“R-O-W-D-I-E. That’s the way we spell Rowdy. Rowdy. Let’s get rowdy. WOOO!”
     Reiko Fujikora and the other members of the East Kyoto High School cheering squad were in training for the all city cheering competition that was coming up in a few days. Their cheers rocked; their uniforms were styling; they had the attitude and the energy to bring home the gold.
     “That looked splendid,” Rika Tenou, the cheering captain, said, applauding. “All that hard work is really going to pay off.”
     “I’ll say it is,” Tsukiri said. He was sitting in the stands with Kintara, Maho, Takana, and Xander. All were in street clothes instead of school clothes, since it was Saturday afternoon.
     “They’re going to take top prize with no problems,” Xander said, leaning back so that his head was between Takana’s feet, “Isn’t that right ‘Kana?”
     “Yeah, they’re good,” Takana replied, only half paying attention.
     Kintara noticed how her brother was acting and glomped him. “OK big bro., it’s time to spill your secret.”
     “Yeah,” Xander said, pinching Takana’s knee, “either dish the dirt or face tickle torment.”
     Takana sighed and rubbed his temples. “I heard some of the girls from a rival school talking about how they’ll win, even if they have to sabotage the other teams to do so.”
     “Wow,” Tsukiri whistled, “sounds like tough competition.”
     “Our team will still win,” Tara said, watching as the cheering squad lined up for one of their dance numbers. “The competition may be bad, but our girls are good. They’ll triumph.”

     “I wanna be bad! You make bad look so good. I’m losing all my cool. I’m about to break the rules.”
     Yuiren danced around her room, her mirror showing scenes of the cheerleaders dancing, as well as playing the music for the routine. Her hair was pulled up in large pigtails, and she wore a cheer leading uniform of blue with silver trim.
     “Lady Yuiren, may I ask what you hope to accomplish with all this flaunting and whatnot?” an aged male voice asked from the shadows.
     “Well Maxis, I hope to get in shape for this cheering tournament,” Yuiren said, flipping into a handstand.
     “And how do you plan to enter? You need a squad of cheerleaders, and you can’t just hire one or find one,” Maxis said, stepping from the shadows. He wore a butler’s uniform, complete with knee high leather boots. His jet black hair was streaked with silver, and his gray eyes had seen much in his lifetime.
     “Oh, I have a plan,” Yuiren giggled, dropping from the handstand into a split. “I have a really good plan that will work really well.”
     She giggled, which soon turned to maniacal laughter. A sweat drop formed on Maxis’ head, which multiplied when Yuiren fell onto her face. “We’re all doomed,” he sighed, melting back into the shadows.

     The following Monday in homeroom everything was as usual until Reiko stood before the class to make an announcement.
     “May I have your attention please?” she said somewhat loudly. Nobody paid any attention. “Excuse me,” she said, a little louder. Still no responses.
     “Everybody be quiet and let the lady speak!” Maxamillion said at the top of his lungs. The class went dead silent instantly, except for Kanki, who said something about undergarments before blushing and falling silent.
     “Um, thank you Mister Volfield,” Reiko said, blushing lightly. “Anyway, I just wanted to announce that this coming Saturday is the all city cheering competition. Every year we enter, but we keep bringing home the silver. However, this year we’ve got a really great team and we’ll bring home the gold! So we hope you’ll join us on Saturday to cheer us on.”
     She took a bow before returning to her seat. The homeroom teacher resumed her place in front of the class. “Thank you, Miss Fujikora, for that spirited announcement. And now class, it’s time for everyone’s favorite subject.... English!”
     The class groaned as one, since English was usually the only class worse than geometry in being overly boring. “If everyone would please open your books to page thirty five we can begin...”

     In the dimension of darkness Yuiren was hard at work trying to pull together a cheering squad. She had a long line of hopefuls, but most of them were uncoordinated and couldn’t dance to save their lives.
     “Next,” she sighed, her head down on the table. She had stopped watching the performances twenty entrants ago, and totally quit looking at them ten entries ago, the reason being that it was embarrassing to watch any of the performances.
     “Miss Yuiren, I think you’ll like this quartet,” Maxis said from the chair next to her. “They take home top prize at the talent show every year.”
     Yuiren looked up. “Who was that again?”
     “The dancing quartet that calls themselves the Princesses of Pain.”
     “That’s quintet,” a forceful female voice said. Yuiren looked up to face some of the toughest looking young women she’d ever seen. All wore tight black leather hip huggers and leather halter tops of black with blood red trim. Towering over her was a young lady of about 17 years of age with a dark complexion and long raven black hair.
     “And your names are?” Yuiren asked, sitting up straight and being attentive.
     “Asa,” the one with raven hair said.
     “Una,” a girl with wavy dirty blond hair said.
     “Saeko,” a tall girl with aqua hair said proudly.
     “Haruka,” another tall girl, this one with short greenish - blond hair, said.
     “Kourin,” a girl of medium height with long wavy purple hair said.
     “Together we make up the Princesses of Pain!” they said in unison.
     “But there are only five of them,” someone in the line said loud enough to be overheard. “How do they win when regulation teams have seven members or more?”
     “Through force and intimidation,” all five said to the line. “Anyone want a demonstration?!” The line immediately fell silent.
     “You girls will be perfect,” Yuiren said, jumping onto her table. “Together we’ll rock that competition and get lots of virginal energy for Queen Soi!”
     “But that only makes six of you,” Maxis said, “you need one or two more people for this to work.”
     Yuiren scanned the line from atop her table. “You!" she called, pointing to a pair of girls, one with long red hair, the other with equally long dirty blond hair. “What are your names?”
     “Eiko,” the redhead replied.
     “Ina,” the blond replied.
     “Can you dance to save your lives?” Yuiren asked. The two nodded. “Well, come on up and show us your stuff.”
     The two reluctantly made their way to the head of the line, where they took up pom poms and commenced perfectly choreographed dance routines.

Wednesday - 12:00 PM
     “I am so mega excited!” Reiko squeaked during lunch. Unfortunately it was raining that day, so lunch was inside, and that usually meant either trouble or chaos.
     “You were like this all of Monday and yesterday,” Tsukiri said, taking a long sip of noodle broth. “You haven’t been drinking lots of cola lately, have you?”
     Reiko gave him a dirty look for that last comment. “Think about it,” she said, munching on her sandwich, “we’ve been taking home the silver every year, and this year we have a shot at the gold. I’m quite excited right now.”
     “Hey Fujikora,” an all too familiar gruff female voice said. The four at the table looked up to see Marge Komen standing a couple of feet away. The larger girl was scratching the back of her head nervously. “Um.. I just... just wanted to wish you good luck on Saturday,” she said, fidgeting a bit. “So... um... I’ll be rooting for you.”
     Marge then made a hasty retreat, leaving the occupants of the table watching in awe.
     “What just happened?” Maho asked, a spoonful of yogurt part way to her mouth.
     “I think Large Marge was nice to us,” Tsukiri replied.
     “I think I’m going to have a trauma,” Reiko said sarcastically.
     All three turned to Kintara, who looked behind her before realizing her friends were looking right at her. “What?” she asked, her ears twitching.
     “What did you do to her?” Maho asked, “And don’t leave out any of the juicy details.”
     “I didn’t do anything to her that she didn’t already deserve,” Tara replied nonchalantly. She realized what she had just said in her mind and face faulted. “Oops.”
     “So you whooped her butt and now she’s being nice,” Tsukiri said, narrowing his eyes at her.
     “So much for the nonviolent approach to the problem,” Reiko sighed, looking out the window.
     “What did I miss?” Maximillion asked, finding a spot at the table. “Nothing good I hope.”
     “Only a visit from the twilight zone,” Kintara said, rolling her eyes. “I didn’t think I incurred any brain damage that day.”
     Max blinked a few times and looked at the others, who shrugged and went back to eating.
     “So, Max, are you coming to the competition this weekend?” Reiko asked, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen over the table.
     “If I find the time,” Max replied, “depends on what I have for homework and whatnot.”
     “Xander said he’d be there with bells on,” Tara said, “he got the day off... asked three months in advance.”
     Reiko and the others blinked at her again. A sweat drop formed on her head. “Tara, we’ve only known about this thing for the past couple of weeks. How could have he known before that?!”
     <chibi Xander: “I saw it in my crystal ball.”>
     “I really don’t know,” Tara shrugged. “ESP or something. Don’t ask me. I only work with the guy.”
     “Would any of you care for a home baked cookie?” a voice asked near them.
     “Sure, I’ll try o.....” Tsukiri began to say, looking up to see who had spoken. He went silent before poking Tara and Maho.
     “What?!” both growled as one. Tsukiri pointed to the person standing behind them. They turned to see Zelda standing with a heaping plate of homemade double chocolate cookies, a smile on her face. “What the...?”
     “Please try one,” Zelda said sweetly. “They’re really yummy. A special family recipe.”
     Tara, Maho, and Tsukiri reluctantly took a cookie apiece. They looked at one another before tasting the confectioneries. They chewed thoughtfully as Zelda watched with nervous tension.
     “Not bad,” Tara finally proclaimed. “Pretty good.”
     “Amazing,” Maho said. “Thank you Zelda.”
     “Have as many as you like,” Zelda said, “I made tons more. And Miss Reiko, we’ll be rooting for you on Saturday.”
     The plump girl set the plate of cookies on the table and skipped off while humming a happy tune. Tara blinked a few times before saying, “Twilight zone, take two.”
     “Yeah, but the cookies are good,” Tsukiri said, snagging several from the plate.
     The bell chimed, signaling the end of the lunch period and telling students to prepare for the next period class. People grumbled about how they didn’t have enough time to eat and socialize as they walked back to class.
     “Make sure to join us on Saturday,” some of the cheerleaders giggled. “We’re going for the gold.”

     “My hips too big, my belt’s too tight, my bootie shakes from left to right. Say uh, ungawah. Uh, uh, unguwah.”
     Asa, Una, Eiko, and Ina danced the steps for one of the smaller cheers they would need to know, turning to wiggle their butts at an imaginary audience.
     “Don’t drop me,” Yuiren said as Saeko, Kourin, and Haruka lifted her into the air above their heads. She split before turning in such a way that her leg was up behind her head and back.
     “Yuiren, report!” Queen Soi’s voice bellowed, an illusionary representation of her appearing. Yuiren face faulted and nearly fell from her perch. The four who had been dancing looked through their legs and prayed to any gods that the queen wouldn’t see them.
     “We’re training hard for when we crash the cheering tournament,” Yuiren said, regaining her balance and composure. “We’ll gain lots of virginal energy for the good of the dark kingdom.”
     “Good, good. Carry on with your training,” Queen Soi said, the illusion vanishing. The eight breathed a collective sigh of relief as they took a break from training.
     “Tough morning,” Eiko said, drinking some mineral enriched water. “Though the workout’s good, and we’re amazing.”
     “Don’t get cocky,” Asa said, “we might lose if we’re over confident, so don’t think you’ll win until you do.”
     “Good advice,” Yuiren said as she stretched her legs. “That’s where Mordred failed. He was cocky.”
     “There’s something that I’ve been curious about,” Ina piped up. “Why are you guys called the Princesses of Pain?”
     Asa looked to Haruka, who reached behind her back and produced a whip. This she cracked a few times in a skilled manner, snapping the butterfly clip in Ina’s hair in half with one whip crack.
     “We make people call us queen, and beg for mercy,” Kourin cackled as Ina twitched and face faulted.
     “We should get back to work,” Una said, “we still have to work on the big group number, and we’ll need all the time we can get.”
     “Check,” Haruka said, stowing her whip. “Places everyone. Let’s take it from the top.”

 Friday - 1:30 PM
     Another blindingly sunny day in the city and time for afternoon Physical Education. Maho and Kintara were paired up for partner drills, as were Tsukiri and Maxamillion. Both pairs were working on sit-ups with a few other pairs.
     “C’mon Maho, I know you want abs of steel,” Tara coached as her friend repeated the exercise.
     “I’m feeling pain and a bit of a burn,” Maho huffed.
     “I think it’s time to cut out all of those late night ice cream socials.”
     Both chuckled and rolled their eyes, since the chances of that happening were slim to none.
     “Max, Max, he’s our man,” Tsukiri cheered as Max did sit-up after sit-up. “If he can’t do it no one can.”
     “Thanks for... the vote... of confidence,” Max said as he came up. The next time he came up he remained sitting up, staring into Tsukiri’s eyes.
     Tsukiri blinked a couple of times, wondering what Max was doing. “Um, Max, it’s not polite to stare.”
     “Sorry,” Max replied before going back down.
     “And that kills the possibility of a yaoi moment,” Tara chuckled. Maho sighed and let her feet go, which caused the catgirl to roll back into a reverse somersault. When she came up she shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair to get the dirt out. “Hey, why’d you go and do that?”
     Maho pointed past her, and she followed her friend’s gaze to a group of girls around someone very tall. “Marge looks like she’s in trouble,” Maho said. “Looks like she went from bully to bullied.”
     Tara sighed and flipped to her feet, shaking her hair back behind her shoulders before running towards the crowd of students. The bits and pieces of conversation she caught indicated a mass retaliation on one of the biggest bullies in school.
     “Tara, hold up a moment, will ya,” she heard, and she turned her head to see Reiko, Maho, and half the cheering team coming.
     “Your backup has arrived,” Rika called as the cheering squad dashed past the catgirl into the crowd. Shouting ensued, and that was quickly followed by the use of violence. Several members of the crowd dropped back, and Tara watched in awe as the cheerleaders fought off attackers with precision skill.
     “Hey Shikoba, why don’t you come and join us?" a cheerleader with poofy pink hair called.
     Tara looked at Reiko, who shrugged. The two of them dashed into the fray, where the catgirl immediately felt the rhythm of the battle and lashed out accordingly.
     Several minutes later the battle was over, with the angry students calling a retreat and the cheerleaders victorious. A long conga line formed, and this danced its way off of the field, leaving Tara, Reiko, and Maho with Marge.
     “What the hell was that all about?” Reiko asked, rubbing her shins.
     “A bunch of people wanted payback for all I’ve done to them,” Marge explained, smoothing wrinkles from her uniform. “I’m surprised anyone came to my rescue, especially Shikoba here.”
     Tara’s ears perked up a little. “Umm... well,” she stammered, scratching the back of her head. “I can’t stand to see anyone get hurt, especially someone who isn’t fighting back.”
     Marge nervously ran her fingers through her hair. “About that,” she said, giggling a little. “I’ve decided to stop fighting. Silence the violence and all that.”
     The larger girl stepped forward, and Maho and Reiko moved aside to allow her to pass. “Anyway, I’ll catch all of you around. And Shikoba, I owe ya one.”
     As Marge vanished into the distance Maho and Reiko turned and looked at Tara, who blinked a couple of times. When the silence became too awkward the catgirl exclaimed. “What?!”
     “What did you do to her to get her to stop fighting?!” Maho exclaimed. “There’s no coincidence that she stops being a bully when you and her go head to head.”
     “Yeah Tara, what did you do?” Reiko asked, narrowing her eyes. “C’mon girlfriend, dish the dirt. Inquiring minds want to know.”
     Tara shifted her weight from foot to foot. She was about to tell them when the bell signaling the end of PE rang. “There’s the bell,” she giggled before dashing off, leaving a trail of dust in her wake.
     “The girl’s on the river called denial,” Reiko shrugged as they headed for the locker room to change.
     “We’ll eventually hear all about it,” Maho said, pulling the bandanna that was holding her hair back out, her wavy purple tresses falling around her face. “For now it’s best to leave her alone.

 Friday - 6:30 PM
     “If today doesn’t hurry up and end I swear I’ll go nuts and frag half the store,” Xander yawned, stretching into a back over bridge. He, Tara, Lyssa, and Yuji were standing by the registers, and all were quite bored.
     “It’s raining,” Yuji sighed, “Tara, you’re...”
     A very delicate hand with a single claw extended was set at his temple in an instant, and he found himself staring into the eyes of one very angry catgirl.
     “Cat,” Tara hissed. “Plus water,” she continued, slowing running the nail against Yuji’s cheek. “Cold water at that. Do not mix. Now, repeat after me. Cat.”
     “Cat,” Yuji squeaked.
     “Plus cold water.”
     “Plus cold water...”
     “Do not mix,” she finished, pressing her nail into his throat enough to make him squirm.
     “Thunderstorm and this elf don’t mix either,” Xander said as the entire front end vibrated due to a loud roll of thunder. “I’m doing everything to keep from diving under something.”
     “Will the boredom never end?” Lyssa sighed, leaning forward onto her elbows and propping her chin into her hands. “There is so totally no activity here.”
     “Why not check if produce needs help?” Tara asked, leaning back a little. “That way you aren’t standing around being bored.”
     Xander yawned, followed by Yuji and Lyssa. Tara finished the chain of loud yawns. Tomiko stepped from the office in time to get caught in the moment and yawned as well.
     “This stinks so totally major,” Tara sighed as a flash of lighting illuminated the front end. “There’s no way in hell that I’m going out to get carts now.”
     “Our shifts are almost over,” Xander sighed, looking at the clock again. A sweat drop formed on his head when he saw that only a couple of minutes had passed. “Man, this mega sucks.”
     “I wanna be free!” Tara and Tomiko sang at the same time. “Free to scream, free to bathe, free to paint my toes all day.”
     “My boss is lame you know,” Xander and Lyssa continued, “And so - ho is the pay.”
     All four broke into laughter before Yuji sighed and left to go and get carts.
     “Welcome to boredom,” Xander yawned, leaning forward onto his counter. “Population... four.”
     “At least we have the day off tomorrow for that cheering thing,” Tara smiled. “All of us there to cheer on Reiko.”
     “Rumor has it that Sanderson and the store donated gift certificates and money to the team,” Tomiko whispered.
     “No way,” Xander whispered loudly. Tomiko nodded. “So our boss is somewhat human after all.”
     “Like, I’m heeeere,” Tokiko announced as she stepped through the exit door. Under one arm she held a large package, and this she set to unwrapping.
     “Whatcha got sis?” Tomiko asked. Her answer came in the form of Tokiko shoving two strings into her hands and pushing her back. She stumbled, unfurling a long banner with the school colors and words of encouragement.
     “A banner that we're going to hang at the competition,” Tokiko smiled. “There’s room for you guys to sign your names and messages of encouragement.”
     “Sweetness!” Yuji cheered, reaching for a marker. His intended writing implement was snatched away by one with cat like grace. “What the?”
     “You have to get carts,” Tara purred, batting her eyes sweetly, “or did you forget?”
     “But... but... but... “Yuji stammered.
     “Yes, she has a nice butt,” Xander said jokingly, “you don’t need to point it out. Anyway, you can always sign the banner when you come in.”
     “Provided he doesn’t get washed away,” Tokiko giggled as Yuji slipped on a raincoat and exited. “The parking lot’s so bad that you could catch a wave and hang ten.”
     “That... was bad,” Lyssa sighed, a sweat drop forming on her head.
     “Just sign the banner,” Tomiko chuckled, tossing a marker to Lyssa. “Then maybe someone can pull early for once.”
     Lyssa chuckled and joined the others in looking for a spot to sign their names and write a message to the team.

     In the realm of darkness Yuiren and the Princesses of Pain were celebrating after a long week of training, training, and more training.
     “We are going to kick so much butt tomorrow,” Asa cheered, kicking back while opening a can of diet soda.
     “Our moves will leave the other teams broken and bleeding,” Yuiren giggled.
     “They’ll be crying in pain and calling us queen,” Haruka cackled.
     There was a momentary pause before every member of the team began to cackle evilly, their laughter echoing throughout the realm.
     “We are lean and mean,” Eiko cheered, “and tomorrow we’ll make some asses bleed!”
     “We are the princesses of PAIN!” the others cheered before cackling anew.

     Saturday came all too soon for those competing in the All City tournament as well as those cheering on their teams. Rika, Reiko, and the others from the high school team were wired on a combination of excitement, sugar, and caffeine, and those who knew them shared that level of excitement.
     In the stands Kintara, Takana, Tsukiri, Maho, and Xander sat together with Taylor and Tanlynn. Lyssa was there as well, and she sat with her boyfriend Rei near the others. Tomiko, Tokiko, and a few other people from the store sat around them, and Maxamillion wasn’t too far away. From the rafters hung banners for each of the schools as well as the one that everyone at the store had signed.
     “Tara, will you get us some soda?” Taylor asked as people continued to file into the auditorium.
     “Maybe when the crowd dies down a little,” Tara replied, a sweat drop forming on her head when she realized just how many people were packing into the building.
     “Please Tara,” Tanlynn said as he and Taylor turned around and pouted at her.
     “Not right now,” Takana said, stepping in before Tara could fall for their sweet and innocent routine. “Wait until things quiet down a little bit.”
     “Thanks ‘Kana,” Tara whispered when the twins had turned back around, “that was close.”
     “No prob.,” Takana smiled, “but you owe me a soda for that save.”
     Tara began to mutter something, but was cut off by the PA system coming on.
     “Your attention please,” a male voice boomed through the auditorium, “please take your seats. The show is about to begin.”
     The audience quickly found empty seats and grew quiet, the lights dimming. A woman in a smart looking violet business suit stepped to the center of the floor, a spotlight shining on her. The audience applauded as she was handed a microphone.
     “Thank you all for coming to our expedition today,” the woman said as the applause ended. “I’m Minako Torayuna, the head of a talent search office. I’m proud to welcome all of you to the All City Cheering Tournament!”
     The audience cheered and went wild as Minako took a bow. Tsukiri whistled loudly, and Tara and Xander cheered as loud as they could. “Our first team comes all the way from the West Side Academy,” Minako continued, “So give a big cheer for the West Side Priestesses!”
     The lights went out, and a moment later loud techno music began to pump through the auditorium, reverberating off of the walls with enough force to shake some of the seats. Audience members began to stamp their feet in time with the music, adding to the noise and confusion.

 <commercial break - music: ‘Slayers TRY eye catch'>
     A small patch of grass appears on the screen, and a pair of cat ears and a cat tail poke out of this. The tail vanishes as Tanlynn pokes his head out of the grass. He shakes his head before pouncing at the camera and slashing, his image freezing at the end of the slash and the ‘Magical Savior Shihoko’ emblem appearing in the bottom left corner of the screen.
 <end commercial break>

     “Guys, we’ll get you those sodas now,” Xander said as he, Tsukiri, Maho, and Tara rose.
     “But it’s a good part,” Taylor protested.
     “Kana, look after them while we’re out,” Tara said, her older brother nodding in acknowledgment.
     The four made their way to the aisle, and from there down some stairs to the exit leading to the concession booths. They descended some more stairs until they reached ground level, with Xander bringing up the rear due to breathing problems.
     “This looks like as good a place as any to do our thing,” Tsukiri said, the gem in his bracelet glowing aqua blue. The other three nodded, colored light filling the air as their transformations took effect.

     In the realm of darkness eight very injured girls appeared near the medical wing of Queen Soi’s castle. They were rushed inside, where the queen stood in wait for an explanation.
     After everyone was bandaged and put to bed she asked, “What happened out there?! That was disgraceful!”
     “Your majesty, they were a lot stronger than we expected,” Kourin said as a nurse brought her a diet soda.
     “Please don’t blame them,” Asa said, sitting up and gritting her teeth as pain washed through her. “Blame me. I was the squad leader, and I failed everyone.”
     “Asa,” Haruka and Saeko gasped.
     “Miss Asa, I’ll allow you and your girls to stay on as my private honor guard,” Queen Soi said, smiling. “Then if those magical heroes try to come here you can get sweet revenge.”
     Soi then turned to Yuiren, who hid under her covers. “Yuiren, I’m disappointed by the results of this mission, so your next plan had better net lots of virginal energy and hopefully rid me of Magical Savior Shihoko.”
     “Yes, my queen,” Yuiren said formally. ‘Shihoko must be stopped!’

 “Hey guys, did we miss anything?” Maho asked as she, Tara, Tsukiri, and Xander returned, bearing drinks and snacks.
     “Yeah, a battle and explosions and all sorts of cool stuff,” Taylor said excitedly as Tara gave him and Tanlynn their sodas. “This magical savior kicked real butt!”
     “Really?” Xander asked as he took a seat next to Takana.
     “And she looked a little like Tara,” Lyssa said, narrowing her eyes at the four. “Where were all of you during the fight?”
     “In the world’s longest concession line,” Tsukiri moaned. “I swear it was half a mile long.”
     “Oh ‘Kiri, you’re exaggerating,” Maho said, punching him in the arm. “But he’s right. The line was really long.”
     “Did I miss much?” Masamichi / Maxamillion asked, taking his seat next to Tsukiri.
     “According to these guys there was quite a battle royal on the floor,” Tara shrugged.
     “Where did you go Max?” Rei asked.
     “Men’s room,” Max replied, “and before you ask what took so long, I’ll tell you. There was a really long line for the bathroom, and I really had to go.”
     “Your attention please,” Minako said, stepping onto the remains of the floor, “the judges have announced the winners.”
     The audience fell silent, and Minako continued. “Third place goes to the West Side Priestesses!”
     There was some loud applauding from the West Side Academy section of the audience. That died away rather quickly, and Minako continued.
     “Second place goes to the Central City Wolverines!”
     A large group of large and hairy men and women applauded, grunted, and whistled. Both Rei and Lyssa shuddered because those were some of the people from their school.
     “Cross your fingers for our friends,” Tomiko said, crossing her fingers, arms, and legs.
     “Come on East Kyoto High,” Tsukiri said, also crossing his fingers.
     “And first place goes to...” Minako announced, the tension building. “The East Kyoto Wildkittens!”
     Reiko and the other members of the team flipped and cart wheeled onto the floor as the audience burst into loud and raucous applause. Tara, Maho, Xander, and Tsukiri, as well as other people from the school and store, took out signs they’d made and waved them about in celebration of their victory, for their cheering squad had finally brought home the gold.

To be continued...

next episode:
     Yuiren’s next plot is one of her most devious yet, and puts the townspeople into shock when so many teenage girls are attacked in the local parks and have their virginal energy drained. Meanwhile, Tara and her boss Sanderson have a disagreement, and this leads to a very angry catgirl storming out of the store and a concerned boss going after her. What happens next is a big surprise. Stay tuned to ‘Boss, Bastard, or Friend’, or we’ll really cause some trouble.
    *In production now...