(A/N: The Shaun of the Dead reference is an awkward stab on my part. Let me know how it worked out.)
Jun didn't move a muscle as the vengeful crowd of Riot Police closed in on him. He didn't react as they started raining nightstick blows on his head. He didn't even see fit to move before an overenthusiastic Police van plowed into him, knocking him sprawling from the overpass.
The Yakuza regained his feet but then failed to make any other move, even as a phalanx of police cars screeched to a halt around him and officers disembarked, guns blazing. He was fairly riddled with bullets, but still he stood stoically, watching the Riot Police charge him once more…
"Jeez! Falling asleep at the wheel…" Tomo plucked the controller from Osaka's limp fingers. "How irresponsible!" She moved to awaken her friend in the patented Takino fashion… but something brought her up short. Looking at the girl lying there, snoring gently, arms wrapped around the egg and pressing it to her blazing cheek, Tomo got the sudden feeling that Osaka would break if she touched her.
Normally the Takinator was immune to worry, but all the sameit flooded throughTomo as she stood indecisive, leaving poor Jun to his fate.
The room was small, dark, and cool, blinds drawn against the setting sun. It was full of clutter; clothes strewn on the floor, posters up and down the walls, video games and DVDs in half-organized stacks and a even a disheveled set of small weights. However, in the dim twilight, only two objects mattered: a ringing phone and a grumpy, extremely tired pile of blankets that absolutely did not want to be disturbed.
R-r-r-r-ring! R-r-r-r-r-ring!
It was an epic battle of wills, but finally the pile of blankets couldn't take it anymore. A tanned arm, slender but strong, emerged from its cottony depths and snatched the phone up while its owner greeted tersely, "Yo."
There was a pause, broken by a faint, high-pitched voice on the other end.
"Chiyo-chan, you know I love you, but if this isn't really important, I'm going to break your head. …mm? Oh… … that bad, eh? … … You know I wouldn't really break your head, right? … ah… … okay, yeah. I'll be there in a bit. Just let me close my eyes for a few seconds."
She hung up.
"Well, that's interesting…" Kagura commented to herself, worming free of her cocoon, "I've never heard Chiyo-chan so… yawwnn! Yeah…"
She closed her eyes for a few seconds. And before those few were up she was in dreamland, though fortunately she wasn't accosted by any menacing statues, psychic faeries, space demons or DDR-playing Covenant aliens.
"What do you make of all this, I wonder?"
Xandra was also alone in darkness, but she wouldn't have minded a friend's voice at that moment. She rested, back against a golden scale the size of a card table, listening to the thrum of a mighty tri-valved heart larger than her whole body.
Ba-tha-dup. Ba-tha-dup.
"I don't guess you think too much about your lot… you must at least dream, though, eh? You've got three brains after all… something must be going on in there." She rested her chin on her knees. "I hope so, anyway. Or are you just a mindless force of destruction? Maybe you're dreaming about fire and carnage and mayhem? Couldn't blame you… I do it myself, sometimes…"
"You're talking to Ghidora?" the Keeper asked, cracking a much dimmer, gentler glowstick than they'd used before. Xandra didn't jump; she'd listened to him enter and blunder his way over. "You must be worse off than I thought."
"Ah, well…"
"I'm serious, Xan. You should come out more… I mean, my friends like you."
"Too much. I don't like the way they look at me, brother."
"You know if any of them tried anything, I'd take his wallet and dump him out an airlock…" the Keeper shrugged, for once failing to show impatience with her. "That's your choice, though. But actually, the Prince needed your help for something."
"The Prince?" Xandra unconsciously sat straighter.
"Yeah. His bride needs help adjusting, and he wanted someone nearer her age to, I dunno, be her friend. You're, what, fifteen, sixteen?"
"Nineteen, actually, but good guess." She accepted this in good humor; her small build led to many such mistakes, even from family. "Does it matter that I can't speak the Earthmen's language?"
"Hypno-training, if you want it…" the Keeper watched his sister's expression darken and added, "They say knowing a second language makes you a lot smarter."
"You didn't volunteer me to have my brains turned to porridge, did you?"
"Xan," Now he was impatient. "Whatever issues you have with the hypno-trainer are just in your head. It's been proven safe…"
"Just in my head? Um, where else would I have a problem with hypnosis? In my foot?"
"And anyway, I think you two would get along. She's even quieter than you, and she likes animals, too."
"Xolarus has good taste." Was that sarcasm? When her back was up, Xandra's tone was so snarky that it was hard to tell sometimes.
"Come on, sister, make this easy for us." He hesitated, mouth twisting, before resorting to something he'd never tried with her. "Please?"
Xandra drummed her fingers on Ghidora's side for a few seconds before rendering her decision. "Okay, fine. I'll do it. What'll I be learning, then, Xapanese?"
"Er…"
"Um, but isn't this a little rude of us?" Chiyo asked uncertainly as the five girls trooped outside. Heavy, wet clouds filled the sky, though a sullen red sun broke though on the horizon to peek over the buildings. "Ms. Kagura said she'd come…"
"She said she'd close her eyes for a few seconds," Yomi corrected. "When someone like Kagura says that, it means they're blowing you off and sleeping anyway."
"She wouldn't…!"
"Oh, it's not conscious; she must be exhausted after that swim-meet and the trip. But we need her help anyway."
Osaka was still limping a little, watching in fascination as her breath misted in the already moist air. "I get the feelin'," she commented, "We're forgettin' somethin' important."
"So do I," Kaori muttered bitterly. She didn't like how Operation: Rescue Sakaki had become Operation: Road Trip to Certain Death. But it seemed she was the only one with objections, so she held her peace as they walked silently in a loose line, Yomi in the lead and Osaka bringing up the rear. Osaka started humming the "Lord of the Rings" theme, but nobody noticed.
Suddenly, Yomi came to a jerking stop. Tomo bumped into her intentionally, nearly knocking her over before being shoved back into Chiyo, who was knocked over. Yomi apologized quickly before turning back towards the cause of their sudden halt. "Ohyama," she greeted awkwardly.
"Koyomi," Ohyama returned, no more smoothly. Tomo grinned evilly, remembering that Yomi and Ohyama had had a brief, unpublicized and unremarkable romance earlier that year. She immediately devoted herself to thinking of some horrible way to embarrass her best friend.
Behind Ohyama was a loose line of a few boys from Class 3-3; hyperactive Kiyoshi (similarly plotting to humiliate Ohyama), towering, amiable, Sanada, mysterious loner Osamu, and finally, with his back turned to watch the sun, the delicate, thoughtful Kazuki. The two lines (save Kazuki) looked each other over, proving that even in the teeth of an alien invasion, people can still find the time for social awkwardness.
"You… look well…" Ohyama offered.
"And… and you." Yomi couldn't help but notice the symmetry. "You guys aren't…?"
"Ah, Kazuki's crazy grandpa bought us tickets to fly to Okinawa. He wants us to take this statue to a shrine there… something about the Azumi family guardian."
"Huh. 'Cause Osaka here's been having dreams that she's carrying the guardian of Earth in an egg. We were taking her to Birth Island so it could hatch."
"Well… uh, good luck with that," Ohyama said.
"Yeah, you… you too," Yomi replied.
There was another pregnant pause, and then they set out past each other without another word. "We'll get 'em next time," Tomo said to Kiyoshi as they passed; he grinned and punched into an open hand. "Say, Chiyo," Sanada asked as he crossed her path, "Could you tell Sakaki I said hi?"
The prodigy blinked, but recovered her poise instantly. "Of course!"
Sanada nodded pleasantly, then flinched back as Kaori hissed at him. She switched immediately from this threatening pose to a friendly greeting for Osamu, who returned it gravely. Once they passed each other, the only ones left were Osaka and Kazuki, bearing the statue--a Shisa--in his slender arms. Seeing it, Osaka smiled slightly and opened her mouth…
"Tamago yaibimi?" Kazuki asked. (He used the standard Japanese word for egg, not the Okinawan; Kazuki's grandfather was continually frustrated by his thick-skulled inability to learn Uchinaguchi.)
"Uh… y-yeah."
"Almost looks like a… a fossilized mushroom."
"You think so too?" Osaka stopped and turned back. "Y'know, that's a really fun statue… is he angry about something?"
"Oh, they all look angry," Kazuki said dismissively. "I think this one is constipated."
"Osaka!" Yomi called sharply. "Kazuki!" Ohyama yelled. The fellow space cadets nodded quickly in farewell and rushed after their friends.
"Hey, you're the Keeper's sister, right?" Xoltan greeted. "Sorry about almost pulling my gun on you earlier."
"Oh, it's all right," Xandra almost replied in Japanese, but caught herself. "After you left, Agent Xond showed up and did it for reals."
"Is that so?" His voice was grim, but when she looked, the officer was smiling. "I'm supposed to take you to the future Queen, here. Xolarus was gonna do it himself, but she chokes up every time he comes near her."
"Maybe his after-shave's too strong…" the Xian girl winced when she realized what an air-headed comment that was. "I, I can't really blame her. It must be terrifying."
"Yeah…" Xoltan sighed. "Awful, isn't it? But it's tradition. At least he decided not to blow up her hometown after all… after this, I'm running back to see if he'll let me throw the next dart."
"Tradition," Xandra muttered. She wore a dark gray dress, the most formal she owned, and a pair of black dress shoes she hadn't used the whole Expedition. One of the Keeper's pets, a white dragon, rested across her shoulders, its tail coiling down one arm. When Xoltan tried to pet the little creature, it snapped at his fingers.
"So you got hypno-trained in an Earthman language?" he asked, wringing his hand.
"Yeah…"
"How did it make you feel?"
"I have a pounding headache and I can't think straight."
"Oh, you too? I thought I was the only one! Well, here we are." Xoltan stopped at a closed door. "Xaka—ahem, Sakaki has a run of the ship, but she hasn't moved from her room since we left her here. We haven't been surveiling or anything, so you're on your own. Good luck and stuff."
"Thanks…" When he said 'Future Queen,' the enormity of this visit slammed in on Xandra. It took her a few minutes after Xoltan left to compose herself and try the door. "Ex-excuse me? Ms. Sakaki?" she called timidly, remembering to switch to Japanese. "May I talk to you, please?"
There was a few seconds of controls-fumbling on the other side of the door, and then it hissed open to reveal Sakaki. Xandra jumped. Great space—she's beautiful! "S-sorry to bother you. I'm, that is…" under the towering woman's gaze, Xandra faltered. "My name is Xandra, and I, uh…" And she's huge! Holy crap, she could wrestle Ghidora! She could break my neck with two fingers!
"Would you like to come in?" Sakaki asked finally. She seemed to have even less of an idea on what to say than her visitor.
"P-please."
Sakaki stood aside and she ventured cautiously into the Future Queen's room. It wasn't anything special, but space was at a premium on starships, especially ones carrying 150-meter long monsters in their holds. Xandra stood uncomfortably by while her host took a chair and gazed at her calmly, apparently ready to wait her out.
(Sakaki almost seemed to be a bit shy herself, but… nah…)
"I… uh… heard you liked animals. My brother's the ship's Keeper, so I thought you'd, uh… want to meet…" Here was a girl who'd been abducted from her own home by freaking aliens! Of course she'd be interested in meeting a stupid dragon! Xandra felt more and more like an idiot as she continued. "Well, I thought you'd like him."
She held her arm out towards Sakaki and the dragon climbed sinuously along it, stretching its long neck towards the Future Queen and darting its tongue at her. Ffft! Ffft! Sakaki leaned back a little, looking pensive.
"He… won't bite you," Xandra offered, more nervous than ever.
"I'm not so sure," Sakaki replied softly. There might have been a hint of humor in her voice, but it was hard to tell. In any event, she reached out slowly and, with two fingers, stroked the dragon's long snout. There was a long moment where Xandra was confident the beast would bite Sakaki's fingers off and doom would befall them all, but then…
The dragon trilled and leaned into the Earth girl's fingers, prompting her to stroke it again, the tiniest hint of a smile forming on her lips. Xandra all but melted into a puddle of relief.
Competitive as she was, it was only natural that Kagura aimed to be the first of the girls to get a driver's license. Just as soon as it was legal, she'd rushed out and grabbed her next piece of adulthood; and though many good-natured jokes were made at her expense, she was a generally competent driver.
Rousted from bed by her parents and turned out to meet her friends, she was less than enthusiastic to join this Fellowship of the Egg. "This had better be good," she grumbled, leaning tiredly on the trunk of her family's car. It had been a tortuous, disappointing swim-meet and she was running on three hours of sleep for the past 48-hours.
"Thank you so much, Ms. Kagura!" Chiyo cried, "I'm so sorry we had to…"
"Sure, sure," Kagura waved impatiently. "Where're we going?"
"Sendai," Yomi said, "And in a hurry!"
"In a hurry, eh? What do you guess is the speed record for Tokyo to Sendai?"
"Um, we don't have to…" Chiyo started nervously.
"Do it in an hour!" Tomo challenged.
"I'll do it in half!" Kagura yelled, "Get in the car!"
"But-!" the prodigy was frantic, remembering a time when Kagura had boasted that on the road Ms. Yukari had nothing on her…
"They're only joking," Yomi said placatingly, taking Chiyo's shoulder. "I hope."
And so they set about the delicate task of fitting six girls into a car that should really only carry four. Naturally, Tomo pounced on shotgun; this made their already perilous situation even worse, for on top of sleep deprivation and trying for speed, Kagura would now have to contend with a constant distraction as well.
Just before they set out, Kagura glanced over to Osaka, who'd sunk miserably into the backseat opposite her. "You look like shit," she said sympathetically.
"You too," Osaka replied absently, her mind obviously elsewhere. If any of the group had been thinking clearly, they probably would have insisted that she see a doctor. Of course, there are a lot of things they might have done, had they been thinking clearly: taken a train, for instance, or perhaps broached the subject of alien invasion with an adult… ah, but then we'd have no story!
"Okay, ready guys? Let's go!" And so Kagura's time trial to Sendai began. It seemed that the name "Operation: Road Trip to Certain Death" was becoming more and more fitting…
…but, after about twenty minutes, it turned out that this would not be the crazy ride Chiyo was dreading. It seemed that there were quite a few people also trying to leave Tokyo. This pricked at Osaka's memory, but for the life of her, she couldn't think of what it was they'd all forgotten.
"So they put out an announcement on the TV and nobody did anything?" Kaori asked incredulously. "What the hell is everyone thinking?"
Yomi shifted uncomfortably. Since she was the largest person crammed in the back, she'd been stuck on the end with Kaori half-sitting on her. "Be reasonable! It was a blue guy threatening Tokyo with a giant monster. Everyone just thought it was a hoax."
"But Godzilla came out of the bay this morning! If there's one giant monster couldn't there be others?"
"You should have heard him, though; it was pretty tacky." Yomi considered. "Especially the way he said 'people of Earth.' If he wants to scare anyone, he'll have to work on his enunciation."
"What time is it?" Osaka asked vaguely.
"About nine," Chiyo answered.
"Ah. Hehe… he's late…" She slowly stroked the egg. Eerily, her fingers left deeper pink trails on its gritty surface. So that's what she had been trying to remember… "Doesn't look like he's comin' today after all…"
Kaori was not to be deterred. "What else did he say? Anything about abducting people, or…?"
"No, but before he was cut off, he started talking about how he was going to take a bride…" Yomi stopped in midsentence. "No."
"No!" Kaori agreed.
"No!" Yomi repeated vehemently.
"No!" Osaka hadn't been listening, but she was willing to join in the game.
The whole backseat was silent for a time, letting this notion sank in. Of course, it isn't really necessary to tell you what Kaori's reaction was, except to note that it extremely violent, loud and very nearly got them pulled over before she calmed down.
Meanwhile, deep in space, Xolarus's ears started ringing. He was discomfited; according to Planet X's folklore, your ears rang only when somebody, somewhere, decided to subject you to a painful, horrible death. Judging by the intensity, it seemed that his new enemy wanted to gouge his heart out with a blunt object and force him to watch its last beating.
The Prince absently made a sign to ward off evil and went back to planning the assault of King Ghidora.
(A/N: So, as you can see, Kagura isn't Gabira after all, but it was a goodidea andI was tempted. Please,8,tell me you didn't watch "Godzilla's Revenge" all the way through!)