The Star of my Heart
Story by: Phoenix710&Merigirl
Summary: In this chapter, Speedy and the others make the final preparations for Polly's birthday, since it's only a day away. Meanwhile, Al Dente tries to think up something to get the Pizza Cats and their friends off the hook, so they can all celebrate Polly's special day together, and not have Princess Vi go ballistic on them. How will Al keep the Cats from tasting Vi's fiery wrath? Let's find out!
Disclaimer: Neither Myself nor Merigirl claim any rights whatsoever to Samurai Pizza Cats, or to any of the associated characters or locations. Samurai Pizza Cats, and all characters and locations associated with the series, are registered trademarks of Saban. The song that Speedy will sing here, "Burning Love", was sung by the late Elvis Presley, and the song that Francine will sing, "Edge Of Soul", is from the Playstation game Soul Blade.
Chapter Nine: Pre-Party Jitters
The new day came upon Little Tokyo, with bright, clear skies, and perfect weather all around. Speedy sat up, stretched, then went in for a shower. When he came out, he gently started massaging Polly's shoulders and back, until she woke up as well. She pulled him close, and the two of them kissed tenderly. Speedy said, "As much as I'd like to continue, we should get downstairs, before Francine yells at us again." Polly giggled, and said, "Yeah…I guess you're right." The two of them got their clothes on, then headed downstairs. Meanwhile, everyone else was busy getting the restaurant ready for business. Francine was wiping down the counter, Good Bird was checking the arcade machines, Guido was fixing the SkillCrane Prize machine, since it had jammed last night. Within minutes, he located the problem, which was a burned-out circuit for the crane's motor. He swapped out the damaged circuit board, slid a new one into place, and tested the machine. It worked like new, and he closed it up. Guido said, "Fran…the SkillCrane's fixed! It was the crane's motor, so I just swapped out a burned-out circuit board." Francine smiled, and said, "Thanks. Nice job, Guido." He smiled at her, then went to give Lucille a hand with getting the kitchen ready. Carla finished helping Good Bird with the last of the arcade machines, then the two crows plugged them in, one at a time. Speedy and Polly checked the soda machines and the cooler, filled whatever needed to be restocked, then, at 9:30, Francine unlocked the door, and flipped the sign on the window from "CLOSED" to "OPEN". People soon started coming in, since all the restaurants would be closed tomorrow, thanks to Vi's ego. Speedy looked over at Polly, and he decided to sing a song for her, even though it wasn't her birthday. He said, "Polly, I'd like to sing you a nice song I found last night, by Elvis Presley. It's called 'Burning Love". Speedy cued up the music, and started singing.
Lord almighty,
I feel my temperature rising
Higher higher
Its burning through to my soul
Girl, girl, girl
You gonna set me on fire
My brain is flaming
I dont know which way to go
Your kisses lift me higher
Like the sweet song of a choir
You light my morning sky
With burning love
Ooh, ooh, ooh,
I feel my temperature rising
Help me, Im flaming
I must be a hundred and nine
Burning, burning, burning
And nothing can cool me
I just might turn into smoke
But I feel fine
Cause your kisses lift me higher
Like a sweet song of a choir
And you light my morning sky
With burning love
Its coming closer
The flames are reaching my body
Please wont you help me
I feel like Im slipping away
Its hard to breath
And my chest is a-heaving
Lord almighty,
Im burning a hole where I lay
Cause your kisses lift me higher
Like the sweet song of a choir
You light my morning sky
With burning love
With burning love
Ah, ah, burning love
Im just a hunk, a hunk of burning love
Just a hunk, a hunk of burning love
Just a hunk, a hunk of burning love
Just a hunk, a hunk of burning love
Just a hunk, a hunk of burning love
Just a hunk, a hunk of burning love
Once Speedy finished, everyone, including the customers, began applauding, and Polly kissed Speedy on the cheek. Francine took the microphone, and said, "This next song is called "Edge of Soul", by Yoshiya Motoaki.
To love! To shine!
We all need to shine on, to see how far we've come on our journey
How far yet to go, searching for our star
Deep in the night,
I pray in my heart for that special light
to shower me with love
to shower me with power
to shine from above
I got to get to the Edge of Soul, to carry on what I believed in from the very start
I got to get to the Edge of Soul, to carry on deep in my heart
To love, to shine!
To love, to shine!
Come strip down and face it, your all
About time you broke down your wall
Free your mind
A brand new world waits for you, you'll find
Nobody can just do it for you
It's time that you knew
It's up to you to love it's up to you to shine the light true and blue
You got to get to the Edge of Soul, to carry on what you believed in from the very start
You got to get to the Edge of Soul, to carry on, deep in your heart
You got to get to the Edge of Soul, to carry on what you believed in from the very start
You got to get to the Edge of Soul, to carry on what you believed in from the very start
You got to get to the Edge of Soul, to carry on what you believed in from the very start
You got to get to the Edge of Soul, to carry on, deep in your heart!
To love, to shine!
To love, to shine!
To love!
Once again, everyone cheered, and then they went back to their regular business.
Meanwhile, at the Palace…
Al Dente was trying to think of something to tell Princess Vi which would convince her to allow Speedy and Polly to spend tomorrow together, and not end up getting sent to Prisoners' Island for wanting to spend Polly's birthday doing what they wanted to do. He ran through several ideas, until he finally came up with one that he liked. He said to himself, 'I've got it! I'll tell her that they've all come down with a bad case of the stomach bug, and they're too ill to attend. The Princess should let them be if I tell her that…I hope.'
Al walked down the hall, and knocked on the doors to the throne room. A guard opened up, and Al said, "Excuse me, Princess, but Francine just called from the Pizza Cats' Restaurant. She said that they've all got a major problem with the stomach bug over there. Speedy, Guido, Polly, Good Bird, and Carla are all ill, and she and Lucille probably won't be far behind. She doesn't want to spread it around the rest of the city, so they won't be in attendance tomorrow. I'm sorry." Princess Vi said, "Normally, I'd be angry, but, since they are the heroes of the city, I'll excuse them. Tell them that I said get well soon." Al bowed and left. When he got to his room, he activated the soundproof layer of his door, then secured all the lines to the phones, so nobody could listen in. He called the Pizza Cats, and Polly picked up. Polly said, "Hey Al, can we get you anything?" He said, "No, Polly. I just called to say that you're off the hook. I told Princess Vi that you were all too ill to come tomorrow, so she said you're excused." Polly smiled broadly, and said, "Oh…thanks so much, Al! I owe you one BIG TIME for this!" Al then hung up, and went back to his duty.
Back At the Pizza Cats' Restaurant:
Polly had just gotten off the phone with Al Dente, and, when she told the others what Al had told her, they all sighed in relief, especially Speedy. Now, nothing would hold them back from being together on Polly's special day.