The enormous spider monster reared its head back and let out a deafening shriek. Black saliva seeped form its mouth and fell to the ground, making a hissing sound on contact. Its long, tapered hands twitched rapidly as it opened it gaping maw and let loose a stream of fire at the five girls standing before it. In a moment, the quintet leapt out of harm's way. The creature let out another shriek.
"Now would be a good time for a plan!" Meimei shouted to Tsubame.
The silvered haired ninja surveyed the area quickly. "The place is clear! Everyone… TRANSFORM!"
All five girls produced a scroll from their person and held them up into the air.
"SHINOBI TENSHIN!" They cried out in unison.
The scrolls glowed and wrapped the girls in a mystical light.
Green, yellow, and red feathers swirled around Tsubame and consolidated into her grey military uniform. She brandished her sabers and slashed downward with both.
Ageha stood in a bed of red roses as she clapped her hands above her head. The roses grew higher and wrapped around her before exploding away, with Ageha wearing a frilly red blouse and layered black skirt. She clapped her hands to the left side of her face and rhythmically stomped her feet.
Red, white, and blue stars rained down around Yoshimitsu. The stars collided with one another, sending a shower of sparkles onto the blonde girl. Yoshimitsu emerged clad in a blue top, white shorts, and blue tassel adorned boots. The girl dashed forward, performed a series of backhand springs, and landed with her arms up in a Y position catching her pompoms.
Meimei dusted off her hands as an enormous steamed bun enveloped itself around her. The bun exploded, and Meimei stood there wearing a short light purple Chinese dress, thigh high stockings, and mesh sleeves with grey gauntlets. She pulled one leg up, held her arms perpendicular to her shoulders and caught a couple of bun bombs.
A dozen totem poles shot up from the ground in a ring around Matsuri. The eyes from the poles began to glow as a mist blanketed the area. The mist was blown away and Matsuri had donned a feathered headdress, a beige tank top with a fringed bottom, a light red short skirt, and knee-high boots with fringe on the knees. A long, patterned sash flapped behind her. She bent over slightly and kicked up her knees, performing a ceremonial dance.
The five girls all stood before the enormous abomination, poised to attack. The spider shot out a jet of magenta flames and Matsuri rushed forward swinging her tomahawk to the ground. The fire collided with a wall of water, dissipating into steam. Tsubame took the opportunity to circle around the beast. She leapt into the air and swung her right arm at the creature's back. Her blade made contact, but merely glanced off the its tough hide. The spider swiveled its head toward the girl and swiped at Tsubame. The female Russian planted a foot onto the creature's abdomen and kicked away from it. A baseball sized object came flying through the air and struck the monster in the face, exploding on impact. The creature reeled, shrieking.
"Are you okay?!" Meimei called out preparing another bomb.
"I'm fine!" Tsubame answered landing behind the monster. "This thing's a lot tougher than expected.
"Any ideas, fearless leader?!" Ageha shouted.
"Why don't we just hit it until it's dead?" Yoshimitsu said.
Matsuri stepped up next to the blonde girl, "I'm not sure that will be enough."
"Aaawww. I wanna hit it!" she pouted, bouncing in place.
The spider regained its senses and focused its attention on Meimei. It let out a growl and lowered itself to the ground. In an instant, the beast dashed forward, claws outstretched. Meimei jumped up and flipped over the attacker, tossing a bomb down onto it as she did so. The bomb exploded and the spider crashed into the wall of the outlet mall. After pulling itself out of the rubble, the monster climbed onto façade. Black spittle oozed from its mouth and dripped onto the floor, melting away the concrete. It spat a torrent of acid at its adversaries.
"Whoa!"
"Look out!"
The girls all screamed jumping out of the path of the acid. The ground melted where the acid had landed with a sickening sound.
"Yeesh! I don't want that much exfoliation." Tsubame said with a sneer.
"Careful! It looks like it's about to do something!" Meimei cried out.
The spider shifted back and forth before rearing its entire body back. From its spinneret, a white cord shot out across the outlet and stuck to the opposite wall. It then scuttled across the wall, leaving a trail of thread behind it. Ageha dashed toward the monster and jumped off a nearby awning. She unraveled the rose vine off her body and whipped it around herself with a deft flick of the wrist. The Spanish ninja flew through the air, spinning her wrist. She pulled her left arm back and then slung it horizontally, whipping the rose vine at the spider monster. The vine wrapped around the abomination's arm, stopping it in its tracks. Ageha ground her heels into the pavement.
"COME ON!" She shouted to the creature.
The monster's red eyes glimmered for a second and then it yanked its caught arm back and Ageha cried out as she was sent flying towards the creature. She quickly flipped her body around so that her feet slammed into its chest. With one swift motion, Ageha wrapped the rose vine around the neck of the monster and produced a rose-decorated senbon needle. She thrusted the needle at the head, aiming for one of the glowing eyes, but the monster jerked its head and the needle plunged into the side of its face. The beast shrieked in pain, and began swiping frantically at its head. One of its claws managed to make contact with Ageha's back.
"AAAHH!" She screamed, still tethered to the creature.
Yoshimitsu came charging towards the two and leapt high in the air. "YAAAAH!" She cried out as she swung her right fist, pompom firmly clenched in it. The pompom crackled with electricity as it struck the monster's jaw. With the creature dazed, Ageha used the opening to unravel the rose vine and escape. Both girls landed on the pavement and jumped back a few meters.
"Gracias," she exclaimed, her breathing was heavy from the recent encounter.
"Don't you do anything stupid, okay?" Yoshimitsu said in a stern voice. "That's my job, remember?!"
"What?" Ageha chuckled.
"Are you two alright?" Tsubame cried out as she and the other three rushed to their side.
"Si. Estamos bien. Yoshi was able to knock la araňa back."
"YEAH! I was like, all, POW!" Yoshimitsu thrust her fist forward, pompom shaking vigorously.
"We saw," Matsuri said. "It was quite the spectacle."
At that moment, the spider regained its senses and let out a lower pitched shriek than normal. There was a low rumble and a horde of large spiders appeared. They were about the size of cats, with sleek black bodies, and a red glowing orb on their abdomens. Each spider let out a hiss.
"What the- Where did they all come from?!" Yoshimitsu cried out.
"Let's worry about that later!" Tsubame shouted, readying her dual sabers. "For now, let's focus on eliminating them!"
The four girls nodded, and they all charged at the group of spiders.
Across town in Blossom Heights, Satou and Tobi waited inside the old repair shop as the old Fujiyama continued searching the backroom for the part Tobi had requested. Satou yawned and checked the time on his phone then looked out the window. It was currently quarter to six and the street lights had started to turn on. The sky grew dark as the last of the sunlight sank into the horizon, leaving a pinkish orange glow.
Tobi's phone buzzed and he pulled it out to investigate. He swiped through his phone and raised an eyebrow. "Huh."
"Something up?" Satou asked.
"Nah, it's just club stuff. One of my guys got some pictures he wanted me to check out. Nothing much," Tobi said waving it off.
"What kind of pictures?" Satou scooted over to Tobi wanting to get a peek.
Tobi swiftly tucked his phone back into his pocket. "Nuh-uh. Members only. So, keep your prying eyes away, alright?" He said sidestepping away from Satou. "That is unless you're interested in joining the photography club?"
"Tch, you wish," Satou admonished. "Being in a room with a bunch of guys, looking at pictures? Presumably girls? Yeah, thanks, but no thanks."
"Hey, suit yourself," Tobi shrugged. "You would get to look at pictures of Ageha as much as you like. No charge." Tobi gave a sly grin.
Satou stood there silently, considering the option. "No. I don't think I will join," he said after a few moments.
Right then, Fujiyama returned from the back room of the shop carrying a small box. He shuffled behind the counter and set the box on top of it. "Alright, got th' part you wanted. If you want it, it'll be five thousand yen." Fujiyama took his glasses off and cleaned them with a bit of cloth he pulled from his jacket pocket.
Tobi picked up the box and slid the lid open. Inside was a Styrofoam mold with a small rectangular object set in the middle. Carefully, Tobi plucked the object from the mold to get a better look at it. It was a small microchip approximately one inch by one inch. Gold circuitry was overlaid black plastic. In the center of the microchip was a quartz crystal. Tobi held the chip to the desk lamp sitting on the counter. Light could be seen shining through the quartz. Satisfied with the product the old man had given him, Tobi set the microchip back in its Styrofoam mold and closed the box. After rifling through his back pack a bit, the teenaged boy pulled out a wad of cash. He counted out five thousand yen and dropped it onto the counter.
"Pleasure doing business with you," he said swiping the box up.
"Of course," the elderly man grumbled. "Come back anytime."
Satou and Tobi left the shop as the sun sank lower in the sky. The door to the building swung shut and Satou could've sworn he heard the lock being latched. Meanwhile, Tobi was fitting the microchip he bought into his camera. He snapped the back of the camera open and replaced the damaged piece.
"Okay, we're back in business!" Tobi cried out in celebration. He peered through his newly fixed camera, smiling like an idiot. There was a flash as he clicked the shutter and Satou flinched at the sudden bright light directed at him.
"AH! Dude, really?" Satou blinked trying to clear the spots from his eyes. "So, was the part that important?"
"Yep. No more scratch, and the picture is much clearer."
"Good to hear," he checked the time on his phone. "Shall we get going then?"
Satou quickly sent a text to his mother [on my way home. be back soon]
Mom: [okay be safe]
"God, your face, dude!" Tobi cried out looking at the picture he just took.
"Huh, let me see." Satou stepped around to get a look. The image on the camera screen showed Satou in the midst of looking up with his mouth half open and his eyes half closed. "Geez, I look high here. Or maybe I'm about to yawn."
They laughed at Satou's candid picture and started on their way home. A few children dashed past the two teenaged boys, laughing and shouting. The two boys who ran past Satou and Tobi earlier that evening bumped into Satou. The one holding the Shining Knight action figure fell back on his butt.
"Ow! Hey…" The boy winced in pain.
"Whoa. Watch out there, little dude." Satou held out his hand for the boy. "You could hurt someone like that."
The boy took Satou's hand and stood up. "Yeah, I know. Thanks." He bent over to pick his toy up off the ground. "Aw man. It's broken." The boy held up his action figure in one hand and the arm in the other.
Tobi looked at the two pieces and grinned. "Nah, it's fine. Give it here." He reached his hand out toward the boy. The kid obliged and handed it to Tobi who quickly popped the arm socket back onto the ball joint. He twisted it a couple of times to make sure it was on and gave it back. "There, good as new."
"Wow. Thanks mister." The boy took his action figure and raised it over his head in happiness. "Bye!"
The two young boys waved and ran off down the street.
"Mister? Do I look that old to you?" Tobi asked in a worried voice.
Satou just shrugged. "Maybe you've been hanging around Fujiyama san's place too much."
In Shopper's Plaza, the five kunoichi continued to fight off the seemingly endless horde of spider monsters. Their shinobi outfits were now torn and ripped in various places, and they had bruises and scratches along their bodies. Above them, the enormous spider beast kept on spinning its web throughout the southern ring of the outlet mall, the sky nearly blotted out with several sticky white threads.
Tsubame sliced through the last of the mini spiders and slumped down, driving the point of one of her blades into the cement to lean on for support. "Whew, just how many is that thing gonna summon here. It'll take us ages to kill it."
"That's if we can even scratch the damn thing," Meimei added. "In case you haven't noticed, none of our attacks seem to do anything to it." To prove a point, she produced a cantaloupe sized bomb and hurled it at the monster. It soared through the air and struck the creature in its side creating a large explosion. However, the spider woman seemed unfazed by the explosion and let out a shriek, summoning yet another horde of mini spiders, which quickly surrounded the five girls.
"OH, COME ON!" Yoshimitsu shouted, stomping her foot and shaking her fists. "We just beat up like, four waves of these things!"
"Five, Yoshimitsu," Matsuri corrected her blonde friend. "This will make the sixth wave."
"Uuuuugh." Yoshimitsu groaned loudly while scowling.
Tsubame stood up and pulled her saber out of the ground. She rotated her right arm around a bit then took on her fighting stance with one foot forward a bit and her arms up in front of her chest. "Alright, let's do this!"
"Wait!" Ageha cried out to the Russian ninja. "We'll handle the small fry. You see if you can find a weakness in the ring leader."
The silver haired ninja looked at Ageha for a second then nodded in agreement. She charged toward the cluster of mini spiders and slashed horizontally with her blades, cutting a swath through them. The spiders she struck vanished in a cloud of black and red smoke. Tsubame rushed to the giant spider and leapt in the air. She spun her body and sliced at the monstrosity with both of her sabers, hitting it on its right flank. There was barely a scratch where her blades made contact and the beast showed no signs of slowing down.
"Dammit!" Tsubame shouted.
She decided to try a different tactic. Tsubame rushed toward the monster and ran alongside it as it continued to spin its web. She sped past it and ran toward one of the kiosks. The female ninja jumped into the air and landed on the kiosk and leapt off towards a flagpole and hooked an arm around it. The flagpole bent and then snapped back into place, flinging Tsubame high in the air. She pulled her arms back as she flew towards the monster. Using the force of her momentum and gravity, Tsubame brought the point of her twin sabers down on its abdomen. The blades made contact with the beast but merely bounced off the side.
The spider turned and swiped at Tsubame with one of its claws, and the shinobi quickly leapt sideways to avoid the attack. Shrieking again, the spider shot another sticky cord across the outlet and scuttled on it to the other side. Tsubame felt something fall onto her shoulder and turned to see a thick, dark green liquid running down her right arm. She spun around and saw a trail of the same liquid on the ground leading to the spider. Closely watching the monstrosity, she noticed a gash in its underbelly about six inches long and dripping with green blood. Her eyes lit up at discovering that the spider can indeed be injured. The only problem now was finding a way to take advantage of this weakness.
With the spider currently distracted with the web it was spinning, Tsubame took this time to reconvene with her squad in order to devise a plan.
"Tsu chan? What's up?" Yoshimitsu cried out as she punched a spider into smoke. "The big spider is still running around the place!"
"Yes, it is, but I know how to stop it! However, it's going to take all of us to do it!"
"We're all ears, chica!" Ageha shouted. She flicked her wrist and the rose vine whipped around, eliminating the last mini spider.
Tsubame started her explanation as the other four gathered around her. "Alright, the spider had a weak spot on the underside of its abdomen. Yoshimitsu, Meimei, I want you two to stop it from spinning the web. Ageha, I want you to use your vines to hold it in place. Matsuri, I want you to provide cover from the flames and acid for me as I deal the killing blow. Does everyone understand?" The four girls nodded, ready to execute the plan. "Then, let's do this!"
Meimei and Yoshimitsu charged at the spider from either side. The Chinese ninja clapped her hands together and materialized a soccer ball sized bun-bomb. She hurled the explosive at the monster, and it detonated on impact. The spider reeled from the explosion and turned its attention to Meimei. Yoshimitsu ran up to it on its left, and leapt high into the air. She drew her leg up then swung it down at the spider's head, leaving a trail of stars in its wake. The monster looked up as Yoshimitsu's heel collided with the its temple, sending out a shower of stars and electricity. The impact was enough to topple the spider off its web onto the pavement.
"Ageha, now!" Tsubame shouted.
"Already on it." The Spanish girl clapped her hands together. "Ninja-Art!" she cried out. Ageha then began to spin her left hand in a figure eight motion extending it toward the monster, with her write hand pointed at the ground "Bosque de Rosas!" she shouted. Several vines sprouted from beneath the spider monster and started to entangle it. The creature tore at the vines, but they continued to wrap around it, restricting its movements. The more it struggled, the tighter they wound.
"Alright, now pull it up. I need to get at its underbelly," Tsubame ordered.
"Just a second." Ageha raised her hands above her head while continuing the figure eight motion. The vines then began to move the spider so that its soft underside was exposed. Blood from the wound Tsubame dealt to it earlier dribbled down its abdomen. "Better do this quick. I don't know how long I can keep it tied up like this."
"Ready, Matsuri?"
"Ready," the Native American nodded.
Both girls rushed the spider side by side. As Tsubame had predicted, it breathed out a stream of fire. In response, Matsuri jumped forth and aimed her staff at the approaching flames. The staff glowed blue and a torrent of water shot out, colliding with the fire.
"Go now!" Matsuri shouted.
Tsubame took her cue and charged straight for the spider's exposed underbelly. "Ninja-Art!" She held her arms out to her sides and angled her sabers back. "Veter Tir!" Tsubame's blades glowed pale blue and she shot forward, striking the monster. She pierced its abdomen and passed through it, leaving a twin trail of wind. The spider let out a choked scream as black and red energy began streaming out of the hole in its body. It writhed violently and its body started to crumble away, but relatively little damage was done to the shopping mall due to Ageha keeping it tied up still. The monster shrieked one last time before its body completely disappeared into a cloud of smoke. Ageha released her ninjutsu and fell to one knee. She breathed heavily and wiped sweat that had accumulated on her brow. The four girls rushed to Ageha's side
"Hey, good work." Tsubame said holding out her hand.
Ageha took it and the silver haired ninja helped her up. "Yeah, you too."
All five girls smiled and nodded in agreement. Yoshimitsu put her arm around Meimei's neck and gave her a noogie. Meimei cried out in protest as she struggled to escape. Tsubame and Ageha both laughed, and Matsuri just closed her eyes and shook her head.
"Uugh…ooohh…" A female voice was heard as the smoke from the spider monster dispersed.
The five turned to the direction of the noise. A young woman was sprawled out on the pavement. She groaned as if she was in pain. The paper spell tag that was stuck to her back crumbled to dust and blew away in the wind. Tsubame and her squad moved toward the woman to investigate.
Tsubame kneeled down and flipped the person over. She appeared to be a normal girl in her late teens. She was slightly battered and covered in sticky white threads, but other than that, she was healthy. Tsubame shook her shoulder to wake her.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Meimei said suddenly. "We don't want her to see us."
"Relax. She's not going to recognize us because of the transformation." The Russian reassured her friend. "And she'll likely think we were just a dream afterwards anyway."
She shook the girl again and her eyes fluttered open. "Wha-? Who are you guys? Where am I?" she mumbled.
"You're in Shopper's Row." Tsubame answered. "Do you know what happened to you?"
The girl furrowed her brow and scratched her head as she thought. "Shopper's Row? Oh, right. I was walking across the outlet when I felt dizzy. I remember a lot of people standing around me, and then I passed out. How long have I been out?" she looked up at the night sky with a confused look.
"Not long. Miss, there's been an incident here at the mall. We're going to have to ask you to leave. Can you stand?" Tsubame spoke quickly.
"Uh, yeah I think so." The girl staggered to her feet and looked around the place noticing the partially destroyed building façades. "Man, what happened here?"
"Nothing of your concern. Now if you could please leave." Tsubame lightly pressed on her back toward the exit.
"Okay, I'm going. No need to push."
The girl stumbled to the exit as the five girls talked amongst each other.
"What do you think?" Tsubame asked.
"I don't know. One minute the spider disappears, and the next this girl just appears. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was the spider." Meimei said.
"I agree," Matsuri added. "The circumstances are too great, she is likely the monster we had just defeated."
"Yeah, but how?!" Yoshimitsu yelled throwing her hands up in the air. "People don't just change into giant spider monsters."
"The how and why can wait for later," Ageha chimed in. "For now, we should report this back to Shimatami sensei."
"That sounds like a good idea," Tsubame said. "Alright, move out!"
And with that the five ninjas vanished from the scene.
The moon in its first quarter began to slowly climb in the sky as Tsubame's ninja squad made their way to their headquarters in the mountains. They deftly jumped through the trees, making no sound as they passed. Eventually they came to a tall mass-covered wall surrounding a mansion and landed in front of it. The mansion on the other side of the wall appeared to be a from the feudal era. It was rundown, with several windows broken and part of the roof had collapsed. The five girls approached the front gate which opened for them. Once they passed through, the mansion looked to be relatively new and in good condition. Judging from appearance alone, it was probably no more than three decades old. Standing behind the gate was a woman in her thirties. She had bright orange curly hair, light blue eyes, and a scar running down her left cheek. Her arms were crossed and her foot was tapping furiously.
"Uh-oh, I see that vein on her forehead," Yoshimitsu whispered.
"Inside, now!" the woman yelled.
"Yes, Shimatami sensei," the girls all replied in unison.
The gate slammed shut as the six-people made their way across the court yard. At the front entrance to the building, two guards, clad head to toe in dark blue uniforms, opened the double doors and bowed, and then shut them after the last person had entered. The inside was lit with electric light bulbs covered with traditional paper lanterns. Each lantern had the school's logo printed on them; the character for 'dance' overlaid a globe with the words 'Maisen University' on top and 'High School' on the bottom with two laurels bordering the entire thing. Shimatami sensei directed them through the building making left and right turns in the corridors. She stopped at a door with an accordion gate and slid it open. The five teenaged girls filed into the eight feet by eight feet elevator. The orange-haired woman step in last, closed the gate shut, and pulled the lever on the right side of the door. The elevator then moved upwards and after a few seconds came to a stop. All six of the people stepped out of the lift.
"Ah, sensei, there you are," a girl with medium platinum blonde hair rushed up to Shimatami. "This is exactly why I told you my squad should've been on-"
"Not now, Fleur," the orange-haired woman stopped the young French girl midsentence. "Whatever you have to say to me can wait until after I'm finished with these five."
"Um, uh, yeah." Fleur sputtered out as Shimatami lead the five girls to the door across the elevator.
"Maybe next time," said a voice. A girl with dark skin and long purple hair leaned against the wall to the left of the elevator door. "You'll get it someday."
The inside of the room was a large office. The floor was lined with mauve carpeting, and the walls had several shelves filled with books. There was a small desk against one wall, with a tanto sitting on a stand in the center. On the opposite wall was an upright display case with several differently colored scrolls hanging from hooks. The wall on the far end of the room, opposite the door, a large computer monitor was mounted. In front of the monitor was a desk that faced the wall. The desk had a standard key board built into it, as well as various other keypads and buttons. Shimatami walked straight to the desk and turned around.
"So," Shimatami started, "Does anyone want to tell me why we're here?" She looked over the five girls.
Yoshimitsu raised her hand and bounced up and down. "Ooh, ooh. Are we getting an ice cream party?"
The woman turned to the American girl and scowled.
"I take you brought to this particular room because of the incident that occurred at 'Shopper's Row'?" Tsubame answered quickly.
"That is correct." Shimatami pressed a button on the keyboard and the monitor lit up. It showed 'Shopper's Row' under attack from the spider monster earlier that evening, as well as images of several girls clad in very colorful outfits. "This is quite the incident."
Meimei furrowed her brow as she looked upon the images on the screen. "Wait, that's tonight. How are there pictures already?"
"You know how reliable our information broker can be, don't you?" Matsuri replied.
"That man." Meimei said, clenching her fist.
"Sensei, we can explain the situation." Tsubame started.
"By all means, do explain. I'm listening."
The five girls recounted the events in the outlet mall that lead up to the giant spider attack. They went over how they took out a bunch of skeleton skulls, how the spider began to make a web in the outlet and that it kept summoning smaller spiders. Everything up to the spider's defeat and the discovery of the girl when it disappeared.
"That's what we found really strange," Tsubame said. "I mean, giant spider not-withstanding. Was the girl actually the spider? And if so, how did she change into it?"
Shimatami scrolled through the images on the monitor and stopped on one of the girl just before she was engulfed in the black cocoon. "Our sources say yes, she was indeed the spider monster. But how or why she transformed is still under investigation. Honestly, it's lucky no one spotted you. That would have been disastrous. And why didn't you call this one in?"
"With all due respect, sensei, I thought this was our job?" Tsubame answered with a stern voice. "I thought we were supposed to take care of things like this?"
"You are supposed to handle invading ninjas! Not this! We don't even know what this is!" Shimatami pointed at the computer monitor. "Heeh, dismissed," she sighed. "Hopefully things will make more sense once Iwamatsu sensei has returned."
The five kunoichi exchanged looks and turned to leave the office. They made their way back to the front entrance in silence until they passed through the gate.
"What is this? What the hell is going on?" Meimei yelled.
"Even Shimatami sensei was at a loss for words," Matsuri added.
"That giant spider was unlike anything I've ever seen before," Ageha said. "Those skulls too."
Yoshimitsu bounced around anxiously. "Man, what's with all this weird stuff? Like, where is it all coming from?"
"I don't know," Tsubame added, "But I've got this feeling that whatever it is, it's only just begun."
Inside the dark room, the hooded figure sat in front of the monitors again. The large one in the middle displayed the large spider monster with the five girls fighting it.
"That went better than expected," one of the shadowy figures said first.
"Well it was just a test run, we weren't looking for outstanding results." A second one added on.
"At least we know they work the way we intended for them to." A third shadowy figure said.
"Of course, they work! I made them!" a fourth voice interjected. "Why would I send out something that didn't work?"
"Easy now, no need to get all tense." The fifth figure finally spoke out. "In any case, we've received results from the other locations. And judging from your report, everything is working according to plan."
"What is your next order, then?" The hooded figure asked of the five people.
"We are in the process of modifying the spell tags even further," the fifth voice answered. "Until then, you may do as you please."
"As you command."
And with that, the entire room went dark.
Author's Rant: Whew! That took me longer than it should have. The delay was mostly due to my own laziness and procrastination. So, I do apologize for such a long wait. Well, here we are with chapter four of this crazy fanfic that I started. As per suggestion from a friend of mine who I use to bounce ideas off of, I am trying to be more descriptive with my writing. But I'm trying not to be too verbose. Does that make sense? Anyway, this chapter was truly a bitch to complete, but I'm glad I finally finished it. Now I finally get to start writing the first date chapter. Hopefully this won't take me nearly three months to write. I mean, it shouldn't, but, well, we'll see. I am trying to incorporate more phrases from each of the girls' respective languages. Russian as you can imagine is not very easy, but I'm doing my best. If anyone can lend me some pointers for this, that'd be much appreciated.
Until next time.