appeared behind me. Typically, this wouldn't have been much of a problem, but my wondering wasn't done before the vending machines. Archer had appeared in the middle of the schoolyard, and now, everyone stared as he saluted me and began speaking rapidly.
"Lord Kyle! Lady Makoto's communicator went off, and it appears her friends need her assistance as soon as possible. They're going to try to bring her through now, and were very insistent!"
Ami? Insistent? Who'd have thought it?
"SHODAN, Three up, Makoto won't complain." I said. Quietly, I muttered to myself "I hope..."
After I'd disappeared the schoolyard silently stared at the ground I'd been standing on moments before... Finally, Tatewaki Kuno stepped forward, and held his bokken high.
"Alas, none shall contest that I, The Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, have vanquished the foul Magus from-"
The rest of his speech, however, was cut off as a green bolt from the sky turned the Blue Thunder into a blackened, man-shaped matchstick. Without Nabiki around to drag him to the Nurse's Office, the Blue Thunder spent the rest of the afternoon snoozing in the crater the light turbolaser had blasted into the sand.
Appearing upon the bridge, I jumped back as the wall flickered to life and Sailor Moon's tear-streaked face appeared.
"Mako-chan, if you can hear this, get ready... I don't know how well this will work, but we need you!"
"Usagi?" Makoto asked, her face paling. The screen went blank, and suddenly SHODAN's face replaced the upset Senshi, a scowl on her face.
"Unknown energy output from Communicator/Henshin Stick. Commencing Full sensor scan, and Retrieval of Subject: Mara."
The air beside us shimmered, but Mara failed to appear. Then the lights dimmed, and half the consoles on the bridge went dead.
"The hell?" I asked, my thoughts echoed quietly throughout the bridge. Suddenly, there was a loud pop, and Mara appeared beside me, a bottle of Sake in one hand, and a big frown on her face.
"What the hell is the big..." her anger gave way to surprise when she looked out the forward view port and to the stars, beyond.
"Mara, glad you could make it." I said, watching as the various disabled consoles began powering back up. Apparently, pulling Mara back here had taken a lot more power than a standard human would require. As the lights went back to full output, I turned to see that Makoto had become Sailor Jupiter, without the use of her Henshin wand.
" I dunno!" She said, in response to my raised brow. I was going to ask more, when I realized the air was feeling stuffy, and there was a noticeable static charge in the air.
"Sensor grid failure at 75%. Hyperdrive Sensors indicate possible Shift in five, four, three, two-"
As SHODAN counted down, the stars outside dimmed to blackness, and a steady rumble grew from beyond notice, to being too loud to notice anything else. I caught the look on my wife's face as SODAN'S countdown would have reached one, and suddenly there was a flash of white light, and I saw nothing else.
