"Hi Mackie!" NeNe waved on the way through the garage. Mackie was bent
over, working on a dark black jaguar. He raised his face from the engine,
brown eyes peering at Nene. He was smudged in oil. "Oh hi NeNe," he
greeted, "They're all in there waiting on you." He waved towards the back
of the Silky Dolls shop.
"Thanks!" NeNe zipped by with a smile. There was an elevator that went way down underneath the ground to where Sylia kept the equipment for training.
"Sorry I'm late. You girls won't believe what happened to me today," she said when she entered the underground training area. Priss was hooked up to the arm muscle machine. Linna was helping her. Sylia was examining the computer board, which contained readouts from the information NeNe had downloaded for her.
Ne Ne headed for the changing room that contained the workout suits as Priss said, "What? What happened?"
NeNe's head popped up over the door of the room for just a moment, her green eyes sparkling with excitement. "I received flowers from a Secret Admirer!" Her head disappeared behind the door.
Priss grinned at Linna. Linna poked Priss in the side. "Really?" Priss interjected a hint of doubt in her voice, "I would have thought you were late from stopping at the bakery."
"Ooh," NeNe's eyes flashed green fire at Priss from the changing room. She pulled her practice suit on angrily, "You're soooo mean Priss!"
"Do you think she's gained two or twenty centimeters these past two weeks?" Priss asked Linna. Linna giggled.
"I'll have you know," NeNe marched out of the dressing room with a frown on her face. "I haven't touched a sweet in five days!" She tugged on her practice suit as if to prove she lost weight. She didn't really but she didn't gain either.
"Wow what a record," Priss grinned.
"Stop teasing," Sylia tsked, "Your turn in the training NeNe. You got above a five last time. Try for a six now."
NeNe stuck her tongue out at Priss before turning and going into the training room. "Ready Sylia." she called. She waited for the start of the hologram program. It was a tricky program designed with three points to touch before the enemy was considered terminated. Sylia was nice though and set two attack points for Nene, for now.
"Same as before. You'll have two different attack points in a ninety second period," came Sylia's voice from the intercom. She hit a few buttons and started the program.
NeNe watched the hologram come towards her. It looked like a blob with balls in it. She had to find the right point, without getting touched.
~Two or twenty do you think?~ Priss's voice echoed. NeNe saw her face on the blob. ~You eat too many sweets~ Priss snatching away the cookie from her hand.
"I do not!" NeNe cried striking forward with her hand. She hit the blob directly in the center. A light shot out from the hologram, hitting her in the head. The buzzer sounded.
"Not again!" NeNe slumped down. She was distracted too easily and never beat the hologram like that. Priss and Linna were laughing as always from within the booth. "Good going Nene," Priss's throaty voice came over the microphone, laughing.
"Try again," Sylia encouraged. She set the program again. "Ready?"
NeNe took a breath. She cleared her mind of everything. "Ready!" she agreed. The hologram started again, but she was ready. NeNe's head quickly did the math and twenty seconds later, she punched the first attack point, dodging three hologram arms.
~The angle of the last one was twenty degrees on target, so the next one,~ NeNe's eyes examined the hologram. She leapt out of the way of two blows, one almost touching her leg. ~Aha,~ she found the weak point in the top back. She frowned. The hologram was taller than her.
"Fifteen seconds NeNe," Sylia reminded.
NeNe ducked four more blows. She rolled in a sommersault on the ground underneath the hologram coming up behind it. "Tag you're it!" she tapped the hologram. It disappeared with 00:02 left on the clock.
"Yay!" NeNe jumped up and down in glee. "I did it! I did it! I did it!"
"She finally cleared level six," Sylia smiled, "Good for you NeNe!"
"Way to go!" Priss smiled. "You go girl!" Linna pumped her fist in the air.
NeNe beamed happily. They were pains in the butt sometimes, but Priss and Linna always wanted her to do better. "I will get to level eight someday!" she held up a fist.
"You're not there yet doughnut girl," Priss's voice cut through the microphone. "Now come on out so I can have a go." She cracked her knuckles at the thought.
NeNe stuck her tongue out at Priss again. She was too happy to be brought down by insults. She CLEARED level 6!!!
* * *
"That's the last of them," Priss shut the door to Linna's minivan. She had loaded the last box into the large storage capacity in the back.
"Are you sure this is a good idea Priss? I mean this is like..vandalism.." Linna glanced back into the garage storeroom nervously, "You didn't miss any did you?" She really wasn't too sure about this. "Did you disconnect the wires?"
"Got them all and yes it's a good idea. Now get in your car and drive!"
Linna started her van and drove off. Priss walked back through the supplies room, into the main area of the garage. "Good night Mackie," she waved to him as if nothing were wrong.
"Night Priss," Mackie waved from his work. He stood up straight and wiped his hands on a rag. Then he cleaned his face from the grease that acquired there.
Priss jumped on her motorcycle chuckling. She wanted to stay and see what happened, but if she did it would ruin the plan. Sylia was already gone and Linna had all the parts in her van. Priss had to disappear before NeNe looked at her scooter, Mackie looked at his car and they looked at the phone lines.
Those two would never know what happened.
** * * * **
NeNe was beaming as she left Raven's Garage. She HAD lost a whole half centimeters according to the body scanner. She was so happy! A secret admirer, gaining level 5, and losing a half centimeter; Santa was visiting her early this year!
"Good night Mackie!" NeNe waved on the way out. Mackie closed the hood of the jaguar he was working on. "Good night NeNe."
NeNe swung her leg over her scooter. She turned the key. Nothing happened. She tried again. There wasn't even a clicking of the engine.
"Oh no! I hope the battery isn't dead!" NeNe jumped off the small bike. "Mackie!" she called out walking back into the garage. "Mackie!" She frowned. She was having such a great day too! And then this happened!
"What is it?" Mackie emerged from the office. He had just been about to close up.
"My scooter won't start. Could you look at it and tell me what's wrong? Please?" NeNe pleaded.
"Sure thing," Mackie walked outside with her. "It's dark out," Mackie grabbed the handlebars, "Let's push it inside the shop." She followed him back inside as he settled it in a spot usually favored by Priss's cycle.
Inside the garage, Mackie knelt down next to the motor. He pushed, prodded and poked at the engine. He bent over, Nene with him as if she could see what the problem was. "Aha, here's your problem," Mackie pointed. "Someone has taken your spark plugs. He backed up nearly bumping into Nene. "Oh sorry!" Nene moved out of his way.
"It's not a problem. I have some in the back." Mackie reassured her as he stood up.
"Great!" NeNe breathed a sigh of relief. Mackie disappeared into the storage room. Just a few minutes went by and he reappeared with a confused look on his face. "I could swear I ordered some last week," he muttered. To NeNe he said, "I'm sorry. I thought I had spark plugs for your scooter type but I'm all out of them. I can pick some up in the morning and fix it. In the meantime, do you need a ride?"
"Yes," Nene nodded. She regarded her scooter mournfully. "I suppose I can call Naoko in the morning for a ride to work." She was already planning ahead. Mackie smiled and escorted her to his car. He opened the passenger side for her and then got in himself. "Don't worry. It will be ready tomorrow night," he said reassuringly. He turned the key.
Just as with Nene's scooter, nothing happened. Mackie turned the key again. He pumped the gas pedal. "Oh this is just great!" He rolled his eyes. Getting out of the car, he released the hood and then went around to lift it. Staring down, he found once more spark plugs had been taken. And if what he suspected was correct, the back room didn't have his type of spark plugs either. "Just a moment Nene," He went to the backroom.
As expected, the boxes of spark plugs had disappeared. He frowned. There weren't many but this meant there was a thief who had gotten in somehow to the garage. He would have to call the police to file a report. He emerged from the storage facility and walked over to his car. Leaning down he peered into the window where Nene looked curiously back up at him. "Any luck?"
He shook his head. "No," Mackie opened the door to let her out. "Someone has stolen all the sparkplugs from my storage room." He frowned. "I need to call the police to file a report. I'll call you a taxi too to take you home." He helped her out. Nene nodded and went with him to the office.
"Oh good," Mackie picked up a pile of papers, "I almost forgot these." He picked up the phone shuffling the pile until it was a neater stack. He began to dial the number when he noticed there was no dial tone. He hung up. Once more he picked up the receiver and jiggled the connector. "Well." He looked mystified.
"What is it?" Nene asked. When he explained it to her, she frowned. "Check the connection," she pointed to the extending cords. Inspection of it revealed there was nothing wrong with the connection to the outlet. "What in the world is going on?" Mackie sighed. He picked up his pile of papers. "Looks like we're walking home."
"What?" Nene panicked. "Mackie my apartment is ten miles from here! It'd take me all night to walk there!" She didn't even want to think of how long the walk or how dangerous it would be on the night streets. Priss was comfortable walking around but Nene knew what it was like. They didn't take to cops really well.
"Calm down," Mackie soothed. "Sheesh," He laughed. "A little walk won't kill ya and our apartment is only a half mile from here you know that," He reached out and tweaked Nene's nose. "We'll walk there and call you a taxi from there."
"Oh," Nene looked relieved. She picked up her stuff and slung her purse over her shoulder, gripping it tight. "Ready." Mackie nodded. "Hold on," He found a folder and slipped the bills and letters inside that he had to go through tonight for the garage.
"Thanks!" NeNe zipped by with a smile. There was an elevator that went way down underneath the ground to where Sylia kept the equipment for training.
"Sorry I'm late. You girls won't believe what happened to me today," she said when she entered the underground training area. Priss was hooked up to the arm muscle machine. Linna was helping her. Sylia was examining the computer board, which contained readouts from the information NeNe had downloaded for her.
Ne Ne headed for the changing room that contained the workout suits as Priss said, "What? What happened?"
NeNe's head popped up over the door of the room for just a moment, her green eyes sparkling with excitement. "I received flowers from a Secret Admirer!" Her head disappeared behind the door.
Priss grinned at Linna. Linna poked Priss in the side. "Really?" Priss interjected a hint of doubt in her voice, "I would have thought you were late from stopping at the bakery."
"Ooh," NeNe's eyes flashed green fire at Priss from the changing room. She pulled her practice suit on angrily, "You're soooo mean Priss!"
"Do you think she's gained two or twenty centimeters these past two weeks?" Priss asked Linna. Linna giggled.
"I'll have you know," NeNe marched out of the dressing room with a frown on her face. "I haven't touched a sweet in five days!" She tugged on her practice suit as if to prove she lost weight. She didn't really but she didn't gain either.
"Wow what a record," Priss grinned.
"Stop teasing," Sylia tsked, "Your turn in the training NeNe. You got above a five last time. Try for a six now."
NeNe stuck her tongue out at Priss before turning and going into the training room. "Ready Sylia." she called. She waited for the start of the hologram program. It was a tricky program designed with three points to touch before the enemy was considered terminated. Sylia was nice though and set two attack points for Nene, for now.
"Same as before. You'll have two different attack points in a ninety second period," came Sylia's voice from the intercom. She hit a few buttons and started the program.
NeNe watched the hologram come towards her. It looked like a blob with balls in it. She had to find the right point, without getting touched.
~Two or twenty do you think?~ Priss's voice echoed. NeNe saw her face on the blob. ~You eat too many sweets~ Priss snatching away the cookie from her hand.
"I do not!" NeNe cried striking forward with her hand. She hit the blob directly in the center. A light shot out from the hologram, hitting her in the head. The buzzer sounded.
"Not again!" NeNe slumped down. She was distracted too easily and never beat the hologram like that. Priss and Linna were laughing as always from within the booth. "Good going Nene," Priss's throaty voice came over the microphone, laughing.
"Try again," Sylia encouraged. She set the program again. "Ready?"
NeNe took a breath. She cleared her mind of everything. "Ready!" she agreed. The hologram started again, but she was ready. NeNe's head quickly did the math and twenty seconds later, she punched the first attack point, dodging three hologram arms.
~The angle of the last one was twenty degrees on target, so the next one,~ NeNe's eyes examined the hologram. She leapt out of the way of two blows, one almost touching her leg. ~Aha,~ she found the weak point in the top back. She frowned. The hologram was taller than her.
"Fifteen seconds NeNe," Sylia reminded.
NeNe ducked four more blows. She rolled in a sommersault on the ground underneath the hologram coming up behind it. "Tag you're it!" she tapped the hologram. It disappeared with 00:02 left on the clock.
"Yay!" NeNe jumped up and down in glee. "I did it! I did it! I did it!"
"She finally cleared level six," Sylia smiled, "Good for you NeNe!"
"Way to go!" Priss smiled. "You go girl!" Linna pumped her fist in the air.
NeNe beamed happily. They were pains in the butt sometimes, but Priss and Linna always wanted her to do better. "I will get to level eight someday!" she held up a fist.
"You're not there yet doughnut girl," Priss's voice cut through the microphone. "Now come on out so I can have a go." She cracked her knuckles at the thought.
NeNe stuck her tongue out at Priss again. She was too happy to be brought down by insults. She CLEARED level 6!!!
* * *
"That's the last of them," Priss shut the door to Linna's minivan. She had loaded the last box into the large storage capacity in the back.
"Are you sure this is a good idea Priss? I mean this is like..vandalism.." Linna glanced back into the garage storeroom nervously, "You didn't miss any did you?" She really wasn't too sure about this. "Did you disconnect the wires?"
"Got them all and yes it's a good idea. Now get in your car and drive!"
Linna started her van and drove off. Priss walked back through the supplies room, into the main area of the garage. "Good night Mackie," she waved to him as if nothing were wrong.
"Night Priss," Mackie waved from his work. He stood up straight and wiped his hands on a rag. Then he cleaned his face from the grease that acquired there.
Priss jumped on her motorcycle chuckling. She wanted to stay and see what happened, but if she did it would ruin the plan. Sylia was already gone and Linna had all the parts in her van. Priss had to disappear before NeNe looked at her scooter, Mackie looked at his car and they looked at the phone lines.
Those two would never know what happened.
** * * * **
NeNe was beaming as she left Raven's Garage. She HAD lost a whole half centimeters according to the body scanner. She was so happy! A secret admirer, gaining level 5, and losing a half centimeter; Santa was visiting her early this year!
"Good night Mackie!" NeNe waved on the way out. Mackie closed the hood of the jaguar he was working on. "Good night NeNe."
NeNe swung her leg over her scooter. She turned the key. Nothing happened. She tried again. There wasn't even a clicking of the engine.
"Oh no! I hope the battery isn't dead!" NeNe jumped off the small bike. "Mackie!" she called out walking back into the garage. "Mackie!" She frowned. She was having such a great day too! And then this happened!
"What is it?" Mackie emerged from the office. He had just been about to close up.
"My scooter won't start. Could you look at it and tell me what's wrong? Please?" NeNe pleaded.
"Sure thing," Mackie walked outside with her. "It's dark out," Mackie grabbed the handlebars, "Let's push it inside the shop." She followed him back inside as he settled it in a spot usually favored by Priss's cycle.
Inside the garage, Mackie knelt down next to the motor. He pushed, prodded and poked at the engine. He bent over, Nene with him as if she could see what the problem was. "Aha, here's your problem," Mackie pointed. "Someone has taken your spark plugs. He backed up nearly bumping into Nene. "Oh sorry!" Nene moved out of his way.
"It's not a problem. I have some in the back." Mackie reassured her as he stood up.
"Great!" NeNe breathed a sigh of relief. Mackie disappeared into the storage room. Just a few minutes went by and he reappeared with a confused look on his face. "I could swear I ordered some last week," he muttered. To NeNe he said, "I'm sorry. I thought I had spark plugs for your scooter type but I'm all out of them. I can pick some up in the morning and fix it. In the meantime, do you need a ride?"
"Yes," Nene nodded. She regarded her scooter mournfully. "I suppose I can call Naoko in the morning for a ride to work." She was already planning ahead. Mackie smiled and escorted her to his car. He opened the passenger side for her and then got in himself. "Don't worry. It will be ready tomorrow night," he said reassuringly. He turned the key.
Just as with Nene's scooter, nothing happened. Mackie turned the key again. He pumped the gas pedal. "Oh this is just great!" He rolled his eyes. Getting out of the car, he released the hood and then went around to lift it. Staring down, he found once more spark plugs had been taken. And if what he suspected was correct, the back room didn't have his type of spark plugs either. "Just a moment Nene," He went to the backroom.
As expected, the boxes of spark plugs had disappeared. He frowned. There weren't many but this meant there was a thief who had gotten in somehow to the garage. He would have to call the police to file a report. He emerged from the storage facility and walked over to his car. Leaning down he peered into the window where Nene looked curiously back up at him. "Any luck?"
He shook his head. "No," Mackie opened the door to let her out. "Someone has stolen all the sparkplugs from my storage room." He frowned. "I need to call the police to file a report. I'll call you a taxi too to take you home." He helped her out. Nene nodded and went with him to the office.
"Oh good," Mackie picked up a pile of papers, "I almost forgot these." He picked up the phone shuffling the pile until it was a neater stack. He began to dial the number when he noticed there was no dial tone. He hung up. Once more he picked up the receiver and jiggled the connector. "Well." He looked mystified.
"What is it?" Nene asked. When he explained it to her, she frowned. "Check the connection," she pointed to the extending cords. Inspection of it revealed there was nothing wrong with the connection to the outlet. "What in the world is going on?" Mackie sighed. He picked up his pile of papers. "Looks like we're walking home."
"What?" Nene panicked. "Mackie my apartment is ten miles from here! It'd take me all night to walk there!" She didn't even want to think of how long the walk or how dangerous it would be on the night streets. Priss was comfortable walking around but Nene knew what it was like. They didn't take to cops really well.
"Calm down," Mackie soothed. "Sheesh," He laughed. "A little walk won't kill ya and our apartment is only a half mile from here you know that," He reached out and tweaked Nene's nose. "We'll walk there and call you a taxi from there."
"Oh," Nene looked relieved. She picked up her stuff and slung her purse over her shoulder, gripping it tight. "Ready." Mackie nodded. "Hold on," He found a folder and slipped the bills and letters inside that he had to go through tonight for the garage.