Yet another Update for Sketchfan's outoto.
Brit: He'd better appreciate these.
Gina: (Huggles Keitaro's right) I do!
Bri: (Huggles his left) Me Too!
Kei: (Weeping) I'm in mashmallow hell...
Chapter 16.
"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA-!" Star Platinum bellowed, lashing out with a manic leer on its face, sending throngs of Dearthos flying in all directions, While Keitaro tried to avoid tripping over their battered corpses.
"Sheesh! Four eyes' got some moves!" Treat-5 muttered, feeling a little intimidated by what appeared to be a four-eyed geek pummeling the drones with his mind, since he couldn't see the Ronin's stand. Not that Dearthos were any REAL threat, more punching bags with legs really, but it still unnerved him at how easily the otherwise unimpressive geek dealt with them.
"Eyes front Treat-5!" Treat-1 snapped, though in all honesty he was a little impressed, albeit grudgingly so, of the Ronin's prowess himself. He'd never admit it of course, but watching the Ronin send Dearthos flying without laying a hand on them was pretty darn cool.
"Look out!" Zetra-Three yelled, rolling out of the way as Baug, one of the giant monsters of the week that Dertoza had shipped in, launched a Wave-Motion Spitball at the center of the group with the force of a meteorite, sending the combatants flying in all directions in a bid to avoid being blasted.
Spellvis, protected by the blast by a magical shield spell, set his mind to the task of taming another of the monsters, a fire-breathing heavy called Zorch, hypnotizing the brute before turning it's flames against everyone else, cackling manically the entire time as he rode it like a steed.
"Gina-san!" Keitaro, yelped, rushing over to assist the scientist, who while safe behind her force field, had still been knocked off her feet by the blast, only to blink as he came face to breastplate with an armored figure, looking up to find Leiola grinning down at him excitedly "Erm…hi?"
"You! You seem pretty strong for such a runt!" the horned villainess noted, ripping her cloak off and grinning excitedly at the prospect of a proper fight, having witnessed the Ronin tossing the Dearthos around like rag dolls earlier "I challenge you!"
"EH?!?!" Keitaro yelped, leaning back out of the path of a sword swipe that still tore his shirt open from hip to shoulder "WAIT!" he stammered, eyes tearing up in desperation as he waved under the strikes, using his experience from Motoko's numerous attempts on his life to good use "CAN'T WE TALK ABOUT THIS?!"
"TALK IS FOR THE WEAK!" Leiola cackled, her sword blurring around her like an intergalactic blender as she tried to sever the Ronin's limbs "NOW STAND YOUR GROUND!"
"ORA!"
Leiola cursed as Star Platinum's invisible fist shattered her sword, leaving her holding the broken hilt in her trembling, numbed hands "You little bastard!" she snarled, eyes blazing with vengeance as she rounded on the rightfully terrified Ronin "That was my favorite sword!"
"I'm sorry?!" Keitaro stammered, backpedaling nervously, his hands held up before him in a bid to placate the woman, a gesture that never seemed to work no matter how many times he'd used it. He'd never been okay with hitting women before, and still felt disgusted with himself for what he'd done to Jetta at El Dorado. But if things kept up as they were he wasn't certain he could reign in Star Platinum's desire to smash everything in sight that looked remotely threatening. Hell he wasn't certain he'd WANT to stop it.
"If you're sorry then STAND STILL AND LET ME CRUSH YOU!" Leiola snarled, the horned amazon lunging for the Ronin with her hands outstretched, only to blink as a furry form tackled her from the side.
"Tag out Keitaro!" Brittany yelled, an excited smirk on her face as the Were-Cheetah supplexed the startled Leiola into the mall floor, cracking the ground beneath her "Horn head's mine! Go help out Gina!"
"R-Right!" Keitaro agreed, the ronin turning on his heel and racing off to find the blonde, wincing as Leiola's death threats washed over him, only to be knocked off his feet as the 'Treat Men's 'Twirl-Wind Pyramid' fired up, the miniature tornado knocking Zorch back.
Dertoza, who had been crowing over a captured Jesibell, was not amused at having his Dirt-doing interrupted, and had the whole thing detonated with another of Baug's spitballs, causing the Sentai wannabes flying, the two females crashing into the hapless Ronin in a tangle of limbs.
'Why me?' the Ronin muttered, as the two female Sentai fighters started yelling at him for holding them in such a fashion 'Why always me?'
"EMERALD SPLASH!" Gina yelled, her Stand knocking down the Deartho drones by the dozen alongside Minerva, who seemed to be enjoying herself, and Zetra-Three, occasionally taking potshots at Spellvis while the portly spell caster was occupied with the Treat-Men "This is Kinda fun!"
"I just took out ten of them with that last group!" Zetra-Three boasted, the steam-powered superhero smirking over his shoulder at Minerva, who was standing back to back with him as they fended off the cannon fodder "How many did you get?"
"Thirty!" the cheerleader countered, catching her hula-hoop as it flew back into her hand, having tossed it like a boomerang at the Deartho horde, wiping them out in an impressive display of gymnastic's skills and brute force.
"HAH! I got you both beat!" Gina smirked, the scientist/archaeologist blasting into the horde with one of her portable hand cannons, whilst her Stand pelted them with Emerald Plasma "I just topped fifty!"
"Hold it right there!" Dertoza called out, drawing the trio's attention to the man, who was looking decidedly smug despite having watched his troops get mowed down by a bunch of pesky kids, and their not so little kitty. The reason for his confidence became all too clear as they saw him standing before Baug, who was holding a terrified Jesibell up to his stomach maw.
"Now then Zetra-Three," the fedora sporting villain sneered, his face triumphant behind his mask "Either you surrender yourself to me," he pointed up at the terrified Jesibell "or Baug here has the hostage for a light snack!"
"Take him, he's yours." Minerva muttered, looking honestly nonplussed, despite the look of confusion she received from Dertoza, and the exasperated looks she was getting from the other two "What? Better this perv dies than my pal!"
"Not too cheery for a cheerleader are you?" Gina muttered, Zetra-Three muttering something along the lines of 'Got THAT right', earning a glare from the girl "Listen, you two distract the monster while 'I' rescue Jesibell."
"And how're you gonna do that?" Minerva asked, only to sigh as Zetra-Three charged the monster, racing after the pervy nerd, figuring that she might as well do SOMETHING to help. At least SHE wouldn't demand a date out of it in return.
"FOOLS?!" Dertoza snapped, initially thrown for a loop by their audacity "I NEVER MAKE IDLE THREATS!" So saying he gestured to Baug, who opened its maw eagerly to consume the terrified teen, only to pull up short.
"What's the matter with you?!" Dertoza snapped, glaring up at the frozen behemoth, which seemed to be struggling against invisible restraints, cursing as it allowed Zetra-Three to catch their hostage out of the air "Dammit! What did you do?!"
"Oh nothing." Gina stated, posing confidently with hre hand on hre hip and her blaster in hand, as her Stand tightened its coils around Baug's massive form like a straightjacket "Just made sure your pal there can't move."
"Interfering WENCH!" Dertoza snarled, lunging forwards with his hands outstretched to throttle the trillby-sporting genius, only to be knocked ass over teakettle by a giant silver spoon hurled at his face like a javelin.
"Thanks Kei!" Gina cheered, waving at the Ronin, who'd hurled the piece of cutlery via Star Platinum, only to blink as Cheetah and Leiola soared past, her baby sister, smashing the woman's head into the ground again "Jinkies Cheetah! Isn't the patented super-air-slam a bit much?"
"Nope." Cheetah grinned, dusting off her hands as she smirked down at Leiola's trembling tush "You had enough, or do you want me to get rough?"
Leiola's answer was to summon one of her minions, a robotic creature that seemed to be staring at her tush a lot, bathing in a beam of energy that not only energized her, but made her grow to almost ten feet in height, not including the horns.
"Now then…my puny, seven foot, feline opponent…" she chuckled, hands on her armored hips as she sneered down at the stunned Lycanthrope, steam still rising off her armor from the transformation "shall we continue our duel?"
"You gotta ask?" Cheetah smirked, theLycanthrope lighting into the woman with a series of supersonic punches worthy of a certain seven-scarred martial artist, only for Leiola, with virtually no strain, to grab her fists out of mid-air "Uh-oh…"
"You okay Jesibell?" Zetra-Three asked, the steam-powered superhero setting the girl on her feet gently, surprisingly NOT copping a feel in the process despite Minerva's suspicions "Easy there, you had quite an encounter."
"And it's about to get worse!" Dertoza growled, putting the hero in a headlock from behind. The villain was NOT in a good mood, primarily because of everything that had happened today, but mainly because he'd just been beaned over the head by a TEASPOON of all things. Right now he wanted nothing more than to beam home, toss Zetra-Three in a holding cell, then relax to his private Jacuzzi for some R&R "Mr. Culu!" he snapped into his communicator "Two to beam UGH!"
"Huh?" Phrank wondered, the bespectacled nerd's helmet having come off during the scuffle, the Zetraman watching in surprise as Dertoza went down, courtesy of a fireball to the back of his head "Who was-WOWZA?!"
"No need fa thanks babeh!" the shapely brunette in an Elvis outfit assured him, winking saucily, her southern accent sending the hormonal teen right over the edge "Ah just couldn't let him take you away before Ah have mah way with you." She leaned in close, a seductive smile on her face "C'mere lil Dahlin…y'all got just what ah need…!"
"Don't do it Zetra-Three!" Treat-3 called out, drawing the teen's attention from the bodacious babe to see the Treat-men posing over a defeated Zorch "That's Spellvis! I saw her…I mean HIM change into that floozy after he sicced that monster on us!"
"CURSES!" Spellvis snarled, shifting form back to his portly self, scarring poor Phrank for life in the process "So y'all saw through mah illusions eh? Well as grandpappy used tah say, if deception don't work, there's always good ole BRUTE FORCE!"
"Not while WE'RE here you're not!" Treat-1 countered, the Red Treatman stashing his camera somewhere out of sight behind his spandex clad frame, the Sentai-wannabe's getting set to charge the villain, only to pull up short as his pager went off.
"Treat-1! This is Rival-san Lendo, your boss!" an irate looking teen yelled over the sounds of rampant destruction in the background "One of doctor Hossenfeffer's Genetic Experiments has broken loose! I need you and your Hyper-Treat Ninja Skills to stop it!"
"Man!" Treat-2 moaned, sounding decidedly put out as the Treat-Men huddled together to teleport back, several of them actually muttering decidedly unpleasant things under their breath regarding their employer "This blows, we were winning!"
"I know," Treat-1 sighed, the red-clad leader of the Treatmen honestly wishing he could just ignore the whiny, overdramatic little punk's order, just this once "But he's the one that signs our pay checks!"
"What about Spellvis?" Treat-4 asked, the blue clad Treatman looking over in the direction of the exasperated Phrank and smug looking spell caster, who pulling off a pretty decent levitation for such a fatass.
"Zetra-3 can handle him." Treat-1 muttered dismissively, honestly not really caring what happened to the little nerd, hell if he was kidnapped, he might even throw the fatass a party, before reaching into his belt and tossing a smoke bomb at the ground "NINJA TELEPORT!"
"Now I remember why I can never really rely on those guys…" Phrank muttered, cursing Rival-san Lendo and his non-existent sense of timing to the depths of heck and beyond, even as Spellvis chuckled ominously.
While all this was going on, Brittany was getting her tail handed to her, courtesy of a cackling Leiola, who was enjoying this turn of events a little too much. But when your head had been used to punch holes in concrete, could you blame the woman for wanting a little payback?
"That's a nice looking fur coat you have there." She complimented, driving her knee into the Lycan's midriff "Smooth, silky, soft, sleek AND stunning!" she grabbed her opponent under the arms, raising her above her head "I think I'll have your hide turned into a fetching fur jacket with matching cap!"
"ORA!"
Leiola squawked as a fist slammed into her face, sending her and Cheetah toppling to the floor, the latter landing on her head, while Leiola rolled to her feet with a snarl, eyes glaring at the surroundings for her assailant "Who...YOU?!"
"Leave Cheetah-san alone!" Keitaro snapped, the ronin standing before the horned horror, honestly surprised at his own daring, Star Platinum hovering behind him, the amazon stand's spiked fists held at the ready.
"Hoh? Developed some stones have we?" Leiola smirked, the ten foot, armor clad warrior lunging in with her fist drawn back, a light of eagerness and battle-lust in her eyes "Bring it on four eyes!"
'Fast!' Keitaro gulped, watching the oncoming fist in amazement 'As Fast as Cheetah-san's punches!' he titled his head out of the way, using Star Platinum's arm to divert the course of the blow, flinching as it still opened a cut on his cheek 'Strong too! Easily stronger than anything Naru ever threw at me!'
Surprisingly, rather than feeling terror at this revelation, Keitaro felt something akin to HUNGER. It was like something inside him was eager to be facing off against such a monster, something alien, and at the same time, familiar.
Keitaro couldn't identify it, but for some reason he wanted to HURT this woman that dared assault him more than anything he'd ever wanted before, something that Star Platinum, violent enough on its own, was all to eager to accommodate.
Leiola, who had fully intended to take the Ronin's head off with the first punch, was shocked when he dodged the blow, only to choke as somethin rammed into her ribs with enough force to buckle her armor. She staggered backwards, holding her gut and trying to keep from tossing her cookies, only for another blow to land in her chin, followed by another…and another…
Cheetah, who was sitting up, holding her head, looked around to see what had happened to her opponent, only to blink as she caught sight of Keitaro wailing on the woman, her fir bristling as she caught sight of the Ronin's eyes. 'Not good!' she gaped, rising shakily to her feet at the sight of those golden, slit-pupiled eyes 'it's like that time with Jetta! He's gone berserk!'
"T-TIME OUT!" Leiola stammered, her arms raised in a defensive stance as she tried to absorb the blows, her armor slowly becoming a dented mess under the sheer multitude of attacks being rained down on her "This can't be! My armor's supposed to be invincible! Nothing should be able to hurt me!"
"Nothing's invincible…" Keitaro intoned darkly, his eyes glowing with a sinister light, a dark smirk that was more at home on his sibling's face adorning his own as he grabbed the woman's horns "Let me show you…"
Leiola screamed and lashed out, only for Keitaro's head to rush forwards, their skulls cracking together with an audible crunch. Leiola's head snapped back, a dazed expression on her face that changed to one of alarm as two hands wrapped around her neck, pushing her to the floor on her back, before slowly tightening, cutting off her oxygen.
"How's it feel, hmm?" the Ronin asked, his upper face covered in shadow, save for his glowing golden eyes, which danced with a light of madness "just because you're armor's invincible you think you are? All it means is that you've come wrapped in your burial gear."
Leiola choked, trying to force the Ronin's hands from her neck, only to find that his grip was infinitely stronger than it looked, and growing stronger by the second. Her feet lashed out, kicking desperately as she fought to get him off her, a meaningless effort, as the Ronin was currently sitting on her stomach.
"Hmm…this is rather nice…" the Ronin noted, his dark smile stretching wider across his features "Usually I'm the one begging for mercy at this point…" the smile faded for an instant, replaced with a scowl that terrified the woman beneath him "so this is what those bitches must've felt every time they cornered me…"
"P-plz…" Leiola gasped, pawing futilely at the man's hands, throat working desperately to draw in air "Lemme…go…ck!"
"Hm? Oh no, I don't think so." The Ronin muttered, his tone mildly disapproving as he tightened his grip, leaning down into the terrified woman's face, giving her a good long look at his glowing yellow eyes "You and that masked freak attacked Gina and Cheetah," he muttered, his eyes encompassing Leiola's field of vision "I need to teach you exactly what it means to mess with what's MINE."
"Keitaro!" Cheetah yelled coming up behind the Ronin, trying to yank him off the feebly twitching Leiola, only to blink at how HARD it was to do so. It was like that time she'd had to pull limpets off Gina's Gina mobile with her bare hands, as Gina didn't trust ANY sharp objects near her baby's hull "Snap out of it Kei! You're killing her!"
Keitaro spasmed, his eyes widening, fading back to their usual, warm chocolate color, before looking down at his hands, as if seeing them for the first time. He yelped, releasing Leiola's throat and dropping the woman to the floor, where she collapsed in boneless heap, coughing air back into her stricken lungs. "What…was…I…" the Ronin wondered, looking at his trembling hands in confusion, before turning to gape at Cheetah in fear "Cheetah-san…what did I!"
"Cheetah! Keitaro!" Gina called out, drawing the duo's attention tow where she, Minerva, and Phrank, were holding off an enraged Baug, who'd broken free of his restraints, and Spellvis, who was doing his merry best to kill the Zetraman, having decided that the spell didn't need the teen ALIVE to bequeath him ultimate power.
"I swear…" Cheetah muttered, sighing at the messes her sister managed to get herself into "Every time I turn my back…" she shook her head and got to her feet "C'mon Kei, we gotta save that 'genius' sister of mine. AGAIN."
"But…" Keitaro stammered, the ronin looking down at the prone form of Leiola, who was more concerned with breathing at the minute than whatever was going on around her "What about her? We can't just..."
"Leave her." Cheetah muttered, shooting the downed woman a dark glare "I don't think she's stupid enough to try her luck again."
Sending an uncertain look towards the horned woman, Keitaro turned on his heel and followed after the Lycan, leaving Leiola alone, broken and defeated.
"Minerva!" Gina yelled, the trillby sporting scientist/archaeologist crouching near the not-so-cheery cheerleader as she landed from leaping out of the path of yet another of Baug's wave-motion spit ball attacks.
"I'm fine!" the cheerleader assured the scientist, though judging from the sweat adorning her brow, and the look of mild panic on her face, that last escape had been a little TOO close for comfort "How're we gonna stop that BAUG monster?"
Baug, as if sensing that he had the group on the ropes, seeing as Phrank was tied up dealing with Spellvis' attempt on his life, chuckled darkly as it launched another one of it's cosmic loogies at the group, hoping to have revenge on Gina for interrupting it's earlier snack.
"ORA!"
Star Platinum's fist put an end to THAT ambition, the Stand lashing out at light speed, sending the flaming spitball away from the startled scientist as Keitaro grabbed her from behind, holding her close out of instinct.
The spitball, blasting off course through the sheer force of Star platinum's blow, took the unexpecting Spellvis completely by surprise, detonating against his back in a fiery explosion worthy of several crates of dynamite.
"WOOHOO! Base Hit!" Frank cheered, applauding his fellow four-eyes' achievement, grateful for the assist, albeit unintentional "You ever think of trying for the majors?"
Keitaro's reply was cut short by the reappearance of Spellvis, who did NOT look at all pleased at having his trademark polyester suit deep-fried by toxic alien loogies. No sir.
"HOW DARE Y'ALL BAST ME WITH A FLAMIN' SPIT BALL?!" the psychotic poser snarled, his fists snapping forwards as he delivered a blast of concussive magical force, little more than untamed magical energy, at the group "TAKE THAT!"
Keitaro grit his teeth, hugging Gina close to his chest as Star platinum crossed its arms before them, the Stand taking the brunt of the attack as the beam bore down on them. He coughed, blood trickling from his mouth from the impact, as even Star Platinum's mighty strength couldn't absorb all of the damage, the Ronin dropping to his knees with a groan as his Stand faded, out cold.
"Keitaro!" Gina gasped, kneeling alongside the Ronin, eyes widening at the sight of the blood trailing from his lips, her eyes narrowing as she espied Baug coming up from behind, another Spitball primed to fire "Oh no you don't!" she snapped, holding the Ronin's head close to her chest, her other hand pointing at the monster "EMERALD SPLASH!"
Gina's stand materialized, sending a hail of emerald plasma at the monster, several of the gems impacting inside the ridiculous straw Baug used to fire his spitballs, detonating the one he'd primed for launch right in the startled monstrosity's face.
Baug howled, tossing aside the damaged straw with a look of fury on it's face, a light beginning to glow from it's fanged, claw-like hands as it stepped up to the plate, towering over the blonde scientist and unconscious Ronin like something out of a bad Godzilla movie.
"Uh…sorry?" Gina offered, sweat dropping at the sight, of the acidic drool that was leaking out of the creature's stomach-maw, shivering slightly as she espied Spellvis hovering behind them, the spell caster having apparently decided to take care of the Phrank's 'entourage' before turning his attention to the teen himself "Uh-oh…"
"Nighty-night babeh!" Spellvis snarled, his fists glowing with energy a he thrust them forward in a full on blast of power, easily ten times stronger than the one he'd used earlier. Baug, at that same moment, thrust out its maw-like right hand to fire a beam of energy of equal force, the two blasts bearing down on the duo from both sides.
"HIEROPHANT GREEN!" Gina yelled, her hand snapping up into the air, even as her Stand's arm uncoiled, lashing up onto the railings, before pulling the duo out of the blast range, leaving the two beams of destructive force with nothing to collide with but each other.
FUBAR
"Whew!" Gina whistled, watching the explosive, pyrotechnic display unfurl below with a sense of relief, holding Keitaro to her chest with one arm, the other holding onto her stand "Glad we weren't caught up in THAT."
Spellvis and Baug, who weren't as fortunate as the duo, were sent flying backwards as the explosion knocked them through the air, the would-be 'King' crashing into the far wall, sliding down it with an audible squeaking noise, before collapsing face first onto the unforgiving ground, his once sparkling polyester suit reduced to little more than scraps of torn cloth across his bulky frame. Baug hadn't fared any better than his human counterpart, in fact, being the larger target, and thus unable to be blasted out of harms way by the shockwave, the monster had to endure the brunt of the explosion, and had been practically deep-fried as a result, falling to the floor with an audible crash, putting another crater in the already pock-marked floor, loosing a long, pitiably drawn out moan of 'Baaaauuuggghhhh…' as it lay there in a battered, smoking heap.
"Mmmm…wha?" Keitaro muttered, rousing from his impromptu slumber, blinking in confusion at the strange feeling of weightlessness, only to startle as he came eye to eye with Gina's baby-blues.
"Awake are we?" Gina asked, the trillby sporting blonde smiling gently down at the confused Ronin, noting, not for the first time, how adorable he looked when he didn't know what was going on around him "You alright, Kei?"
"Gina-san?" Keitaro stammered, the ronin looking into the woman's baby-blus in confusion, only to blink, his face turning an interesting shade of magenta as he realized just what his face was pressing into "ACK! I'm sorry!"
"Easy! Relax Keitaro!" Gina insisted, stumbling in mid-air as she tried to keep the thrashing Ronin from slipping out of her grip "It's alright! Trust me! It's a long way down!"
Keitaro blinked, looking down in confusion, only to yelp at the sight of the devastation below, tightening his grip around the blonde's torso, earning an approving grunt from Gina, who didn't mind at all.
"Quite a grip you've got there, Kei." She commented, smiling flatteringly at the confused Ronin "And don't think I forgot about earlier either…"
Keitaro blushed, recalling how he'd held the woman to his chest to protect her from Baug's assault, and the following attack from Spellvis that had rendered him unconscious. Before he could offer an apology though, he felt Gina's stand wrap around them, holding them together while Gina's hand tilted his head up to look her in the eyes.
"Thanks, Kei." The blonde offered, smiling at the Ronin as she pressed her lips against his, Keitaro's eyes widening from the contact, before relaxing into the kiss, the rest of the world fading into the background.
"Gawd…any excuse…" Brittany muttered, hands on her hips as she watched the duo lip-lock in the rafters, a bemused smirk on her face as she shook her head "Not that I'm one to talk, if it were me and 'Muffin' we'd be doing a lot more than kiss though…"
"You were pretty good yourself there at the end Phrank." Minerva noted, looking over at the bespectacled hero with a grudging smile on her face as she comforted a woozy Minerva "You didn't even try anything funny!"
"Well there's a time and place for messing about…" Phrank muttered, rubbing the back of his neck, as he wasn't used to the, temperamental, make that homicidal, but still undeniably pretty cheerleader praising him.
"Still, that was rather clever of them." Jesibell noted, the only normal one of the group looking up at the snogging duo with a faint blush on her cheeks as she smiled "Tricking the enemy into attacking themselves…"
"I'll say!" Phrank whistled, a grin on his face as he gave Spellvis a kick in the fork for the road, earning a weak grunt from the spell caster "Now what say we scram before they make us clean up this mess?"
"I think they're gonna be a while." Brittany muttered, a knowing smirk on her face as she watched Keitaro's face turn blue, as Gina wasn't the type to let go until she was finished getting what she wanted.
Unnoticed, or simply forgotten by the heroes, and glad for it, Leiola's robotic servant Borakk waddled over to the prone form of Dertoza, who raised his head from feigning unconsciousness to glare at Phrank's back.
"B-Borakk…" the villain coughed, battered, bruised, and not wanting to stick around the god-forsaken mall any longer "Activate-cough-Transport Beam…Get us-cough-out of here!"
Borakk obliged, having enjoyed coming through the battle unscathed, and not wanting to tempt fate any further by sticking around. The transport beam clicked into action, beaming up the recumbent forms of the Dearthos, the smoking form of Baug, the 'Iced' form of Zorch, and the battered Dertoza and Leiola, who'd been gaping up at the snogging duo with a distant expression.
And not a moment too soon, for no sooner had they ported out, did the police, summoned almost an hour ago by the sounds of battle, FINALLY showed up.
"Jinkies…" Gina exclaimed, having lowered herself and a gasping Keitaro, who'd begun to turn blue around the edges, to the ground as the police read Spellvis his rights "I guess that about does it. Too bad about your science fair though…"
"Are you kidding?" Minerva exclaimed, an incredulous look on her face, while Phrank and Keitaro swapped email addresses, the younger four-eyes wanting to keep in touch with the college man "This was the best Science Fair we've had in a long time! The whole mall was trashed my Lava-Monsters from Mercury during the LAST one…"
"AHAH!" a horribly familiar voice called out, the group turning to find Miss Grizzly striding towards them purposefully, looking for all the world like a hag on the hunt "I THOUGHT something was horribly amiss around here!" the woman snarled, earning exasperated looks from the rest, who eyed the smoking, crater strewn mall with disbelief "Minerva, Phrank, Jesibell! You all have Detention FOREVER!" the woman instructed, holding up her finger for emphasis "And I don't even care if this mess is your fault or not!"
"That isn't fair!" Keitaro exclaimed, the ronin stepping forward out of protest, only to yelp and hide behind an annoyed, if slightly bemused Brittany, as Grizzly leveled a glare at him that could strip paint from a wall.
"And as for YOU miss Diggers," the hag hissed, pointing at the annoyed scientist for emphasis "I'll see to it PERSONALLY that the proper authorities have you drawn, quartered and burned at the stake! And furthermore-eh?"
The group blinked, watching as Grizzly, a look of alarm on her face, faded out of view, leaving them gaping at the spot she'd vacated in alarm. "Gina-san…" Keitaro spoke up, removing his glasses and wiping his eyes carefully, as if to make sure he wasn't seeing things "Did you do that?"
"And can you teach me how?" Minerva asked, sighing at the scientist's insistence that she hadn't done a thing, and resisting the ruge to join in with Phrank's singing of 'ding-dong the witch is dead!' in the background "Whatever, wherever she is, I hope she STAYS there!"
Dertoza groaned, honestly considering shoving the nagging harpy they'd beamed up out the airlock as she ranted on about how she was going to haul them up in front of a tribunal, dusting erasers for the rest of their lives. Bad enough they'd goofed up the teleporter in the first place, but the damned thing had blown out during the transfer, so they were stuck here with her for the next two months.
The only thing that made the insufferable situation any better was the fact that Leiola wasn't mocking him for his failure like she usually did.
Leiola, her arm in a sling and her horned helmet removed, was standing at the window, gazing down at the distant blue planet below, a strange expression on her face.
"Kei…taro…" she muttered, recalling the name of the bespectacled warrior that had given her the harshest thrashing of her life, rubbing her neck, where the bruises from his hands remained, a strange, warm feeling rising up from the pit of her stomach.
And so the quagmire arc draws to a close.
Just what is it that's making Keitaro lash out so violently, outside the walls of Hinata-sou?
And why is it, verywhere he goes, he seems to pick up a few admirers.
Keitaro: And why are they all shapely foreigners?
Gina: What's the matter kei? You don't like?
Keitaro: Call it lingering muscle memory of bein punsihed by hotties for daring to dream.
Brianna: We can fix that...
Kyugan: (Deadpan) Put the ropes away.
R&R for more!