Chapter 09: Just a Stint in Her World Domination Plans
Tonia's year-old Aero-Scooter of foreign make broke down on her way to school that morning. Annette found out about it, so Annette told Mint. Mint, thinking quickly, snapped her fingers and went over to Rue. And so the two of them were stuck until late in the school parking lot after their respective club meetings, Rue doing his best to fix the busted motorbike while Mint handed him the tools (Tonia and Annette had a fair committee meeting to attend to, and the school fair is only a couple of months away).
"How much did you say you were gonna charge Tonia for this?" Rue asked her sideways, not even looking up from his tinkering of the motorbike's innards.
"What makes you think I'd charge Tonia anything for this?" she asked innocently.
"I've never known you to hand out freebies. Even if the freebies didn't come from you the first place."
Mint pouted (rather ungracefully) at him, but he wouldn't have seen it anyway. "Two weeks use of her brand-new Mpeg7 mini-player."
Knew it, Rue smirked. Mint was the only girl who could ever get away with it, too. After some final tuning of the motor, he stood up. "I think I'm done. Let's try it out." He powered it on.
Aero-Scooters were motorbikes that don't have wheels—they floated using the same principle as the hoverboards that were invented in the early 2010s. They were slightly faster and more powerful due to the miniature fusion-propulsion engines of the same type they used in the larger mechavehicles that provide power to the scooters' anti-gravity LLCUs (Liquid Light Crystal™ units). Aero-Scooters were a fairly new innovation, as the technology to infuse high power to the antigrav crystals had been discovered only a couple of years ago. But it's expected that sooner or later they're going to replace the wheeled motorcycles entirely in popularity.
Tonia's motorbike floated properly now. "Well, that's that—" he wiped his hands on a rag.
Just in time too. From the corner of his eye he saw Tonia and Annette emerge from the main school building.
"Rue! You fixed it!" Tonia beamed. "Thank you so much!"
"Hey, I helped," Mint interjected.
"Right. Here," Tonia handed her the mini-player. "Make sure you take care of it, alright? Annette and I will be going now." Annette was hitching with Tonia on the way home. The two girls climbed onto the motorbike, and with goodbye waves they rode off.
"Don't worry about your player!" Mint called to Tonia before the two girls disappeared past the school gates. "I just want to use it to keep me distracted in chemistry class."
Rue turned towards her sternly. "Mint, I thought we had a deal."
"Oh, lighten up," she wrinkled her nose at him. "Belle won't ever notice it. Besides, I can't learn anything the way she teaches it anyway."
Which wasn't exactly true. Rue had found out, surprisingly, that Belle was a good teacher. She clearly knew the subject like the proverbial back of her hand, and had insights into the subject matter that she could only have acquired after a significant amount of experience in the field. On the other hand, she did have a rather unconventional style in getting the class's attention—she'd break out into her trademark "kyahaha"'s every so often, usually after telling a really old and clichéd joke that would get the entire class groaning—but hey, if it worked don't knock it. And in spite of the bad humor, Belle had a way of explaining things that made the class seem fun and easy, sort of. Plus, her exams were really simple, she didn't give out pop quizzes, and she didn't mind if Neil fell asleep in class every now and then.
Belle and Mint hadn't broken into any catfights yet, thankfully. Mint had moved to the row farthest from the blackboard, and Rue moved to seat beside her as well, just to make sure that nothing untoward happened. He had persuaded Mint to behave properly in that particular class—no sarcastic remarks, no raising her voice or taunting the teacher—although bribe might have been the better term. The deal was an ice cream soda at the Atelier every Friday (Mint had wanted it every Monday, Friday and Saturday, but Rue put his foot down).
This week would be their third since Belle had become their professor. "…and speaking of our agreement, can we skip this week? I want to make up for time lost in gymnastics training," Mint told him. She had gotten the sling off only the previous weekend, fifteen days later than it was supposed to have healed. Today was Wednesday.
"No problem," Rue consented. It would save him the trouble, although he had to admit that he actually didn't mind taking her out for ice cream at all. "Heading home yet?"
"Yup. It's getting late. Oh, I'm so glad I'm staying in my own dorm room again…" she sighed in relief. Grabbing her duffel, she turned to leave.
Rue picked up his bag and violin case as well. "I'll see you tomorrow," "Later!" and with a wave from Mint, they went their separate ways.
Belle Brie watched from the window of the faculty room on the second floor as her two students exited the school grounds. The girl waved goodbye before they parted, and the boy waited for her to walk some distance from him first before he too turned his own way. She smiled inwardly. In a way, the kids reminded her of herself and Duke when they were much younger.
Mint and Belle had been on bad terms with each other from day one. Oftentimes the redhead just couldn't keep her mouth shut, and most of the taunts Mint threw at her were about clothing. Belle knew that she had very little dress sense, and the fact that Mint kept rubbing it into her face made her all the more sensitive to the redhead's (sometimes provoked) taunts and (sometimes unprovoked) insults.
Thankfully, Mint hadn't heckled her even once during class—yet. She was sure that the boy had had something to do with it. Just like Duke, he tried his best to keep his 'lady' out of trouble. Of course, she didn't know how things stood between her two students, for most times it appeared that Rue treated Mint just like he would a sister.
As for her own situation, Duke was openly and obviously in love with Belle. Several years ago, he had already confessed to her, but for reasons that she could not ignore, she had to refuse him. That didn't stop Duke from staying with her anyway. He had gone with her, never asking questions, even into her self-imposed exile and what was probably a pointless personal vendetta.
She shook her head. Someday, when everything was over, maybe she could finally settle down, maybe with Duke. But right now she was on a quest—not for personal treasure as Mint had supposed at one time—but to find a long-lost sister.
Her cellphone rang. "Hello?" It was Duke. "Hmm… Uh-huh. Okay. Did you get the parts like we wanted?"
"Yes, Milady. We still don't have the dipolar antigrav thrusts—they had to be pre-ordered and won't get delivered until give or take a couple of weeks. At least they don't make me wear the star costume anymore (but I have to wear it again come opening day next week, sigh)…" Belle could almost see Duke's familiar grin. There was a slight pause on the other end, as if the other was thinking. "I have a question about these new schematics you made. Are you sure it's safe to couple the regulator-suppressors to the fusion engine that way? I admit it will give a considerable surge of power, but that in itself could fry the system…"
"Yes, yes, I'm sure. Just follow the plans, okay? I know what I'm doing."
"If you say so, Milady. Oh, and on your way, could you pick up some green paint? We're all out."
"Okay. I'll see you later, Duke." And with the telltale disconnecting beep on the other end, he hung up.
Belle pocketed her phone. It seemed like the upgrade of their mechavehicle would take some time longer than expected. But no worries. They were still ahead of schedule, for now.
Friday afternoon found a small crowd gathered about an announcement in Carona High's main lobby.
"Ooh, the soccer and volleyball teams are going, huh? Too bad about the basketball club, and they had such promising new members…"
"What about individual sports? Did they say anything about individual sports?"
"…no, not yet. I think they're still deciding on it."
Mint and Annette pushed their way through the students that had gathered about the poster. Mint snapped her fingers in disappointment. "Aww, it doesn't say if we got accepted."
"Don't worry. I'm sure they'll send the gymnastics club to the games in Gamul this year," Annette reassured her. They had just come from the gym, and even Coach Mira was impressed with the team's performance that day. Mint had stayed a couple of hours longer than usual in training, and Annette had decided to wait for her before they came to check on the announcement. "I've watched your practices, remember, and I promise you—the way you and Kirielle perform are nothing to be sneezed at."
"Yes, but they're only sending two clubs for the individual sports this time around. Badminton will definitely go—they were runner-up in the national games last year. Tennis and swimming, I guess we can count out. But there's Rue in the kendo club…" she frowned, irritated. Just another reminder that, partner or not, Rue was still her biggest rival.
Speaking of Rue, he just emerged from a nearby classroom. "Rue!" Annette called, and she and Mint walked towards him.
"Rue! If you think the kendo club is going to take the spot for gymnastics in the Gamul games, you're dead wrong!" Mint shouted to him in challenge.
"By the way, class reps have a meeting this afternoon," Annette reminded him. "It's about the school fair this Christmas, and attendance is mandatory." Mint didn't count, since she was only the assistant class rep. And knowing Mint, she wasn't about to attend any committee meetings she could wiggle her way out of.
"Yes, yes, I know… I'm on my way now," Rue dismissed her with a wave. He turned urgently to the other girl and handed her a package wrapped in brown paper. "Mint! I've been looking for you—I need a really big favor. I need you to take these to Mel's before the evening. It's a package from Principal Klaus, and he says it's really important. I'm sorry I can't go myself… umm… two chocolate sundaes next Saturday?"
Mint grinned suddenly. "If you say so. But I was gonna do it for free, anyway."
Wha-at?! Rue's expression said it all.
"Want to come, Annette?" the red-haired girl asked. Then, in a singsong voice she added, "It's a Friday afternoon…"
"Sure!" Annette nodded, and both girls left Rue standing, confused, in the hallway.
"So, what are you thinking?" Annette broke the silence once they were out of earshot. Mint was frowning thoughtfully. "You're not usually this quiet."
"It has to be this year," Mint said, shaking her head. "We've got to be at the Gamul games this year. Kirielle is graduating—and as much as she and I dislike each other (the [expletive]), and as much as I hate to admit it, she's the only one from Carona High who could (almost) match my skills in gymnastics. Even if by some freak coincidence an athletic prodigy joins the gymnastics club next year, she'd still be too green…" Mint sighed. As impulsive as she was, she knew her duties as captain. "[Expletive], we need Kirielle. This year would be our last chance to go national."
"You're really serious about this, aren't you?" Annette asked. Mint nodded.
They were outside the school grounds now, and were walking up the street to where the new mall was being constructed. The mall's grand opening day was fast approaching—next Wednesday announced the posters—and a considerable number of the stalls were already occupied. In fact, Annette had been frequenting the music store since it first opened two weeks ago. She asked Mint if they could stop to browse for a while.
"Let's stop for a bite," said Mint. "I'm sooo hungry… haven't had anything since breakfast."
"You didn't eat lunch?" Annette reproached her. "You were tumbling about, somersaulting like crazy in gym training 'til late this afternoon, when you didn't eat lunch?!"
"They were serving pumpkins in the cafeteria!" she groaned. "Pumpkins! I hate pumpkins! Absolutely, completely, entirely, totally, utterly, extremely loathe pumpkins!! A world-wide ban on pumpkins once I declare myself Supreme Dictator of the Known Universe!!" The manic laughter that followed added just the right touch to make her sound completely insane, but luckily no one else had heard her. Her eyes suddenly narrowed at Annette. "And who gave you the right to start acting like Mrs. Cartha?"
Annette didn't get to answer, for right then, a swift moving (yet mere two-foot high) figure was very quickly making its way towards them.
"J-Johnny Wolf! Nooo!!"
Too late. Johnny Wolf head-butted the girl and bawled her down onto the street—quite a feat for a dog his size—and then growled ferociously at her face. After some time, he started licking her face, and made as if he wanted to lick her ears off. "Owww, okay, Johnny! You got me…!" Thankfully, Annette managed to grab the brown-paper package when she fell, since neither of them knew if its contents were breakable or not.
Mint stood up, forcibly pushing the yapping doggie down and away from herself. She knelt so that her face was squarely looking over the dog's, and she scratched it behind the ears. "What brings you here so suddenly? Missed me already?" Johnny Wolf barked in answer.
Annette seemed to be deep in thought. "Mint, if you're serious about the Gamul games and going national, then it's best that you start preparing for it, even if the teams haven't been chosen yet."
Mint sighed. "Tell me about it. I have tried, but I just can't seem to find the right sequence or music. If you have any ideas at all, I'd be very grateful."
But Annette shook her head. "No. Weren't you the one who told me that everything we do should come from the heart?"
"No, that was Rod, and he says that 'everything should be done with heart', not from it."
"I can't tell you what to dance for your gymnastics sequence, especially not for something as important as the Gamul games," Annette continued. "It should be something that… I don't know… something you feel strongly about. Or at least can relate closely to."
The red-haired girl's eyes took on a faraway look. "Like… a mother's lullaby…?"
"Depends on the lullaby…"
Mint brightened, as if suddenly coming up with an idea. "I know this might seem unusual, but… Annette, do you know this song? Mother used to sing it to me all the time while she was still alive, but it's in a foreign language and had never been translated…" She closed her eyes, and started humming.
Annette frowned thoughtfully. "It seems familiar… Oriental music?" Mint nodded. "I'll find it. But what about the dance sequence?"
Mint broke into a grin. "For that I would need Neil's help."
Annette paused in thought, and then grinned back at her. "Something tells me this is going to be interesting."
"Come on, we'd better hurry." Mint motioned for Annette as they hastened past the not-quite-fully-occupied mall (and forgetting about stopping for a bite to eat). She indicated Johnny Wolf, "After Mel's I still have to take this guy back to the BladeStar Arcade."
Annette nodded. "I'll split at Mel's then. It's getting late already." The sun had set about an hour ago, and the sky was already dark.
"Wait, wait…" Mint stopped abruptly, turning to gaze through the display window of a nearby mechavehicle equipment shop. She pressed one hand against the glass as she leaned forward for a better look. "They've got the multi-tools on discount! Including the latest one with the auto-lock mechanism and built-in antigrav meter…!"
"I didn't know you were into those things," Annette commented offhand.
Mint shook her head. "Not me—Rue would love this. I saw him gaping at it a couple of weeks back. Oh, shoot—" she cursed, stomping her foot. "Even at fifty percent off it's still bloody expensive… Oh, be quiet, Johnny Wolf!" she turned to the dog, who was again barking incessantly. She bodily picked him up, the better to scratch behind the doggie's cute, furry ears.
"Mint, can I ask you something?" Annette interrupted her thoughts. "Why are you so determined to go to the Gamul games?"
"I'm still gunning for the Dewprism medal," the other answered, a bit too quickly. "I know my grades aren't that good, and gymnastics is my only chance for it. If we don't get at least second place in the national level, then I'm out of the running. And there's always the off-chance that Rue—" she abruptly bit her lip on purpose, "that someone else might beat me to the medal."
"That's it? But why the Dewprism medal?"
"The medal would by my trophy. Carona High is just a stint in my world domination plans." Mint's tone was light but dead serious. "But don't worry. When I become rich and famous, of course I'll still remember you. Isn't that right, Johnny Wolf?"
She ruffled the dog's head playfully, intentionally ignoring the look of amused disbelief that Annette was giving her.
Author's Notes
13 October 2002 The 'space cowboy thing' which we'll see next chapter, I got from Shadow Duo—I hope you don't mind ^_^. Thanks to Victoria for reminding me of Mint's World Domination Plans. Thanks to Shinji-kun for giving me the idea about Belle's "kyahaha" and reminding me of Johnny Wolf. How could I have forgotten Johnny Wolf?!?!? And no, I will NOT tell you what I'm really planning ahead of time…
YES, I am VERY SURE I want Belle as the substitute chemistry teacher. Karwyn is male. There are no original charas. Even Neil, Annette and Tonia (Tonio, actually) were in the game. (Thanks again to Lady Light, Chibi Lady and Reecee for supplying some names) In order of appearance in fanfic: [Fanfic persona = Game persona]
1. Kirielle Lockheed = Mode Master, Kirielle
2. Karwyn Lockheed = Psycho Master, Karwyn
3. Narcius Terrent = Trap Master, Narcius
4. George Ruecian = Doll Master, Ruecian
Belle's last name is Brie, Duke's last name is Radii. Principal Klaus' first name is Augustus. Whosoever Lulu-Cecille is, I leave to your imagination. Btb, I apologize to those who read the first posting of the previous chapter (I corrected it already). Lulu-Cecille is a brunette. A tall, pale-skinned brunette.
I'm only a third of the way through the series! We've barely started—you're disappointed with me already?! Shniff, boohoohoo…
Just a side note: Would you believe me if I tell you that this is actually my first fanfic, ever? It is. (The SlamDunk one I only co-authored) So please be kind. Or not, heck—PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!! _…
Anywayz… I've already thought out almost everything that's gonna happen up to the final chapters and even beyond. I'm not in the habit of suddenly shocking my audience without (very subtle) hints that I'm going to do so, so heed the warning. And trust me—you really haven't seen anything yet. ^_~.
19 October 2002
Well, I've redone most everything into almost the way I wanted it to be… Not perfect, but better, I hope. And I hope I haven't disappointed you (too much). I *did* say there would be no major revisions… shrug… but there have been minor and not-so-minor modifications in all the chapters. I kept the previous Author's Notes, as they are dated and sort of serve as an on-line diary. I don't think most people bother to read the Author's Notes anywayz… SEE? IS ANYBODY OUT THERE READING THIS?! :P
Oh, and before anyone complains… yes, I know it's long. The series is long. So I'm a stickler to details, hah! _ But I make it a point that (almost) everything I mention is important in some way. And I do mean almost everything—a small detail that seems just thrown is as trivia (yes, even the kooky not-so-comic-reliefs) will suddenly come up as significant ten or twenty chapters later. So heed this warning as well. ^_~.