Seyruun High Jinx –NEXT!
Chapter 44
Everything From Soup to Nuts
" Never give advice in a crowd."—Arab proverb
(From: Passion! Shall We Give Our lives for the Stage? Season 1, Episode 16, The Slayers)
Entanglement
Zangalus picked up his phone, "Yeah? Oh, hi. Have you read the script then? You like it? Well, you said you wanted a kinda lampoon of the Slayers so that's what I wrote. Kinda fun, yeah, but the money's more important. You got that? Sure, come over now. Dad's not home, but ya gotta hurry 'cause I havta be back in Mosquita soon. I know it's not much of a drive. Just hurry. Right, bye."
Not much more than half and hour later, Vurumagen was at his front door. Zangalus let him in immediately. "I got the rest of the copies, like you wanted."
"Thanks."
The two young men traded money for scripts with few words. Payment in hand, Zangalus relaxed. "You promised you wouldn't hurt them. So what are you planning to do with these?"
The shorter, mousy-haired man smiled faintly, "Some guys in the dorms are gonna do it as a joke in the Mosquita art competition. No biggy. Most everyone's gonna be seeing that musical and if they do, they might get this and thinks it's funny."
"No one should take this seriously. It's pretty farcical," Zangalus told him. His conscious was free. It wasn't meant to do anyone any harm, just make him a few bucks. He checked his watch. "I gotta go now," he said and escorted Vurumagen to the door. As Zangalus drove off, he put a CD into the player and thought no more of it.
Vurumagen, however, had his work cut out for him, before he in turn got paid...
Entrapment
"Hello? Whoa! Slow down. Stop yelling at me! Okay, I'm hanging up. You can call back when your sanity returns."
"Who was that?" Val asked.
"Your gir-iiiirlfriend," Xelloss sang. "Hopefully she'll get the number right next time and yell at you."
"You just bend her the wrong way."
"And which way is that? All I said was 'hello.' There it goes again. I'm not answering it. You do it."
Val stopped the phone from sliding off the table. "Yo. Nah, s'me. No, he ain't..."
Xelloss pointed to the bathroom door of the motel room.
Val went on, "He's in the bathroom."
Filia sniffed indignantly. She was drying her hair in the room she was sharing a few doors down. "Hiding. I just know the creep's in there hiding from me. Well, he'd better, if he knows what's good for him. If I could murder him this minute and not screw up the musical, I'd do it! Gods I hate him! HATE! HATE! HATE!"
"Hey, now! Hold on, Fil. What's the dude done to rile ya up so?" Val met Xelloss' eyes. "Oh, yeah? Yer cousins called? The twins?"
Xelloss smiled and lay back on his bed, hands behind his head. Them...
"They told ya what? Where'd they hear that?" All the amusement evaporated from his voice. "Their dad? Hold on." Val slammed his rough hand over the dainty little mouth piece and whispered to Xelloss, "Slate's the one, or in cahoots with the spy."
Xelloss shot up, "No! That makes no sense."
Val waved at him to be quiet. "Fil...babe, listen, don't blame Xelloss for this one, but don't pass whatcha heard on, understand? No, not a nasty secret, just a tricky one, one that involves Milgasia, so it's serious. Luna, too. That's right. Wanna talk to him...?"
Xelloss was shaking his head furiously, "No!"
But Val smirked and finished, "He's out now. Here, Xelly-poooooo."
Xelloss frowned at his friend and took the phone as if it were a soggy donut. "Yeah? I accept." He listened for a few minutes, and then sighed, "You wouldn't understand. They came on to me! Not possible... I said, 'NOT POSSIBLE' and it's none of your business why. I'm really not that dumb, Fil-li-a. I know how not to reproduce little Metalliums. Now, goodbye. I have other business to attend to."
He closed up his phone with a sharp 'bitch!' then a louder 'sorry.'
Val chuckled, "She's still pissed about you sleeping with her cousins?"
"Yes, although you'd think it was time she was over that, wouldn't you? Buuuuuut...they keep asking her when I'll be back and how to get I touch with me and..." Xelloss nearly added, 'it's as if she were jealous, or something,' but didn't. "She thinks it was bad form on my part. That I should have more self-control. And...blah, blah, blah...!"
"Don't blame ya, but then again, if their father's the spy dude..."
"Then they're all screwed," Xelloss shot back.
Val exploded in laughter at the unintentional joke, the noise of which sent Zelgadiss tearing into the room. He'd been napping on the balcony outside the sliding glass doors of their room. "Oh! I thought you guys were fighting or something," Zel grumbled.
Val shared the joke between snorts and gasps; however, Zel was unappreciative, having had his rest disturbed. "So what brought that up?" he asked.
Val told him about Filia's call. "The only way Slate could know Xelloss got Mrs. Saunders ar-res-ted was by those papers I leaked using Jillas. Which means..."
"Either he's our clan connection or in league with the spy," Xelloss finished. "He's not likely the one on that mountaintop outpost you and Filia visited."
"Maybe that was Gravos, but he ain't talkin'...yet," Val disclosed.
"I doubt it. Gravos wouldn't be that adept at syndicate coding. But then none of them are part of that organization," Zel noted. "We want the syndicate guy too."
"My guess is, when pressed by Luna, Slate will talk," Xelloss assured him. "I'd better make a few calls now, starting with Milgasia– it is the man's brother-in-law, after all. Then...Luna."
Enlistment
An ominous roar echoed through the van carrying Kiki and four of the Slayers. Unable to visit a restaurant in the area without being bothered by adoring fans, the Slayers had ordered takeout, divided into two vans, and headed out into a nearby, private campground. Zolf had left earlier, taking the other van to pick up the food first, then the remaining Slayers kids.
"I'm starving. We ordered a picnic, let's eat it," Lina demanded. "Hey, stop! I can smell it from here. Looks like Zolf's been here already and set it out over there."
Rodimus, driving their van strained to see. "Over on that table under the trees? You sure that's our stuff?"
"'Course it is!" Lina said with certainty. It looked like the pot of stew she had ordered for them to share. "There's probably more of the stuff sitting in a box somewhere. You can look for that while we eat, if you want."
Not wanting to miss out on a meal, Gourry was next out of the van. He made a beeline for the picnic table, grabbing a bowl and spoon for himself.
"Where's Zolf with the other van? Where's the box of food I ordered?" Zel asked.
Lina was too busy shoving soup in her maw to answer, so Zel walked around picnic area searching for signs of Zolf or his things. "Why would he have dropped off just that and not Filia, Val, and Sylphiel?" he wondered aloud.
Rodimus pulled out his cell phone, "I'll locate the other van and have 'em join us here." After he made the call, he found a comfortable bench to stretch out on and fell asleep.
"Mmmmm, smells terrific, Miss Lina. Did we get all this from the restaurant?" Amelia asked moments before diving into her own serving with relish.
Lina shrugged, "Guess so..."
Gourry stopped chewing long enough to say, "This is great, but whose food is it?"
"Ours!" Lina asserted. "Who else's would it be?"
"It was rather conveniently laid out for us," Xelloss noted. He chose not to eat food from an unidentified source, tempted as he was by the delicious smell permeating the air.
"Heaven never forsakes the just!" Amelia cried.
"But...so...it might not be our food?" Gourry asked.
"Eh...Don't sweat the details," Lina said airily, with a wave of her hand.
They were all traveling incognito, wearing ordinary clothes and hats to disguise their extraordinary appearances. They had already had enough attempts by their enemies to sabotage their musical; they certainly didn't want to draw attention to themselves now and get killed by either mobs of fans trying to 'just touch' them or syndicate slime trying to waste them.
It took Lina, Amelia, and Gourry a matter of minutes to clean out the entire pot of soup. Lina leaned back and smiled with pleasure. "Great. That was really good. Now I feel better."
Zel's head jerked up, "Someone's coming."
"Probably Zolf with the rest of our food," Lina said.
But it wasn't. The men who had actually cooked the soup walked in upon the desolation of it and the empty pot. Lina and her team of gluttons were caught. It turned out one of the men was the director of a traveling theater company called the Rossburg Players, which was likewise en route to Mosquita for the annual arts competition. The competition was held during spring recess for the Seyruun University (and all the Seyruun school districts as well), and took place at roughly the same time as the Slayers musical, only a different building.
He was accompanied by a bedraggled, care-worn young man, who settled quietly by a tree. "It's gone...all...gone...my soup..."
Embarrassed and regretful, the Slayers collectively promised retribution for their lost cooking in the form of a share of their own soon-to-be-delivered meal. It was accepted.
Mr. Rossburg dropped a heavy bundle of papers on the table and sighed when he checked the empty pot for the second time. "Ah..." His face was beet-red from the effort of his walk.
Gourry offered both men a can of soda. "Warm today, fer spring."
"Oh? Yes, yes...wonderful weather! Like summer! Eh? What's this? Ginger ale? Oh, ho... haven't tasted this in many years. Thank you young man."
Rossburg untied his gypsy-like green scarf and wiped off his face before finishing the drink in ten gulps. "Ah..." he sighed with satisfaction while replacing the scarf upon his head. He stared hard at the kids looking them all over, as they were looking aghast at him, but he didn't seem to recognize any of the popular Slayers kids. "This is quite fortunate, actually, my finding you all. You see," he patted the stack of papers affectionately, "...you can call me Mr. Rossburg, by the way... I am in desperate need of actors."
Then to their disbelief, he began handing out what turned out to be copies of scripts to three of them, saying, "Be ready for rehearsal in an hour!"
Lina hadn't even looked at hers, but remarked aloud to the youth by the tree, "He is either nuts for the theater or just plain nuts."
"Both, that's why he needs actors– they keep running away! Ah, thanks for the soda."
"We have our own performance to concentrate on," Zelgadiss pointed out, but it fell on deaf ears.
Despite the warnings about the rate at which actors were leaving the company, Lina, Gourry, and Amelia seemed ready to join the company. "It's on the way to our own theater," Lina told the others airily.
"You can't be serious!" Zel gasped.
"You gonna come along?" Gourry asked.
"Absolutely not." Zel was definite. "You're not going, too?"
"We ate their food, after all! Besides, it's a great opportunity! Maybe we'll win the contest and draw attention to our musical!" Amelia said cheerfully.
"Perhaps I should," Zel faltered. He didn't want to leave his friends in the lurch.
But Amelia had other ideas. "Oh, no. We'll be fine. You go ahead and keep Kiki company and the others in line. Miwan wanted to go through part of his scene again. And Jillas and Gravos can use some more practice. Val and Filia can work with them if you need to check all the systems. I know you can make it all go smoothly. See you later!"
Was Amelia trying to get rid of me? Zelgadiss blinked. "Fine, then. Later..." He looked over his shoulder at Xelloss, who was waving to Zolf and his van-load of Slayers. He couldn't believe it. He just got the brush-off! And from Amelia! He needed to talk with her, but first, "Rodimus! Wake up! We'll go back with Zolf. You need to keep on eye on Lina. We don't know anything about those moronic Rossburg guys."
With a tip of his invisible cap, Rodimus trotted after the other group. With little effort, he had convinced them all to let him tag along.
Zel watched as them stroll out of sight. He was still shaking his head in disbelief when Xelloss passed by. "Zelgadiss, have some lunch before we go back to check the stage setup, okay?"
"Huh? Oh, yes. Fine. You know," Zel asked as they joined the others at the picnic table. "Amelia actually didn't want me to join them. She told me to stay behind."
"Really?" Xelloss said, fighting down a bemused smile. "I guess she finally realized that you only wanted her friendship. She's more likely to meet some boys without you hanging around her. Ah, Sylphiel, would you pass me one of those...whatever-they-ares, please." He smiled her way as he felt Zel's eyes drill into his head. Amelia– one; Zelgadiss– zero.
Evolvement
Rodimus was trying to find the other man's parked vehicle, which Mr. Rossburg was unbelievably unhelpful with, while the kids all jabbered excitedly about their possible new roles. But when they opened the scripts, and saw the title: 'Grant Us Justice and Peace: The Death of the Abominable Fiend and Pop Star, Lina Inverse', Lina practically blew her top (and their cover.)
Gourry clutched her in his arms, burying her face in his chest and stifling her shouts. "She's a little high-strung," he explained. He hoped she wouldn't kill him, but it was really important that they keep a low profile, even he knew that.
Imprisoned in his arms, Lina started hyperventilating. She had to break out. But the more she fought him, the tighter the arms became. Then came that soothing, velvety voice asking her to be still. His voice was low and so gentle, it silenced her. "Lina, please settle down."
She froze. Okay, so it was more of a cocoon than a cell, as she'd first felt. A warm, snuggly, safe...cocoon– with a heartbeat. Lina noticed, with some mental rejection, how massive he had become. His chest had broadened and deepened and his arms were easily as big around as her thigh. That's when Lina took a good look at her friend, up close and personal. She rarely saw anyone that near to her- or wanted to. There was a trace of blonde stubble on his chin and along his jaw line. At that moment, Gourry became a man in her eyes, not her pal down the block. Zel had changed, too, but Gourry was all grown up. Xelloss, although the oldest, appeared as youthful as ever, in comparison. She felt one of his thumbs gently rubbing one of her shoulders. She pushed back a ways feeling his resistance and his growing warmth.
"Grrrr, let...me...go," she growled. Her noise was muffled against his shirt, but the vibrations tickled his chest.
Gourry laughed and freed his charge. There was something about a big guy laughing, especially one ordinarily so quiet; it made a chuckle bubble up within Lina. And out it burst!
"Ha, ha!"
She gripped his strong forearms for support and started to laugh so hard tears streamed from her eyes. She also hiccupped.
"Lina, are you okay?" Gourry asked with concern. He had thought she was just laughing, but the tears caught his attention. Had he crushed her?
"Yeah-eh," she smiled and released him. "Hi-hi-hic-cups from laughing too... (hic) hard."
"Ah, that's good, then," he smiled. "Laughing's good fer ya. Mom says it releases stress, and with all you've been doin' lately, I betcha needed a break."
Well, Gourry hit the nail on the head! It was Lina's turn once again to be dumbfounded by his insightful comment. She remained speechless, so he continued, "Sure ya do, so let's do this play thing for Mr. Ross...guy here, and blow off some steam."
"Yeah...okay," Lina agreed. It was comforting knowing that he was thinking of her welfare, but was that all? She could have sworn that she had caught his eyes raking over her as they'd pushed apart and had heard a sigh escaping when she had been in his arms. Was this 'love'? Xelloss had spewed up his guts to say as much to her, on several occasions, but not Gourry. Oh, sure he had dashed off a quick poem or two, and he sure hated for Xelloss to pay attention to her, but was that love? Was that 'for all time' love or 'you sure are cute' love or 'I want you, I need you, be MINE' love?
Lina shook her head. How confusing! Why would anyone want to be exclusively loved... to the exclusion of others? It sounded smothering. Why one-on-one anyway? Oh, yeah... the marriage and children thing. Ha! Like that's ever going to happen to the Lina Inverse, singer and writer supreme! Nobody is gonna tie me down; monopolize me to the day I die!
Not far off, Amelia had been reading her script aloud. Amelia's youthful vivacity and quick study caught Rossburg's eye. "You I shall cast as the star of the play," he exclaimed enthusiastically.
Lina heard the man's declaration and combined with her former thought processes, burst out emotionally with, "I will be nobody's possession!"
Gourry backed off, confusion contorting his happy face. Had he done something wrong?
Amelia stopped reading and turned Lina's way. "Miss Lina?"
Not to be outdone by her best friend, Lina immediately asked Mr. Rossburg what role she could play. "It had better be an important one!"
Gourry relaxed, letting out the breath he'd been holding. 'Course Lina hadn't hit him, that was something to consider and maybe it was all about the part she was about to play. There were times he didn't get Lina, not that it mattered. Long as she turned to him for comfort now and then, that had to count for something. It would keep him hoping...
Mr. Rossburg contemplated Lina's request a split second mumbling, "Good lungs, powerful voice, but so small...but it takes two..." The man appraised the tall, strong blonde man standing close by and grinned. "I have the perfect part!"
And that was how Lina, together with Gourry, was cast as the dragon.
Leaving only the question: "Why am I the REAR end!" on Lina's enraged lips.
That settled, it was time to move on. "Now, to my caravan!" the director called out. "My associate (and cook) will take us on to the small stage where we shall prepare for the greatest performance of all times!"
Rodimus sighed as he watched the old VW vanagon pull out of the parking lot. He had not been invited along and his other van-load of kids had already taken off, squeezed together on Zolf's vehicle. He pulled out his cell phone and called Zolf. "I'm going back to my van and chase after them. Yes, I put a tracking device on their vehicle. It won't be hard to follow. I think it's only going a mile or so up the road anyway. Yeah, thanks."
Rossburg lived up to his reputation; he was insistent on the actors' getting their performance right, and a harsh taskmaster to boot. "Start memorizing your lines. You won't have time later! How does that fit?" he asked Amelia who had scrambled into the back of the vehicle to test out her outfit.
"He's really into his work," Gourry said as an aside to the driver beside him.
"Yeah, sometimes too much. Unfortunately, he mixes up plays and reality all the time," the cook-actor explained.
After Rossburg saw Amelia in costume, which was strikingly reminiscent of a typical Magical Girl in a Japanese anime, he was reminded of his little sister. "Ah... so long...I haven't seen her in years. So like her, you are...the blossom of youth blushing on her cheeks..."
"See what I mean...?" the driver muttered to Gourry. "Wait till you get your turn."
Amelia, however, was touched and poured her heart into doing her best for him. "Now taste the swift sword of justice! Amelia cried out her lines from the script.
"Wonderful! Magnificent! Do it again!" Rossburg shouted as the vehicle came to a stop. "Ah, good. Now you can do it on stage."
In no time at all it seemed the play was coming together– it was more a skit than a full length play, after all. Amelia, Lina, and Gourry had practiced the key, and only, scene where the hero defeats the dragon often enough to satisfy themselves, when Rossburg decided to add more 'oomph' to the scene with explosives. In his hands, however, everyone feared their lives would be doomed.
Even Lina didn't trust the director's judgment. "Whoa, that's pretty dangerous stuff he's wavin' around," Lina noted.
"See why I got those safety guys for our play?" Gourry pointed out his important part of the protection retinue. "Things can go wrong. And no amount of insurance can bring back a blown hand or a life."
Lina nodded. No arguing that.
Fortunately for the Rossburg company, the crazy director was carted off stage temporarily by the rest of crew before anybody could get hurt.
Entitlement
Zangalus checked his watch. "Zel? I need to step out for a minute and make a call...pick up something at the market."
Zel nodded, "Go ahead. We don't need you back for a while."
He left quickly. Zangalus was having second thoughts about turning over his little farce to Vurumagen now. As much as he thought he didn't like Gourry, he found no animosity directed toward him by the Slayers, and in fact, he had grown to like and admire Zelgadiss considerably. Ever since the summer when Zel had temporarily lived with him and his father while he and Xelloss were fighting, Zangalus counted Zel among his closest friends, best possibly. Gourry...he couldn't out-fence the guy, but as he spent more time with him, he had learned to like him too. Lina he respected, Amelia was a doll, Sylphiel and Filia seemed like models. Val he steered clear of, knowing his tough background, but since Zel trusted him... Xelloss, however, made him uneasy. Zangalus understood that Gourry didn't trust the guy, and agreed– there was something...many things...odd about Xelloss. Just before leaving, Xelloss had been staring at him, as if he suspected...as if he knew what he had done. Overwhelmed with guilt, Zangalus fled to see if he could undo the monster he may have put into motion.
"Vurumagen? I've changed my mind. Come get your money back."
"Too late. Already sent it on."
"Tell me where. I just want to see that...they are respectful to...my work."
"Listen, you can go, but don't interfere, unless you want to be a part of it...?"
"No, I work alone." Zangalus wanted to remain on his own; he was not working for others, especially Vurumagen.
"Oh? Well, may I remind you that there will be others there to capture Lina et all alive. So don't interfere, unless you want her blood on your hands," Vurumagen warned. Not that he actually could or would do her any harm himself.
Zangalus hung up the pay phone at the market. He would have to find another way. "If I could just find out where that contest was being held..." he muttered.
"Um, excuse me. I don't usually listen in on other guys' conversations, but you mentioned a contest?"
Zangalus nodded, "Short plays. I wrote one and want to see it performed. I have my doubts...the actors would have only gotten their scripts today. How good a job could they do?"
"I hear you. My crazy director just got his scripts and gave away my part, ME! Me, the star...the hero! He gave my part away to some little skirt with big blue eyes! Maybe that's your play, huh? I'll tell you, it's starting right over there in a few minutes." The kid pointed vaguely and Zangalus squinted into the forest.
"Thanks."
"Say, if you want to put a stop to it, I've got some friends..." The young actor pointed over to the benches where Lina and Martina had once rested. Four oddly dressed young men lounged along, across, and beside the seats.
"Animals," Zangalus thought to himself. "Ah, no thanks. I'll take care of my problem myself."
Endearment
Lina curled up on a pile of old faded curtains and instantly fell asleep. Pleasant dreams turned to nightmares about her entire situation, being chased by not only the dragon costume, but her pony one, Amelia's starfish, Gourry's jellyfish, both Xelloss' frog and jester ones, and Zel's bunny-gone-mad with fangs and silver-wire hair, only to discover that her escape route was blocked by a giant Rossburg– or was that captain Ashford riding a shark bare-back? She awoke with a start. Gourry and Amelia were chatting nearby. She had only been asleep for a minute or two. "Ugh... I can't take this any more, guys," Lina groaned.
But Amelia confessed, "I love this! I may have found my true calling!"
And Gourry had grown fond of the dragon costume. "This work's easy. Besides there's plenty of food. I've gotten sorta attached to this guy!" he said with a smile while holding up the costume's head.
"Oh, great," Lina said with a roll of her eyes.
She needed a break. Lina took a moment to slip away, and wound up in an alley plastered with posters of her, Gourry, and the other members of the Slayers band– 'Come see the Slayers Stars! Here!'
Good grief! Frenzied fans spotting her now would be a problem. She started to head back to the playhouse, when a fan-patrol rounded the corner, finding her.
"Aren't you Lina Inverse? That Lina? Can I cut a bit of your hair for my collection? Would you have my child?"
Immediately, Lina started to try to bluff her way out of it, "Ah, no...but people tell me I do resemble her a little..." when Mr. Rossburg appeared in search of her.
"Ah! There you are, my dear daughter. You should be back at the studio, working!" He slapped her none-too-gently on the back, forcing her gasp.
Lina promptly jumped in on the act. Two could play rough house! "Ahhhh, gee dad...Do I gotta? I was just takin' a break..." She gave him a hard push for good measure.
Rossburg tripped her. "No running off for you!"
Lina caught the bigger man in a hammer hold, "But Da-ad! I'm so bored!"
His lips were tinged blue before he had pulled her off and delivered a punch to her mid-section hard enough to knock the air out of her lungs. "I'll show you how to love boredom!"
The touching display of "tough love" between father and daughter became so rough, that the lead fan boy of the entourage pleaded with them not to hurt each other. "Stop it you guys! Maybe you should get some counseling."
"Even though you're not who we thought you were, we certainly don't want to stay and watch you torment one another, so...bye!" another said, and the patrol continued on its way.
On the way back to the playhouse with Rossburg, Lina ventured, "So, you know who I am, that we're part of that band puttin' on the musical tonight. We tend to attract a large crowd of...unsavories, shall we say, as well as fans. What I mean is, well...why didya save me just now?"
"It doesn't matter who you really are. What matters to me is that you are one of my precious actors ... and you reminded me of my real daughter."
Lina started to call him on the unlikely story, but seeing a tear forming at the corner of his eye, she simply smiled and said, "Well, thanks mister."
Entropy
When they had returned, the audience was gathering outside the amphitheater for the play-off competition. Dozens of short one-act plays and skits had already been performed for the contest. Now, following a break, theirs was to be the last play of the afternoon.
But before the doors had opened, Rossburg was called backstage by a blue-haired temptress, whom he took to be from a previous play since she was dressed chin-to-ankle in a lizard-skin jumpsuit. "Um, yes dear? I can only give you a minute, my play is about to start..."
Meanwhile, Zangalus had only just located the correct building in time to watch Lina and Rossburg's return. He had to get in there and stop the thing. That's when he spotted Vurumagen and the lizard-lady and shrank back, "Not her...the principal's assistant...?"
Zangalus had overheard Lina and Zel discuss many of their plans; he had personally participated in last spring's attack upon Phibrizzo so he knew that the Slayers were not paranoid. The syndicate was really anywhere and everywhere, but was Miss Sherra a part of that too? Her? He had come to be suspicious of Vurumagen shortly after meeting him last summer. He had looked him up, asked him too many questions about Lina and Xelloss, and about his adventures chasing Phibrizzo in particular. Zangalus knew, under threats from his father, the now Chief of Police of Seyruun McGywn, to stay mum about it all, especially the syndicate involvement. But just the other day, Martina had let it slip to Lina that Vurumagen knew her funny jewelry came from the Ancient Clan territory. It hadn't, of course, but that was where he had first seen Lina wearing the pieces. From Lina's reaction it was clear she suspected him to be a syndicate employee of come kind. Now he was here with Miss Sherra. What did those two have in common? Was she giving Vurumagen orders? Why was she here?
Zangalus didn't have the answers, but he was determined to do something. A movement just inside the door caught his attention. Two other men were donning animal costumes. One Zangalus recognized to be Vurumagen struggling into a cow suit, but the other was older, hardened. One look at that big thug in the stepping into a gorilla outfit, and Zangalus knew that Sherra's role in all this couldn't be good. Things looked bad now. When they moved off, Zangalus slipped inside, grabbed the first mask he touched, and in disguise, tracked the two animal-men.
Unfortunately, the three intruders entered stage left just as the play began. The lights were on them, the audience watching. "Shit," Zangalus hissed.
There was nothing but to simply join in. He certainly knew how the story went, having written it. Amelia jumped atop a stage prop rock to avoid an attack by the roaring Lina-Gourry dragon, Zangalus stepped to the forefront and declared, "Brave heroine, I have come to help kill this villain!"
"Who are they?" Gourry asked Lina under the costume.
"I don't know. The Rossburg idiot probably went and changed the script on us and brought in a couple extras. Just play it by ear, I guess."
Her words had barely escaped her lips when Vurumagen and Zazan, bestially costumed, attacked the 'dragon.' Gourry reared back and roared, slashing out with his dragon claws, not knowing who was who. When he was bashed on the skull by a heavy metal object and a rip separated his half of the costume from Lina's, Gourry shouted, "Hold it!"
Lina was furious, "Hey! Those are real swords!"
The audience cheered the 'startling realism!'
The dragon costume was cut into pieces. Lina and Gourry shrugged off the last few scraps and stumbled onto a trap door just as the unseen Rossburg yanked on the cord which opened it. "Ahhhh!" they screamed as they disappeared below stage.
With Lina and Gourry out of the picture, Zangalus became truly frightened for the first time. It was definitely time to get help. At least he could recognize when he was in over his head, he maintained solemnly as he ran out of the building to find Zelgadiss.
Lina and Gourry had landed in the basement of the theater The lizard lady, who was holding Rossburg, had her back to them, but turned at their noisy interruption.
"Getcher slimy hands off that guy!" Lina shouted. And, in the spirit of the Power-rangers-style schlock they were performing, announced "Rocket Kick!" as she let it loose.
Sherra was stunned when the lower half of the dragon costume flew into her face feet-first, knocking the woman to the floor and taking the director down with her.
"Are you all right?" Gourry asked Rossburg as he helped him to his feet. "That lizard-person didn't hurt you none, did she?"
But Rossburg was unappreciative. Attractive ladies didn't often come on to him, and this one had been willing to meet him later, after the show. He didn't say that, though. Instead, he upbraided them for not continuing the play!
Lina started to protest, "Damnit! I dunno who those guys were (seeing as I was in the rear of the dragon suit), but they're here after us!"
Miss Sherra sat up and Gourry and Lina recognized her at once. "Oh, you're the principal's helper, aren't ya?" Gourry asked. "You okay?"
"Yes, thank you." She glowered at Lina. Things had gone awry, again. Quick thinking and backpedaling were called for until her minions had things under control. "Mr. Grauscherra sent me over. He was concerned that you weren't present for your own musical. The show can't go on without you."
"Oh, ah, sorry," Lina said as contritely as she could. But she wasn't fooled. Grauscherra had no way of knowing she was here with Gourry and Amelia. Miss Sherra had just missed a trick! "I guess we oughta get this one over with then, right Gourry?"
"That's right!"
"Absolutely! Back to work! Nobody ever interrupts and stops one of my plays!" Rossburg repeated.
"Okay..." Lina grinned evilly. "But first, Rossburg, where did those explosives go that you were wanting to use?"
Entertainment
All this time, Amelia had been on her own with Vurumagen and Zazan standing stupidly on either side of her. After Lina and Gourry had disappeared, they appeared baffled not knowing what to do next. Amelia, though, had crowd experience. Yes! She knew what to do with a captive audience! Her face lit up and she broke into a Slayer's song, which everyone recognized, and turned it into a sing-a-long.
"Isn't that Amelia singing?" Zelgadiss asked, easing himself inside past the door. He withdrew his mechanical pencil and went about filling out the judging card placed on his chair seat.
"Why yes, Zelgadiss, it is!" Xelloss returned humorously. "See, up on the stage. Oh my, look who she has with her! Vurumagen and Zazan– together at last."
"Make a note of that in the comment section," Zel pointed to Xelloss' card.
Xelloss found his purple-colored pen. "You say this is a farce, Zangy?"
Zangalus stood alongside them at the back of the room, shaking his head. "This isn't how the play goes. And those guys are trying to kidnap Lina."
"Not likely," Zel assured him.
"Well, the spectators seem to be getting into it," Xelloss smiled. "Although, I can't tell where the plot is going."
Zazan, wearing only the bottom part of a gorilla costume and touting an unsheathed blade, was about to move in and silence Amelia when the stage exploded underneath him. From out of the smoke, Lina and Gourry rose into view.
While the two men were off-guard, Lina immediately launched into a dramatic exposition, claiming the spotlight and explaining to audience that: "At last you've shown yourself! Devil King-Kong Zazan, and your cow-boy-impersonator-sidekick, Vurumagen! Your evil powers changed us holy warriors into an evil dragon. You lured the brave heroine here to kill her! But now that we have regained our original forms your evil scheme ends here!"
"Ah, I guess that explains the part we missed," Zel said as an aside to Xelloss and Zangalus.
"But that's not how it goes!" Zangalus moaned. "Besides, he's got a knife, see!"
Xelloss squinted a bit, "Well, what do you know? Monkey-legs is armed! But that Vurumagen, he's an udder disappointment!"
Amelia tried to reclaim her role, "For the sake of Justice let us bind together!" joining in the new spirit of the play, and even Gourry managed a shy, "The power of Justice...unites us!" line or two before Zazan shouted to Vurumagen, "Do something, you worthless poser!"
Xelloss clapped his hands gleefully, "Oh, a new motivation!"
Zel smirked, "Oh, yes. It's just one twist after another!"
"But...but!" Zangalus sank into an empty folding chair in defeat. No, he must stop those villains; they were murdering his play! He jumped off his chair, grabbed an umbrella from the stand by the door, and raced to the stage. "Gourry!"
Gourry whirled around. Sadly, he did not see Zangalus 'the enforcer of justice', he saw Zangalus running at him with a sword-like weapon calling him out for the umpteenth time.
"Here!" Lina tossed him a length of broken curtain rod.
Gourry snatched the 'sword' out of the air and yelled enthusiastically, "Engage!"
"No, it's en guard!" Zangalus corrected him. "But I'm here to help, not fight you!"
Amelia stomped her foot angrily at the tall gorilla-man, "No fair, calling in reinforcements!"
Zangalus blocked a blow to his arm and tried again, "Listen, I'm not the one you fight!"
Alas, Gourry only heard 'fight', and struck out, "Don't gotta tell me more than once!"
With an exasperated sigh, Zangalus set to dueling again, trying to protect himself as best he could.
Amelia busied herself with pounding Zazan on the head with the weight used to counterbalance the curtains that rose up at the beginning of a show.
"Effective use of props," Xelloss noted.
"Audience participation as well," Zel nodded, watching the audience cheer and make bets.
"Amelia is a very strong young lady, isn't she?" Xelloss winced as the heavy weight thumped Zazan on the head again. "What a dumbbell! Ouch! That had to have hurt."
Zel smiled, "Yes, but not as violent as Lina, ordinarily."
"Ah...no, you are right of course," Xelloss chuckled. "Just look now!"
Vurumagen remained to confront Lina, grumbling to himself, "I knew I couldn't leave this to Zangalus..."
With his honed chemistry background, he instantly determined the effective range of the explosive in her hands, with enough time left over to shield himself with a hunk of the set. Lucky for him, the weaker fire bombs couldn't penetrate it and even she knew better that to attempt use a 'Dragon' Bomb without killing the audience. "Ha!" he smiled thinking that he had bested Lina. But he didn't reckon on Mr. Rossburg, who rolled an entire keg of explosives across the stage in Vurumagen's direction just before it was detonated.
"Move it," Lina yelled.
And her followers obeyed, plunging into the scenery for cover like Olympic diving team contenders. The resulting enormous blast reduced the set to charcoal and knocked Vurumagen and Zazan to the stage floor.
"These guys are serious!" Sherra gasped.
With the tide turned against them, Sherra used the resulting chaos to drag her two worthless henchmen off stage and beat a hasty retreat,
Amelia noticed them leaving, but it was too late to stop them. She shook her fist and decided to get the final words in, "The war is not over!"
Zelgadiss regarded the bright-eyed, pink-cheeked girl as he joined the rest of the audience in a standing ovation. "Nice job, eh?"
Xelloss grinned, he too clapping vigorously. "Yes, indeed! I think we have this year's winner."
While the judge was presenting Rossburg the first prize for this year's contest, Lina joined her two friends. "Now that's theater!"
"Feeling better?" Zel asked her with a wry smile.
"Oh, yeah. I'm all loosened up now. Zel, go extricate your girlfriend so we can go. We gotta musical to put on!"
Zel sputtered something nonsensical, but since only Xelloss had heard her and he was laughing, Zel ran off to do Lina's bidding and collect Amelia. Zangalus and Gourry ambled over to the exit all smiles. They too had enjoyed the unexpected workout and were ready to get on with the serious business of putting on a Slayers production.
"Well?" Xelloss smiled down at Lina. "All's well that ends well?"
"What? Nah, that was some other dude's play. This was more Explosive Lina's Easy Workout!"
"I see, well I think you'll find the next event a bit more exciting. The place is filled to overflowing with friends and enemies alike." Xelloss winked knowingly at her.
"You weren't here to fight off the bad guys, were ya?"
"Of course not, Lina. Zangy mentioned who'd shown up and I knew you and Amelia had the syndicate jewelry to ward off anything untoward; that is what you ingenuity couldn't overcome on its own." To himself, Xelloss added silently, "That and Rodimus is around someplace watching over you."
"Yeah, bring 'em on... and... on with the show!" Lina laughed confidently, although she put her hand to her chest and briefly touched the ring on its chain.
"As you like it," he bowed deeply.
"No, not that play either," she chuckled and punched at his arm playfully.
"Yes," he smiled genuinely. "Oh, by the way. Val's on his cell phone still back at our playhouse, but we have some news which may interest you."
Next installment... the musical finale.
From the Authors:
Where are the pictures?
Seyruun High Jinx has a home. Please go to the author profile for Kaeru Shisho and choose the link. You will find the pictures under Seyruun High Jinx NEXT. Pictures for each of the other stories are associated with their links.
KS
End Seyruun High Jinx –NEXT! Chapter 44.