Hiya everyone!

This is my first fanfic so please be gentle.  :)

[Insert standard disclaimers of who owns what characters and so on.]

[Insert standard comments, suggestions, criticisms welcome message here.]

Now on with the show!

Sapphire, The Blue Tigress
"Call me Sapphy and you die. Rwarr!"

*****

Nabiki and the Airship
========================
The Tendo house, Nerima District.  A quiet, clear, starry night.  A figure 
moves stealthily from one window to another.  A camera hangs around her 
neck as water sloshes in the bucket she carries.  Thoughts of the yen she 
will receive for these pictures run through her mind.  

Suddenly, the silence is broken by a high-pitched whine.  Nabiki (as if you 
hadn't guessed already) turns and sees a flying saucer about to land in the 
yard.  It looked almost like a silver frisbee--- except frisbees weren't 
that big and didn't have a hump in the center.  Nabiki sets down the bucket 
and goes to investigate.  A door appears in the saucer and slowly opens... 
a figure steps out.  It's human!  He looks around, notices Nabiki, and 
steps off the saucer to talk to her.  

"Pardon me, but would you happen to have any Grey Poupon?"  asks the man.  

Nabiki goes bug-eyed and facefaults.  She recovers and asks, "Are you for 
real?  What do you want with Grey Poupon?  Who are you anyway?"  

The man smiles and says, "Allow me to introduce myself--- I am Frank E. 
Bowers at your service.  As for the Grey Poupon, I use it to fuel my 
airship.  I have found that mustard makes a great fuel source and Grey 
Poupon is an excellent octane.  Would you happen to have any?  I'm willing 
to pay for it."  

At the word "pay" Nabiki starts calculating.  "How much do you need?"  

"Oh, about 100 large jars would do."  

"It will take me a little while to get that much so you'll have to stay here 
for a few days.  Let's see... 80,000 yen for the mustard, 10,000 yen for 
room and board, and 5,000 yen for service... that makes 95,000 yen total--- 
cash or credit?"  

Frank pulls out his wallet and extracts a card from it.  The card has 
'Anime Express Card - Never leave home without it' written on it.  He 
hands it to Nabiki who pulls out a cash register from somewhere and 
completes the transaction.  

Nabiki then looks at his ship and says, "That's going to be a bit 
conspicuous.  Can you hide it somewhere?"  

"No problem."  Frank goes over to the ship.  "Watch this."  He presses a 
slight indentation and the airship folds up into a slim, brown leather 
briefcase a la The Jetsons.  Frank picks up the briefcase and grins proudly 
at Nabiki like a little 5 year old.  

"Come on, I'll show you your room."  Nabiki leads the way into the house 
and up to the guest room.  She enters and turns the light on, getting her 
first good look at Frank.  "AAaiiieeee!!!" she shrieks as she gets an eyeful 
of his awful outfit.  Frank was wearing a deep purple turtleneck with a 
bright yellow sweater vest over it and tacky, lime-green sweatpants.  

Frank grins and waves at his outfit.  "A real eye-opener, huh?"  

Nabiki clenches her teeth and says, "Definitely.  Do you always dress like 
that?"  

"Oh no, sometimes I have to dress up... then I wear my paisley suit," Frank 
replies, smiling cheerfully.  

<I definitely have to give this guy some fashion lessons... especially now 
that he's staying here!>  Nabiki thinks as she says goodnight and returns to 
her room.  

                         ********************