Chapter 192
Steve was staring at a glass of milk as he sat in the restaurant alone.
There's something wrong with me..isn't there? He thought. There's nothing wrong with being tough and competitive and also having a soft spot. Is there? It can happen...heck every other guy I know isn't romantic all the time...heck I've never seen Mike romantic..of course I wouldn't want to...even if I was a girl..but that's not a problem.
"Hah!" came a shout. Steve looked up to see Mike sitting in front of him on the table.
"Mike..." Steve muttered.
"How are ya?" Mike said.
"Mike, think about it?"
"Yeah..I know..still..you're Steve. Why are you so annoyed about all this. So Lita didn't want to date you..she doesn't want to date me."
"You have a girlfriend though."
"So it would seem...listen Steve, you gotta stop brooding."
"Isn't the best way to deal with this kind of stuff to get right back out there and search for another girl?"
"Well..in theory.."
"But how can I do that? I have no idea how to be romantic. Lita and I we just sort of came together," Steve said.
"The odds of that happening again are low..good point," Mike said. "Still...you need practice."
"Practice just means repeated failure...that you learn from.."
"That's deep..I think.." Mike said. "What's happened to you Steve?"
"No idea," Steve said.
"Say..why don't you draw anymore?"
"Oh...well...I don't know..I stopped drawing once I started seeing Lita."
"Why? That's why she was attracted to you in the first place?"
"It was?" Steve asked.
Mike sighed.
"Yes..." he muttered.
"Oh..." Steve said.
"Hmm..you obviously need some help..let me make a suggestion," Mike said and pulled out a pamphlet..he handed it to Steve.
"What's this?" Steve asked.
"Paper...it's origins date back to the.."
"My fist has origins too.." Steve replied.
"Ah...I see," Mike said. "Essentially this is what allowed me to go from annoying Mike to romantic Mike whenever I pleased. Romance camp?"
"You're kidding."
"Nope...think about it..how would I ever get anywhere with women if I didn't use it?"
"Point taken...still..Mina was desperate."
"She was?" Mike asked.
"Yeah.." Steve said.
"Oh..." Mike said.
"So what does one do at Romance camp?" Steve asked.
"Stuff," Mike said.
"Thanks for explaining it."
"You got it," Mike said and winked. "Gotta go..Mina's waiting."
"Good for you," Steve muttered.
Mike walked out. Steve stared at the brochure.
Romance camp? What are they thinking?
Serena had since fallen asleep on the train. She was walking through the ruins of the moon palace,
"Why am I here?" she asked herself.
"Interesting question," came a familiar voice. She whirled. There stood prince Darrien.
"Stay out of my dreams," Serena said.
"You created me, this is all your mind at work."
"Well then if I tell you to go, you should go."
"I'd prefer not to go," Darrien said. "Talk to me."
"There's nothing more to say," Serena said. "You just don't know how to handle girls do you? Running at the first sign of trouble."
"Hey, it's not easy being me."
"Well..good for you, but you should stop toying with my emotions," Serena said.
"I thought you had learned to live with it."
"Darrien, this is the third time you've thrown our relationship into jeopardy."
"That's what you think?"
"What?"
And suddenly Darrien disappeared replaced by a very large ear of corn.
"Hey! Darrien! Come back," Serena shouted and ran towards where he had gone, as she got closer to the corn she was hit with an energy blast and knocked back.
"What's going on?" She shouted.
The ear of corn was silent.
"Whoever heard of corn with a force field!" Serena shouted.
A white rose smashed into the ground. The corn disappeared.
"Wha.." Serena said in surprise.
"I have arrived," came a voice. Serena looked up, there stood the Moonlight knight.
"And what the heck are you doing?" Serena muttered.
"Uh...coming to your aid," the knight said.
"Oh...heck of a time for it, and you're Darrien too! Go away!"
"I'm merely Darrien's fighting spirit," the knight said.
"Same difference, go away," Serena said.
"Fine, but if more ears of corn show up you're on your own," the moon light knight said and disappeared.
"This dream is getting stupid," Serena said and turned. Standing in front of her were hundreds of ears of corn.
Serena growled.
Lita meanwhile had traveled south that morning and arrived at the Ozawa Temple, or at least the temple entrance. She found herself starring at a group of stone steps that appeared to go up for miles.
"Uh..that's high.." she said to herself and began to climb.
About halfway up she stopped and took a breath.
"Jeez...I would have been at Raye's place three times by now.." she muttered and kept climbing. She finally reached the top and took in more breath.
"Greetings!" came a shout. She was startled and almost tripped falling back down the steps she had struggled to get up.
She steadied herself again.
"Sorry about that, I should learn not to do that when someone's so close to the steps," The voice said again. She found herself staring at a short old man somewhat resembling Raye's grandfather but not that much.
"You must be the one they said was coming..." he said.
"Well..I can't argue with your logic," Lita said holding back her sarcasm.
"No..you can't..you will learn that will always be true," the man said menacingly.
"Uh..right.." Lita said.
"Hah!" the man shouted. "Come there is things to do."
"Uh..right.." Lita said and followed him.
Back in Tokyo. Darrien stood in his apartment staring at the wall.
"I can't figure this out," Darrien said to himself. "First of all, who am I
in love with? Both of them...how does that work? I got trapped didn't I? Fell in
love with two girls...then I didn't know where to go with it, thought I'd just
take a time out, figure out where I was going..with it...but girls don't want to
hear that...how stupid I was to think Serena would just happily let me dump her
temporarily. Now she's somewhere else...and I still don't know if I really truly
love her. And furthermore, I have work to do, I can't be distracted like this,
what do I do?"
"So..from Tokyo are you Lita?" the man asked.
"Yeah.."
"Is it nice?"
"Sure..most of it."
"Hmm...I've never been there. Of course nowadays they say it can be an awfully strange place."
"Yeah..it has it's moments," Lita said.
"I'm sure you have many stories."
"Oh..well..you might count them on..one finger...uh..yeah."
"Odd."
"Yeah I guess it is," Lita said.
"I can see you need a lot of work."
"Wha..no..I'm okay..I just needed a change, and uh..they say you're temple is a great place to learn discipline and to gain a better understanding of yourself."
"It is much more then that,"he said. "There is so much involved...so much.."
"Oh?" Lita asked.
"The first question I must ask is why you seek to learn discipline?"
"Well disciplines a good thing isn't it?"
"Not necessarily, discipline has it's uses, true...but you must know why you wish to have it."
"It sounds right, but why wouldn't anyone want discipline?" Lita asked.
"Soldiers have discipline, a rigid one in which they must follow their superior officer no matter what..correct," the man said.
"Yeah."
"And what if a superior officer is wrong, what if he should not be listened to?"
"Well there are ways to get around that sort of thing.."
"Not always," the man said. "In the heat of battle, you can't stop to file a report and hope some General above you can act quickly..."
"Uh..well..yeah..but the discipline is necessary so people keep on fighting."
"Yes..it is.." the man said. "I have seen the good side and bad side of this, that is why I teach it, to guide people so they do not fall on the wrong side. Now. forget my question for a time. Explain to me who you are...and we will go from there."
"Uh..explain who I am..that's not easy."
"Of course it isn't, but do it anyway.."
"Uh..okay.." Lita said. "Where should I start?"
"It is not my decision."
"Oh..okay...well..uh my name's Lita Nelson I just finished my first year of high school. My birthday's.... I have a lot of good friends, we get along well...well..as well as can be expected. Uh..I uh...this is weird.."
"I can train you in many arts, I can train you in discipline and in doing so you learn about many more things. However, you will receive no training until you complete this task," the man said.
"Uh..well just what are you looking for me to say."
"Lita...how can I define who you are? Only you can do that."
"All right..I'm someone who finds this very uncomfortable.."
"Keep going."
"Right."
When the long train ride stopped, Serena was already thoroughly annoyed. She stepped onto the platform, at a much smaller train station. In fact she was the only person getting off. A family was waiting to greet her. It consisted of a middle aged man, his slightly younger wife, their twenty two year old son, and their sixteen year old daughter.
"Hello Serena," the father said.
"Uh..hello Mister Oruki," Serena said. "Everyone is looking well."
"My you've grown," Ms. Oruki said.
"Well. It comes with age," Serena said.
"Spunky isn't she?" the son said.
"Oh..yes...Murcereo, you haven't changed," Serena sneered.
"Sure I have, I'm getting married in two weeks," Murcero said.
"You are? Congratulations," Serena said.
"Yeah..well...I have a way with women," Murcereo said.
"You do?" Serena asked. "I hadn't noticed."
"You two just picked up where you left off didn't you?" Misses Oruki said.
"I still don't get why you two are always fighting," the sister, Makoto said.
"It's a long story," Serena and Murcereo said.
"Ehh..whatever..." Makoto said and walked off.
"What's her problem?" Serena asked.
"Oh..she's having guy troubles," Serena said.
"Really..me too?" Serena said.
"Oh..boo hoo," Murcereo said.
"Enough of that let's get back to the house," Mr Oruki said.
Patterson typed furiously at his computer keyboard trying to let it's memory keep track of everything he couldn't. It was trough for him to have so complex a situation in front of him. But then again, it wasn't as complex as he thought, he knew that now..there were more elements falling into place, and he was almost there. At least he thought so. And if he wasn't, then that would be a problem. Since at the moment the scouts were suffering from a significant manpower shortage due to everyone's emotional troubles. He pressed another button. A display came up on his screen.
"THERE IT IS!" He shouted and bolted up out of his chair.
He knew what he had to do now.
He hurriedly pulled out his power item.
"Maverick Power!" he said with much more enthusiasm then he usually used. He instantly transformed and headed to the alternate exit to the war room. He opened the hatch and dropped down into a tunnel.
"My own personal bat cave," he muttered and raced down the tunnel.
And miles away.
"This is a nice room Makoto," Serena said.
"Thank you I try," Makoto said. "Of course it's not as well decorated as it used to be, I had to take down the pictures of that jerk Ryu."
"Hmm..I'm sorry," Serena said. "My boyfriend dumped me too, again.."
"Again?"
"It's a real long story," Serena said.
"Everyone keeps saying" Makoto said. "You seem to have made an impression on my brother, which I missed."
"You were off at camp at the time, it was several years ago," Serena said. "I uh..kinda spilled some juice on his girlfriend..he wasn't happy. I can be klutzy."
"And he's been mad ever since?"
"Sure, and I was mad at him for throwing me into a pond."
"Ouch.."
"So...we just argue with each other, of course I'm ready for him, I've had two years of arguing with my friend Raye to give me experience."
" Do you like this Raye?"
"Sometimes I ask myself that question, but it works out. Let's just say there are other issues involved."
"Oh..another long story?"
"Sort of," Serena said.
"Fine, fine, don't tell Makoto anything..."
"Makoto...it's not you..it's just I don't tell anyone about it."
"Oh...all right," Makoto said softening slightly.
Maverick meanwhile was following up his lead. There heading down the street was the target. He knew it. And he waited and followed closely behind letting his cameras scan the area for him. It had already been four hours, but eventually, things would happen.
They did happen seven hours later. The criminal left a bar clutching a bottle under his arm and headed down an alley. As he turned a corner he came to a complete stop and his eyes widened with feat, he stumbled backward unsure of what to do. Maverick stood up on the alley looking down at what was frightening him. Standing there at the end of the alley was the robot.
Even Maverick was a little surprised at this, but soon the Robot fired blasting the crook down.
Maverick's eyes narrowed as his computer visor slid across his eyes and focused on the robot. Meanwhile his cameras were circling the robot and he was staring at his watch letting the data come in.
The robot meanwhile finished off the crook and then in a flash of light disappeared. The speed at his disappearance surprised Maverick but only momentarily.
"That has to be using massive amounts of energy," Maverick said studying the data he was getting. "But then again if he is draining it from his victim, it might be self propagating."
But who's created this thing? And where are the outer sailor scouts?
Unless..." his thought trailed off and he backed off into the night.
"Can I stop now?" Lita asked. "I've been at this for seven hours."
"No. I want to hear more."
"But I've told you practically everything."
"And that is not enough."
"Wait a minute..this is all part of the training isn't it?"
"No."
"Yes it is...you couldn't possibly need to know this much about me?"
"I'm telling you this has nothing to do with your discipline training."
"It has to...or you're insane," Lita said.
"How do you know I'm not? I do live off in a shrine that's a thousand feet above sea level don't I?" the man asked.
"Good point, but I have nothing more to say," Lita said.
"Very well..you do have strong discipline, but not the good kind, most of my students stop at four hours, but you kept going..now.."
"Uh..can I go to the bathroom?"
The man sighed and nodded.
"Of course..."
"Uh.where is it?"
"Out there.."
"Oh..quaint.." Lita said and headed out the door.
The man grinned and walked over to a bamboo door and slid it open and walked into a nice white bathroom filled with ceramic tile and porcelain fixtures.
"She's just like all the rest," he said with a grin.
Amy meanwhile was sipping some tea in her dining room. She looked around.
"So much is happening, and I'm not able to do much about it," she said taking a sip. "Serena Lita, and even Steve are off somewhere trying to figure things out. Raye and Rick are going to have to settle things themselves. Mina and Mike..seem to be doing fine..but Mina's been acting awfully strange of late. And Greg, I can't help him, even though I want to. Family, the double edged sword. Speaking of that..I wonder what happened to D.V?"
She sipped some more tea.
"You have shown me your ability to blindly follow me, now tell me why you would do this?" the man asked.
"Uh..because you're the master and I'm the student."
"Ah...a common misconception..." he said and kicked her in the chest, she staggered back and gasped.
"What'd you do that for!" she shouted.
"I'm the master, and you're the student...this must be part of the training..right?"
"No..you just kicked me!"
"How would you know it's not necessary for me to kick you!"
"I just do! It's wrong!" Lita shouted.
"So I was wrong."
"Yes!"
"There you go."
"But...normally we're supposed to follow the leader's suggestions, if we didn't there'd be anarchy," Lita said.
"True...I am not here to redefine society, I am here to make you a better member of it..now...over the course of your time here, I will humiliate you, you will feel stupid, and wonder what is wrong with you, but keep in mind that I have not had one student who has managed to get out of this training without feeling that way...except that one...but never mind that..listen...humanity is a strange creature, we possess great intelligence, but we rarely use it, instead relying on other forces to make our decisions and shape our destinies. I will help you become less apt to do that, but I can not cure all of your ills, no one can. Furthermore, a purely intellectual human is not a superman or superwoman, it is a different sort of beast capable of it's own corruption..so...let's have some fudge.."
"What?" Lita asked in surprise.
"Come on..I'm hungry."
"Okay.." Lita said.
Rick walked down the sidewalk starring at the various cracks in the pavement.
What am I doing? He thought. Moping around? I don't mope around. I'm Rick Fujimori. Yet here I am...moping. He stopped and looked around. He was shocked to find himself standing in front of the Cherry Hill temple steps. He immediately broke into a run and raced around the corner.
No..not yet. He thought. Of all the luck. I go wandering to get away from my
problems and I walk right to them. Stupid.
Night have fallen, and Steve had since taken the one hour bus ride to a small village where he was going to stay with his uncle while he enrolled in Romance Camp.
"So you're having love troubles ey?" Steve's uncle said. "Of course that's why you're here."
"I'm just not romantic."
"Ehh..neither was I, until I met your aunt."
"Which one..you've been divorced seven times."
"I've also convinced a seven women to marry me, remember that," his uncle said with a grin.
"Uncle, I don't need your advice, I'm just staying up here while I go to this romance camp thing."
"Romance camp? What a stupid idea."
"It could be useful," Steve said. "Nothing else seems to work."
"True, I guess you are at the level of taking extreme measures," his uncle said.
"I know there's romance in me, at least when I'm with a girl."
"Being romantic with yourself doesn't do a darn bit of good you're right there."
"Hah..right.." Steve muttered.
"Anyway..I'll be on the can if you need me," his uncle said.
Steve sighed and walked out the front door of the house.
"Why is everyone so insane?" he muttered.
"Excellent question..." came a voice as a figure dropped to the ground in front of him.
Steve jumped into a fighting pose until he recognized who it was.
"Patterson..what the heck are you doing up here?" Steve said.
"Chasing a robot...but you forgot your toothbrush and somehow I was drafted into bringing it to you," Patterson said.
"Oh..uh..thanks.." Steve said. "What was with the entrance?"
"Pure intimidation," Patterson said and leapt off into the dark forest.
"Weird.." Steve said.
Several miles away.
"It's beautiful," Serena said looking at the stars. "I haven't been out of the city in a while."
"Well it's a view you won't find other places," Mercureo said. "You know Serena...there's something you should know...that girl you dumped manure on.."
"It was manure? I thought I spilled some juice."
"No..Serena, it was manure..and she was going to kiss me too."
"Oh...no wonder.."
"Anyway...she's the girl I'm marrying."
"No kidding," Serena said. "Does she uh remember?"
"Oh..yeah.." Mercureo said.
"Uh..that's not good is it?"
"Well..only if you meet up with her.."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Listen meatball head," Murcereo said.
"What did you call me?" Serena said.
"What? Doesn't everyone call you.."
Serena leveled him with a kick.
"Guess not.." Mercurero said and standing up. "I'm proud of you meaty..."
"Don't call me meaty."
"I'll call you what I please, I am Mercureo."
"Do you want a broken jaw..." Serena said.
"Depends..." Mercureo said.
"On what?" Serena said.
Mercurero pointed to Serena's right she looked. Seconds later she was splashed with water.
"Hey!" Serena shouted.
"Heh...should have seen that coming huh.." Mercureo said. "Still..I don't want to carry this rivalry on anymore, I've grown up.."
"Where'd you get that water?" Serena muttered looking around in surprise.
"My secret, now listen..Serena.."
"No..truce..." Serena said.
"Wha.."
"I still have a score to settle."
"But you can't.."
"Try me."
The next morning.
"On behalf of Romance Camp I wish to welcome you. Welcome!" The head counselor, a blonde haired bubbly woman in her early twenties, said joyfully..
Steve sighed.
If I had wanted to take advice from someone with Serena's intellect I would have asked Serena herself. He thought.
"So..anyway...I can see everyone's kind of dejected right now..but we'll pick up your spirits, because that's what we do.." the counselor continued. Because the joy of love must be experience by all," she said happily.
She's on something. Steve muttered.
"The first thing we will do is rid you of cynicism about life, because if you've got that, you've got little chance of falling in love.."
What? Steve thought. What kind of strategy is that..and not exactly true either. Well...maybe. "So..I hope everyone's going to enjoy themselves cause I'm going to enjoy it," the head
counselor said. "Yey!"
The group all stared at her and their was silence.
"Uh..we'll work on that," she said.
CHAPTER 181 CHAPTER 182 CHAPTER 183 CHAPTER 184
CHAPTER 185 CHAPTER 186 CHAPTER 187 CHAPTER 188
CHAPTER 189 CHAPTER 190 CHAPTER 191 CHAPTER 192
CHAPTER 193 CHAPTER 194 CHAPTER 195 CHAPTER 196