Chapter 222
The next day in the afternoon. Serena had detention again.
"Serena, just why do you do what you do?" Setsuna asked.
"What do you mean Setsuna?" Serena asked.
"I mean..coming in late, being uncooperative, you know."
"Oh..I try to be cooperative," Serena said. "It's just not natural, and the sleeping in is just something that happens. I try my best. I thought I had it down, but then it didn't work out."
"Serena..I'm concerned."
"Concerned about me?"
"No..about all of you."
"Really? Why?"
"Serena, being a you know what is a heavy responsibility. All of you have shown the ability to do it, but I'm worried that it's having an adverse effect on your everyday lives."
"Of course it is Setsuna," Serena said. "I had enough trouble getting to school on time before I had to fight evil at the drop of a hat."
"I know it's only natural to expect teenagers to be a little rowdy, but I've noticed the scouts seems to be more rebellious then other students, Serena, can I ask you honestly. Can all of you handle this?"
"We've managed before."
"Managing isn't going to get you very far. Your education is very important. Is being a scout too distracting?"
"Setsuna, first of all Mike will always be the way he is, whether he's a scout or not. The others..are affected in various ways. I can't say that being scouts doesn't affect us. But I'm not sure your coming at this from the right angle."
"What do you mean?"
"Setsuna, it's being a scout that saved a lot of us from trouble. It's what brought us together."
"Are you sure you wouldn't have just met on your own?"
"It's hard to say, but the relationships wouldn't be as concrete as they are now. Being scouts, fighting alongside each other has given us a respect few people share."
"Yes Serena that's true, but from your actions..."
"We're a little weird that's all. Besides you're teaching home room, it's always more rowdy then, I think you're worrying too much."
"You think so? Well Serena couldn't you at least try not to be so late."
"I do, believe me I try."
"All right," Setsuna said. "Just try harder all right."
Serena nodded.
And in Mike's room.
"Steve, let me run this by you," Mike said.
"Sure...this your story?" Steve asked.
"Uh huh, I've actually been making progress," Mike said.
"What's it about?"
"Well..it's about a group of super heroes from another planet."
"Sounds vaguely familiar."
"Doesn't it though. This has no basis on our real lives."
"Okay...why is there a character named Stephan talking to a character named Mitch?"
"Hmm..well..." Mike said. "Never mind that. Look, now here's the plot of the story. This interstellar meteor crashes into Earth."
"Oh..it's an interstellar meteor is it?"
"Steve, don't mock me," Mike said. "Anyway..the interstellar meteor has on it these slimy creatures who can mutate into your worst nightmare."
"You mean it. They can mutate into you naked?" Steve asked.
Mike just pointed at Steve.
Steve grinned.
"All right.so anyway our heroes Mitch and Stephan are called into save the day."
"Is that what they're called?"
"No..I haven't thought of a cool name yet, but the point is that I'm trying to think of where their base should be?"
"They have a secret base?"
"Sure do. Now..should it be underground, or at the bottom of the ocean?"
"I've never trusted undersea bases," Steve said.
"Underground it is," Mike said.
"Why does it have to be under anything?"
"That's just the way it is."
"What's suppose to happen in this story."
"Uh..Mitch and Stephan save the world, get cute girls, the end."
"It's been done," Steve said.
"Ah..but not by me," Mike said.
"I'm not impressed," Steve said.
"Nor should you be my friend," Mike said and turned back to his computer.
"I got it, they're car will be known as the drive mobile!" He shouted a few seconds later.
"The what!" Steve said.
"You're creative input ends here," Mike said.
"Not if I can help it," Steve said.
"No..no..I will not have you pollute my dreamland."
"Good use of words," Steve said. "But I'm an artist too."
"There we go again, writing is not art," Mike said.
"Of course it is."
"No it isn't. Any bozo can sit down and write a story. But only talented bozo's such as yourself can draw a nice picture," Mike said.
"That's not true. A story has to be good, it has to be interesting. It has to keep the reader's interest. There's an art to that," Steve said.
"Not really," Mike said. "After all, I'm writing something aren't I?"
"That doesn't mean it's good."
"No..but it doesn't mean that if you take a cucumber and smash it over your head that it's necessarily going to hurt."
"Why does that apply?" Steve asked.
"It doesn't," Mike said.
"Don't change the subject!" Steve shouted.
"HAH!" Mike said and hit him on the head with a cucumber.
And at Raye's temple.
"Did you see what happened today?" Raye asked.
"What?" Rick asked.
"You saw."
"But I didn't remember."
"Mina..remember..all these guys were coming up to her, saying what a good job she had done singing."
"Well..she wasn't bad."
"How many people do you see complimenting me? I'm far superior to her in skill, experience, looks, and harmonic convergence."
"Uh..well..have you thought that maybe because Mina doesn't have a boyfriend, guys are more willing to compliment her."
"Maybe..but I get no compliments."
"Neither do I. But they clapped didn't they?"
"There's more to it then that."
"I know, but those are the breaks."
"Rick, I'm not going to let her succeed like this, it goes against everything I stand for to find her slide in on a few days practice."
"Slide into what?"
"Popularity. I've worked harder. We've worked harder," Raye said.
"Mina sounds like she's worked hard too," Rick said.
"Yeah..well she hasn't worked as hard as I have. I deserve some credit."
"I thought you sung well," Rick said.
"Somehow that doesn't help," Raye said.
"Why? Isn't my opinion the least bit important?"
"It is Rick, it really is, but look..I know I've really touched people when people I don't know, let alone my boyfriend come up to me and compliment me. That means something."
"Her moment will pass," Rick said. "Mina will get arrogant, she'll become convinced she doesn't need to work hard, then she'll fall, you just watch."
"You think so?"
"If she doesn't want it bad enough, yeah. You seem to want it."
"Yes I do," Raye said. "But sometimes that isn't enough, or it doesn't matter."
"I assure you Raye, Mina will never beat you out for anything in music You work to hard."
"In my mind she already has," Raye said.
Blocks away at the A.P.T. House.
"Amy'll be right down, she's just got some things to finish up," Greg said.
"Oh..okay," Urawa said sitting on the couch. "I'm glad to see you've moderated."
"Yeah, I was just going through I don't know what," Greg said. "But you make Amy very happy, so I've got no problem with you."
"That's good to hear, but Greg, I'm curious," Urawa said.
"Yes?"
"Amy's friends..are they really always this insane?"
Greg grinned.
"As a group they can be some of the most insane people you've ever met. But they can also be the most caring, the most devoted, and the best friends anyone can have. Plus they're harmless. Relatively harmless."
"Oh..it's hard to tell," Urawa said.
"Spend enough time around them and you'll get used to it."
"That's what I've heard," Urawa said.
Elsewhere.
"Well look who's back," Mina said.
"I just came to visit," Artemas said.
"Sure you did," Mina said.
"I was hoping we could get along Mina. I mean there's no reason for us to be at odds all the time."
"You're right of course," Mina said. "If a beautiful sweet girl and her talking cat can't be friends, then what does that say about the world?"
"I wouldn't go that far," Artemas said.
Mina grinned.
"They loved my performance," Mina said happily.
"I know, I heard," Artemas said.
"The sky's the limit."
"Yes well Mina, you know you'll have to keep working."
"Yes that's true," Mina said. "You know what got to me though? Mike came by afterward and he said I was doing well. But Raye didn't."
"Did you want her to?"
"I know I may have been a little loose about competing with her. But I honestly thought she'd respect me if I sung well."
"Well..maybe she's resentful because you think you're so good while hardly doing any work."
"That's probably it isn't it?" Mina asked. "From now on, I'll work hard. Still with all my talent one wonders why I should bother."
"Mina..you sang a couple of songs, the lyrics were good, they could be better. You missed a few notes. You can't do that if you want to be the best."
"Raye will always be better then me," Mina said.
"What do you mean?"
"No matter how much I do Artemas, she'll be better. I know it."
"You seem to have a lot of respect for her."
"Yes I do. I just wish she understood what I was trying to do. I mean she's tried to do things without putting much effort into them right?"
"Not that I know of."
"Oh..that's right..she does work hard. Not at school though."
"She doesn't expect to get an A, if she doesn't do A work though."
"That's true. She just has a better work ethic. That's why she'll be better then I will be."
"Well keeping that in mind, second best is not bad."
"Absolutely not. And I was thinking, being second best is not bad at all. You still get a lot of stuff without having the pressure of being the best. It's idyllic. From now on, I'll compete to be second best!"
"Uh..that work ethic is a bit flawed," Artemas said.
"I just said it wasn't," Mina said.
"So you did, but.." Artemas said.
"No but's," Mina said. "I have my goals and I'm going to stick to them."
"If you say so," Artemas said.
With the school day done, Lita was once again trying to achieve inner peace. She sat quietly trying to let the world around her melt away. She became acutely aware of a fly buzzing around in the room. She tried to block it out and continue on with her meditating. It flew closer, and closer. She winced slightly trying to keep control. The fly buzzed near her face. Her hand shot out and grabbed it. "Yuck.." Lita said opening her eyes wide and wiping her hand off. "This isn't working. There's no inner peace here, only massively quick godlike reflexes."
She sighed.
"I need another solution," She said and started looking through some of the
other books she had acquired.
There was a knock at the door. Lita bounded down the steps and landed on the balls of her feet.
"Why did I go down the stairs that way?" she asked herself and approached the door. She opened it and there stood Ken.
"Oh..hi..." he said immediately taking notice of her outfit consisting of a Chinese style silken dress and nothing else.
Lita blushed slightly.
"Ken..it's nice to see you. Please come in," Lita said.
"Uh..right," Ken said and walked in. "I need your help Lita."
"No problem," Lita said. "What do you need?"
"I had a fight with Misao."
"Oh...jee.." Lita said. "That's rough. That's why you're here?"
"Yes..I..needed some advice."
"Well I owe you for the advice you gave me. What's the trouble about?"
"We've both caught each other looking at other people. She got mad when I guess I took a little too long staring at one girl. And..I brought up it was natural, that she did it too. Then she blew it up," Ken said.
"I see. Worse thing you can do is tell a girl she's on your level."
"Oh.." Ken said.
"I know..that doesn't sound right, but look she'd realize her mistake later. The best thing to do is apologize and then let her figure things out."
"I guess so, but now how do I handle it. Do I make the first move or not. I mean..I don't know what I'm supposed to apologize for. I did say I was sorry."
"This is a tough one," Lita said. "But you're right to get as much help as you can with it. I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll ask all my friends. They've got so much experience with doing things right and wrong, we should be able to figure it out. I just don't have an easy answer for you."
"Thanks anyway."
Lita was soon on the phone talking to her various friends.
"Hmm...well...does she have a personality like mine?" Mina asked.
"No, she's normal," Lita said.
"Hey..do you want my help or not?"
"Yeah, sorry."
"I say he should go see her, then kiss up to her, see what happens?"
"Are you sure that he should rush into it?" Lita asked.
"Sure..I rush into everything," Mina said.
"That's not good supporting evidence!" Lita snapped.
"It is for me, bye," Mina said and hung up.
"Oooo..tough one," Raye said. "I don't know, probably she would appreciate him making the first gesture whether he's wrong or not."
"Not necessarily," Rick chimed in.
"What do you mean?" Raye asked.
"You have to let her consider everything."
"No you don't."
"Raye..listen..don't you take days to figure things out?" Rick asked.
"No, you just take days to get up the courage to come by and see me, I have it figured it out in a few hours," Raye said.
"Sure you do," Rick replied.
"Hey..don't get sarcastic with me."
"Uh oh.."
"Uh...never mind," Lita said.
"Hey a girl can look at any guy she wants, it's when a guy looks at other girls that it's a problem," Serena said.
"Serena I don't think that's a rule," Lita said.
"Sure it is," Serena said. "It's street justice."
"What?" Lita said.
"You heard me. Ken's in the wrong."
"So..even if he is. What does he do next Serena?"
"Apologize."
"And if he did already?"
"Do it again, then take her out spend more money then he usually would and romance her."
"Well at least it sounds good in theory," Lita said.
"Of course it does, I'm the love magnet."
"You're the what?"
"Never mind," Serena said.
"So what do you think Darrien?" Lita asked into the phone.
"It's hard to say, still in my experience, it's best not to leave a girl hanging. Even if they're angry, they usually like it when you come to see them as soon as possible."
"Okay..that's good advice," Lita said.
"But I'm no expert."
"That's all right," Lita said.
"I hope so," Darrien said. "I'd hate to get a poor guy into trouble."
"You won't don't worry."
"Yeah..okay..bye," Darrien said.
"Well, I've got a plan for you now," Lita said reemerging into the living room.
"Oh..that's great," Ken said. "Uh..Lita..that is a nice outfit."
"Oh..really? I wear it to meditate."
"You meditate?"
"Sure do, or at least I did. It isn't helping me the way I want it too. I did it to control my anger and use it as a weapon, and to find inner peace, but I only feel better when I'm in that state, and then I'm back to normal."
"There's no lasting effects then?"
"Well..I do have more energy. I mean I meet keep doing it, but I need another answer."
"Hmm..yeah.."
"So do you think this outfit suits me?"
"If you went out dressed like that you'd have guys all over you."
"Yeah..I guess I would," Lita said. "Let's go then."
"Where?"
"To her house."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah sure I'm sure. I'll let you take over, but the best thing for you to do is go talk to her."
"All right," Ken said. "You're going to wear that out?"
"Sure, after all I am looking for a boyfriend still."
Ken nodded.
Minutes later.
"So aside from this thing, how have things been going with Misao?"
"Uh..they've been good," Ken said.
"You don't seem to believe your own words."
"Uh..she's great. It's just sometimes we don't understand each other. Most of the time we do. It's just those other times..it's sort of scary. It's like she's a different person. I'm sure she feels the same way about me."
"Hmm...still that doesn't mean your relationship can't work," Lita said.
"I know, and we get along fine..only...no..it's nothing," Ken said.
"Ken what is it? I like to think that I'm a very good friend and that you can tell me anything."
"Lita..I..don't honestly know if me and Misao are meant to be anything more then just friends."
"Uh oh," Lita said.
"What?"
"I've heard that before..and it's not good to think that way."
"But..we do have similar interests, but I'm not sure either of us see ourselves the way romantic people are supposed to."
"Oh.."
"I don't know."
"You honestly see it that way?" Lita asked.
"I like her a lot. I believe she likes me. And we have those sparks of romance. But..."
Lita nodded.
"I know what you mean. I went through it. But you have to be sure that you're right about your feelings."
"That's why I'm going to see her," Ken said.
"And if you need anyone to talk to, I'm right here."
"I know," Ken said. "Thank you."
They soon reached Misao's house. Ken moved to the door and knocked. He was soon let in. "Good luck," Lita said from nearby. She then headed back the way she came. She stopped suddenly.
Why..am I sensing..something?
I usually don't have a sense for trouble..it's probably.
There was a flash of light. She was blinded.
She felt an attack fly at her. She dived out of the way as energy bolts flew by her.
The street. She thought and jumped hearing a car sweep by. Her eyes began to clear but there was still spots in front of her.
Another attack flew at her. She dodged it and started running as quickly as she can.
She rounded a corner. A bolt of lightening accompanied by a crack of thunder shot at her. She turned back the other way quickly only to see a second goddess moving towards her.
"There are two!" she shouted in shock.
More energy flew at her. She turned back the other way and charged at the new goddess. More lightening flew at her, but she leapt in the air, jumped off the goddess head and raced down the sidewalks.
"You should have gotten her lightening," the goddess of light said.
"I should have..what about you?" the goddess of lightening replied.
"Never mind, we have to catch her before she can transform."
The two goddess then took off in a chase after Lita, who was terrified.
One of them could get me for sure. Two..I don't stand a chance she thought and kept running.
CHAPTER 201 CHAPTER 202 CHAPTER 203 CHAPTER 204 CHAPTER 205
CHAPTER 206 CHAPTER 207 CHAPTER 208 CHAPTER 209 CHAPTER 210
CHAPTER 211 CHAPTER 212 CHAPTER 213 CHAPTER 214 CHAPTER 215
CHAPTER 216 CHAPTER 217 CHAPTER 218 CHAPTER 219 CHAPTER 220
CHAPTER 221 CHAPTER 222 CHAPTER 223 CHAPTER 224 CHAPTER 225