| Slayers |
| Episode 13: MONEY! Crush Those Bounty Hunters! |
| The clear sky shines down peacefully upon an elegant-looking kingdom, and in the town, the people are bustling about normally. Some birds squawk, tied to the roof of a butcher shop. On a public window ledge, a tiny puppet show is being shown, with puppets of a knight and a dragon. "Back! Back! I am the greatest hero in all of Seyruun!" the knight proclaimed. Oxen pulled a cart under a bridge, and atop the bridge was... The Slayers! Gourry gasped in admiration. "THIS is Seyruun?! There's so much going on!" "Of course there is!" Amelia confirmed. "Seyruun is one of the greatest cities in the world!" Philionel, in turn, stated that there was no other land had as much to do, or was as safe to life in. In the peaceful atmosphere, Gourry leaned over the bridge, and happily said, "Wow... I believe you. Right, Lina?" Lina, meanwhile, was too busy eating loads of ice cream to notice the scenery. Gourry sighed, and then, after Lina declined his request for ice cream, sighed again. Behind them, two mysterious figures watched. The first, a man with wavy black hair, clad in a brown cloak, and a rather casual, stylish hat, muttered, "That's Lina Inverse, eh?" To his right, the other, far more silent, and creepier-looking man was clad in a dark blue cloak. His hair sloped straight downwards, and his eyes were cold and clear. Half of a large red jewel could be seen on his forehead, as he simply lifted his head up. Lina, meanwhile, was very excited about the idea of food in Seyruun. "Okay, Phil! Let's go to your place, eat, and then-" she began, but was turned down by Phil, who insisted that she couldn't just barge into the castle. "Hey, Lina. There's a poster with you on it," Gourry stated, looking at a wall as the four travelers walked through a doorway in the town. "Huh?" Lina wondered, and Amelia didn't know what a poster of Lina would be doing there either. Lina suddenly smiled. "Oh, am I really THAT famous now?" she asked, arrogant. However, walking closer, she saw: A poster, depicting a menacing-looking Lina, in black and white, with the words "Wanted! G500000" underneath it. Lina gasped in shock, but the other three merely admired the picture of Lina, which had captured the "real her". Amelia even went as far to say that it must've been done by a famous painter. Suddenly, Gourry, Amelia, and Phil stop talking as Lina shouts, "What are you talking about?! This is a wanted poster!" Gourry, clueless, looks closer at it and sees that it's indeed a wanted poster. Additionally, to the right of Lina's poster was one for Gourry, and to the right of that, one for Zelgadis as well, as Lina pointed out. At the end of the commentary, however, Amelia turned around with narrowed eyes and a suspicious look. "Miss Lina, what did you do?" she asked menacingly. Phil turned to Lina, too, with an equally suspicious look. "The law can be merciful. If you confess now..." "I suspected from the beginning," Amelia continued, the look even more exaggerated, and her hand up to her chin. "Miss Lina... You're really a bad guy, aren't you?" "Hold on a second!" Lina insisted, and then put a hand to her chin, gazing off in another direction and thinking hurried thoughts of her own. Then, she turned back to Amelia, and slapped her hand to her palm, with a smile on her face. "It's okay. I haven't done anything bad lately. I think." Gourry, though not having a suspicious face, had on that doubtful/annoyed face he always had on when Lina was like this. "It takes you that long to figure that out?" he muttered. Amelia's eyes turned even more suspicious, and although she was smaller, she indeed looked menacing now. "And what do you mean, 'in a while'?" she asked. "Oh, shut up!" Lina yelled back. "What about Gourry?" "Who, me?" Gourry asked, confused. Thinking hard, he suddenly turned back with a happy stupid look on his face. "You really think I'd remember if I did anything?" he asked brightly. Lina put her hand to her temple. "Right... My fault for asking," she muttered dejectedly. A troop of fully-armored soldiers are seen running in their direction, their weapons held at the ready. Lina rolled her eyes at this, saying that she knew something like this would happen. "Lina Inverse, you criminal monster! And you, too, Gourry Gabriev!" the captain of the guards shouted, eyes blazing fiercely. "You dare show yourselves before the Black Iron Knights?!" While Lina and Gourry could only stutter in confusion, Amelia decided that if Lina was a criminal, she must side with good. That said, she jumped over in front of the knights. "Lina Inverse! And you, Gourry Gabriev, as well!" she yelled. She passionately exclaimed that even though they had traveled as comrades, now that their true colors had been revealed, justice couldn't be ignored. "With tears in my eyes I must fight you, who were my friends only the day before!" she concluded valiantly. While Amelia continued ranting, Lina and Gourry could only look on with dumbfounded expressions. It was obvious that Amelia was serious about fighting against them. "Enough talking!" Amelia decided, ending her speech. "Let's get her, guys!" As Lina and Gourry frantically dodged the spears, Lina yelled at Prince Phil to call them off. At that, Phil only smiled and said, "I don't think anyone can stop them now." Deciding to retreat, Lina cast a quick Lighting spell, and then took Gourry's hand as she cast Levitation... crashing right into the top of the bottom of the overhead bridge. Lina rubbed her head as she flew away, with Amelia and the guards after her. The only one that was left behind was the captain of the guards, who blinked in confusion, seeing that he was obviously no longer in control. Doubling back, Lina muttered hurried instructions to Phil to keep their reward until later. Phil agreed, happily acting as if he didn't care either way. With that, the whole discussion ended, and Lina and Gourry ran away once more as the knights, led by Amelia, sprinted back in frantic pursuit. Panting beneath the shade of a building, Lina and Gourry pondered their situation. Amelia had turned on them for justice, and the price on their heads would have knights after them at every turn. Although they'd lost the "Black Iron Knights" for now, they had to decide what to do next. "What else?" Lina decided. "Find whoever's offering the bounty on us, and take care of him!" "That's Lina for you," muttered Gourry, rolling his eyes at the sky. Suddenly, the two warriors were surrounded by blonde-haired men wearing identical black masks, hat, and fancy-styled clothing. "We are the Silver Knights," the leader introduced himself, "known throughout the kingdom of Lenos!" He smirked menacingly, and then everyone was defeated with a single spell from Lina. "If we keep beating these self-styled 'allies of justice', then the big boss is sure to show himself," Lina declared, confidently. Gourry sweatdropped. "You don't know how to give somebody a break, do you?" he muttered. As they were talking, yet another band of justice-seeking warriors showed up. Claiming to be "great warriors", they were all defeated by a single fireball. Time passed, and Lina finished off yet another troop. "Hey, was that the sixth batch?" she asked, casually. "I think it was the seventh, actually," Gourry responded. Contrary to Lina's hypothesis, the "big boss" showed no sign of showing up, unfortunately, so she and Gourry abandoned the alley in which they were hiding, and started walking elsewhere in search of perhaps some other clue. All of a sudden, Lina stopped cold in surprise, and gasped. There, standing in plain sight, was a large cage with the door open, and inside was a shiny-looking horn, as if from an animal. "Oh, come on! This one's made for YOU, Gourry!" she muttered, scoffing at the crude trap. "Do they really think Lina Inverse is this stupid?!" However, Lina's eyes suddenly opened wider as she saw what the greenish-white object was. "A legendary unicorn's horn!" she gasped in delight, crawling into the cage to have a closer look. "I could sell it for a thousand gold pieces easily!" Grabbing it, the rope the horn was attached to activated a simple pulley, and the cage closed down on Lina. "How did I fall for this?!" Lina muttered, sweatdropping. A laugh was heard from above, and Amelia was seen in the window above, triumphantly claiming that she'd caught Lina at last. "Amelia?!" Lina shouted, in surprise, as Amelia leapt from the window ledge. Not quite so brilliantly, she smashed her whole body into the top of the cage. "Oh, man... That's GOTTA hurt!" Gourry said to himself, watching the scene with disbelief. Groaning, Amelia jumped off from the cage, and red lines could distinctly be seen all along her face from the contact with the cage. "Time to pay the piper, Miss Lina! And you, Gourry!" Lina and Gourry turned their heads to the direction that Amelia was indicating, and saw the same two mysterious figures that had been watching them before, quietly watching from the shadows. "I heard you were a sorceress to be reckoned with, and yet you fell for this lame-brained trap..." the man in the hat smirked. "You're the ones who offered the bounty on us!" Lina responded, in realization. "As you say," the other, far more serious man acknowledged. "And just who are you?" Gourry asked, unfazed. "I am Zangulus, a bounty hunter," the man in the hat proclaimed. "And I am Vrumugun, a sorcerer," the hooded man introduced himself. The jewel in his forehead glittered brilliantly. "We will take you to Sairaag now..." Vrumugun quietly stated, in his low, serious voice. "Someone awaits you there..." Lina couldn't understand what was waiting for them at Sairaag, and who this "someone" was. Gourry had similar doubts, and reached to draw his sword. "You think we'll just let you take us there?" he asked, hotly. "Hold it! I'd suggest you put that away," Zangulus countered, stopping Gourry. Vrumugun gathered an attack spell into his hand. "You will either come quietly, or this goes into the cage," he stated. "There is no escape for her..." "Damn!" Gourry cursed, dropping his sword. Lina gave up as well, eyeing the spell. "Fine! Do you want!" she yelled unhappily. Zangulus smirked evilly to himself, and Amelia did something similar, though Vrumugun's face remained emotionless. Obviously, the Princess of Justice had no idea what she was getting the Slayers into. One last time, Vrumugun's jewel flashed red. From the sunny outside, the huge tower didn't look menacing, but inside, it was a different matter. It was about as peaceful as a crate full of wolves. "Let me go, you jerk!" Lina could be heard shrieking from inside, down many flights of stairs. "If you treat weak little girls like me this way you'll get cursed by the gods. You hear me?!" A hand turned a key in a lock, and Zangulus's voice ordered, "Inside!" Both Lina and Gourry were thrust violently inside the cell, and though Gourry wasn't restrained in any way, Lina had a strange bracelet across her forehead, and was wrapped up completely, caccoon-like, in tight chains. "Hold it! Why do I have to be wrapped up in this thing?!" she protested. Zangulus stated that if she weren't, she'd just "cause more trouble", and then closed the door in Lina's angry face. "Why, you... I'll show you what trouble is!" she shouted, as Gourry merely sat quietly. Lina tried to free herself from the chains, still protesting having to wear it. "Let me out! Let me out!" Lina shouted, banging her whole body against the steel door viciously, eyes blazing. "She's like a wild animal..." Gourry muttered to himself, eyeing her cautiously from the side. "Why don't you just take it easy?" Zangulus asked, opening a tiny latch so his eyes were visible, and then closing it again. "If you think I'm gonna take it easy, you're dead wrong!" Lina yelled back. Chanting the incantation of a spell, and bringing her hands out of the chains, Lina started to cast a Flare Arrow; the magical fire gathered in her hands and began to take effect - but then suddenly stopped as her whole body was electrocuted in a rather comical way, the bracelet around her forehead glowing completely white. Gourry merely looked on with a semi-disturbed expression. After Lina landed in a heap, Zangulus opened the tiny latch again. Coldly, he muttered that he might have "forgotten to tell her" that any casting of magic, or trying to remove the circlet around her head, would electrocute her violently. Laughing, Zangulus caused Lina to start yelling again. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?!" she demanded. "It must have slipped my mind," Zangulus replied, calmly. "Well, get a better memory!" Lina hollered, hotly. "I'd settle down, for your own sake," Zangulus muttered, and then closed the latch. Although Gourry continued to handle himself relatively calmly, Lina continued to bounce up and down like a worm, royally pissed off. In the highest room in the tower, Vrumugun dropped a large bag of money on the table. "Your reward for capturing those two..." he stated. Waving her hand back casually, Amelia responded, "No, no. I did it in the name of justice. I couldn't accept money for doing that." Although the light from the window made it seem like Amelia was truly fighting on the side of the good, the past events had proven otherwise. The door banged open, and Zangulus entered. "Man, that girl's as stubborn as they come!" he commented, throwing Gourry's sword onto the table. "Tried to escape right off!" "They just don't know when to give up!" Amelia replied, smiling. Both she and Zangulus shared similar evil-looking smirks. Back in the dark, dark, chamber, Lina shouted that it was driving her nuts not being able to cast magic. Her eyes were in a classic ultra-angry fashion as she raved about paying Zangulus back for his mockery of her. "Ooh, is he gonna be sorry!" Gourry leaned back against the wall in his corner of the room. "Look, you can complain all you want," he said, "but he took my sword, and you can't use your magic." "There's nothing we can do about it," Lina stated, with sudden clarity. "It's not that-" Gourry began, wondering what Lina was hinting at. "I can't use my magic. I just get shocked when I try to recite a spell," Lina continued. "Okay, but can you do then?" Gourry asked, crawling closer to her. Lina stood up with determination. "Deal with it, and recite the spell!" she decided. Gourry gasped at these words, and Lina began. "Source of all power..." she said, and immediately, pain took over her body, electricity flashing everywhere, and the circlet glowing white beyond everything else. "Crimson... fire burning bright...!" Lina managed, still making deranged sounds of pain. Many of the chains suddenly burst, falling to the ground in a shower of sparks, but the circlet continued to flash, generating the power. "Flare... ARROW!" Lina yelled, firing the spell, as Gourry dug a hole in the ground, taking cover. Up in the highest room, the whole tower could be felt shaking, and Zangulus and Amelia nearly fell over, wondering what was happening. Only Vrumugun continued to sit still with no change in expression. The dark chamber downstairs no longer existed, and electricity flashed faintly around Lina as smoke and dust billowed everywhere. Some chains still hung on her, sparking momentarily. "Compared with what my big sister used to put me through..." she muttered quietly, and then yelled, "that was nothing!" "Let's go, Gourry!" she yelled, and then grabbed Gourry from the rubble, causing him to mutter an awkward squawk. Lina ran through the corridor, dragging Gourry, and swinging a chain high above her head. "You have a sister?" Gourry asked, in surprise, while being dragged. "Oh, didn't I tell you?" Lina asked, an expression of pain crossing her face. They ran up the stairs, with Zangulus, Vrumugun, and Amelia running toward them from the opposite direction. Meeting at the center of the corridor in a wide-open space of the tower, Lina swung her chains, catching all three opponents by the arm. "What are you trying to do?" Vrumugun asked. "I'm trying to do THIS!" Lina shouted, and then began to cast a spell. As she was overcome by shocks, the other three began yelling from the pain of electrocution as well. As Lina fell over from the effort, still conscious, Gourry caught her. Zangulus, Vrumugun, and Amelia lay on the ground in a heap, and Gourry muttered an "Excuse me!" as he leapt over them, carrying Lina, to Zangulus's protest. Gourry smashed into the top room, and found his sword on the ground. "Here it is!" he muttered triumphantly. "Don't move, Lina!" he said to her, and to Lina's protests, he suddenly flung her high up into the air, and then swung his sword upward toward her face in one stroke. Lina gasped in fear, and after one piece of her fell to the ground, the enchanted circlet neatly followed. "Hmmm. Not bad..." Gourry nodded to himself, satisfied. Lina trembled in anger. "Not bad, my ass!" she yelled, sweatdropping. Taking the "sweatdrop", she clubbed Gourry over the head painfully with it. "Have you ever heard of the word 'subtlety'?!" she shrieked. "Okay, now all we have to do is finish those guys off!" she decided, and she and Gourry leapt out the window, Lina landing neatly, and Gourry landing in a heap. "We'll teach you to put a price on our heads!" she yelled at Zangulus, meeting him and Vrumugun outside the tower. "Yeah, like I care," Zangulus responded coolly. "I won't be fighting you, my dear," Zangulus said to Lina, and two seperate duels emerged - Lina versus Vrumugun, and Gourry versus Zangulus. Drawing his sword, Zangulus challenged Gourry to an old-fashioned duel. Their swords met with a brilliant clang. "I heard you were pretty good..." Zangulus said to Gourry. "I was hoping we would be able to face each other." "Be careful what you wish for," Gourry responded, both of them still held in the deadlock. In the sky, Lina and Vrumugun had a different type of duel. "Flare Arrow!" Lina shouted, firing the spell at her opponent, which he promptly counted with a Freeze Arrow spell. They landed on opposite sides of a building. "Here I was thinking you were a third-rate sorcerer... looks like you've got something to you!" Lina complimented him. Vrumugun said nothing, only staring back in response. "Doesn't fall for that trick, does he?" Lina muttered to herself. "Looks like I've got me a cautious opponent here." Amelia slumped down the tower, holding the wall for support. "Miss Lina, how could you?" she asked. "To me, of all people..." Hearing the clangs and yells from outside, Amelia promptly realized the battle outside, and prayed for justice to "try its hand again". Gourry let out a yell, and managed to cut the side of Zangulus's face, and smiled triumphantly. Zangulus let out a small laugh of respect. "You're the first oppponent who's ever even scratched me," he stated. "You must have just fought weaklings in the past," Gourry countered. "But playtime's over," Zangulus smirked again, and held up his sword. "Howling Sword!" he yelled, and swung his weapon. To Gourry's disbelief, a huge green projectile fired from Zangulus's sword, striking him, and sending him sky-high. Another blast sent him crashing back onto the ground. The power and speed of the blasts was admirable, and Gourry wasn't able to dodge the blasts. "What.. what was that?" he asked, and then gasped as his sword snapped in half. Zangulus chuckled. "The Howling Sword," he introduced. "Its roar can cut down any opponent. With a peculiar swagger, Gourry casually dropped the blade of his sword. "Well, hey, I've got a special sword, too," he challenged. With his customary order of "Light, come forth!" the Sword of Light was revealed in its brilliance. "The Sword of Light..." Zangulus muttered admiringly. "This should be fun...." Back on the rooftop, Lina and Vrumugun continued their duel, but no one was gaining any ground. As Vrumugun reached up his hand for another spell, Lina suddenly looked upward in surprise at Amelia's voice. "If you continue to compound your crimes, then prepare to fight me as well!" Amelia declared. Lina held a hand to her temple in exasperation. "Would you get a clue?!" she yelled. "THEY'RE the bad guys! They made up all that stuff about us!" Lina pointed vigorously in Vrumugun's direction. "What?" Amelia asked, confused. "But... But they said YOU were the bad guys!" "Amelia, think!" Lina yelled back. "Who looks like a bad guy here?! Look!" Amelia paused, considering Lina's happy face, and Vrumugun's dead serious one. "Hmmmm... Both of you!" Amelia decided, looking up. Throwing a spell past Amelia in exasperation, Lina shrieked, "AMELIA!!" "You say one thing, and they say something else!" Amelia continued, talking to herself, as the duel commenced. Another set of Flare Arrow and Freeze Arrow attacks cancelled each other out. "Lina or Vrumugun? Which is the real bad guy?" the Princess of Justice asked herself. Suddenly, she realized. "Of course! Justice always triumphs! So whoever wins is the good guy!" Calling upon her power, Amelia cast a Fireball down at the tower itself, even as Lina frantically protested. The entire tower fell over, smoke billowing everywhere. Amelia stood above the rubble, making a gesture of victory. "Amelia, you are a total nutcase!" Lina declared, lifting herself up from the rubble. "I knew it!" Amelia said back. "You're the good guy! I suspected you weren't bad!" "Gee, I seem to remember someone sayig something else," Lina muttered sarcastically. Gourry lifted himself from the rubble. "Whoa, what a ride," he commented. Zangulus, in another corner, muttered, "We will retreat for today, but we will return!" The sun shone down on the peaceful city, as Lina and Gourry once again freely strolled around. "Who are they? And what're they after?" Lina asked, referring to Zangulus and Vrumugun. "Exactly!" Amelia declared, with Lina and Gourry both gasping in surprise. "Amelia! What're you doing here?!" Lina asked. Amelia responded that it was obvious evil was on the move, and that it was after Lina and Gourry. "Therefore, I will travel with you, and crush this evil ambition!" she declared. Lina and Gourry muttered about not being able to talk Amelia out of her decision. "Amelia, are you just trying to get out of town for a while, now that Phil found out you were behind that explosion?" Lina accused her. Amelia's face adopted an expression of guilt, and then she grimaced as Phil was seen running up from behind, complete with another set of knights behind him. "Come back here, Amelia!" he ordered. "How can my own daughter blow up one of our buildings?!" Amelia muttered, an "uh-oh", and then hurriedly escorted Lina and Gourry out of the city. "I don't want to see you back here for a LONG time!" Phil yelled. The three companions were off to Sairaag...... |
| Overall Episode: 13 |
| Episode 3 of Video 4 |
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