Hello, everyone! I know it's been months since I posted anything new and I apologize. I've been swamped with school and then went out of town where there was no Internet access. Anyway, this is the eighth chapter of Mary Sue vs The Bey Girls. I hope you enjoy it.
The next day after school, Mariam, Mariah and Emily were waiting at Hilary's house when she came home.
"Emily, what are you doing here? I thought you wouldn't be here for at least two days," Hilary said.
"I told Mrs. Tate that I had an emergency and needed to get to Japan as fast as possible, so she called up Mr. Dickenson and he arranged to fly me over here on his private jet," Emily answered.
"What did you say the emergency was?" Hilary asked.
"I told her that your boyfriend broke up with you and that you were suicidally depressed," Emily said nonchalantly
"WHAT?"
"Well, maybe it was a little extreme, but you were depressed right?"
"Yeah, for about a day! I wasn't anywhere near suicidal," Hilary said, now glaring at her friend.
"Sorry," Emily said sheepishly.
Hilary sighed. "Anyway, since Julia isn't here, should we hold off on a course of action?"
"I don't think so. All the guys are head over heels for this girl and we can't waste any time," Mariam said.
"I agree," Mariah said. "Mariam told us about her meeting with this Marie person and I think we need to move as soon as possible."
"Alright. What do you girls think should be the plan for forcing her to admit what she did to the boys? Beyblade match or violence?" Hilary asked.
"I think it should be plan A with plan B as a backup," Mariam said.
"That's what I was thinking," Hilary said.
Mariah and Emily nodded.
"There's one problem though," Emily said. "I have no idea how to fight. Plus, I'm not the most physically strong person."
"And I may be stronger than Emily, but I've never had formal training," Hilary said.
"Well, you don't necessarily need to be a professional martial artist to fight effectively," Mariah said. "If you have agility and flexibility, you can avoid an opponent and if you combine those aspects with good ol' street fighting, you can take out someone just as well as any martial arts expert."
"So, what are you proposing?" Mariam asked Mariah.
"Over here, those skills are called gymnastics. Back in the village, it's called innate ability. I could teach you the moves I know," she answered.
"Great!" Hilary said, smiling.
"You don't need to teach me," Mariam said. "The training I did back in Romania gave me those skills. Plus, I know a little bit of Aikido just as an extra precaution."
"Aikido?" Hilary asked, looking at Mariam quizzically.
"It's a Japanese martial art that emphasizes throwing techniques," Mariam said.
"Could you teach us?" Emily asked.
"I guess I could teach you a couple of the simpler moves."
"But before we start training you, I think we need to do a bit of shopping for you two," Mariah said.
"Why?" Emily asked.
"Hey, when you can kick butt, you wanna look good doing it, right?"
Hilary laughed. "I guess so."
"Great! Let's go and take care of it now," Mariah said.
When they got back to the Tatibana residence, Hilary and Emily put on their new clothes. Hilary had bought a black tank top, a white skirt with an embroidered lace covering that went just past her knees and earrings with a snowflake design. Emily had bought a green vest and black jeans.
"You both look great!" Mariah said.
"Thanks," Hilary and Emily said simultaneously.
"Alright, now that you have a new look, let's teach you some new moves," Mariam said.
The four girls went to the beach and found an isolated spot.
"Alright, I'm going to show some of the skills I know. Pay careful attention," Mariah said.
She stood in front of Hilary and Emily and then did two consecutive back flips. Then after a pause, she did two front walkovers and was back in her original position.
"Did you pay attention to my movements?" she asked.
Hilary and Emily both nodded.
"Good. Now you two try it," she said, smiling.
Mariam then spoke up. "Uh Mariah, remember that this stuff comes naturally to you since you're a neko-jin. I learned those moves after training and Hilary and Emily might hurt themselves if they try to do too much too soon."
Mariah gave an embarrassed laugh and looked apologetically at Hilary and Emily. "I'm sorry guys. I guess I forgot to take that little detail into account."
"I'll teach them the basics and then once they have those down, you can move on to move advanced skills," Mariam told Mariah.
The bluenette turned to Hilary and Emily. "Alright, the most basic move in gymnastics is something called a hand stand and it's going to be the basis of all your other skills."
Mariam stepped back and then bent forward and lifted herself up straight balancing with her hands. "This is a hand stand. You have to make sure your body is as straight as possible." She shifted her weight and let her legs come to the ground and went back to a standing position. "You'll have to practice using a wall first and then keep at it until you can hold your position for several seconds. Then you can try it without a wall."
"Alright. We could go to the local gym and practice," Hilary said.
"Good idea," Emily said.
Throughout the week, Hilary and Emily went to the gym every day after Hilary was done with school. It took Emily two days to learn to do a handstand without the aid of a wall. It took Hilary three days. On Friday after school, they reported their progress to Mariam, Mariah and Julia, who had arrived on Wednesday.
"Alright, so you know the most fundamental skill, so next, I think you need to learn how to a front walkover," Mariam said.
"What's a walkover?" Emily asked.
"You basically flip over forwards. It's different from an actual flip because your hands or your feet are always touching the ground at some point. You really only need to learn how to do a front walkover since a back flip will suffice for going backwards."
Mariam lifted her hands above her head and went into a handstand, keeping her legs apart, and then put her right leg over her head, seeming to go into a bridge position. She lifted her herself over so the other leg went to the ground and she landed in a standing position.
"Now before you can do this, you need to learn how to go into the bridge position. Let me show you."
Mariam got on her back and bent her knees up. She placed her hands beside her ears and then pushed herself up into an arched position. After a few seconds, she straightened out her arms and legs, which pushed her shoulders over her head. She then did a back flip and landed.
"Make sure to keep your arms and legs straight the entire time. Keep your knees together and keep your fingers and toes in line with your body. It's gonna take a while for you to get it right," Mariam told Hilary and Emily.
"Why is it so important?" Emily asked.
"The handstand and bridge form the basis for all other gymnastics moves" Mariam explained.
"I can work on perfecting the bridge here," Hilary said.
"Where will Julia, Emily and I stay? We can't all fit in your house while we're here," Mariah said.
"You can stay with the Saint Shields. We've got more than enough room," Mariam said. She turned to Hilary. "We'll meet back here every day after school and check up on your and Emily's progress," Mariam said.
"Sounds like a good plan," Hilary said.
By next Friday, Hilary and Emily had learned the bridge and Hilary had learned the front walkover as well. It only took Hilary a day (albeit an exhausting one) to learn the bridge, and the rest of the weekend to learn how to get out of a bridge properly. She had learned the walkover by Wednesday. Emily on the other hand, being physically weaker than Hilary, took the weekend to learn the bridge and by Friday, she was just starting to practice the walkover.
"Alright, now there are two other moves you need to know before you learn the backflip, Hilary," Mariam said. "They're called the back tuck and the front somersault. Now the somersault can be done on the ground or in the air. For you and Emily, you need to learn how to do it in the air. As for the back tuck, essentially, you'll be doing a backflip, but landing in the same place you started."
"It's easier and probably safer to practice those moves outside," Julia said.
"So let's go to the park. Even if there are other people there, we should be able to find an isolated spot to practice," Emily said.
When they got to the park and found a vacant place, they were shocked to find Marie and the Bladebreakers over by the park bench. All the boys were looking love-struck and Marie seemed to be simply talking to them.
"What are they doing?" Julia asked, looking disgusted.
"She's probably telling them some story about her own life, considering I don't see any touching," Hilary said, looking just as angry.
"Should we go to the beach instead?" Emily asked.
"No, we're fine here. Just focus on training and don't pay attention to them," Mariah said.
"Alright, so Emily, you keep working on the front walkover. Mariah will help you," Mariam told her before turning to Hilary. "As for you, we'll be practicing an aerial somersault."
"I already know how to do a somersault Mariam and I suspect Emily does too. It's something a lot of us did as kids," Hilary said.
"You mean rolling forward on the floor? No way. I was always the intellectual, never the athlete. Sorry Hilary, but somersaulting was never a hobby of mine," Emily said.
"Oh well. Anyway, doing one in the air shouldn't be that difficult."
To demonstrate, Hilary put her arms out straight and then jumped into the air as high as she could. She then brought them to the side and thrusts them down to build momentum. She then tucked her head and flipped herself over, landing on her feet.
Mariam smiled at Hilary. "Very good. I guess we can move on to the back flip." She went over to Mariah. "You help Hilary with the back flip and the back tuck. I'll take over with Emily."
Mariah nodded and went over to Hilary. "Alright Hilary, basically you have to flip over backwards once and land in a handstand position. Then lift off the ground with your hands and land on your feet. Now, this can be dangerous if you don't do it right. You should probably practice on a trampoline."
"If you say so. I'm sure I'll nail it eventually."
"You can go to the gym. I'm sure they have a trampoline to practice on," Mariam said.
"So is this training session over?" Emily asked.
"For Hilary it is, but you still have work to do," Mariam said.
"Well, I'm going to go now and try not to let Marie and her hypnotized harem see me," Hilary said, scowling in the group's direction.
"We'll see you tomorrow Hilary," Mariah said.
Hilary smiled at her friends and nodded before walking out of the park, making sure Marie and the boys didn't notice her.