((Micronationsssss! :D I've been wanting to do a chapter about these guys for a while. It's a nice break from all the drama and tension of the actual plot. I had to make up a lot of their names, by the way, so YMMV. In case you can't tell, Paula is Wy, Marcello is Seborga (I wanted to name him Valentino, but apparently he's usually called Marcello, so yeah), and Max is Ladonia. I know it's a weird name for him, but I felt like he needed a Pokemon name, and it was the first thing I thought of.))
It was Saturday, and Feliciano was hanging out at Ludwig's house, as he often did. Ludwig had a lot of homework to do, though, so he couldn't spend very much time with Feliciano. So, in order to keep himself entertained, Feliciano was watching TV. The show he had been watching before had ended, so he flipped through the channels looking for something else to watch.
"Hmm, there's nothing good on," he sighed.
"Why don't you do something else? Like maybe actually do your homework for once?" Ludwig suggested, not looking up from his work.
"Nah, I don't wanna," Feliciano replied lazily. He continued his channel surfing, stopping when he saw something interesting on the news.
"Hey, Ludwig, look! We're on TV!" Feliciano exclaimed, pointing excitedly at the screen.
"What?" This got Ludwig interested. Glancing up from his papers, he looked at the TV. Sure enough, his four friends were on TV. It was camcorder footage from the battle at the mall from the day before. The headline scrolling across the screen was "Mysterious Girls Fight Strange Demon in Mall".
"Why do they think we're girls?" Feliciano wondered confusedly.
"Oh, I don't know," Ludwig replied with sarcastic innocence, "I mean, there's no way it could have anything to do with the pink frilly miniskirts or giant ribbons..."
"Hey, just 'cuz we have pretty outfits doesn't mean we're girls," Feliciano argued. "Boys can wear dresses too. You should try it sometimes!"
"Yeah, no thanks," Ludwig mumbled, not at all liking the idea.
"But isn't it cool that we're on TV, though?" Feliciano repeated, dancing around excitedly. "We're gonna be famous!"
"I'm not sure that's such a good thing," Ludwig replied, actually concerned.
"Why?" Feliciano asked, frowning in confusion.
"Because," Ludwig began, "It's not that difficult to figure out who you guys are. Who knows who might come after you?"
"Yeah, but the video quality's really bad," Feliciano pointed out. "Hey, why is it that whenever someone gets a video of something crazy like aliens or whatever, it's always really bad quality?" he wondered. "I mean, it would make sense if it was ten years ago or so, but most cameras are HD now."
"I don't know, bad luck, I guess," Ludwig replied, shrugging and returning to his homework.
"It's weird, though," Feliciano added, frowning thoughtfully. "Ooh, maybe the people at the news station look through all the videos people take, and then pick the one with the worst quality?" he suggested.
"Now why would they do that?" Ludwig replied, giving Feliciano an odd look.
"I don't know, maybe it makes things more mysterious," Feliciano decided.
"If you say so."
"Hmm... Maybe Kiku knows! He's smart!"
"Maybe," Ludwig mumbled distractedly, pondering the answer to a math problem.
Having already decided that Kiku must somehow know everything about news stations and strange video recordings, Feliciano pulled out his phone and put in Kiku's number. He waited for a moment, and after a few seconds, Kiku picked up.
"Moshimoshi?"
"Ciao, Kiku!" Feliciano said cheerfully. "Guess what!"
"Um... It is Saturday?" Kiku guessed confusedly.
"Nope! Well, yes, but no. Guess again!"
"Did my house suddenly grow back?" Kiku suggested annoyedly.
Feliciano paused, not quite sure how to respond now that the mood had been thoroughly ruined.
Kiku sighed. "What is it?"
"We're on TV!" Feliciano announced excitedly.
"We are?" Kiku repeated, surprised.
"Yeah! Isn't it cool?" Feliciano replied, quite happy.
Still shocked, Kiku turned on the TV, switching it to NHK General TV. Just as Feliciano said, there was a special report that seemed to be about the mall incident.
"This is rather unexpected," Kiku said, not entirely sure what to think. "Do the others know about this?"
"Well I don't know about the twins, but Ludwig-"
"GUYS GUYS GUYS YOU'LL NEVER BELIEVE THIS WE'RE FREAKING ON TV!" Alfred screamed, flailing his arms in excitement as he ran into the living room.
"...How did you get in my house?" Ludwig asked, mildly horrified.
"You left the door unlocked," Alfred replied casually. Ludwig gave Feliciano a look.
"But I did lock it," Feliciano insisted confusedly.
"What? Really?" Alfred asked, surprised. "Well that would explain why it looked kinda broken..."
Ludwig slammed his book into his face repeatedly.
Meanwhile, at Arthur's house, Peter was sitting in the living room playing with some action figures while Arthur made lunch. He made exaggerated action noises as his action figures flailed at each other.
"Yeah! Take that! Go back where you came from, you- Huh?" he exclaimed curiously, glancing up at the TV. It was showing a video of what looked like some sort of super heroes, then cut to the station, where pictures of the strange figures along with the phrases "Mysterious Girls Fight Strange Demon in Mall" and "Who Are They?" made up the background, while a man in a suit gave a report.
"It is unknown who the mystery girls are, where they came from, or what the strange creature attacking the mall was. Some people suggest it was an elaborate publicity stunt for a video game, while others say it is a sign of the apocalypse. Let's go to our field reporter, Namikawa-san."
The camera changed to a woman in the mall, holding a microphone.
"Thank you, Yamada-san," the woman said. "I'm here on the scene of the strange battle, hoping to get some opinions as to what exactly happened yesterday." She turned to a couple and their young daughter. "Excuse me, would you mind answering a few questions for NHK?"
"Of course," the man replied.
"Thank you. First off, who do you think those girls were?"
"They were the Sailor Scouts!" the little girl exclaimed, her eyes wide with wonder and admiration. The reporter laughed.
"I don't know," the man said thoughtfully. "Some sort of actresses, I suppose. A new idol group, maybe?"
"I think they must have been cosplayers," the woman suggested.
"Both are excellent ideas," the reporter agreed. "Next, what do you think it was that they were seemingly fighting?"
"A bad guy!" the little girl decided, nodding seriously.
"Anamatronics," the man replied, "Or maybe a projection."
"Another cosplayer, maybe?"
The report continued on like that for several minutes, with answers ranging from robots to youkai to Americans to the apocalypse. Peter, however, wasn't interested in any wild theories. He already had his own idea of what was going on.
"Wow! That's so cool! Real super heroes!" he exclaimed, amazed. "Uncle Arthur, did you see that?!"
"Hmm? See what?" Arthur replied distractedly, stirring a pot of god-knows-what.
"Super heroes! On TV! Real ones!" Peter shouted, jumping on the couch.
"That's nice," Arthur said, not really paying attention.
"I've gotta show Raivis!" Peter announced, running to the door.
"Wait!" Arthur called. "You're not going out now. Eat your lunch first."
Peter let out an exaggerated sigh and slowly stomped over to the table. He shoved his grilled cheese sandwich in his face, eating it in several dangerously large bites, before running out again.
"Raivis! Raivis! You'll never believe this!" Peter shouted, running down the street to his best friend's house. Rushing past the front gate, he ran into the back yard and around to the sliding glass door. He stood with his face pressed against the door, banging and fogging up the glass with his shouts until the boy inside noticed him. Sighing, he put down whatever book he was reading and went to let Peter in.
"RAIVIS GUESS WHA- Woah!" Peter exclaimed, nearly falling on his face as the door was suddenly slid open.
"You really shouldn't lean on the glass like that," Raivis told him, frowning worriedly as he closed the door behind him.
"Yeah yeah, whatever, now guess what!" Peter interrupted, ignoring the more sensible boy's advice.
"What?" Raivis asked.
"You're never gonna believe this... There's real super heroes!" Peter shouted excitedly.
"What do you mean?" Raivis asked confusedly.
"It was on the news! There was this big creepy cat thing in the mall that was destroying everything, but then these four girls in costumes with big fancy weapons showed up and stopped it using these super cool super-powered attacks!" Peter explained rapidly, barely stopping for breath.
"Um... Ok," Raivis replied, not exactly sure how to respond.
"It was so cool! We should start a fan club for them!" Peter decided.
"Do they have names?" Raivis asked.
"Hmm... Nope," Peter replied, pondering this. "I mean, they probably do, but I don't know what they are."
"Oh, I see," Raivis said thoughtfully.
"Anyway, we should definitely start a fan club! And maybe someday we can be superheroes like them, too!" Peter exclaimed.
"But I don't want to be a superhero," Raivis admitted. "It sounds dangerous and scary. I'd rather just stay home."
"Aww, come on! That's no fun!" Peter argued. "Pleeeeease?"
"...You're going to make me whether I want to or not, aren't you?" Raivis asked nervously.
"Uh-huh!" Peter replied, nodding.
"Fine," Raivis said reluctantly, sighing.
"Yay!" Peter exclaimed happily. "Now let's go recruit some new members!"
"Alright! The first meeting of the Mysterious Super Girls Whose Names We Don't Know Fan Club is officially called to order!" Peter announced, banging on the table. "Now I'll take attendance." Clearing his throat, he pretended to straighten a piece of drawing paper.
"Raivis!"
"Here," Raivis mumbled reluctantly.
"Paula!"
"Present," Paula answered, sounding slightly annoyed.
"Max!"
"Hmm?"
"You're supposed to say if you're here or not," Peter told him, giving his friend a look.
"Isn't it obvious?" Max replied, raising an eyebrow and pressing a few buttons on his 3DS.
"Yeah, but you're supposed to say it!" Peter insisted.
"Why?" Max asked.
"Because! That's how meetings work!" Peter exclaimed, getting frustrated. Paula rolled her eyes and reached across the table, putting a check mark next to Max's name on the paper.
"Hey! That's my job!" Peter shouted, grabbing the paper.
"But you weren't doing it right," Paula explained.
"Whatever," Peter said, sticking his tongue out at her. "Hmm… Marcello!"
"Here!" the cheerful man exclaimed, raising his hand.
"Right! That makes everyone!" Peter announced. "Now we can begin the meeting. Let's see... Old business... Uh, well this is the first meeting, so I guess there's no old business," he decided confusedly. "Alright, so new business-"
"Hold on a minute, President," Paula interrupted, raising her hand.
"What is it?" Peter asked.
"I've got some things to say," the copper-haired girl announced, and stood up. "First of all, this isn't a real club room, it's Mr. Marcello's living room," she pointed out. "That's a can of iced tea, not a gavel, we don't have a proper name, I don't even know why we're here, and finally, who the heck is that guy?" she asked awkwardly, pointing to a strange boy with braided hair sitting in the corner with a sketchpad.
"It's art," he mumbled vaguely, before returning to his drawing. Peter shrugged, just as clueless as the others.
"I agree with Paula," Max decided. "Peter is doing a terrible job of running this club. I say we should impeach him and let me take over as club president."
"Now wait a minute! You can't just do that! The meeting's barely started, what makes you think I'm doing a bad job?!" Peter argued.
"'Cuz you are," Max replied matter-of-factly.
"This is getting too stressful for me," Raivis whimpered, trembling slightly.
"Anyone want some pears?" Marcello asked, oblivious to the tension in the room.
"Look, if you'll all be quiet I'll explain everything," Peter announced, banging his iced tea can in an attempt to get his friends' attention.
"Fine, go ahead," Paula decide, sighing. "But it better be good."
"Thank you," Peter said, rolling his eyes. "Ok, so as some of you may know, yesterday there was an incident at the mall involving a large... Er... Monsterycatthing that tried to destroy the food court. It was stopped by a group of mysterious female super heroes, whose names we don't actually know yet. This is a fan club for those brave girls," he explained.
"Do you REALLY expect us to believe that?" Paula asked, raising a thick eyebrow.
"It's real! It was on the news!" Peter insisted.
"Oh yeah, it's right here," Max confirmed, showing them his 3DS. It was open to an internet browser with several different news headlines about the incident.
"They sound pretty cute," Marcello mused. "I wonder if any of them are single?"
"So why do we need a fan club for them, exactly?" Paula wondered.
"Because they're super cool!" Peter exclaimed. "I want to be just like them some day."
"You want to wear frilly little miniskirts?" Raivis asked confusedly.
"N-no!" Peter argued quickly, blushing in embarrassment. "Obviously my outfit would be more manly."
"But you're not a man," Max pointed out.
"That's what the 'some day' part is for," Peter replied, giving Max a "duh" look and rolling his eyes.
"Skirts are art," the strange boy in the corner decided. "Costumes are art. Guys in skirts are art. Heroes are art."
The whole room was silent for a moment, staring at him in confusion.
"...Um... Alright then," Peter said awkwardly, not really sure what else to say. "So uh, anyway, let's get back to the meeting."
"So what exactly are we going to do at these meetings, anyway?" Raivis asked.
"We're going to learn all about the mystery girls, appreciate them, train to be like them, and hopefully get them to notice us!" Peter announced.
"That sounds like fun," Marcello agreed.
"It sounds weird," Paula said, wrinkling her nose in distaste.
"It sounds a little bit dangerous," Raivis mumbled.
"It might be art," the guy in the corner added.
"Well I don't really care as long as we don't have to wear skirts," Max decided.
"Alright, so now that that's done, we need to decide on positions," Peter announced. "Obviously I'm the president. Raivis is the secretary," he continued. "Oh, speaking of that, have you been keeping the minutes?"
"Um... W-well, I tried, but then that guy took my notepad," Raivis admitted, staring at his feet awkwardly. Everyone turned to look at the weird kid in the corner.
"Give Raivis his notepad back," Peter ordered.
"No," the boy replied, holding the notepad close to him. "It's art."
"Hey," Paula said sweetly, "If you give us the notepad, we'll let you be the official artist."
"...Fine," he agreed, handing her the notepad.
"Paula! You don't have the authority to make decisions like that, only the president can appoint people!" Peter argued.
"But I got the notepad back, didn't I?" Paula pointed out. "Besides, this club should be a democracy. You're the president, not a king."
"Fine then, we'll take a vote on it," Peter decided. "All in favor of making that guy official club artist?"
"Aye," everyone replied.
"All opposed?"
"Nay," Max said. The others stared at him in confusion.
"Why don't you want him to be artist? Would you rather do it?" Raivis asked curiously.
"No, I just like saying nay," Max explained, shrugging.
"Then it's settled," Peter announced. "Now... The deputy should be... hmm... Max," he decided.
"Wait a minute!" Paula interrupted. "Why does he get to be deputy?! I'm smarter, and I've known you longer!"
"Because he's cooler," Peter explained.
"And I'm the best one suited to be president," Max added.
"I say I should be deputy," Paula insisted.
"Hmm... Tell you what," Max suggested, "If you can beat me at a Pokemon battle, you can be deputy."
"I accept your challenge," Paula said, offering her hand to shake. Max shook it.
"May the best trainer win."
"Oh, hold on," Paula said suddenly, "I left my Gameboy at home."
Max's eyes widened in horror. "Did... did you say... Gameboy..?" he whispered, clutching his 3DS.
"Yeah, why?" Paula asked, confused.
"DON'T TALK TO ME, YOU FILTHY CASUAL!" Max screamed, running out of the room. Everyone was silent, shocked.
"...Since that weirdo ran away, does that mean I get to be deputy?" Paula asked Peter.
"I guess so," he replied, shrugging.
"What do I get to be?" Marcello asked, leaning against the table casually.
"You can be our responsible adult supervisor," Peter replied, nodding seriously.
"Are you sure he counts as 'responsible'?" Raivis asked.
"More or less," Marcello replied, shrugging.
"I guess we ought to give stupidface a position too," Paula admitted.
"How about treasurer? We don't have one of those yet," Raivis suggested.
"Ooh, good idea!" Peter agreed. "HEY MAX, YOU GET TO BE TREASURER!" he shouted down the hall.
"LEAVE ME ALONE! I'M TRYING TO SPEND QUALITY TIME WITH MY MEOWSTIC!" Max shouted back.
"What's a Meowstic?" Paula asked.
"It's one of the new Pokemon, I think," Peter replied.
"Games are art," the kid in the corner mumbled.
"What about text adventures? Those don't have any art," Raivis pointed out.
"They are art," the boy insisted. "Everything is art."
"Is my toe jamb art?" Paula asked, waving her shoeless foot in his face.
"No," he replied hastily, moving away from her.
"Thought not," she replied, smirking.