<the lights are out in Lurker's theater. Two figures sit in the front
row, concealed in shadow. One of them is whispering too quietly for
the camera to pick up, the other is giggling, and making other sounds
of...amusement. Suddenly, a purple light on the main display's
control panel flashes. One of the figures groans, and both shift
around a bit.>

Hikaru: Hey, it's some more of that Blueseed fic! 

Lurker: <nods> Yep. Let's take a look...

	Momiji dipped the soft cloth into the basin of ice water and
gently wrung out most of the water.  Kusanagi's fever was

dangerously

high, and none of the medications that Matsudaira had given him had

been

able to lower it any.  She was sponging him down with the cold

water in a

last-ditch effort to lower the fever.

Lurker: Be careful not to overwater your plant-boy, Momiji.

	*You little bastard....* The Aragami's eyes flashed bright red;
suddenly, every mitama on the boy's body began pulsating in an

eerie blue

light. Daggers of pain shot up his arms and legs; the three mitamas

on his

chest seemed to sear through his flesh down to the bone. He

screamed in

agony as wave after wave of spasms ripped through him. The mitamas

on his

hands blazed into light; twin blades split his forearms and snapped

into

place. After an eternity, the pain began to fade away and his

shrieks died

down into helpless sobs.

Lurker: <wince> Ouch.

	*Kusanagi?* The child turned; one thick tentacle lashed out and
backhanded the five-year-old, knocking him across the cavern.

*NEVER even

think of disobeying me again, boy," Orochi snarled as the child

picked

himself back up. He stared up at it, one side of his face swollen

to twice

its normal size, then turned and fled the cavern.*~*

Lurker: <eyes flash purple> Even for a demon, Orochi is a bastard...

Hikaru: <nods> Poor little Kusanagi...
 

	Murakumo stepped back to admire his next victim. The king cobra
hissed at the Aragami from behind its prison in the zoo; it bared

its

fangs and struck at him viciously. He laughed and grasped the

serpent's

head in his fist. A blue light glowed along the snake's body as it

began

to grow....

Lurker: Why, that sneaky snake...

Hikaru: <groans>

	Matsudaira nodded, clearing the sleep-induced fog from her mind,
and burst into the infirmary. Momiji had fallen asleep at

Kusanagi's

bedside. The teenaged princess's head rested on his uninjured

shoulder;

one arm was flung over his chest in a sleepy embrace. The remnants

of

tears streaked the man's orange skin. "Momiji! Momiji, wake up!"

the older

woman barked, shaking the girl.

Lurker: HEY! I know Matsudaira gets too wrapped up in her work
sometimes, but that hardly makes her a bitch...

Hikaru: <smacks her forehead...then smacks Lurker> *Bad* pun,
Lurker-kun.

Lurker: <obnoxiously> Woof.

Hikaru: <facefaults> Why do I put up with you...!?

	Momiji nodded grimly and, taking in one last look at the comatose
man beside her, jumped up and reached for her jacket. She paused

for a

moment. Spying Kusanagi's tattered red trenchcoat hanging on the

inside of

the infirmary door, she grabbed it and slipped it on. "I'll be

right

back.... Hang on, Kusanagi," she whispered as she shut the door.

Lurker: Awww, how sweet...she's wearing his jacket.

Hikaru: <giggle> What's with that custom anyway?  

Lurker: <shrug> I dunno. I mean, the jacket generally swallows the
girl, the guy gets stuck in the cold...what's the point?

	Momiji huddled in the corner of the van as the TAC raced towards
the site, drawing comfort from the oversized trenchcoat she was

wearing.

It had the slightest odor of freshly-mown grass, underlined with a

trace

of sweat. The ragged edges of the sleeves were stained with his

foreign

blood. She waited silently, brooding, until the mitama on her chest

began

to glow slightly. "It's coming," she breathed. 

Lurker: <blinks> The mitama is--?

Hikaru: <bashes Lurker with her sword> HENTAI!!

Lurker: I...te...

	As the van skidded to a halt outside of a dense forest, the trees
began to rustle and bend. A colossal serpent slithered out of the

area,

hissing maniacally. Gold-tinged venom oozed from its eight foot

long

fangs; its scales shimmered in the beginning sunrise. The hood

around the

king cobra's head was ringed with vicious spikes that continued

down the

sides of its body to end in an immense spike on the tip of its

tail. The

ground around it was littered with trashed jeeps from the

Self-Defense

Force and with not a few fresh corpses. Koume leaped out of the van

and

immediately fired upon it with her bazooka; the charge did little

more

than knock a few of its scales off. "Damn, that thing's tough!" she
shouted.

Lurker: Oh, that's real intelligent, Koume. Piss it off.

	Yaegashi tumbled out of the van with a huge briefcase, followed by
Matsudaira. "Koume, Takeuchi, distract that thing while we get the
bio-reactor ready-" A blue ki blast suddenly slammed into Yaegashi,
slamming him into the side of the van.  "Yaegashi!" She ran to his

side.

Lurker: Might want to make it clear *who* ran to his side here...not
everyone's familiar enough with Blueseed to realize it'd be Koume...

Hikaru: Anou...why would someone be reading a fic about a series they
aren't familiar with...?

Lurker: <shrug> Boredom?

	She shrugged. "Remove that tatami and replace it with a fresh one.
I can have no impurities soiling the bed of our lord." 

Lurker: In other words, she won't be sleeping with him...

Hikaru: <snicker> That was mean...

	Kusanagi had somehow tumbled to the floor and was caught in a
paroxysm of seizures. The convulsions thrashed his body against the
equipment, knocking over several monitors. Blood had soaked through

the

bandages on his torso and was now seeping onto the floor. The teen

dashed

to his side, Matsudaira hot on her heels. Just before they could

reach

him, his eyes flew open as he let out an inhuman scream of agony.

His body

arced in the air, transfixed by the blinding light of his seven

mitamas;

suddenly, he gave one final gasp and collapsed to the floor.

	The alarms began blaring as the heart monitor faded down into a
flat line.

Lurker, Hikaru: O_O

Hikaru: Yikes...what a cliffhanger...

Lurker: <nods> That wraps it up for this part. Nice work. 

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You know you're eating at a bad Italian restaurant 
when there's something Roman in your meal.
---
The Eternal Lost Lurker
EternalLostLurker@worldnet.att.net
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Garden/9502

Atama karappo no hou ga yume-tsume komeru
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