| Slayers |
| Episode 17: Question? He's Proposing to THAT Girl? |
| Water blows violently in the stormy, cloudy weather. Through the misty environment, a boat is seen coming into view. Its sails keep it traveling forward through the dreary weather, but suddenly something appears out of the water to bar its way. A huge dragon/snake-like monster rears up out of the water, its yellow eyes flashing as it lets out a terrible roar. The passengers aboard the ship yell in fear, scrambling to get away, but to no avail. The creature's feet, claws, and body utterly destroy the ship, and then it snakes its way through the boat, slicing it in half before plunging back into the depths of the sea. The mist and clouds swirl around more, and then close in entirely, sealing off the scene. A bright blast causes a violent explosion elsewhere, and the smoke is seen against a blue sky and green grass, far different from the dark mood of before. Many armored warriors are thrown backward by the blast, gasping. Not surprisingly, Lina is behind the blast. "Fireball!" she yells, blowing up yet another group of "heroes". The wanted posters had still been haunting them wherever they went, presumably. Lina put her arms to her sides, gasping partly in exhaustion, and partly in exasperation. Next to Lina, Amelia appears to be keeping a tally, commenting cheerfully that it was the tenth group of heroes Lina's beaten that very day. Even as Amelia said this, Gourry ran through another group, slashing his sword at each individual opponent. As he sheathed his sword with an audible click, his opponents all fell over, defeated. "Okay, and that's eleven," Amelia said matter-of-factly, making another marking on the stone tablet she was carrying with a quill pen. A solitary old man who looked like a fierce warrior interrupted Lina, who was catching her breath. Even as he made his serious speech about defeating the evil Lina, the sorceress complained to an understanding Amelia, wishing the heroes would just "lay off". By now, the defeat of heroes is almost routine, and when the old man demands Lina to fight him, she fires a "Diem Wing" at him, making him sail harmlessly off into the distance. Amelia mentioned out of passing that they dealt with seven groups of heroes the day before last, and ten groups yesterday. Obviously, the amount of people that were after Lina just kept increasing with each moment the wanted posters were still up. The Slayers appear to be at a high elevation, for the tops of trees from the ground below reach to about the same height as the ground they're standing on. Far below, a town is seen, surrounding a huge body of water. "If we go into Sandoria, we'll have forty or fifty to deal with," Amelia mentioned, referring to the town seen below. Gourry begins to complain about their present condition. It almost won't be possible for them to get a ship, since every soldier of justice, bounty hunter, and hero appears to be after them. Gourry's point is that getting through Sandoria would be way too much trouble. However, Lina brings up the only other alternative. "Cross the Mountains of Tears?!" she yelled at Gourry, making him cringe back. A horribly bleak, snowy scene is seen, with jagged mountains standing strong in the fierce winds. A chunk of snow breaks off from one high portion, and falls down a bottomless break between two chunks of land. The snow appears to always be falling... The redheaded sorceress loomed scarily over Gourry. "We've got justice freaks, heroes, bounty hunters, Zangulus, Vrumugun, and God knows who else after us... and you want to cross the ultra-steep Mountains of Tears, Gourry?!?!" she demanded furiously. Gourry cringed back even more for a second, and then suddenly got a very bland look on his face, sweatdropping. "Uh, no," he agrees. "I'm sure! So quit bellyaching!" Lina ordered. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees another group of heroes. Without even giving them a chance to introduce themselves this time, Lina Inverse shoots a simple Fireball at them, making them fly off into the distance. Acting as if it never even happened, Lina concludes, "So we all agree that we have to get a ship from Sandoria." Amelia spreads her hands out in a helpless manner. "But how do we do it?" Lina starts to think very hard to come up with a plan. As she does so, the exaggerated wanted posters of her and Gourry pop up in her mind, as does a scene from the past with Zelgadis when she was yelling at Gourry for being clueless. For some reason, this triggers something. Lina suddenly has an idea, and from the smile on her face, it looks like she's really going to enjoy it. Gourry, however, looks apprehensive, perhaps even a bit worried. The scene of the Mountains of Tears is seen again, and the snow blows as fiercely as ever. This time, however, Vrumugun and Zangulus are scaling one of the mountains, so it's definitely real-life. "Hurry, Zangulus," Vrumugun calls down. "I know!" Zangulus replied. Apparently, the two bounty hunters had deducted that the Slayers would have to cross the Mountains of Tears, since Sandoria was too public for them to journey through. "We'll wait for them, and this time-" he cut off, clenching his fist. This, of course, caused him to lose his grip on the mountain, and he fumbled wildly to get a grip on something, anything, to keep from falling. Zangulus finally managed to grab onto Vrumugun's cloak, pulling the hood off Vrumugun's head as he did so. "Whew, that was close," Zangulus commented. Vrumugun, emotionless as ever, replied, "I know how eager you are, but watch your step." However, what the serious sorcerer doesn't know is that his hair is completely parted in all directions, showing a very funny-looking bald spot right in the center. Zangulus can't control himself. "You... Your head!" he laughs, taking both hands off to point. Suddenly noticing that he has no grip on anything, Zangulus lets out a yell as he falls all the way off the mountain. The sun shines brightly on the cheery port, and although the wanted posters are seen clear as day on the side of one of the buildings, no one appears to be paying them any mind. Also, there appears to be an additional wanted poster for a sea serpent, the same one seen in the beginning of the episode. A strong-looking man drinks some his drink at a table; women are in the other chairs talking to him. Further on up the path in the seaside port, three women round the corner, one red-haired, one black-haired, and one blonde-haired, looking very familiar. This causes all of the men there to gasp and be overcome by love. The bottom of a pretty-looking dress is seen, and shimmering blonde hair in a feminine hairstyle is shown next. Finally, a picture of the lower half of the face; there's obviously lipstick applied. As the figure finally steps forward and all of it is seen, indeed it's as suspected - Gourry, wearing a resigned, saddened expression. Lina and Amelia pop in from both sides to flash a victory sign, causing Gourry to cringe. All three of them are dressed in rather convincing disguises. The man looks up from his drink, eyeing the three travelers in disguise. Suddenly, he spits out his drink and lets out a gasp of utter disbelief in a dramatic pose, dropping his cup to the ground and letting it roll. Lina and Amelia casually talk to each other about the success of their plan. "You really make a good lady, Mr. Gourry," Amelia comments cheerfully to the silent Gourry. Even Lina appears to be in a good mood as a result of Gourry's. Gourry mutters something to himself, and then bursts into an exaggerated stream of tears, crying, "What did I do to deserve this?!" Lina and Amelia both have on the familiar ^_^ expression in anime; it looks like it's all in harmless fun. "Now for phase two," Lina announces. "EEK!" Immediately, her screams draw the attention of all of the warriors in the area, which is quite a few. They edge forward, until the full situation is seen - a huge circle of warriors is surrounding Gourry, Lina, and Amelia. Gourry and Amelia are both surprised, cringing, but Lina certainly isn't. She drops to her knees in a very un-Lina like feminine way, and, putting a pink handkerchief to her eyes, cries, "A cockroach." The insect is indeed there, right near her. The warriors immediately rush forward to help, and as they stomp everywhere trying to crush the unfortunate cockroach, Lina, Gourry, and Amelia stand on the sidelines. "See? They're after Lina Inverse the sorceress and Gourry Gabriev the swordsman," Lina explains. "No one will suspect us in these getups, right?" Amelia and Lina go into a series of poses, announcing, "We're just three happy and loving sisters!" Poor Gourry can only look pathetic in the center, looking unhappy. "Just pay attention to how Amelia and I act, and copy us," Lina advises Gourry. [As they talk, a small-looking detail but important in many discussions - possibly Naga, or at least someone dressed very much like Naga, passes in the foreground. Even in addition to this, Amelia seems to notice this person out of the corner of her eye; her eyes widen, and she glances after the person as if having some distant memory. Some people say this event is a hint that Amelia and the White Serpent are sisters, and some people say it's just a coincidence, or the artists just amusing themselves.] "Now, then, next on the agenda..." Lina continues. And the next step is: food. A scene depicting food on the table glistening most invitingly is seen, and then the man seen before wanders in. He is again surprised, and brings his arm to his face in a sudden cringe. For there at the table is Gourry, and eating quite normally. He's seen happy for the first time in a while. "Mr. Gourry, no!" Amelia whispered. "Be more ladylike!" "Huh? But she said to copy her," Gourry replied, pointing to Lina, who was eating even more ravenously than Gourry. The man blushed slightly, and muttered, "Such a healthy appetite..." "You're the girls looking for a ship to Sanboa?" a voice asked. The owner of the restaurant was asking, and Lina, seeing this, immediately went into her rather giveaway acting, sobbing into her handkerchief. "Our dear mother is ill, and we're on our way back to our homeland... but this dragon panic is keeping us here!" The owner expresses his sympathy, and Lina replies with the rather odd comment of "I've been so worried I can't even eat!" Any fool would've seen something wrong with that, and the guy looked curiously toward the piles and piles of dishes. Lina covered up, laughing nervously and telling Amelia not to eat so much. "Quit passing the blame!" Gourry clenched his teeth, sweatdropping. The restaurant owner explained that the sea dragon had been sinking many ships, so no more could set sail until someone slayed the dragon. "Not even one?" Lina asked. The man seemed to consider this. "Well, if there was a really strong hero on board to kill the dragon, that would be a different story." "Then let me be that hero!" the strong-looking man who'd been seen all through the episode volunteered. He stood in triumph near the doorway, and everyone stared at him. He and Gourry shared one of those flash-back-and-forth frames. The man blushed again and muttered, "You're very pretty." Gourry looked a little bit sick, sweatdropping. Back outside. The man followed a short distance behind the three "girls", and reviewed the introductions he'd supposedly been given. "So, starting with the youngest girl... they're Lulu, Lili, and Lala." Lina and Amelia muttered to each other about the names perhaps being too corny. "So, your name is Lala?" the man asked. Gourry turned around and tried acting feminine, speaking in a false falsetto: "Huh? Uh, yes! That's right!" He even let out a little giggle. However, he was thinking secretly that he would "get Lina for this". The guy finally introduced himself at this point as "the great Valun". "I'm sure you've heard of the great hero Valun," he stated, pointing to himself proudly. "Nope," Gourry replied rather abruptly, causing Valun to cringe slightly. Nevertheless, he went into his act, and, according to him, he'd slain countless dragons and monsters. He raised his sword up to the sky. "The name Valun which resounds to the heavens! Have you not heard of him?" The three travelers sort of had a discussion, in which they each stated they've never even heard in passing of this guy before. Valun appeared to try one last time. "You know how the Dark Lord Shabranigdo was reborn recently?" he whispered. Lina and Gourry cringed in surprise at this. Valun continued: "Well, the one who killed Shabranigdo happened to be me!" All three of them expressed open disbelief at this. This was getting to be too much for Lina. While Gourry and Amelia tried to restrain her furious antics to kill "the great hero Valun", Valun himself said something about how he was surprised that Shabranigdo was the monster he'd killed. Certainly sounded easy, and Lina certainly looked like she was going to cast a Dragon Slave if she was let go. Valun suddenly grasped Gourry's hands, causing Lina and Amelia to fall over. "In any case, for you Miss Lala, I shall defeat the sea dragon and see you all safely to Sanboa!" Gourry awkwardly muttered a thank you, and Valun then took off to arrange a ship right away. Gourry was clueless as to what Valun meant when he said, "for you, Miss Lala". Lina and Amelia were highly amused at this, and had to explain that Valun "had a little crush" on him. "Oh, I see," stated Gourry happily. A moment. Double-take time as Gourry realizes all of a sudden exactly what that meant, and this time he was the one that had to be restrained - from running away. "If Mr. Valun changes his mind, it'll ruin everything!" Amelia pressured Gourry. As Gourry screamed his protests, the two dragged him along after the direction Valun had went. The ship left the city, and Valun, at the front of the ship, ordered the sails to be raised. He claimed that there was no dragon he couldn't slay, and that he would kill the sea dragon with one blow. He laughed in a proud and arrogant manner. Lina and Amelia relaxed on top of folding chairs on the deck of the ship. "What are we going to do if the dragon really does show up, Miss Lina?" Amelia asked. It turned out Lina hadn't even thought about it, but her reassurance about not worrying about it satisfied Amelia's concerns. Suddenly, Gourry let out a yell and came running in their direction. The next moment, all three of them looked in awe at Gourry's pink room with flowers and presents. "This is the girliest-looking room I've ever seen," Lina stated bluntly, all of them sweatdropping. Gourry confirmed that it was indeed his room, in despair. Lina and Amelia soon got over their surprise, seeing another dress lying nearby, and asking Gourry to try it on, of which he was not amused at all. It turned out Valun had been watching all this, and he was seen in the doorway to the room carrying another stack of flowers and presents. "Oh, would you prefer something more boyish?" he asked, in an I-would-do-anything tone. Gourry jumped to his feet, not able to take it anymore. "That's not the problem! I'm a-" and was promptly cut off by Lina and Amelia, who jumped on top of him to shut him up. The next thing Gourry knew, he was having a "romantic" conversation with Valun on deck next to the sea. There was a huge sundae with two straws between them, but Valun appeared to be the only one paying it any mind. Lina and Amelia were hiding behind a barrel nearby. Gourry had a hurried conversation with them, in which two views were contrasted - Gourry's, being that since they were already on the ship, they could tell Valun that he was a man, and Lina's, being that they still had a long way to voyage, and that the pretense should be kept up. Ultimately, the decision was this - either Gourry continued his charade, or he would die. Gourry's extremely worried expression was cut off by Valun, who was worried that "Lala" wasn't drinking any of the sundae. "Please," he said, trying to get Gourry to drink some. "Uh, no, I'm..." Gourry began, sneaking another quick look at Lina to see the situation. The redheaded sorceress still had on a very fierce expression, causing a fresh worried expression on Gourry's face. Gourry dropped in a semi-slump in despair, once more. "W-What's wrong, Miss Lala?" Valun asked, worried. "Nothing. I just feel..." Gourry began. Valun immediately reacted to this. "Good grief! I'll get you to your cabin!" In a split second, the "mighty hero" had picked up Gourry and commenced rushing off to Gourry's room. He immediately brought him back though, when he heard Gourry's protests. "Oh, no. I was just feeling a little hot," Gourry reassured Valun in his feminine act, having no choice but to go along with it. "Staying out of my cabin makes me feel a lot better!" Valun agreed with Gourry's statement. "The touch of the wind feels so..." he began, as a breeze picked up. The wind caused Gourry's dress to blow up, and Valun then went into a panic, saying over and over that he didn't say anything while he cowered facing the other direction. Gourry sighed in exasperation. As suddenly as that had happened, Valun was back to normal, facing solemnly in Gourry's direction. He explained that he'd wanted to ask "Lala" something since they'd left the seaport. "Will you be my bride?!" he asked, dropping to his knees. This registered very badly with Gourry, who appeared to go into shock. Visions of marriage on the ship and the possible future showed, while Valun began to describe the future of their union. "You don't have to say yes now!" Valun put a reassuring hand on Gourry's shoulder. Gourry appeared to feel like he was going through some kind of terrible hell. "Give me your answer tomorrow!" Valun then left the table, retreating back to his cabin. He gave "Lala" a final lustful look before doing so, though, and Gourry looked absolutely horrified. Lina and Amelia came out in plain sight now. Of course, they didn't plan on siding with Gourry. Instead, through a conversation that got more and more bizarre to Gourry's ears, Lina and Amelia decided that in order to make sure that the boat didn't get turned around, they had to make this the "best wedding ever". "Gourry, wait! Don't be rash!" Lina warned, and Gourry is seen apparently going to throw himself over the side of the ship. "Leggo! I'll swim back if I have to!" Gourry yelled, as Lina and Amelia each grabbed one of his arms. "If you jump in there, the sea dragon'll eat you!" Lina replied. "I'd rather get eaten by a sea dragon than have to marry another guy!" Gourry swore. Right on cue, the lookout sighted a whirlpool appearing in the sea. The dragon was going to appear. Indeed, a huge dragon did raise itself out of the depths. "I wasn't trying to call it," muttered a sheepish Gourry. The white and purple dragon advanced on the ship, roaring. It knocked aside the main mast, scattering terrified crew. The sailors looked at the dragon in horrified wonder. The dragon, seeing this, started acting feminine. It picked up the whole group of crew in its long-nailed hands, flicking aside one member that it didn't like. "Weird dragon," Lina commented. "So you've appeared, sea dragon!" Valun was suddenly heard booming, catching the Slayers' attention. "Now I, the great hero Valun, shall show you my mighty heaven-sent power!" He caught Gourry's attention, trying to impress "her". He leapt into the air, and then managed to stab the dragon in the hands. The dragon paused, and then let out a roar, dropping the sailors from its clutches, and retreating back into the water. Valun landed back on deck, laughing. "I have slain the sea dragon! Did you see that, Miss Lala?" he called. The three companions gasped as they saw the dragon rise up again from the sea. "Behind you! Behind you!" Lina warned. Volun turned around, starting another hero speech, and promptly was defeated by the dragon's tail. Lina, Amelia, and Gourry could only sweatdrop as they saw how "great" a hero Valun really was. As the tail with the squashed Volun swung again, the whole ship was capsized, splitting in half. Everyone was sent flying, and while Lina and Amelia went upwards as a result of the force, Gourry plunged into the water. He swam frantically up to the surface, catching his breath. Lina flew down and picked him up, going alongside Amelia, who already had Volun. They'd apparently both instant-levitated. "Lina, that girly-looking dragon. It's a guy," Gourry stated. "What were you looking at?" Lina asked, sweatdropping. The four (with Volun seemingly half-conscious) continued flying away, with the sea dragon in hot pursuit. "Hey, Lina. Why couldn't we have flown to Sanboa in the first place?" Gourry asked. "Get real!" Lina replied. "Levitation takes a lot out of me!" Lina and Amelia were both getting really strained from carrying Gourry and Volun. Lina asked Amelia to drop Volun and help her to carry Gourry instead, but Amelia politely refused on account of that breaking the "Code of Justice". "Oh, you can be such a pain!" Lina protested, as the sea dragon continued to go after them with its body upright. The port city came into sight again. It seemed that going by ship had been a complete failure. However, Lina and Gourry were still on the wanted list, and the "normal civilians" they were disguised as would definitely attract attention. Amelia cast a Dark Mist spell, and hazy smoke covered the whole port. The citizens all covered their eyes, and Lina and Amelia were free to continue flying in retreat while carrying their "cargo". However, even a Dark Mist spell can't disguise a rampaging dragon, and the people began fleeing in terror. "Uh, Lina, I don't think we can just sit this one out," Gourry commented, noticing the screaming civilians. Lina agreed somewhat reluctantly, and Gourry immediately flung off his dress and disguise, now glad in only what looked like a pink miniskirt. Still, he laughed in triumph and happiness. "I'm free!" he shouted. "He just busted right out. That must've been really hard on him," Lina and Amelia commented. Gourry attacked the sea dragon with his sword, Lina fired Flare Arrows, and Amelia fired Elmekia Lance at it. Still, it had no effect. Instead, the thick-hided dragon began to pamper itself, applying make-up. "What the heck is with this thing?!" Lina asked. Gourry, however, appeared to have noticed something. "It's worth a try," he said to himself, and then asked Lina to get him up to the thing's face. Lina cast a Ray Wing, and then picked up Gourry, picking him up and then launching himself at the enemy. Gourry's sword got the dragon square in the face, and it roared with pain. The sword was stuck. Volun chose this crucial moment to regain consciousness, and he hadn't started his hero antics for more than five seconds before the dragon's giant powder-puff crushed him. The swordsman dropped to the ground, asking Lina to "zap the sword with a spell". Lina asked if he could be more specific, but Gourry simply replied, "any spell, as long as it requires zapping!" He frantically dodged the dragon's tail in the meantime. Lina seemed to think about this carefully while Gourry continued to dodge. Finally, she decided. Firing a powerful Digger Volt at the sword, the metal channeled the electricity, burning the dragon's face and breaking its teeth. Seeing its horrible condition, the dragon immediately retreated, crying. "It ran just because of that?" Lina asked. "Ha! Just as I thought!" Gourry replied triumphantly. Another ship went out, and the Slayers were on it. Gourry had just explained his plan. Since the dragon was so sensitive about its looks, he'd simply figured that zapping its face would sap its will to fight. Also, the dragon had apparently been gay. "Good call, Gourry! Takes one to know one!" Lina congratulated him happily. "I'm not gay!" Gourry replied, sweatdropping. The three suddenly wondered what had happened to Volun, but no one had seen him since the powder bag had crushed him. "Thank goodness! I guess we won't be seeing him again!" Gourry sighed in relief. Unfortunately for him, at this moment, on of the bags on the ship starting moving, and out popped Volun. Apparently he'd been loaded on board by mistake. "Miss Lala! Miss Lala-a-a!" the "hero" called with hopeful eyes. Gourry kicked Volun square in the face, telling him that he was a GUY. Volun was utterly bewildered, but then decided - "You look enough like Miss Lala that I don't care if you're a man!" Poor Gourry cringed in horror once more, and then ran for his life. "No, hold it! NO!!" While Gourry was hugging the ship's main mast and trying to hold Volun off, Lina commented that it looked like his problems on the ship wouldn't end. "Well, we're almost to Sairaag," she observed. "Still, who knows what else may happen." Zangulus and Vrumugun, meanwhile, were STILL waiting at the Mountains of Tears. "THEY'RE NOT COMING!" Zangulus screamed in frustration, realizing. "Just wait, Zangulus," Vrumugun said calmly, not giving up yet. "DAMN IT ALL!" Zangulus yelled, his voice ringing throughout the mountains. |
| Overall Episode: 17 |
| Episode 4 of Video 5 |
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