Please remember to drop in the RPG site: https://www.angelfire.com/wa2/bozyby/1000arms/rpg
thanks, laters all - jillM
And then...
"SOUSHI!!!!" Muza and Wyna exclaimed, pouncing on the samurai, "THIS IS ALL YOUR DOING!! ISN'T IT?! ISN'T IT?!?!"
Soushi blinked, unfazed. "I beg your pardon..."
"It was you!!" Wyna hissed, her hammer at his throat, "It's because of your outstanding debt that Kyleen is making us do this dirty work!!"
"My debt?" Soushi repeated, "You are mistaken. I am doing this out of favor for my only younger sister."
"YOUR SISTER?!?" Muza and Wyna said in unison, "KYOKA??"
"The very one," Soushi said, with a shrug, "It is part of my honorable duty to protect the Maharouba name. Such danger as this is to be conquered by my warrior's mentality... My mission..."
"KYOKA?!?" Muza cut in, "So... it was her all along...?!?"
"THAT LITTLE...W-WAITRESS!!!" Wyna exclaimed, now breathing fire, "When I'm done with here... OOOOO! She'll be serving herself an ice pack! I'm SO pissed! Come on, Muza!!"
"Waaaaaah!!" wailed Muza as he was dragged towards Kyoka who was walking towards them. "H-Hey, Kyoka... is it true?? I mean, you were the one with the outstanding debt??"
"Well..." Kyoka timidly clutched at her kimono, "It seemed the restaurant was in a little bit of trouble last couple months. With the economy going down, business just got really bad..."
"Oh, I see... and this could be resolved by becoming indebted to the Devil, ie. Kyleen, and then paying it off by making everyone participate in an indecent kissing booth." Muza noted, "Oh, that makes perfect sense!"
"YOU!!!" Wyna snapped, pointing the mallet at Kyoka's head as a sign of war, "I ought to take you back to my boat and let those ruthless pirates have their way with you!"
"I-I thought we were friends!" Kyoka cried, "Don't friends stay together until the end! Besides, I didn't do it on purpose. Please don't kill me, Wyna!!!"
Soushi moved in front, drawing his sword. "Also, you'll have to get through me. She may have dirtied her hands in these dealings, but she is still my sister."
"And the one we should be pissed at is not her," Muza said, "It should be the green-eyed monster (not to mention green-haired) over there who is making a profit off our misery!"
Wyna's angered look slowly wore off. "You're right... I'm getting angry at my friend for nothing. Let's put an end to this! Once and for all!"
"Right!!"
Back at the booth, more and more money was being made. Kyleen was taking bets off who would win this battle - Meis or Schmidt.
"Who cares who wins," Kyleen chimed, "I'm going to be rich!! Mwhahaha!"
So, the two faced each other, swordsman against swordsman, blacksmith against blacksmith...
"Pu-leeeze!" Meis said, waiting for his action meeting to fill up, "You haven't got a chance! I mean, I've defeated you over three times already!!"
"It's different now!" Schmidt snapped, "There's more at risk!!" His eyes moved to the sidelines where Sodina was standing, holding the ticket, her hair blowing in the wind, her eyes teary, twinkling music, and...
"ALL RIGHT ALL RIGHT!!" Meis exclaimed, "We get the picture!!"
"Get him, Master!!" Jeala yelled out, "Destroy the PERV!!"
"H-Hey!!" Meis stammered, "I haven't done anything in this chapter! Any way, isn't someone on my side?!"
Smoochie then ran up to him and gave him a big smooch. "For luck!!"
"Bastard! Get off me!!" Meis cried, pushing him away. "All right, let's do it! Come on, Schmidt!"
"You're on!!" Schmidt said. The two of them then clashed - their swords meeting with a big clang. "Give up!"
"No way! I got you where I want you!"
"What do you mean??"
Meis smiled. Suddenly a giant Damashi came out of his napsack and licked Schmidt on the side of the face. Schmidt, paralyzed, collapsed to the ground and the bells rung. "Ya-ho! I'm the winner!!" Meis chimed!!
"No, you're not!" Sodina cried, "T-That's cheating!!"
"W-WHAAAT?!" Meis gasped, "Hey! What are you saying??!"
"This was supposed to be a dramatic battle between the two of you for permission to kiss me!" Sodina argued, "You killed the romance out of it, by bringing in one of those dumb looking ghost thingees!!"
Meis cringed as a giant down chime filled the air. Everyone knew that Sodina was pissed and there was no way she would be kissing him now. Especially now that Jyabil had arrived on the scene.
"Who is trying to kiss Sodina?"
Everyone backed away cautiously. 'I-It's Jyabil! Uwah!'
"Ah, Sodina, are you all right?"
"W-What are you doing here, Brother?? I thought you were..."
Jyabil smiled. "I heard there was festival and... Oh, my!" He saw Schmidt lying on the ground, paralyzed. "W-What happened? Didn't I tell you to stop fighting?? How are you going to become Great Spirit blacksmiths? Now, as punishment, you have to do ten training exercises by sunset!"
Meis and Schmidt both groaned. 'Aaaah, man!!'
"KYLEEEEN!!!" Muza, Wyna, Soushi, and Kyoka came rushing over.
"Yes?" Kyleen innocently asked, while counting her cash. Apparently, when Jyabil arrived on the scene, all the men who bet money got scared and ran away - so no one was there to collect their winnings and into Kyleen's pocket they went.
"We'd like to talk to you!!" Kyoka cried.
"About the debt!!" Muza called.
"And your evil ways," Soushi added.
"So listen up!!!" Wyna snapped.
Kyleen smiled. "Yes, yes... It's all paid now. Don't worry about it. Great work everyone!"
"Eh?" They looked at her with dumbfounded looks. "Then that means..."
Kyleen shrugged. "Well, more of a profit would be nice for a safety net. So if you guys still want the kissing booth to go on, that's fine with me. Oh, and I'd like to get into the action."
"EH?! EH?!"
She took out some lipstick. "In fact, I'll take the next customer!" She turned to the line, to see only one person there. Her face went pale. "EH?!?"
"YO BABY!!" Kanouha chimed, waving his ticket.
"AAAAAAAH!" Kyleen took off running with the old guy at her heels, "I CHANGED MY MIND! SOMEONE HELP!!"
"Wait wait, cutie!" Kanouha cried, "I paid for it! I also have another ticket! And another one! And another one!!"
"Should we help her??" Kyoka asked, turning to the others.
Muza and Soushi exchanged looks. "Hmmmm.... Nah."
Wyna hit a key on the cashier. "Maybe for a fee..."
All of sudden they were surrounded by the Boyzby guards. "Excuse us, but we heard rumors that someone was doing illegal operations of a kissing booth. According to Boyzby law, it's just not allowed."
"R-Really?" Wyna asked, moving away from the cashier.
"Yes, now who are the ones involved...?"
Soushi, Kyoka, Muza, and Wyna quickly pointed at Smoochie. "IT WAS HIM!!!" They then took off running.
"UWAH!" Smoochie cried as they tried to reprimand him, "What's wrong with spreading the love around!?! It's free world! We should love freely!! Kiss freely! Dammit, is anyone listening to me...?!"
"No."
And what became of Smoochie is a mystery. Some think they saw him on a different continent, under a different name. But someday he will be back. Oh yes, he will be back someday... in Thousand Arms 2. Hopefully.
fin