lyrasoze@hotmail.com
New e-mail. Isn't that exciting? Come on, movie fans, find the
reference in my handle...and I have a web page!
www.geocities.com/lyra_2040/lyras_studio.html. Come sign my Guest Book!
You are getting sleepy....very sleepy...you will visit Lyra's page and
sign her GuesBook....sleepy....
Hi everyone! How are you all doing? Well, my little fantasy world
didn't exist this summer. In said world, I am free to write as much as
I choose. I may dig a hole into my room and remain in it with my laptop
all summer long. And no one would miss me. HAH!!!!
All rightie then, here we go! I dedicate this chapter to Jessica,
who has left for basic training in Missouri, and whom I shall miss
more than words can say. And to Don, the wonderful moderator of
the Favorites forum on the message board. Good luck to you, and
know that you are in my thoughts. As always, thanks to Mary Annie, Skott and
all the wonderful people who e-mail me and keep me happy! And to
all those of you who read my stories at all. I love you!
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand now, the most popular game on the Internet, HIDDEN
MOVIE LINES!!! With your host, Lyra-chan! There are movie lines
hidden (or rather, placed strategically) throughout the chapter.
Try and find 'em! Some are easy and some are hard...Bwa ha ha ha ha.
Disclaimer: Is there another word for synonym? No really, think about
it...Sailor Moon is not now nor has it ever been mine...
whose cruel idea was it to put an 's' in 'lisp'? I don't
own that funny e-mail either.
All The World's A Stage
by Lyra Matsuoka
Chapter 7
Rated PG-13
Serena was blissfully happy. She'd never have imagined that stoic
Dr. Chiba would resort to the 'Me-Tarzan-you-Jane' type of mentality, but since it produced such interesting results, she thought it best not to complain. And the effects were devestating, to say the least. The man could kiss, and Serena was of the opinion that it was a very useful
sort of skill to have.
But reality was intruding. The fact that she was unable to see Darien when she opened her eyes was very troublesome for some reason, and before long she realized why. If the lights were still out down here, then the lights were off everywhere else in the stadium. Damn.
"Darien?" she began tentatively, pulling her lips away.
"Yes?" he drawled back, in a super sexy way. Serena felt shivers
running up and down her spine. She was so caught up in the feeling that
she forgot what she was going to say.
"I forget," she murmured.
"What a remarkable thing." And Darien placed his lips upon hers once again, effectively cutting off any avenue of communication for the moment. And Serena didn't mind a bit. But that damn little Jimminy Cricket wannabe in the back of her mind continued pestering her.
She decided to try again.
"Darien?"
"Mmmm," he purred, a deep rumbling in his chest. He moved from her lips to the rest of her face, showering her eyelids and cheekbones with butterfly kisses before attempting to return to her mouth. Serena stopped him, regret heavy in her chest.
"It's dark in here."
"Why, so it is. I've always been partial to darkness myself..."
"But it isn't *supposed* to be dark. This is a state of the art
facility. If it's dark down here, then it's dark in the rest of the stadium and The Lights are supposed to be performing here tonight."
Darien sighed. "Time to save the concert?"
"Uh huh."
"Damn. Somehow I knew you were going to say that," Darien muttered. "Very well, Madame Lights."
Darien started to get up, but was stopped by a soft hand on his arm.
"I am welcome to the continuation of this little foray after the partytonight," Serena murmured.
That said, Serena began groping along the floor, encountering a myriadof discarded food containers. She heard Darien trying to walk behind her, andwaited patiently for a crash and the inevitable swearing fit that would follow.She was not disappointed. Some part of Darien's body (all right, best not to venture too far in that direction...) collided with some sort of solid object. Serena would bet her next months paycheck he had just found the table. Good
for him.
"Owwwwww...God damn thing..."
Serena waited for the cursing to subside.
"Far be it from the lighting technician to offer advice to the geneticist, but maybe you should crawl along the ground until we get into the hall. Just a suggestion."
"Very funny. But your point is taken. I shall crawl."
"Wise decision."
Serena turned her head back in the direction of the door. At least, she was fairly certain the door was that way. She really, really hoped it was. She didn't want to feel like an idiot at this point in time. So she did the only logical thing. She put one hand out in front of her in the hope that her fingers would find the wall in enought time to prevent the rest of her body from colliding with it. But her hand proved far more helpful than that. It found the door jam. Clever hand.
"Darien, I found the door. Now all we have to do is follow the hall around to the ramp and then out into the rest of the stadium."
"Oh joy."
Serena jumped. Darien was right behind her, bending down to nuzzle her neck. How did he do that? She pondered this question to prevent her brain from turning to mush when he wrapped his arms around her midsection. After a few seconds, after she reminded herself how to speak, Serena came up with a flippant question that would bring the ball back into her home court.
"Do you have night vision or something?" she asked.
"What?" Darien lifted his head away from her neck, but he didn't unwraphis arms. Serena smiled at that.
"Night vision. Do you see shapes in neon green when you are in a dark room?"
Darien was silent for a moment. "No, I can't and I don't. Interesting idea though. Memo to me, memo to me, research hypothetical night vision in human beings."
"So funny. Come on, Dr. Frankenstein. Let's go save the concert."
"How about you save and I say 'My Hero' when you're done?"
"Complete with kiss?"
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
Serena smiled. Seemed fair to her. She pulled out of Darien's
embrace and began tugging him in what she knew to be the direction of
the ramp.
***************************************************************
"Hey everyone, I found a flashlight!" Michael declared from the
sound booth. Almost immediatly a faint glow could be seen in the sound
booth. Applause burst out on the catwalk, and the grips let out several
loud cheers. But it was only one light, and it certainly wasn't enough
to light an entire show, which everyone realized very quickly when Seiya picked up where he had left off when the laughter started and began demanding that someone take that one little bitty light and go find Serena.
"Wonderful. We have liftoff. Now, will someone please go dig
my master electrician out of the dregs of this stadium and bring her
back to the surface so that she can *fix* this?!" Seiya bellowed.
"Well, it's just lovely to be appriciated. Did you miss me?"
Everyone turned their heads in the direction of the voice, though
it wasn't much use. It was simply too dark to see anything. But the voice was unmistakable.
"Serena, thank every deity in every country in the entire universe! What's with the darkness?" Seiya asked, anger wiped from his tone. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Once again, Serena had arrived in just enough time to prevent Seiya from blowing the roof off the stadium.
"Well, I have no idea. Melvin, having trouble with your droid?"
"No, no trouble," came the muffled reply. Serena laughed aloud,
and everyone listened for the sound of footsteps. They were not
disappointed. Within moments, Serena was speaking again, this time to
Melvin, and her voice was as muffled as his. But Melvin's tone was a
little higher, a little closer to hysteria then made most people
comfortable, seeing as how he was personally responsible for close
to a million dollars in high-tech equipment. But it didn't seem to
bother Serena, as she continued speaking slowly and calmly to the
distressed operator for several minutes. As no one could understand
a word they were saying, conversation resumed. Serena was here
now, and that meant that everything would be all right soon. No
need to worry. Up on the catwalk, Raye and Chad were discussing
the latest anime hit when something occured to Raye.
"Hey Darien! You down there?"
"Yes."
But that one word loosed a barrage of questions, most just
whispered between crew members. If Darien was here now, and he wasn't
here when the lights went out, then he must have been with Serena. When
the lights went out. They had been together during the blackout. And
speculation ran wild about what they might have been doing. In the
lower levels. In the dark. Alone. The pieces of the puzzle were falling
neatly into place. Seiya was suddenly grateful for the darkness which
hid his pleased, and rather foolish, matchmaking smile.
But the self congratulation was not to last. Serena was back in
the captain's chair, and she was in her element.
"Does anyone have a cell phone handy?"
"I do," Nephlite drawled from somewhere toward the right.
"Me, too," Sheridan added. Serena glanced toward the sound booth.
Sure enough, Sheridan was standing in the dim glow, her cellular phone
at the ready. A few more grips called out that they had phones as well,
and Taiki turned his on and waved it above his head.
"Good. Taiki, you call Black Industries. I don't really care
which of the Jewelers Quartet you speak to, but make sure the message
gets to Diamond eventually. Tell him that I expect a full examination
of the wiring in this place the moment we are finished tonight. Nephlite, you get in touch with the electrical company. Make sure that we're the only one's who have been plunged in to utter darkness. And Sheridan...call Regan."
**************************************************************
Darien was amazed at how quickly a group of silent worker bees
could come to life. The moment Serena asked Sheridan to contact this Regan, everyone began making noise. Some were laughing, some were cheering, some were groaning. And one person was protesting.
"Oh, no. No way, Serena. Pick somebody else!"
"Like who, Yaten? Who else do you think is going to get us out of
this? The chair opens the floor to suggestions and debate."
"Regan is the most insulting, most sarcastic and most expensive
electrical expert in the world."
"And here I thought that was me."
"You're worth it, Serena. You're the best."
"And you don't insult his hair style and clothing." Darien's eyes
widened. He knew that voice.
"Don't help, Andrew!"
Andrew? Wait a second...
"That doesn't change the fact that Serena is the best."
"So is Regan. Make the call, Sheridan, and then hand the phone to me. I will ask Regan to come and help us out."
Sheridan must have anticipated this request/command, because she
was already at the foot of the light booth ladder when Serena finished
talking. Sheridan hastily dialed a number and handed the phone up to Serena. Darien watched in fascination as the sillohette of her hand shone through the dark, accented by neon green.
"Hello Regan. Yes, this is Serena. Yup, as in 'The Three Lights'. Master electrician. Uh-huh. Well, funny you should ask. See, we have this little tiny problem. The whole stadium is dark. Lights, microphones, guitars, everything is dead. Yeah. Would you really? How sweet of you. Now is good for me. Yes, of course we'll pay you double. (Darien heard Yaten groan, and laughter intensified on the sidelines) He's here. I promise. All right. See you soon. Bye!"
Serena cut the connection with a little beep. "On the way."
Darien listened intently. A laugh exploded from the back of the
auditorium. It was him, all right.
"Andrew? Is that you?"
"Hey, Darien. What's going on?"
Truly unfair that he could sound so calm. What was he doing here
anyway? Darein racked his brain. Finally he settled on a memory of his
high school days. Andrew had always been more interested in theatre
than in his family buisness. And Andrew always said that he had a job
outside Crown Enterprises. This must be it. Darien rubbed his forhead.
He needed to get out more.
********************************************************************
The stadium came more and more to life every minute. Serena sat
Melvin down in the back of the light booth and commenced poking around
in the mass of wires behind it as though she would be able to sense what had happened to cause this black out.
"Well, Sere, I got ahold of Emerald and Sapphire. They were on the way to a meeting with Diamond, and said they would pass the message on. No doubt we will be graced by a visit from the illustrious chief of the Black clan before the day is out." Taiki's speech was met with cheers and an exasperated sigh escaped Serena.
"Well, we can always hope that something comes up. Meeting.
Emergency."
"Critical tennis match?" Yaten suggested. Serena snorted.
"Well, this is charming. What did you do this time, Yaten?" a
low, slightly husky, and most definitly female voice drawled from
somewhere near the doors
"Oh, fabulous. You have arrived. I can't *tell* you how I've
missed being pushed around and insulted by y..."
"Can it, Yaten. I have work to do. Some of us have an actual
*skill*," drawled the disembodied voice.
"Regan!" Serena allowed a relieved rush of air to leave her
lungs.
"Regan?" Darien echoed. Serena shook her head at his bafflement.
"I'll explain later."
"Right then. Here I am. Whatever shall I do with myself?"
Serena laughed. "Just walk toward the sound of my voice."
"Entertaining as that sounds, I think I'll take a look at the
main fuse box first."
"It's under the stadium," Yaten offered.
"No! Really?" the voice shot back. A high powered beam of light
lanced the darkness, and footsteps were heard walking across the room
and down the cement ramp. There was a loud metallic clunk, and then
the footsteps faded away. Yaten groaned.
"I hate that woman. I really, truly do."
Yaten's complaints aside, Serena knew they were in good hands.
The day was saved, and all she had to do now was kick back and wait
for power to be restored. And in the meantime...
Serena swung herself down from the light booth, grateful that
her professors had forced all theatre majors to walk around various
rooms in the dark. It didn't require much effort, therefore, to swing
around the ladder and down to the ground. Taking a deep breath, Serena
slumped her shoulders, covering her face with her hands. When two strong hands descended on her shoulders, Serena simply leaned back into Darien, relaxing even more as he slipped his arms around her waist.
"My hero," Darien whispered into her ear. Serena just smiled and
continued listening to the sounds of techies attempting to continue with buisness as usual. No easy task, since most of the buisness involved some type of electricity. So for the most part, people were just standing around waiting for something different to happen.
Without much warning, something different did. As suddenly as it
had blacked out, the theatre exploded into a supernova of light.
Everyone winced, holding their arms up to shield their eyes.
"I fixed it," the same husky female voice singsonged from the
back of the stadium. Applause, whistles and calls of "You're the best"
and "We love you Regan" nearly deafened Serena. She turned and broke
away from Darien to approach the woman to whom the voice belonged.
A tall adult with short auburn hair and leaf green eyes was
standing in the back of the stadium in front of the doorway that
lead to the dressing rooms and crew locker room. She wore a black
tanktop under a gray garment like those worn by mechanics. The gray
garment was unbuttoned to the waist, a tool belt cinching it tight.
The woman blew her bangs out of her eyes and smiled at Serena.
"You may commence to your burning of incense and offerings of
small gifts," Regan drawled. Serena laughed, and hugged the other woman.
"Blew a fuse you did. Surprising, since this place was rewired
a year and a half ago. But hey, shit happens. I fixed it, and it'll hold until tonight."
"Are you coming to the concert?"
"Wouldn't miss it. I even have an invite to the party afterward.
Costume is ready."
"Thank you so much, Regan. I really appriciate this,"
"No worries. I am, after all, being well paid for my trouble."
Regan glanced up and smiled at Darien. "Don't tell me. You were expecting someone a bit more...masculine?"
Darien smiled ironically. "Regan *is* a male name."
"Only if you pronounce it like the former American president.
If you pronounce it 'Ree-gann' then it's female. And I've never met
a man with the name 'Regina' on his birth certificate." Regan made
a face, crossing her eyes and sticking her tounge out in a gesture
of disgust. Darien and Serena smiled, and Regina's face relaxed into
a more normal expression.
"Problem solved. But I want to check the rest of the wires in that fuse box before I leave, and I'll bring my tools to the concert, just in case."
"Thank you Regan. We owe you our lives."
"Not to mention our paychecks!" Chad cracked from the catwalk. Michael had run over from the sound booth. Without a word he collapsed to his knees and began salaaming to Regan, a gesture she took in stride.
"Thank you, thank you very much," Regan quipped, sounding a great deal like Elvis. Michael's salamming ceased, and he rose to one knee. Reaching for Regan's hand, Michael closed his eyes and put one hand over his heart.
"She's an electrical genius and she likes Elvis. Marry me."
"Can't. Love to, but can't," Regan stated calmly, mock regret pasted all over her face. Pushing long bangs away from her face, Regan started toward her tool box, leaving Michael on the floor. Smiling he rose and trotted back to the sound booth, recieving claps on the back from the techies. Serena watched as Regan retrieved her tools, saluted The Lights with a bundle of insulated wire and vanished into the darkness below the stadium once again.
"What's the story there?" Darien inquired.
Serena didn't have to ask what he meant.
"Regan and I were in school together. She learned all about the
elecrical repair buisness from her dad, and inherited his buisness when
he passed away. She's the best, and the only one I can count on for any
kind of problem. Funny, but her dad wanted a boy. So she set out to prove that she could do anything a boy could do, and twice as well. She succeeded, and she's still one of the most feminine women I know. She's amazing."
"Why don't she and Yaten get along?"
"Who knows? They never have, as far as I can tell. But they've formed an odd kind of camraderie. He sends her flowers on her birthday, and she never forgets Christmas. So I suppose they get along rather well. They enjoy arguing with each other, and boy is it fun to watch them!"
Darien nodded and Serena leaned in to him. Slowly, she turned in
his arms. Darien looked down with interest.
"I believe I was promised a kiss," Serena mentioned.
"Umm, so you were," Darien murmured, lowering his head. Serena smiled and then began participating in the kiss. She might have lost track of time entirely had it not been for Melvin.
"Serena? Serena, I am really sorry. That looks very entertaining, but the Jeweler's Quartet is heading toward us. All four of them, plus the Four."
Serena broke away regretfully. One glance in the direction of the
stage showed that the techies and The Lights had their eyes fastened on
her and Darien. No one had even noticed the Quartet walking through the
doors and into the Stadium.
"May we help you?" Serena asked loudly. Most of the techies turned back to what they were doing rather quickly, but a few kept staring. Serena shook her head and faced the Quartet. Seiya, Taiki and Yaten had jumped off the stage and were heading for the two of them as well.
"Ambush. Hide me," Serena muttered. Kunzite and Andrew were on their way as well.
"And behind curtain number 2..." Darien muttered. Serena was
confused for a moment, but that faded quickly. Rubeus was walking a
step behind the rest of his siblings, his wife Catherine, or Catsy,
on his arm. Sapphire and his fiancee Prisma were holding hands.
Emerald walked with her buisness partners Avery and Birdy. The three
were quite obviously preoccupied with other matters. Diamond walked
in front, leading his clan. And just a step behind him was Beryl Blake.
****************************************************************
Raye watched avidly from the catwalk as the groups converged on
Serena and Darien.
"Mary and Joseph. They brought an army!" Chad muttered, his arms
dangling over the rail.
"And here come the allies..." Raye quipped.
"The enemy takes over in a carefully executed pass..." Chad took
on an announcer like personality as the Black clan crossed in front of
The Three Lights and the two stage managers.
"A diversionary tactic," Chad stated as Emerald's buisness partners turned swiftly away from the Black's and toward Andrew and Kunzite. Andrew brushed past them, but Kunzite was effectively waylaid.
"Allies-6, Enemy-7," Raye commented, counting the number of people left on each side. "What say we even the odds?"
With a gleam in her eye, Raye began hurrying toward the ladder of
the cat.
"Raye! Where are you going?" Chad called, only moments behind her.
"To offer moral support," Raye said, eyes on the ladder. "I wouldn't miss this for the world!"
******************************************************************
So what did you think, all? Mail me and let me know!
Did you find the movie lines? Yes? No? Well, here they are! "Did you
miss me?" is from 'The Mask of Zorro'. And the 'Having trouble with your droid? No, no trouble' is from 'The Empire Strikes Back.' The 'My hero,' is from 'What Women Want' and the 'Can't. Love to, but can't' is from Disney's 'Hercules'! That's all folks!
Ahhhh, and here's some more news. I (the movie fanatic, who loves all
things pertaining to film) is now co-moderator of the ASMR Discussion
Board 'Movies and Entertainment' forum. How perfect is that, ne? So
come see me!
And don't forget, new e-mail!
lyrasoze@hotmail.com.
New e-mail. Isn't that exciting? Come on, movie fans, find the
reference in my handle...and I have a web page!
www.geocities.com/lyra_2040/lyras_studio.html. Come sign my Guest Book!
You are getting sleepy....very sleepy...you will visit Lyra's page and
sign her GuesBook....sleepy....
Hi everyone! How are you all doing? Well, my little fantasy world
didn't exist this summer. In said world, I am free to write as much as
I choose. I may dig a hole into my room and remain in it with my laptop
all summer long. And no one would miss me. HAH!!!!
All rightie then, here we go! I dedicate this chapter to Jessica,
who has left for basic training in Missouri, and whom I shall miss
more than words can say. And to Don, the wonderful moderator of
the Favorites forum on the message board. Good luck to you, and
know that you are in my thoughts. As always, thanks to Mary Annie, Skott and
all the wonderful people who e-mail me and keep me happy! And to
all those of you who read my stories at all. I love you!
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand now, the most popular game on the Internet, HIDDEN
MOVIE LINES!!! With your host, Lyra-chan! There are movie lines
hidden (or rather, placed strategically) throughout the chapter.
Try and find 'em! Some are easy and some are hard...Bwa ha ha ha ha.
Disclaimer: Is there another word for synonym? No really, think about
it...Sailor Moon is not now nor has it ever been mine...
whose cruel idea was it to put an 's' in 'lisp'? I don't
own that funny e-mail either.
All The World's A Stage
by Lyra Matsuoka
Chapter 7
Rated PG-13
Serena was blissfully happy. She'd never have imagined that stoic
Dr. Chiba would resort to the 'Me-Tarzan-you-Jane' type of mentality, but since it produced such interesting results, she thought it best not to complain. And the effects were devestating, to say the least. The man could kiss, and Serena was of the opinion that it was a very useful
sort of skill to have.
But reality was intruding. The fact that she was unable to see Darien when she opened her eyes was very troublesome for some reason, and before long she realized why. If the lights were still out down here, then the lights were off everywhere else in the stadium. Damn.
"Darien?" she began tentatively, pulling her lips away.
"Yes?" he drawled back, in a super sexy way. Serena felt shivers
running up and down her spine. She was so caught up in the feeling that
she forgot what she was going to say.
"I forget," she murmured.
"What a remarkable thing." And Darien placed his lips upon hers once again, effectively cutting off any avenue of communication for the moment. And Serena didn't mind a bit. But that damn little Jimminy Cricket wannabe in the back of her mind continued pestering her.
She decided to try again.
"Darien?"
"Mmmm," he purred, a deep rumbling in his chest. He moved from her lips to the rest of her face, showering her eyelids and cheekbones with butterfly kisses before attempting to return to her mouth. Serena stopped him, regret heavy in her chest.
"It's dark in here."
"Why, so it is. I've always been partial to darkness myself..."
"But it isn't *supposed* to be dark. This is a state of the art
facility. If it's dark down here, then it's dark in the rest of the stadium and The Lights are supposed to be performing here tonight."
Darien sighed. "Time to save the concert?"
"Uh huh."
"Damn. Somehow I knew you were going to say that," Darien muttered. "Very well, Madame Lights."
Darien started to get up, but was stopped by a soft hand on his arm.
"I am welcome to the continuation of this little foray after the partytonight," Serena murmured.
That said, Serena began groping along the floor, encountering a myriadof discarded food containers. She heard Darien trying to walk behind her, andwaited patiently for a crash and the inevitable swearing fit that would follow.She was not disappointed. Some part of Darien's body (all right, best not to venture too far in that direction...) collided with some sort of solid object. Serena would bet her next months paycheck he had just found the table. Good
for him.
"Owwwwww...God damn thing..."
Serena waited for the cursing to subside.
"Far be it from the lighting technician to offer advice to the geneticist, but maybe you should crawl along the ground until we get into the hall. Just a suggestion."
"Very funny. But your point is taken. I shall crawl."
"Wise decision."
Serena turned her head back in the direction of the door. At least, she was fairly certain the door was that way. She really, really hoped it was. She didn't want to feel like an idiot at this point in time. So she did the only logical thing. She put one hand out in front of her in the hope that her fingers would find the wall in enought time to prevent the rest of her body from colliding with it. But her hand proved far more helpful than that. It found the door jam. Clever hand.
"Darien, I found the door. Now all we have to do is follow the hall around to the ramp and then out into the rest of the stadium."
"Oh joy."
Serena jumped. Darien was right behind her, bending down to nuzzle her neck. How did he do that? She pondered this question to prevent her brain from turning to mush when he wrapped his arms around her midsection. After a few seconds, after she reminded herself how to speak, Serena came up with a flippant question that would bring the ball back into her home court.
"Do you have night vision or something?" she asked.
"What?" Darien lifted his head away from her neck, but he didn't unwraphis arms. Serena smiled at that.
"Night vision. Do you see shapes in neon green when you are in a dark room?"
Darien was silent for a moment. "No, I can't and I don't. Interesting idea though. Memo to me, memo to me, research hypothetical night vision in human beings."
"So funny. Come on, Dr. Frankenstein. Let's go save the concert."
"How about you save and I say 'My Hero' when you're done?"
"Complete with kiss?"
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
Serena smiled. Seemed fair to her. She pulled out of Darien's
embrace and began tugging him in what she knew to be the direction of
the ramp.
***************************************************************
"Hey everyone, I found a flashlight!" Michael declared from the
sound booth. Almost immediatly a faint glow could be seen in the sound
booth. Applause burst out on the catwalk, and the grips let out several
loud cheers. But it was only one light, and it certainly wasn't enough
to light an entire show, which everyone realized very quickly when Seiya picked up where he had left off when the laughter started and began demanding that someone take that one little bitty light and go find Serena.
"Wonderful. We have liftoff. Now, will someone please go dig
my master electrician out of the dregs of this stadium and bring her
back to the surface so that she can *fix* this?!" Seiya bellowed.
"Well, it's just lovely to be appriciated. Did you miss me?"
Everyone turned their heads in the direction of the voice, though
it wasn't much use. It was simply too dark to see anything. But the voice was unmistakable.
"Serena, thank every deity in every country in the entire universe! What's with the darkness?" Seiya asked, anger wiped from his tone. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Once again, Serena had arrived in just enough time to prevent Seiya from blowing the roof off the stadium.
"Well, I have no idea. Melvin, having trouble with your droid?"
"No, no trouble," came the muffled reply. Serena laughed aloud,
and everyone listened for the sound of footsteps. They were not
disappointed. Within moments, Serena was speaking again, this time to
Melvin, and her voice was as muffled as his. But Melvin's tone was a
little higher, a little closer to hysteria then made most people
comfortable, seeing as how he was personally responsible for close
to a million dollars in high-tech equipment. But it didn't seem to
bother Serena, as she continued speaking slowly and calmly to the
distressed operator for several minutes. As no one could understand
a word they were saying, conversation resumed. Serena was here
now, and that meant that everything would be all right soon. No
need to worry. Up on the catwalk, Raye and Chad were discussing
the latest anime hit when something occured to Raye.
"Hey Darien! You down there?"
"Yes."
But that one word loosed a barrage of questions, most just
whispered between crew members. If Darien was here now, and he wasn't
here when the lights went out, then he must have been with Serena. When
the lights went out. They had been together during the blackout. And
speculation ran wild about what they might have been doing. In the
lower levels. In the dark. Alone. The pieces of the puzzle were falling
neatly into place. Seiya was suddenly grateful for the darkness which
hid his pleased, and rather foolish, matchmaking smile.
But the self congratulation was not to last. Serena was back in
the captain's chair, and she was in her element.
"Does anyone have a cell phone handy?"
"I do," Nephlite drawled from somewhere toward the right.
"Me, too," Sheridan added. Serena glanced toward the sound booth.
Sure enough, Sheridan was standing in the dim glow, her cellular phone
at the ready. A few more grips called out that they had phones as well,
and Taiki turned his on and waved it above his head.
"Good. Taiki, you call Black Industries. I don't really care
which of the Jewelers Quartet you speak to, but make sure the message
gets to Diamond eventually. Tell him that I expect a full examination
of the wiring in this place the moment we are finished tonight. Nephlite, you get in touch with the electrical company. Make sure that we're the only one's who have been plunged in to utter darkness. And Sheridan...call Regan."
**************************************************************
Darien was amazed at how quickly a group of silent worker bees
could come to life. The moment Serena asked Sheridan to contact this Regan, everyone began making noise. Some were laughing, some were cheering, some were groaning. And one person was protesting.
"Oh, no. No way, Serena. Pick somebody else!"
"Like who, Yaten? Who else do you think is going to get us out of
this? The chair opens the floor to suggestions and debate."
"Regan is the most insulting, most sarcastic and most expensive
electrical expert in the world."
"And here I thought that was me."
"You're worth it, Serena. You're the best."
"And you don't insult his hair style and clothing." Darien's eyes
widened. He knew that voice.
"Don't help, Andrew!"
Andrew? Wait a second...
"That doesn't change the fact that Serena is the best."
"So is Regan. Make the call, Sheridan, and then hand the phone to me. I will ask Regan to come and help us out."
Sheridan must have anticipated this request/command, because she
was already at the foot of the light booth ladder when Serena finished
talking. Sheridan hastily dialed a number and handed the phone up to Serena. Darien watched in fascination as the sillohette of her hand shone through the dark, accented by neon green.
"Hello Regan. Yes, this is Serena. Yup, as in 'The Three Lights'. Master electrician. Uh-huh. Well, funny you should ask. See, we have this little tiny problem. The whole stadium is dark. Lights, microphones, guitars, everything is dead. Yeah. Would you really? How sweet of you. Now is good for me. Yes, of course we'll pay you double. (Darien heard Yaten groan, and laughter intensified on the sidelines) He's here. I promise. All right. See you soon. Bye!"
Serena cut the connection with a little beep. "On the way."
Darien listened intently. A laugh exploded from the back of the
auditorium. It was him, all right.
"Andrew? Is that you?"
"Hey, Darien. What's going on?"
Truly unfair that he could sound so calm. What was he doing here
anyway? Darein racked his brain. Finally he settled on a memory of his
high school days. Andrew had always been more interested in theatre
than in his family buisness. And Andrew always said that he had a job
outside Crown Enterprises. This must be it. Darien rubbed his forhead.
He needed to get out more.
********************************************************************
The stadium came more and more to life every minute. Serena sat
Melvin down in the back of the light booth and commenced poking around
in the mass of wires behind it as though she would be able to sense what had happened to cause this black out.
"Well, Sere, I got ahold of Emerald and Sapphire. They were on the way to a meeting with Diamond, and said they would pass the message on. No doubt we will be graced by a visit from the illustrious chief of the Black clan before the day is out." Taiki's speech was met with cheers and an exasperated sigh escaped Serena.
"Well, we can always hope that something comes up. Meeting.
Emergency."
"Critical tennis match?" Yaten suggested. Serena snorted.
"Well, this is charming. What did you do this time, Yaten?" a
low, slightly husky, and most definitly female voice drawled from
somewhere near the doors
"Oh, fabulous. You have arrived. I can't *tell* you how I've
missed being pushed around and insulted by y..."
"Can it, Yaten. I have work to do. Some of us have an actual
*skill*," drawled the disembodied voice.
"Regan!" Serena allowed a relieved rush of air to leave her
lungs.
"Regan?" Darien echoed. Serena shook her head at his bafflement.
"I'll explain later."
"Right then. Here I am. Whatever shall I do with myself?"
Serena laughed. "Just walk toward the sound of my voice."
"Entertaining as that sounds, I think I'll take a look at the
main fuse box first."
"It's under the stadium," Yaten offered.
"No! Really?" the voice shot back. A high powered beam of light
lanced the darkness, and footsteps were heard walking across the room
and down the cement ramp. There was a loud metallic clunk, and then
the footsteps faded away. Yaten groaned.
"I hate that woman. I really, truly do."
Yaten's complaints aside, Serena knew they were in good hands.
The day was saved, and all she had to do now was kick back and wait
for power to be restored. And in the meantime...
Serena swung herself down from the light booth, grateful that
her professors had forced all theatre majors to walk around various
rooms in the dark. It didn't require much effort, therefore, to swing
around the ladder and down to the ground. Taking a deep breath, Serena
slumped her shoulders, covering her face with her hands. When two strong hands descended on her shoulders, Serena simply leaned back into Darien, relaxing even more as he slipped his arms around her waist.
"My hero," Darien whispered into her ear. Serena just smiled and
continued listening to the sounds of techies attempting to continue with buisness as usual. No easy task, since most of the buisness involved some type of electricity. So for the most part, people were just standing around waiting for something different to happen.
Without much warning, something different did. As suddenly as it
had blacked out, the theatre exploded into a supernova of light.
Everyone winced, holding their arms up to shield their eyes.
"I fixed it," the same husky female voice singsonged from the
back of the stadium. Applause, whistles and calls of "You're the best"
and "We love you Regan" nearly deafened Serena. She turned and broke
away from Darien to approach the woman to whom the voice belonged.
A tall adult with short auburn hair and leaf green eyes was
standing in the back of the stadium in front of the doorway that
lead to the dressing rooms and crew locker room. She wore a black
tanktop under a gray garment like those worn by mechanics. The gray
garment was unbuttoned to the waist, a tool belt cinching it tight.
The woman blew her bangs out of her eyes and smiled at Serena.
"You may commence to your burning of incense and offerings of
small gifts," Regan drawled. Serena laughed, and hugged the other woman.
"Blew a fuse you did. Surprising, since this place was rewired
a year and a half ago. But hey, shit happens. I fixed it, and it'll hold until tonight."
"Are you coming to the concert?"
"Wouldn't miss it. I even have an invite to the party afterward.
Costume is ready."
"Thank you so much, Regan. I really appriciate this,"
"No worries. I am, after all, being well paid for my trouble."
Regan glanced up and smiled at Darien. "Don't tell me. You were expecting someone a bit more...masculine?"
Darien smiled ironically. "Regan *is* a male name."
"Only if you pronounce it like the former American president.
If you pronounce it 'Ree-gann' then it's female. And I've never met
a man with the name 'Regina' on his birth certificate." Regan made
a face, crossing her eyes and sticking her tounge out in a gesture
of disgust. Darien and Serena smiled, and Regina's face relaxed into
a more normal expression.
"Problem solved. But I want to check the rest of the wires in that fuse box before I leave, and I'll bring my tools to the concert, just in case."
"Thank you Regan. We owe you our lives."
"Not to mention our paychecks!" Chad cracked from the catwalk. Michael had run over from the sound booth. Without a word he collapsed to his knees and began salaaming to Regan, a gesture she took in stride.
"Thank you, thank you very much," Regan quipped, sounding a great deal like Elvis. Michael's salamming ceased, and he rose to one knee. Reaching for Regan's hand, Michael closed his eyes and put one hand over his heart.
"She's an electrical genius and she likes Elvis. Marry me."
"Can't. Love to, but can't," Regan stated calmly, mock regret pasted all over her face. Pushing long bangs away from her face, Regan started toward her tool box, leaving Michael on the floor. Smiling he rose and trotted back to the sound booth, recieving claps on the back from the techies. Serena watched as Regan retrieved her tools, saluted The Lights with a bundle of insulated wire and vanished into the darkness below the stadium once again.
"What's the story there?" Darien inquired.
Serena didn't have to ask what he meant.
"Regan and I were in school together. She learned all about the
elecrical repair buisness from her dad, and inherited his buisness when
he passed away. She's the best, and the only one I can count on for any
kind of problem. Funny, but her dad wanted a boy. So she set out to prove that she could do anything a boy could do, and twice as well. She succeeded, and she's still one of the most feminine women I know. She's amazing."
"Why don't she and Yaten get along?"
"Who knows? They never have, as far as I can tell. But they've formed an odd kind of camraderie. He sends her flowers on her birthday, and she never forgets Christmas. So I suppose they get along rather well. They enjoy arguing with each other, and boy is it fun to watch them!"
Darien nodded and Serena leaned in to him. Slowly, she turned in
his arms. Darien looked down with interest.
"I believe I was promised a kiss," Serena mentioned.
"Umm, so you were," Darien murmured, lowering his head. Serena smiled and then began participating in the kiss. She might have lost track of time entirely had it not been for Melvin.
"Serena? Serena, I am really sorry. That looks very entertaining, but the Jeweler's Quartet is heading toward us. All four of them, plus the Four."
Serena broke away regretfully. One glance in the direction of the
stage showed that the techies and The Lights had their eyes fastened on
her and Darien. No one had even noticed the Quartet walking through the
doors and into the Stadium.
"May we help you?" Serena asked loudly. Most of the techies turned back to what they were doing rather quickly, but a few kept staring. Serena shook her head and faced the Quartet. Seiya, Taiki and Yaten had jumped off the stage and were heading for the two of them as well.
"Ambush. Hide me," Serena muttered. Kunzite and Andrew were on their way as well.
"And behind curtain number 2..." Darien muttered. Serena was
confused for a moment, but that faded quickly. Rubeus was walking a
step behind the rest of his siblings, his wife Catherine, or Catsy,
on his arm. Sapphire and his fiancee Prisma were holding hands.
Emerald walked with her buisness partners Avery and Birdy. The three
were quite obviously preoccupied with other matters. Diamond walked
in front, leading his clan. And just a step behind him was Beryl Blake.
****************************************************************
Raye watched avidly from the catwalk as the groups converged on
Serena and Darien.
"Mary and Joseph. They brought an army!" Chad muttered, his arms
dangling over the rail.
"And here come the allies..." Raye quipped.
"The enemy takes over in a carefully executed pass..." Chad took
on an announcer like personality as the Black clan crossed in front of
The Three Lights and the two stage managers.
"A diversionary tactic," Chad stated as Emerald's buisness partners turned swiftly away from the Black's and toward Andrew and Kunzite. Andrew brushed past them, but Kunzite was effectively waylaid.
"Allies-6, Enemy-7," Raye commented, counting the number of people left on each side. "What say we even the odds?"
With a gleam in her eye, Raye began hurrying toward the ladder of
the cat.
"Raye! Where are you going?" Chad called, only moments behind her.
"To offer moral support," Raye said, eyes on the ladder. "I wouldn't miss this for the world!"
******************************************************************
So what did you think, all? Mail me and let me know!
Did you find the movie lines? Yes? No? Well, here they are! "Did you
miss me?" is from 'The Mask of Zorro'. And the 'Having trouble with your droid? No, no trouble' is from 'The Empire Strikes Back.' The 'My hero,' is from 'What Women Want' and the 'Can't. Love to, but can't' is from Disney's 'Hercules'! That's all folks!
Ahhhh, and here's some more news. I (the movie fanatic, who loves all
things pertaining to film) is now co-moderator of the ASMR Discussion
Board 'Movies and Entertainment' forum. How perfect is that, ne? So
come see me!
And don't forget, new e-mail!
lyrasoze@hotmail.com.