And now for something slightly different, suggested by a
coincidence of appearance in "Lamune & 40 Fire." There are slight
spoilers, but L&40 is not a series that tries to surprise its viewers
much, except at the end...
MA VIE ET BOISSONS
by Scott K. Jamison
(Revolutionary Girl Utena & its associated characters, and Lamune & 40
Fire and *its* associated characters, and owned by their respective
companies, and no infringement is intended.)
As the smoke cleared from the explosion, Skyler groggily pushed
himself off the ground and looked at the two female figures picking
their way toward him through what looked like a dry ravine.
[Spunky-looking pink-haired tomboy, check. Demure dark-skinned
girl with blue-purplish hair, check. But different outfits and
noticeably younger. Anthy must've been trying out a new recipe again.]
"Utena? Himemiya-san? 'Zat you?"
The pink-haired girl blinked. The other might have too, but her
hair covered her eyes, making it impossible to tell.
"I'm sorry. You must have mistaken us for someone else. My
name's Parfait and this is Cacao," said the tomboy. "And you are?"
"Skyler Sands. Pleased to meet you."
Cacao spoke. "I sense that you are the second Brave we need!"
"Say what?" Skyler had a bad feeling about this.
"Hey, who's the old guy?" This came from a boy about the same
age as the girls (12 or 13), with unruly dark hair held back by an odd
headdress.
[Old guy? I've gone back to my true age?] Skyler felt his chin.
Nope, as smooth as ever. But he did learn that he was now wearing
white gloves, and his shirt had become short sleeved, with the
epaulets mushroomed into full shoulder pads. Same color scheme,
though.
"He is Skyler the Brave, who will aid you in piloting Kaiser
Fire," intoned Cacao in a "prophecy voice."
"Hi--"
The boy snorted. "My DNA tells me he's more like Skyler the
Chicken. Where'd you dig up this nerd anyway?"
"Lamuness! Don't you have any manners?" snapped Parfait.
"Ha! My master is so stupid!" piped up a small red lump on
Lamuness' shoulder pad that Skyler had initially taken for decoration.
"PQ, you must *really* want me to hurt you," growled Lamuness,
squeezing the lump with one hand.
Suddenly, Skyler's memory clicked. "Lamuness? As in Lamune &
40? But I thought the robot was called King Skasher."
Parfait smiled. "You know the legend? That was Lamuness II's
God Machine. This is the new Brave, Lamuness III."
The boy put his hand behind his head and chuckled nervously. Now that
Skyler was looking for it, he did have a strong resemblance to the anime
character the fan remembered. [Great, I'm in the sequel.]
"My real name is Lamunade, but if they want me to be Lamuness, I
can do it. I'm so excited!"
"But we need a second Brave to pilot Kaiser Fire, which is where
you come in," said Parfait.
"Couldn't one of you girls have done that?" asked Skyler. "I
don't remember the mecha in this subgenre requiring a lot of training
to use."
Parfait got a surprised look. "Hey, I never thought of that!
Cacao, why couldn't I be a Brave? Sure, we need Lamuness to actually
summon the God Machine with the Holy CD-ROM. but after that..."
As Parfait continued, the darker girl grew a huge sweat drop.
"Ano...well..." Cacao was saved by the commencement of evil villain
laughter from above.
To be Continued,
SKJAM!