Kintara mumbled something incoherently into her pillow before screaming. She raised her head and looked up at her clock. “Crap!” she cried as she flipped over and sat up to face a young man with a flat top haircut, his hair a shade of blonde. He was dressed sort of like a general, with small violet studs set in his ears.
     “Who the hell are you?!” Kintara exclaimed, recoiling back until she was trapped against the headboard of her bed.
     “I am called Mordred, and I bring greetings from her royal majesty, Soi Lecithin,” the young man said. He pressed his palms together and spread his hands apart, a large sword forming out of his hands. He grasped this and held the blade towards the catgirl. “I also bring your destruction!”
     He raised the sword to strike, only to be interrupted by the door opening and Takana stepping in.
     “What the hell’s going on?!” Takana demanded when he saw Mordred in the room.
     “Kana, get the twins and get out of here!” Kintara shouted.
     “You go Tara,” Takana said, striking one of the poses for a martial arts technique, “I’ll hold him off.”
     Kintara didn’t argue, since she knew that Kana was at the same level as her in martial arts, and was 4th level black belt in a couple. She dashed past Mordred and Takana, nearly colliding with Taylor and Tanlynn in the hallway. She scooped the pair up and carried them down to the basement.
     “You guys stay here,” she instructed once they were safe, “I’ll be back in a little while.”
     “But Tara...” Tanlynn protested.
     “No buts Tanlynn,” she said in a stern voice. Her stern glare melted into a smile, and she hugged the two. “I’ll be back, I promise.”
     “Be safe Tara,” Taylor called after her.
     “I will,” she said, waving as she dashed up the stairs.
     Once in the kitchen she glanced about. Nobody in sight. “Albarsis, you’re going to explain everything when I get done with that Mordred guy,” she mumbled, hoisting her left hand skyward. She then brought the bracelet level with her eyes and willed her transformation into being. The jewel glowed as a wave of light engulfed her body and melted her clothes away.
     “Hey Kintara, I think I left...” Maho Kitokori said as she walked into the kitchen midway through Kintara’s transformation. She blinked a few times, summoning strength from some divine entity to keep from passing out.
     When Kintara finished her transformation she turned to Maho, who turned pale. “This may come as a shock,” she said, “but I’m Magical Savior Shihoko.”
     “Please tell me you’re just cosplaying,” Maho said in a shocked voice. Kintara shook her head for a negative response. “Bloody unbelievable! You’re... a magical heroine!”
     “Yeah, but I’ve got no time to chitchat,” Shihoko aid, “Takana’s in trouble.”
     As she dashed out of the kitchen Maho made a decision that would alter her life. She set her books on a nearby counter and dashed after Kintara.
     “Wait up!” she cried, reaching a hand out in hopes of catching at least a flailing elbow. A glow encompassed her wrist, forming a golden bracelet with a flame red jewel. “What’s this?” She asked, looking quizzically at her new fashion accessory.
     “Welcome aboard, Mystic Fighter Sakura,” Albarsis said as he blinked in, “You are the third of the chosen ones to be found.”
     Maho blinked a few times, then leaned against the wall for support. “I don’t believe this.”
     “You better believe it. And right now Shihoko needs your help.”
     She heard cries from Kintara’s bedroom, and a few loud crashes. A moment later Shihoko and Takana crashed through the wall into the hallway, Mordred following behind them.
     “Maho, get the twins and go,” Shihoko cried as Mordred grabbed her by the throat and lifted her into the air. “Take... take them... to your... house,” she croaked as her air pipe was constricted by Mordred’s powerful hand.
     “I’m here for you Tara,” Maho said, raising her hand to the sky. The jewel in her bracelet glowed, a circle of flames swirling up around her. The flames shrank inward over her body, forming a white battle dress with golden trim, flame red carapace armor for her shoulders and upper body, tan knee night boots with armored shins in red and gold. Around her forearms formed armor of red and gold, a second bracelet forming on her other wrist. A circlet of gold formed around her head, a flame red jewel forming in the center. She held her hands above her head, the palms to the sky, and willed the flames to concentrate there and form a weapon for her. A large hammer with flame red jewels in the head formed in her hands, and this she spun around like a baton before bringing it to rest pointed at Mordred.
     “O.K. you evil creep, leave my friend ALONE!” Sakura said in a low growl. “Brought forth by the flames of justice, a warrior who fights for beauty, Mystic Fighter Sakura!”
     “Maho... don’t anger... him,” Shihoko croaked as Mordred’s fingers dug deeper into her throat, making talking and breathing even more difficult.
     Sakura swung her hammer, smashing it into Mordred’s back. There was a loud CRASH as she was thrown through the wall behind her, which she obviously wasn’t expecting since she stumbled backwards before crashing through the wall, a look of surprise glazed across her face.
     “Foolish mortal, do you think your puny weapon can hurt me?” Mordred hissed, an evil grin crossing his lips.
     “Maho!” Takana cried as he began to dig through the rubble. A cold hand clamped onto the back of his neck, lifting him from his feet. He whimpered, since he knew that Mordred would snuff out his life as soon as he was done with Shihoko.
     Sakura, who was buried under part of the wall, crossed her arms in front of her body, the gems in her bracers making contact. A bubble of flame formed around her body, pushing the debris aside. She struggled to her feet, leaning on her hammer for support, and faced Mordred, who was a little occupied with killing the two Shikoba children.
     “Prepare for a world class butt kicking,” Sakura said, her armor glowing. She held her hammer above her head, the gems glowing, the head bursting into flames. She dove at Mordred and swung, striking him full force in the chest. Mordred released Shihoko and Takana before crashing through one wall, then through another wall, and finally into the ground two stories down outside.
     “Woah, remind me to stay on your good side,” Shihoko rasped as Sakura helped her to her feet.
     “Don’t think that Mordred is out of the running just yet,” Albarsis said, fluttering nearby, “he’s one of Soi’s warlords of darkness, and it’s gonna take more than just a little power punch or hammer smack to keep him down.”
     “I think he’ll have one hell of a headache after that hammer strike,” Sakura said, brushing a couple of strands of hair from her face. “I put my all into that attack.”
     “Will someone please explain what’s going on?” Takana asked as he picked himself up from the floor. He looked from Shihoko to Albarsis, then from Albarsis to Sakura, then back to Shihoko, hoping someone would answer him.
     “Later,” Shihoko said, dashing past him with Sakura and Albarsis in tow, “gotta check to see if the warlord is still up and kicking.”
     “How will I explain this damage to mom & dad?!” he called after them. His cries were met by silence and an awkward breeze blowing through the broken walls. “Oh man, I’m gonna be in big trouble.”

     Outside of the Shikoba residence Shihoko skidded to a halt where Mordred should have been, only to find a smoking impact crater with no sign of the evil warlord. Sakura stopped a short distance away, puzzled as to where the warlord could have gone.
     “We know he didn’t vanish into thin air,” Shihoko said in an attempt to remain calm, “Oh hell. The house is a mess and he knows where I live. He could kill me in my sleep if he really wanted to and nobody would know it.”
     “You could always spend the night at my house,” Sakura suggested, her transformation glowing before vanishing, leaving Maho standing there. “As for the damage to the house, tell your folks that some psycho broke in and attacked you and Takana, but you managed to fight him off. I mean, it’s close to the truth, isn’t it?”
     “You think that’ll work?” Shihoko asked, her transformation reversing as well.
     “Hell yeah. And that’ll give your folks more of a reason to have you sleep over. I mean, your wall got trashed, the bathroom wall got trashed, the outside wall got trashed. It’s gonna be a few days before it’ll be fixed, and my house is a safe place for us both.”
     Kintara hugged Maho. “You’re a genius! We can call Xander from your place and update him and plan on how to kick Mordred’s sorry butt into another time zone.”
     “Woah, hold the phone and calm down,” Maho said, taking Kintara by the shoulders and looking into her eyes. “First we need to explain things to your parents and family. Then we go from there. One step at a time.”
     “All right,” Kintara nodded, “one step at a time.”

     The dark realm again. Queen Soi sat on her throne, cursing Mordred’s stupidity, which she had seen in her viewing crystal. The entirety of her court could tell that she was unimpressed by the latest performance, and remained quite silent as she ranted and raved.
     “Mordred, I want a report NOW!” she demanded. A solid shadow formed in the middle of the room, and this disintegrated to reveal Mordred. He bowed before Soi, who glared and threw one of her 5” pumps at his head. “You IDIOT! Incompetent! MORON!!”
     “Your majesty, please,” Mordred protested, ducking as several larger objects sailed over his head. “I have everything under control.”
     “There are now THREE of those mystical heroes to deal with! How is everything under control when you allowed a third one to be awakened?!”
     “It’s all part of my... my master plan,” Mordred said when he felt his body rising from the ground. “Please highness, give me another chance to eliminate not just Shihoko, but Sakura and Zandarius as well.”
     “Fine. But if you fail me again I’ll be forced to turn this operation over to someone more... skilled... to complete the job.”
     Mordred bowed, which was a feat in itself since he was still hovering a short distance from the floor. “You won’t be disappointed, my queen.”

     At the Kitokori residence Maho and Kintara were beginning their little slumber party. They had the snacks. They had the make-up. They had the unsuspecting dragon victim. They also had the game plan.
     “Will you two *please* stop trying to give me a make over?!” Albarsis protested as Maho and Kintara advanced upon him with assorted eyeliners, lipstick, and other horrors of modern fashion.
     “Not until you surrender to us and our feminine charms,” Kintara said, grinning evilly.
     “Not to mention our visual psychological tactics,” Maho added, giggling incessantly and somewhat evilly.
     “What *are* visual psychological tactics anyway?” Albarsis asked, floating up near the ceiling, where he was finally out of their reach.
     “Our sex appeal, of course!” the two girls chimed in unison. Albarsis lost a couple feet of altitude when he fell over, embarrassed by what he had just heard.
     “Gotcha,” Kintara said triumphantly, snagging the dragon by the tail and pulling him down to the bed. She took a tube of violently violet lipstick and opened it to put on Albarsis. “Now pucker up so that we can do this right.”
     “One, dragons don’t have lips,” Albarsis protested, squirming to get away from the two and a fate worse than death. “And two, I have something that’ll be way more amusing than putting make up on me.”
     “What could possibly be more fun than making you beautiful?” Maho asked, unscrewing the top of a bottle of mascara.
     Albarsis closed his eyes, his wings glowing for a moment before a pair of what looked like wristwatches appeared out of thin air and floated above the dragon. Both looked remarkably like the bracelets that the two magical heroines wore for their transformations.
     “What are they?” Kintara asked, plucking the one with a white crystal out of the air. She turned it over in her hands a few times before shaking it.
     “Two way communicators,” Albarsis replied proudly. “I gave one to Xander earlier today, before all of the unpleasantness of this evening.”
     “So we can call Xander and he can call us?” Maho asked, taking the one with the flame red jewel for herself.
     “Yup. That you can.”
     The two girls looked at each other before deciding to give the communicators their inaugural run. They clicked them open and activated them. A moment later they heard a click, some grumbling, and Xander’s voice asking, “Do you have *any* idea what time it is?!”
     “Good evening to you too Xander,” Kintara giggled. A sigh issued from the other end. “Did we wake you?”
     “Not really. I was only having the *best* dream of my life. But I guess world peace can wait for your completely asinine call at the god awful hour.”
     “Well, we have some important data to pass onto you,” Maho said, “Kintara will fill you in for the most part, and I’ll fill in the gaps.”
     And thus they explained everything to Xander; All about Mordred’s arrival, Maho seeing Kintara become Shihoko, Maho becoming Sakura, and Mordred’s escape. They talked late into the night, when Maho fell asleep in mid sentence and Albarsis fell asleep in mid air.

     “Good morning class,” Miss Rei was saying in her usually cheerful manner as Maho and Kintara made their entrance. She looked at the two tardy girls and sighed. “You two are usually right on time. What happened?”
     “We ran into a bit of trouble,” Kintara replied sheepishly, setting Maho in her seat, “Maho here sort of, well, began spacing it.”
     “Looks more like she was scared stiff,” Tsukiri said, waving his hand in front of Maho’s face. “No reactionary response.”
     “Well, Miss Shikoba, if you will please take your seat, I’d like to introduce our new student.”
     Kintara took her seat as a young man with shoulder length blue hair entered. He wore glasses, and behind the lenses she could see that his eyes were silver and flecked with violet. He wore the standard white shirt and blue slacks of the school, and a voice in her head said, “Woah, what a hottie.”
     “Class, this is Masamichi Volfield, and he’s transferred here to us from Paris, France.”
     Masamichi bowed to Miss Rei, then to the class. “Hello everyone. Please, call me Maxamillion.”
     Several girls around Kintara began to whisper rapidly about the new boy. Kintara found herself staring at him, and quickly averted her gaze when his eyes met hers.
     “Where shall we put you?” Miss Rei asked as she looked around the classroom. She spotted the empty seat behind Kintara and said, “Ah, yes. You can have the seat behind Miss Shikoba.”
     Kintara felt her heart beat faster and louder as Maxamillion walked towards her. He smiled and nodded to her as he passed, and the catgirl blushed crimson.
     “OK. Today’s first order of business will be calling roll,” Miss Rei was saying as Kintara felt the hair on the back of her neck prickle. Something, or someone, was sending out great amounts of energy, and they were close. How close that something was she couldn’t gauge at that moment, or her brain refused to gauge it since she was still thinking of Maxamillion.
     ‘Kintara, do you sense it?’ Albarsis’ voice asked in her head.
     ‘Yes, I sense it. What is it?’ she sent back.
     ‘Not sure. Could be another magical one, but I’m not sure how many of you there should be.’
     ‘Some magical guardian...’
     ‘Gimme a break, will ya?! I still have yet to regain all of my memories. At the moment I’m still winging it!’
     The last part made her head hurt, and she slouched down in her chair. She hadn’t meant to be so mean to Albarsis, but it just sort of came out wrong. She didn’t know that he was about in the dark as the rest of them were. This was his second day on the job, after all. Would today be like yesterday?
     “Miss Sherina is out sick today, and for the rest of the week and maybe next week, I’m afraid,” Miss Rei was saying, snapping her out of thought as the class cheered. “However, we have a substitute for you until she recovers. Please come in, Miss Jikanisa.”
     A tall woman with waist length red hair strode into the room. Kintara noticed how lovely she was, as did much of the class. The woman bowed, some of her hair falling forward into her face.
     “Good morning class,” she said cheerfully with a voice that was between perky, energetic, warm, and sugary sweet. “I’ll be teaching you geometry for the next week or so while Miss Sherina recovers from a very bad illness.”
     She opened her eyes and smiled even wider, and the room was suddenly filled with loud sighs from many of the male class members. Kintara noted the teacher’s emerald green eyes and found herself sighing a little as well.
     “Can someone please tell me where you left off yesterday?” Miss Jikanisa asked. Several hands shot into the air, and she checked the roll to get names. “Yes, Miss Fujikora.”
     Reiko stood and bowed to the teacher. “We were studying the bisection of angles and how to figure the equation to go with the answer and the answer to go with the equation.”
     Half of the class looked lost after that, including Reiko herself, who gave an embarrassed whimper and sat down.
     Maho stood up and added, “Please excuse my friend here. What she meant to say, and had the general gist of, was that we were calculating the bisection of right angles up to the power of five. I even have some examples written in my notebook that we did in class yesterday.”
     “Thank you Miss Kitokori,” Miss Jikanisa said, “Please, approach the board and show me how it’s done, and maybe we can work out some more, since I really can’t read Miss Sherina’s notes or lesson plan very well.”
     Maho blushed, picked up her notebook, and approached the board to write the problems up. The day was going well thus far, even including the mad dash to school, and if trends continued, Kintara decided, then the day would be wonderful.

     Lunch couldn’t have come soon enough. The moment the bell rang Kintara and Maho dragged Reiko and Tsukiri out to their usual spot, where they both plunked down and began to devour anything and everything in sight.
     “Are you guys feeling all right?” Reiko asked, arching an eyebrow at how the two were making a lot of noise while eating.
     “Never... better,” Maho replied while stuffing a sweet bun into her mouth. “Why do you... mmpf... ask?”
     “You both seem to be eating faster than usual, and more than normal,” Tsukiri said, blinking as Kintara helped herself to some of his sushi. He pulled a fan out of thin air and brought it down on Tara’s head a moment later. “Do you mind?! I’d at least like to enjoy some of my Tekka Maki and California Rolls before you polish them off!”
     “Well, I’m *starving*,” Tara protested, rubbing her forehead, which had a nice red fan print. “Geeze, you could be nice and share with us, since your sushi is so good.”
     “Did you guys hear about Magical Savior Shihoko?” Reiko asked. Maho and Kintara stopped eating abruptly.
     “How much do you know?” Maho asked, nearly dropping what she was eating.
     “I heard it on the radio this morning before going for my power job. I think it’s cool that we have our own magical heroine in town. Sort of like Sailor Moon or Sailor V,” Reiko replied, eating a spoonful of peach yogurt.
     Maho and Kintara giggled before a familiar voice asked, “Mind if I join you?”
     Maho turned to see who had spoken, and upon seeing who it was, went goggle eyed, blushed, and began to speak in tongues. Kintara turned, looked, then looked up to see Masamichi Volfield standing behind her. He smiled and waved. “Hello.”
     “Masamichi, pull up some turf and join us,” Tsukiri said, earning dark glances from Kintara, Maho, and Reiko. “What?”
     “Thanks,” Masamichi said, dropping to his knees and moving into the space that Tsukiri and Reiko made for him. “And could you please call me Maxamillion. Or just Max, to make things easier.”
     “Sure thing,” Maho purred, going starry eyed. Tsukiri and Reiko sighed, since that look usually ended with someone dragging someone else home.
     “I’m Tsukiri,” Tsukiri continued, “But you can call me ‘Kiri. The catgirl is Kintara, or as we call her, Tara. Then there’s Reiko, who wails at field hockey and heats up the floor for gymnastics and cheer leading. And Maho, who’s one of our top students.”
     “It’s a pleasure to meet all of you,” Max smiled, opening his lunch bag.
     “So, what did you bring for lunch today?” Reiko asked, blushing slightly.
     “Why do you ask?”
     Reiko went a deeper shade of red from embarrassment and began to chew on her napkin. Kintara covered for her and replied, “It’s something we do. Sort of an ‘In’ crowd thing. Sometimes we share our lunches, or we trade.”
     “And today we’re doing a lot of sharing,” Tsukiri sighed, nibbling on the remains of his sushi.
     “Well, I have fresh fruit salad, a nice green salad with cheese and bleu cheese dressing, some French bread, and a good old fashioned American cheeseburger with bacon and American cheese.”
     “Sounds delicious,” a voice said from behind the group as the usual large shadow fell over them. “You dorks know the drill, or should know it by now.”
     Kintara rose from where she sat and cracked her knuckles. As she turned around she said, “Listen Marge, no offense, but didn’t the pounding you got yesterday smarten you up in the least?”
     Kintara found herself facing Large Marge yet again, and she had a couple of her friends with her. One was a tall, lanky girl with a weasel face and greasy black hair that hung limply to her shoulders. The other was short and plump, with a pimply complexion and severe breathing problems. Her curly blond hair was dirty, matted, and pulled back from her face with a greasy green floral scarf.
     “Joyous, she brought the doom squad today,” Reiko sighed when she saw Marge’s companions.
     “Weaselenda and the Zit,” Maho sighed. The two girls behind Marge shouted, “That’s Whitley and Zelda!!”
     “Whatever,” Tara growled, “looks like I’m going to have to pound all three of you into the ground today to get my point across that we don’t like being bullied at lunch!”
     The three girls took on ready positions for different martial arts, and Kintara followed suit, executing the famous Crouching Tiger position. She was about to launch her attack when Max rose, ran his hand through his hair, took his glasses off, and smiled at the girls.
     “Why don’t you girls go and get something from the cafe? Put it on my tab. The name is Maxamillion,” he said, bish bubbles floating up around him. Marge, Whitley, and Zelda blinked for a moment before giggling, blushing, and bouncing off for the school cafeteria. At one point they stopped, did a little dance, sang a little song, and resumed their run.
     Max sat back down and resumed munching his cheese burger as Tara face faulted, her blouse slipping off of her shoulder. She looked at the retreating forms, then at Max, then at the girls again, then at Max again. She decided it was futile to figure it out at that moment and took up her usual seat.
     “Fruit salad?” Max offered. Tara poked a couple of pieces onto her fork and chewed on them thoughtfully. The peach was sweet and juicy. The pineapple oozed down her throat. The strawberry made her taste buds get up and dance for joy. There was a party going on in her mouth, and she was in heaven, pure and simple. Life, she decided at that moment, was good.

     The last bit of the day sailed by, and Kintara was none too happy to get out of the school and head for work, which was the lesser of the two evils. The minute she was off of school grounds, though, she was jumped by Marge, Zelda, and Whitley and dragged into an alley.
     “O.K. Shikoba,” Marge growled as Zelda and Whitley grabbed her by the arms and pressed her to the wall, “I’m going to enjoy pounding the snot out of you for embarrassing me yesterday.”
     “Oh, grow up,” Kintara snarled, her hackles rising, “I don’t have time for your childish B.S. I have a job that I need to get to.”
     “You’re going to take your punishment first, here, and now,” Marge growled back before punching Kintara in the stomach. Tara’s vision blanked for a few seconds, and she had recovered by the time Marge’s fist was about to connect with her face.
     Several more blows fell before the catgirl’s instincts took over. She let out an ear splitting yowl, broke away from the two who held her captive, flipped over Marge, grabbed the larger girl’s arm that was raised to strike, and used her momentum to lift her tormentor into the air and smash her into the pavement. Dust rose from the impact crater, and Marge gasped loudly to reinflate her lungs.
     “She... she whacked the boss,” Whitley gasped, growing quite pale.
     “You have to the count of three to leave my sight before I take out the remains of my temper and aggression on you,” Kintara hissed, flicking her fingers so that her nails grew into 7” claws, her eyes beginning to glow blood red. “One...”
     She didn’t even reach “two” before twin dust trails were left in the wake of the two fleeing girls. She brushed a couple strands of hair from her face, her claws retracting, before she looked down at Marge, who was blinking in an attempt to get her eyes to refocus.
     “Are you going to pick on my friends or myself ever again?” she asked, her eyes still glowing. Marge shook her head weakly for a negative response. “Very good. You have learned what happens to those who irritate she who shreds with great frequency.”
     Marge watched in fear as the catgirl leaned over to pick up her school bag, adjust her skirt and blouse, and walk out of the alley. What she didn’t see was Tara leaning against the wall on by the street and retch up her lunch.

     Thirty five minutes later Tara stepped through the exit doors near the time clock at the store. She felt like death warmed over, and she really looked the part at that moment. Meeting her at the clock were Tomiko and Tokiko, the two people she really did *not* want to speak with when her head hurt, her stomach was empty, and her mouth tasted like something died in it.
     “Hey Tara...” Tomiko began, smiling.
     Tokiko was smiling as well, but when she saw how the catgirl looked the smile changed to a look of concern. “You don’t...” she added.
     “Look so good.” they finished in unison.
     “Do you guys  talk like that all the time?” Tara asked, rubbing her temples in hopes of alleviating some of the tension. It didn’t help in releasing the tension, but helped in making the throbbing in her head even worse.
     “What do...”
     “You mean?”
     “The whole tag - team sentence thing.”
     Tomiko and Tokiko looked at each other and shrugged.
     “Does it...”
     “Get on...”
     “Your nerves?”
     Kintara nodded profusely.
     “Sorry...”
     “Tara.”
     Tara sighed and rubbed her temples again. “I didn’t mean to rag on you about that,” she said after a minute. “I... I had a lousy day and I don’t feel so hot right now.”
     “We’ll cover so that...”
     “You can take a rest.”
     Tara smiled weakly. “You guys rock,” she said, hugging them before making her way out to the break room. Without looking to see who else was there she pulled out a seat, sat down, and slumped onto the table face first. Something was set in front of her, and she looked up to find a can of fruit punch sitting there.
     “You look like you need that more than I do,” a voice said from the other end of the table. She looked past the can of punch to see Xander sitting at the table, his notebook open, an uncapped pen marking his place. “Tough day?”
     “You don’t know the half of it,” she sighed, “Marge got me after school today and I went postal.”
     “I thought she’d learn after messing with you yesterday,” Xander said as he closed his notebook. “I mean, I feel for her if she got on your bad side, but man Tara, do you think she’ll ever learn.”
     “No, she didn’t learn after yesterday. But she should still be digging her way out of the pavement as we speak. Hopefully her little dirt nap gave her time to think about messing with me.”
     “I really feel for her,” Xander said as he looked at his watch. He face faulted before sighing. “Great, I’m five minutes late coming back from lunch. The boss is going to have my head.”
     “Don’t worry,” Tara giggled, “it’s not that busy right now. I mean, they have ‘Miko and ‘Kiko working at the same time. And if he gives you any bull, let me know. I’ll... talk... to him.”
     Xander made some comment about the wonder twins before leaving the break room. Tara sighed, popped the can of punch open, took a couple of long sips of the sweet liquid inside, leaned back, and fell asleep.
     She was awakened a short time later by something beeping. She half opened her eyes, looked around for her alarm clock, and upon not finding it, closed her eyes again. A split second later her eyes shot open, since she realized it was her new communicator going off.
     “I’m here,” she said as she clicked the jewel open, “What’s the situation?”
     “About time you answered,” Maho’s voice said, sounding a bit distorted through the radio, “There’s a Meta class bogy sitting outside the store, and we need Shihoko’s help ‘cause it’s a fighter!”
     “I’ll be right there!”
     She was saying the last part of her reply as she dashed out of the break room. She heard customers talking about monster attacks and glanced out the windows of the small greenhouse by the produce department to see a large creature composed of living flame performing a dance of doom in the parking lot.
     “My day keeps getting better by the moment,” she said under her breath before kicking an emergency exit open and stepping out into the parking lot. Sakura and Zandarius had already engaged the monster in combat, and both were keeping their distance.
     “Here goes nothing,” she said, holding her power up bracelet aloft. The gem in her bracelet glowed, a second bracelet forming around her other wrist as she crossed her arms in front of her face. A wave of light washed over her body, her clothes melting away, leaving her naked for a brief moment before a skintight body suit of gold with black and silver trim formed. Bubbles of light touched other parts of her body, forming silvery white shoulder armor feminine chest armor, and hip armor with golden trim. Golden knee high boots with silver shin guards formed, and a silver crown with a light blue visor formed over her eyes. Around her wrists formed a set of claws, and these glowed with ethereal fire for a brief moment, completing her transformation.
     “Magical Savior Shihoko makes the scene!” she called as she dashed over to where her friends were engaged in combat.
     “Be careful Shihoko!” Sakura cried as she dodged streams of fire from the monster. “We can’t get close enough to strike!”
     “Then I’ll give it a shot,” Shihoko grinned, her gloves and boots glowing with untold power. She leapt forward, spinning her body about as her gloves and boots burst into flame. “Crystal Fire!”
     Her spin kick collided with the monster, and she felt a sudden blast of skin searing heat. A moment later she was sent sailing a short distance away before landing on all fours in a crouch, the soles of her boots smoking and searing.
     “You ain’t the brightest star in the heavens, are you, little one?” the monster growled, sending a jet of searing flame in Shihoko’s general direction. The catgirl flipped clear of the blast site, cart wheeling towards her friends.
     “This is bloody wonderful,” she sighed as she came up on her feet, “how are we supposed to fight something we can’t touch?”
     “Ranged attacks,” Albarsis replied, appearing near the three armored super heroes.
     “In plain language,” Zandarius said, flipping backward as a jet of flame struck where they’d been standing seconds earlier.
     “Aura Cannon, More and More, and whatever Sakura has for attacks,” the dragonet said as he back winged to avoid being seared to a crisp.
     “You mean beam attacks,” Shihoko said as they regrouped.
     “To put it bluntly, yes.”
     “We need to get away from this area first,” Sakura said, pointing to the supermarket and surrounding stores. “There are too many innocents who could get hurt if we fight here.”
     “How do we get him away from here? Ask him to follow us?” Zandarius asked sarcastically, “He’s about a bajillion times stronger than that thing we fragged yesterday.”
     “Will you act like a man?!” Sakura grumbled, “Don’t give up before the fight begins. Look at us!” she waved her hand at Shihoko and herself, “We’re dainty little girls and we’re still fighting!”
     “Umm... Sakura, I’m not all that dainty,” Shihoko said, a sweat drop forming on her head.
     The monster chose that moment to immolate some of the cars in the parking lot, turning the already sweltering area into a sea of flames. People inside the stores all backed away from the windows as the flames threatened their collective well being. Sprinklers inside the buildings began to activate from the heat, but that offered no comfort since the fire was more powerful than the water.
     “Now I’m getting angry,” Zandarius growled, holding his hand over the gem in his bracer. A ray of black violet light shot into his hand, and he drew this back, a large sword forming and ready for combat. He charged at the monster, the image of a dark dragon appearing over his body. He leapt skyward as the dragon image reared its head back, and he swung the now glowing sword, the dragon appearing to belch a blade of darkness. “Dragon Rage!”
     The initial blade struck the flame monster, knocking it back a little before several smaller blades struck, sending it off balance and towards the busy street.
     “Oh hell,” Zandarius growled as he blinked back in behind the other two, “That wasn’t supposed to happen like that.”
     “My turn,” Sakura said, stepping forward. She held her hammer in front of her body, the gems set into the head glowing a blinding red. She then spun her hammer and smashed it into the ground to her left. She then spun it and smashed it into the ground to her right. She then brought the hammer up above her head and spun it before smashing it into the ground in front of her.
     The three strike points glowed as she cried, “Magma Hammer!” Six glowing points formed around the monster before geysers of lava erupted from the points. The two geysers behind the monster pushed it forward, keeping it balanced as the six geysers came together above the monster and crashed down upon it. The magma hardened a moment later, sealing the monster inside.
     “Nice attack,” Shihoko said, her gloves glowing for the finishing touch.
     “Remind me to give all of you a lecture on collateral damage later,” Albarsis scolded.
     “Later,” Shihoko said before dashing at the mound of hardened lava. The glow around her gloves increased exponentially as she vaulted skyward and brought her hands up behind her head. She was ready to invoke the Aura Cannon attack when the magma dome shattered, the shockwave throwing her backwards towards her friends. As she crashed down and bounced a couple of times she wondered, ‘Why me?’
     “Shihoko!” Zandarius cried.
     “Shihoko!!” Sakura cried, her voice louder than Zandarius’.
     “Magical Savior Shihoko, get up!” Albarsis shouted.
     Shihoko slowly pulled herself to her feet. Her mind was hazy from the impact, and her vision was badly blurred. She knew what she had to do, and that was defeat the large creature that threatened all that she held dear.
     “Crystal...” she said weakly, a circle of silvery white runes forming around her feet. She couldn’t see it, but one formed around the monster, and another around her friends. “Crystal Teleport!” she cried, activating a power she didn’t know she had, let alone know how to control.
     There were three blinding flashes of light as the five were teleported away from the parking lot and the city. People blinked in awe, since the armor clad catgirl, elf, human, and large pyrokinetic monster were three one second and gone the next.
     “Mommy, what happened?” a little girl next to Tomiko asked. “Where did those people go?”
     “I’m not sure dear,” the girl’s mother replied, “I’m really not sure.”
     “They’ll whomp that monster good,” Tomiko said, crouching next to the girl, “They’ll be back once they do. I’m sure they went to a place far from here so that none of us would get hurt.”
     “Will they really? Did they really?” the girl asked, blinking big blue eyes at Tomiko.
     “Yes, really, on both counts,” Tokiko added, crouching next to her sister. “If we believe in them then they’ll triumph and come back safely.”

     Outside the city by several miles was a nice little place where the modern world was left behind and people would go to get away from it all. Enjoying the ‘get away from it all’ aspect and lifestyle at that moment was one Tsukiri Hirosaki. His motorcycle was parked a short distance from where he lay under a large tree. His sunglasses were resting atop his head, and he snored lightly as he napped the afternoon away.
     As he was enjoying a quiet and peaceful dream of being on a beach surrounded by gorgeous women in swimsuits of all colors and styles five people were belched out of time - space, all crashing down near him, waking him out of his dream.
     “Prepare to get an ass kicking!” Zandarius shouted, a globe of darkness forming in his hand. He held this level with his eyes and shouted, “Dark Light!” A wave of darkness screamed from the globe, striking the flame monster and knocking it back a couple of inches.
     “He’s just too strong for us right now!” Sakura cried as she dodged incoming fireballs. “We don’t have enough experience! I want to level up first!!”
     Tsukiri looked from behind the tree and watched the three armor clad heroes attack the monster with little in the way of results. Deep down in his heart he wished he could do something to help. A glow of ice blue surrounded his right wrist, forming a bracer of silver with a large blue jewel set into it.
     ‘Welcome aboard, Magical Warrior Genrou,’ a voice said in his mind, ‘You know what to do, right?’
     “I was born ready,” he said under his breath as he brought his right wrist level with his eyes. The gem in the bracer glowed as a second bracer formed around his left wrist. He crouched down and punched the ground, a wall of water rising up around him. His body inside the water column was visible for a few moments before a glaive emerged from the stop of the column, cleaving downward and splitting the waterspout. Tsukiri, or to be more precise, Magical Warrior Genrou, stood with his glaive resting over his shoulders, a wave of water rising up behind him.
     The sunlight glistened off of sapphire blue chest, shoulder, and hip armor. Along with the armor he wore blue - black pants, black boots, and a black under tunic with gold and blue trim. Silver armor decorated his shins, and a silver crown with an ice blue visor also glittered. He unshouldered his glaive and spoke an introduction.
     “Raging like the waters of the planet, a soldier of the tides, Magical Warrior Genrou!”
     The monster turned from the three it had been fighting for an extended period of time to the newcomer, who leaned non chalantly against his weapon. “So... somebody new to play with. Bring it on, big boy. That is, if you’ve got it.”
     Genrou simply brushed his fingers through the air in front of him, ripples of blue forming. He brought his hand up over his head, the palm tilted to the sky, a globe of blue forming. He cried, “Aqua Rake!” and brought the globe down to face the monster. The air around the monster was suddenly filled with bubbles and a wave of water that severely weakened it.
     “You’ll die for that one!” the monster growled, hurling stream after stream of fire at Genrou, who dodged and ducked like a trained professional. For somebody whose life was in peril, Genrou seemed to be enjoying himself, and his laughter could be heard as he blocked a couple of fire streams with his glaive.
     “Lay off you creep!” Zandarius cried, hurling energy shock waves at the monster to distract it from Genrou.
     As the monster turned to finish off the magical healer that was beginning to annoy it on a royal level, Genrou raked his fingers through the air again, bringing his palm up to face the monster. “Frozen Wind!” he cried, a powerful blast of arctic wind coming from his hand to envelop the flame monster, freezing it solid instantly.
     “And now for the finisher,” Shihoko grinned, charging energy into her gloves. She braced her right hand around her left wrist, her left glove and both bracelets glowing. A globe of energy formed around her hands, growing to the size of a beach ball. At this point she released her hand and brought it down to hip level. Almost as if she were to bowl the ball she pitched her hand forward and cried, “Obliteration Blast!”, the globe releasing and exploding into a large wave of pure energy that struck the frozen monster and vaporized it instantly. The landscape around them enjoyed a bit of rearrangement from the resulting explosion, which blotted out heaven and earth with its brilliance.

     “Damn!”
     Mordred watched his monster get its butt royally kicked by nor one, not two, not three, but four magical heroes, Genrou being the latest addition to the bunch. It would have been all right had he enjoyed this defeat in the privacy of his chambers, but he was watching with Queen Soi and the rest of the royal court. Loud chuckling, laughter, and chatter filled the room, making him feel even worse about the defeat and what it meant.
     “Mordred!!” Soi’s voice bellowed, “You have failed me again, and now there are *FOUR* of them!”
     “Please forgive me, my queen!” Mordred said, falling to his hands and knees to beg forgiveness. “Please majesty, spare me your wrath.”
     Soi glared at him for a moment, then sat back on her throne. “I’m side lining you,” she said, “as of this moment you are confined to quarters and Yuiren will be taking over the mission.”
     A spine chilling laugh filled the air as a woman with long, pale blue hair, dressed in silver and blue robes, appeared in a shower of flower petals. “You called, my queen,” she asked, descending to the floor to bow before Soi. She looked up at the queen with icy blue eyes, then glanced over at Mordred and winked. Mordred muttered something under his breath about Yuiren and a pack of wild buffalo.
     “Yuiren, can you destroy those pests that have popped up?” Queen Soi asked, looking down at Yuiren.
     “Of course, my queen,” Yuiren replied coldly, “It would be my pleasure.”

     “Cheer leading, fun, and more mayhem are in store for the magical heroes in the next episode of Magical Savior Shihoko. First, Reiko announces the upcoming cheer leading tournament. Then, in the middle of the performance, Yuiren crashes the party and wrecks the place. The magical heroes make the scene, only to get caught up by Yuiren’s own gymnastics and cheering squad. Who can save them? You’ll be surprised in the next exciting episode Cheering Squad Dropout. Give it up party people ‘cause Shihoko’s in the house!”

-In Production Now