[FFML] [SI] Otaku Muyo 8

[Tannim Murphy]

Otaku Muyo

(Okay, this has been far too long in the making...)

by Tannim Murphy

Disclaimer:  I'm so sorry for having two straight
chapters of filler.  I promise to try to never do that
again.  I have discovered through trial and error that
I suck at predicting what I'll write next, or how long
it'll take, so I also apologize for that.  Ah! My
Goddess is property of Kosuke Fujishima.  Kim Possible
belongs to Disney.  Record of the Lodoss War is owned
by Ryo Mizuno, while Naoko Takeuchi retains all rights
to Sailor Moon, and Tenchi Muyo! was created by
Kajishima Masaki.  I am borrowing the characters
without permission and at no profit to myself.  Please
do not beat me within an inch of my life for taking so
long.  Tannim, Gunter, and any character that
resembles originality are my intellectual property to
do with as I please.  You can't have them Nabiki!
They're mine!  Mine I say!

---

Chapter 8

---

Azabu Juuban, Japan

The night, at least, wasn't stormy.  As was typical of
night it wasn't exactly bright, with the darkness held
mostly at bay by ambient streetlights that were too
few in number to illuminate the entirety of the
sidewalk, but did an admirable job showing the general
vicinity.  Juuban's deserted streets with its rare
passer-by allowed Setsuna relative privacy to
contemplate the events that had transpired earlier
that day.

The green-haired beauty stared hard at the small
object clutched loosely in the palm of her hand.  It
was roughly three to four inches in diameter, gold in
appearance with four stones of various colors along
the perimeter, with a giant pink stone just above the
middle and a crescent moon set below along the bottom.
The trinket wasn't very impressive to her critical
eye, and much more garish in appearance than any
magical object had a right to be.

At least, Setsuna assumed the brooch was magical, as
it had been given to her by an honest-to-goodness
talking cat, not to mention she'd been attacked by a
monster that had no business existing in reality.  Any
Japanese schoolgirl worth her salt knew that set of
circumstances was something straight out of a magical
girl TV show, even if she'd never personally watched
the stuff.

But this wasn't television, was it?  This was a real
flesh and blood war, as demonstrated by the cute
animal mascot dying mere seconds after its
introduction.  No long, drawn out quests to save
'what-have-you,' from 'who-knows-what.'  No Skysaber
jumping in for the rescue.  No Grey popping up for a
last-minute save.  Simple, brutal destruction from an
enemy that literally killed any chance of finding out
some answers to whatever she'd suddenly been dragged
into.

It had been one of the most heartbreaking moments of
her life when she had to bury the poor cat.  She
couldn't even remember the creature's name, given in
the heat of the moment when she'd been fleeing for her
life.  In the end she had to settle for a tiny,
upright stick to mark the gravesite.

What she did remember with vivid clarity were the
cat's final words to her.

"Sailor Moon?"  Setsuna pronounced the name carefully.
She was sufficiently advanced in her English studies
to understand what the words meant, and put together
they didn't make much sense.  "What kind of name is
that?  But more importantly, who is this princess I'm
supposed to protect?"

Needlessly extrapolating on past events did nothing to
settle Setsuna's frazzled nerves.  In spite of her
extraordinary leadership abilities garnered from years
of dealing with her high school peers, and a
reputation for staying cool when the going got tough,
this was far beyond her abilities to immediately cope
with.  What she required right now was moral support
from a family figure she knew she could trust.

Finding the nearest payphone wasn't difficult.  It was
also unoccupied, unsurprising given the lateness of
the hour and the generally deserted nature of the area
she was currently in.  Setsuna had some spare change
left over from lunch that day and used that to dial
the number for her home address.

To her growing dismay, however, the phone rang without
anyone on the other side answering.  She let this
continue, until the answering machine eventually
picked up the call.  Rather than leave a message she
slammed the phone back in its cradle and glared at the
offending device.

'He promised!' she thought furiously.  'He promised
he'd be home early tonight!'

For several seconds Setsuna allowed her mind vent to
her frustrations by thinking terrible thoughts about
her father.  Every single angry notion she ever had
over the years all boiled to the surface in a fit of
pique, with each instance of neglect and hurt felt at
a visceral level rather than re-experienced mentally.
It wasn't a pleasant sensation, and it tied her
stomach up in knots the more she held onto it.

Brief though the lapse of control was, Setsuna clamped
down hard on her feelings and forced her mind to calm
down so that she could think rationally again.
Breathing in deeply, then expelling the air, helped
immensely.

When she really thought about it Setsuna knew that it
usually wasn't her father's fault that he was so busy.
Being the Minister of Land was difficult for all
involved, friends and family alike.  Setsuna was
willing to allow her father some slack given his
difficult position and the time required of him to
keep the country itself from collapsing; especially
given the frank conversations he's had with her
regarding just how close that collapse might be.  She
was glad someone as strong and (usually) dependable
was helping keep the nation of Japan together.

If only it didn't cut into family time so much.  Was
that too much to ask?  As her mother had died while
she was still very young, most of her childhood was
spent waiting for her father to return home from work.
It was for this reason that they both had agreed to
set aside times like today to spend together to bond
as a family unit.  Obviously it wasn't working as
planned.

"What could I have talked to my dad about anyway?"
Setsuna reasoned with herself.  "'Hi, I met a talking
cat today who told me I was Sailor Moon, and by the
way when are we ever going to make up the time we've
spent apart?'  Humph.  I sound like a wimpy little
schoolgirl."

Setsuna never noticed when the pendant started to
glow.  She did, however, notice the burst of energy
that surrounded her in a kaleidoscope of colors and
sound.  It was kind of hard to miss, given that not
only was the entire world blocked from her view, but
also that her own body was seemingly stripped of its
clothing and bathed in the same type of coloration.
She had just enough time to blink in surprise before
various garments sprang into existence out of
nothingness over her otherwise naked body.  No doubt
Setsuna would have screamed with surprise if she could
have, but the various poses her body took during this
process were rather disorienting.

Once everything ground to a halt and the world resumed
its normal colors, the first thought that entered
Setsuna's mind was, 'Okay, just WHO designed this
outfit?'

The second thought that crossed her mind came quickly
on the heels of the first.  'My, that's an itty bitty
mini-skirt.'

The third thought leapt on her unsuspecting
consciousness and hit her with the mental equivalent
of a freight train, and she nearly stumbled to the
ground in shock.  'Ohmygod.  I really AM a magical
girl!'

In testimony to this she felt stronger, more vibrant
and alive than she ever had in her entire life.  Just
by flexing her fingers into a fist it felt like she
had the power to punch through concrete... not that
she'd be trying that particular trick anytime soon.

Though she did wonder how high she could jump.

"Okay.  I'll try for the roof of that building over
there.  It's only one story," she reasoned.  "That
should be a piece of cake for your average magical
high school girl."  Setsuna paused.  "I can't believe
those words came out of my mouth.  I also can't
believe I'm actually going to try this."

Setsuna gathered her courage and leapt.  Much to her
surprise, she succeeded beyond all her expectations.
She also winced.

Setsuna impacted moments later on the side of the
three-story building behind the one story building.
Before she could fall she reached up and grabbed the
lip of the roof, before pulling herself up and over
the side, and sat on the gravel there for several
moments catching her breath.

"That was so... so..." the green-haired teen struggled
to find the right word, "...cooooool."  A shiver of
excitement ran the course down her spine.

Setsuna stood with a grin on her face that could
frighten small children.  "Let's try that again."

---

Kasumigaseki, Japan

"Setsuna?  What are you doing here at work?"
Setsuna's father glanced at the clock and blinked in
astonishment.  "Is it past two in the morning
already?"

Unbidden, a memory flashed through her mind of missing
a jump spectacularly and landing, screaming the whole
way down, in an open-top dumpster.  With an inward
wince, she decided to ignore her father and abruptly
changed the subject.  "You said you were going to be
home tonight," she pointed out without a hint of
malice in her voice.

Her father visibly winced anyway.  "You know how it is
with paperwork in the government these days.  There's
too much to do and too few people to do it.  If I
don't--" he halted in mid-sentence, and shook his head
wryly.  "Well, that's an old excuse we've discussed
already," he waved the topic off as he gave his
undivided attention to his daughter.  "I am truly
sorry I didn't come home today like I promised.  What
can I do for you now?"

The green-haired girl contemplated for a moment over
that statement.  Given her father's obvious feelings
of guilt over the day's events, she believed he really
would do anything she asked.  Too bad for the moment
she wasn't shooting for something higher, like her
own, private island.

"You remember that offer to go to school overseas?"
she asked.

Setsuna's father hesitated.  He was too experienced a
politician not to notice the slight hitch in his
daughter's voice.  Obviously something was bothering
her.  It was understood, however, that if she wanted
to talk about it she would, so he didn't press her,
instead deciding to simply answer the question.

"You mean the offer you were too stubborn to accept
because you said it was, and I quote, 'running away
like a scared little schoolgirl?'"  Her father smiled
faintly.  "Yes, I remember."

Setsuna recalled her mindset when she made that
declaration.  Despite China's recent hostile
maneuverings, and many rumors of an alien invasion
from within, she had wanted to stay strong and finish
at least a college level education in the country of
her birth rather than flee abroad as many families had
already done.  How was she supposed to know the alien
rumors were true?

"I have considered my options and decided it to be the
best course of action for me at this time," she
replied seriously.

"Oh?  What prompted this?" he asked with genuine
surprise.

Telling her already over-protective father what really
transpired would simply get her put in lockdown until
she was thirty-five.  Setsuna opted for the tried and
true method of lying by omission.  "I want to broaden
my horizons?" she hazarded.

Her father thought carefully for a few moments, before
standing up and walking to one of the many filing
cabinets in his office.  From within he pulled out a
large folder marked 'Betrothal Proposals,' and began
leafing through it.

Setsuna rolled her eyes.  "Father, now's not the time
for THAT old argument..."

Pulling out the file he had been looking for,
Setsuna's dad smirked.  "While I have realized after a
time it is difficult to get you to do anything you do
not wish to..." he gave his daughter a look of pained
longsuffering, and sighed dramatically for just the
right amount of emphasis, "...I would like to point
out that I have a very good friend who runs a chain of
hotels, and who also would not turn down a favor if I
asked him to let you stay in one, free of charge, for
the duration of your stay in the United States.  All
he has ever asked of me is that you meet with his
son."  He raised both hands to forestall the rebuttal
poised on Setsuna's lips.  "This is not a marriage
meeting, nor even a date; simply two youngsters of two
old friends meeting at last.  Does that sound
satisfactory to you?"

Setsuna pondered for a bit, before nodding.  "I
accept."  Her face changed from serious to studied
indifference in a heartbeat.  "So who's this boy
you're trying to foist off on me?" she asked airily,
waving her hand as if dismissing a small matter.  "I
suppose meeting him wouldn't kill me."

Her father smiled indulgently.  At least Setsuna was
in a good mood about the whole affair.  "His name is
Tannim.  Tannim Murphy.  And I have been assured by
his father that he is a lazy, good-for-nothing
slacker, with entirely too much free time on his
hands," he stated with a perfectly straight face.
"Hopefully he'll meet with your approval."

Uncharacteristically, Setsuna snickered.  "Sounds just
like my type."

---

Crossroads, California

Tannim sneezed, shivered, and pulled the tattered
remains of his shirt closer to his body while cranking
up the heater for his car.

"I've got to get myself some real clothes," he
muttered.

It felt pretty silly wearing what amounted to a bunch
of rags, but it wasn't like Tannim could do much about
it.  Rather than change from out of his Breaking Point
training clothes, he'd already stormed out of the
apartment and started driving away before he'd noticed
the mistake.

That was just the beginning of what already promised
to be an abysmal day.

Not only was he dreading slightly at what Skuld would
do to his apartment (not that he should care anyway as
he was planning on abandoning the place), Tannim
outright feared whatever Urd might be cooking up.
There was simply no telling what she'd do to him the
next time she saw him.  An "Urd Bolt, Strike!" would
probably be the least of his worries; the way events
were progressing, he'd be on the receiving end of
Armageddon.  Ragnarok.  Whatever.

As Tannim pulled into the mall parking lot, the
sensation of impending doom that had started this
morning suddenly spiked, before settling into a dull
throb at the back of his skull.  It didn't seem that
that particular headache wasn't going to go away
anytime soon.

Tannim belatedly realized this was the point in the
series where he'd be screaming at the poor fool on the
television screen to just pack up their bags and head
out to Fiji.  Damn, he really missed being able to hit
the pause button and walk away.

'Oh well,' Tannim thought with a brief surge of
optimism.  'Maybe things won't be as bad as I think
they're going to be?'

He paused to let reality sink in.

"No, it'll be worse," he finally admitted to himself.
"Much worse."

As usual, finding a parking space on the backside of
the mall didn't prove to be a difficult task.  The
thing that bothered Tannim most was the lack of cars
in the rest of the parking lot.  What cars were
visible were covered with cutesy bumper stickers and
fashionable license plates, signaling to the erstwhile
dimensional traveler that the mall itself was packed
mostly with Amazons.

Tannim groaned.

He supposed he should have been expecting this, but
what exactly was he supposed to do about a mall full
of crazy women?  Those Amazons were going kill him, or
at the very least, give him a serious makeover the
likes of which he'd never forget.  Either way it
wasn't going to be pretty (or it was... he really
wasn't sure which would be worse at this point).

"Maybe I should try talking to them?" he snorted
derisively.  "Yeah right, like that'll work... when
has that ever worked?  Like, never?"

Talking to himself was a habit Tannim had not had the
grace to shed over the years.  Though it was nice to
have a voice of reason on his side, he wished
sometimes that it could've been someone else.

Getting out of the car and not really noticing anyone
in his general vicinity, the brown-haired man headed
towards his stash of emergency supplies in the trunk
briskly.  "At least I always remember to have a
jacket... handy..."  Tannim trailed off as he pulled
out a long, black trench coat from where he stored his
emergency clothing.  It was exactly like the one Keanu
Reeves had worn in the first Matrix movie, and while
very cool, this was nothing like the winter clothing
he had placed there in his previous life.

"It'll do," he shrugged and slipped the coat on.
Fastened closed it disguised his state of undress
rather well.  Now at least he didn't look like a hobo.

---

Two girls around the age of sixteen stood side by
side, one with bright blonde hair framing a tan
complexion, the other with green tresses held in check
by a neon pink headband.  Both wore your typical
teenie-bopper clothing; much too bright and with
skirts far too short to be called decent.

The blonde was animatedly talking to her friend.
"...and I also heard he's seven feet tall, with
glowing red eyes!" she exclaimed.  "And he shoots
fireballs out of them!"

"Yeah right, Mihoshi.  You always were an airhead..."

"Aw, Kiyone, that's mean!  Even if it is true!"

"...but this takes the cake.  I mean, c'mon, we got a
detailed description from Lieutenant General Makoto!
We already know ex-ACT-ly what he looks like."

"Brown hair, green eyes..."

Kiyone nodded with satisfaction.  "Exactly."

"...and such a hunk!"

"What?  Who are you--?"  Kiyone glanced in the
direction her partner was drooling.  "That's him!" she
shouted, grabbing Mihoshi by the collar and shaking
the blonde for all she was worth.  "Call Makoto!
Alert the armies!"

"But why!"  Mihoshi cried plaintively while clutching
on her friend's arm for support.  Eyes filled to the
brim with unshed tears she gave her best kicked puppy
dog look.  "Can't I ask him out to lunch first?"

"Hurry up!" Kiyone shouted impatiently.  "He's about
to run straight into Romeo Company, and they don't
even realize it!"  There really wasn't time for
Mihoshi's shenanigans.  The only thing that had kept
Kiyone from snapping and killing the blonde outright
years ago is that she knew Mihoshi wasn't stupid on
purpose.  It just came naturally.

"This whole area was designated as low priority," she
continued at a more even pace, "so it wouldn't
surprise me if they were slacking off..." her
attention was drawn towards a love-struck Mihoshi, and
she sighed dejectedly, "...just like us."

Wait, why did Mihoshi have the only cell phone anyway?

"Gimme that!"  Kiyone snatched the phone from her
partner while Mihoshi was distracted.  It wasn't
difficult.  "I'm surprised I didn't think of this
sooner!" she cheerfully nodded, though it took a few
moments to recall the correct number before dialing it
in.  "This is Echo Team Seven, Base, do you read,
over?  Yes, he's walking right through the southern
entrance right now!  Over!"

Kiyone jerked the phone away from her ear until the
noise died down.  "I'm sorry we didn't call sooner, we
just spotted him!" she nervously lied.  Several
commands were issued as Kiyone listened intently, some
of which to she nodded, forgetting for the moment that
the person on the other end couldn't see her.  "Right.
Yes.  We're on our way to intercept.  Echo Team Seven
out."

"Okay, Mihoshi."  Kiyone snapped the cell phone shut
with an audible click.  "Let's go catch us a man."

"Yay!"

---

"Joey, Jeffy, Jamie!  Attention!"

Three boys responded in unison.  "Yes, my Mistress?"

"I'm starting to feel a bit warm, flap your arms
harder!"

"Yes, Lady Quinn!" they continued in perfect,
three-part harmony.  "Your wish is my command!"

Quinn grinned, and with a contented sigh slipped
deeper into the lounge chair she had been given as a
gift from one of her many 'admirers.'  It was
currently connected to two long poles so she could be
carried on the backs of her free labor.  It was nice
to have a legion of boys who never said 'no' to
anything she asked, and as long as she remembered to
keep them trained and well fed, they served her well.

Much to Quinn's annoyance, her cell phone rang,
interrupting her reverie.  She glared at the offending
device ringing from its position on the silver platter
held by another one of her boys, and contemplated
ignoring the call.  It wasn't something she thought on
for long, as the armies were on a heightened state of
alert and it was probably important...

At that moment, a man happened to stroll right on by,
not paying the debutante any mind whatsoever.  From
what Quinn could see, he was tall, well built, with
long wavy golden tresses and green eyes hardened into
the expression of a man on a mission.

"Oooo, I like."  Quinn weighed her options carefully:
to answer the phone, or chase down the latest
beefcake?  "Justin, be a dear, and answer that for me,
will you?  I think I'll follow that hunk and get him
to notice me."

"But mistress, hasn't our Queen given us express
orders to stay here and watch for this 'Tannim'
fellow, on pain of defenestration?"  It was Justin's
job, by order of the queen, to speak up when this sort
of situation arose.  He was the only one of Quinn's
sycophants with enough brainpower to do so.  It was
also why he was holding the tray with the phone.

As was typical, Quinn ignored him.  She strode
seductively towards the man in the trench coat,
incidentally blocking his path and causing him to
halt.

"Hey there, handsome.  Don't you think I'm the most
beautiful thing you've ever seen?"  After Quinn became
Duchess of her own fiefdom she stopped being subtle.

It wasn't every day Tannim was propositioned like
that, so he was forced to look at the girl who had
made such a bold statement.  He eyed her critically
for a moment.

"I've seen better," he replied curtly.  "Who're you?"

If the girl was fazed by this response, she didn't
show it.  "You can call me, 'Your Grace Quinn
Morgendorffer, Duchess of The Chasm.'"

Tannim didn't know if this was in reference to the
popular clothing store or the amount of cleavage Quinn
was currently showing off.  He decided it had to be
the former, and refrained from staring at the latter.
A Herculean feat to be sure, given the amount of
attention she was trying to draw to it, but he
managed.

This was actually turning out to be quite the
interesting encounter.  It's not every day one sees
what Quinn from the popular MTV show Daria would look
like in person.  Grown up from the teeny-bopper high
school persona, it couldn't have been too many years
from when she'd last been on television.  Quinn was
certainly well into adulthood and past the childish
adolescence that had been her hallmark on the show, as
evidenced by the short but form-hugging purple skirt
and deep v-necked indigo t-shirt.  He'd place her age
around twenty or so.

"Not interested," Tannim finally spoke.  "Besides,
Daria would be more my type," he admitted truthfully.

Quinn took a quick step back in revulsion.  "YOU'RE
one of those geeky nerd types?  Ick!  And here I was
hoping to get some untainted beef..."

The man grinned at the jibe.  "That's me; just a
regular Mad Cow.  Now if you'll excuse me, I've
somewhere to be."  Tannim quickly and efficiently
strode away from the manipulative and man-hungry
woman.  Easy on the eyes, to be sure, but you'd have
to be a brain-dead toothpick to be willing to go out
with her.

"He was so promising too..." Quinn muttered in
disappointment as she made her way back to the waiting
harem.  "And he knew Daria!  Double ick!"

"Um, your highness?  You know that call from earlier?
It's from Base, saying to be on the lookout for our
fugitive.  He was spotted last in this area.  They
want to speak to you directly."

"Fine, fine, hand me the phone."  Quinn tiredly stuck
out a hand.  Once the phone was placed on her
outstretched palm she calmly retracted her arm and
spoke into the device.  "Hello?"

"Romeo, come in Romeo, this is Baker, do you read,
over?"  Makoto asked on the other end of the line.

"Yeah, yeah, this is 'Romeo,' what is it?"

"You're supposed to say 'over,' Romeo.  Over."

"What-ever.  Over."

"Subject reported sighted as heading in your area.  Do
you have visual confirmation?  Over."

"Huh?" Quinn replied intelligently.

Makoto sighed into the receiver.  "Have you seen the
guy we're looking for?"

"How am I supposed to know what he looks like?"  Quinn
paused, before remembering to say, "Over."

"Fine.  Uploading picture from camera-phone
surveillance now, over."

Quinn pulled the cell away from her ear to take a look
at the picture.

"Him?  Ick!"  She made a face.  "He's right over
there, on the second floor.  Ew, I can't believe he
actually went into that goth place!  That's just
gross!  Just when I thought he couldn't sink any
lower..."

Makoto shut off the inane ramblings of her subordinate
and turned to the battery of assembled girls with cell
phones that acted as the communication division of
Bonnie's Armies.  "We've got a Dodo sighting at Goth's
Graveyard, repeat Dodo sighting at Goth's Graveyard!
Spread the word ladies!"

Hundreds of fingers typed furiously on thousands of
keys as orders and pictures were relayed to the rest
of the mall.

---

Tannim entered Goth's Graveyard and was unsurprised to
see William manning the register.  He took off his
trench coat as he entered.

"Dude, nice digs."  William nodded appreciatively,
still speaking at his customary monotone.  "I wish
mine would look that worn.  You don't know how many
times I've run them through the wash.  You've got the
beaten and torn look down, man."

Tannim grinned.  This was precisely the response he
was hoping for.  "How about a trade?" he suggested.

William surreptitiously looked at the merchandise
hanging around the store that technically wasn't his
to barter with.  "Sure.  Though I warn you, those
stuck up chicks'll probably start raggin' you about
your outfit the moment you leave here."

That thought brought Tannim up short.  While he didn't
particularly care if someone commented on his
wardrobe, he did need some sort of distraction to keep
the Amazons off his back.  He grinned again as another
thought struck him.

"Do you have some cardboard and markers?  And a nearby
store you don't like?"

---

"All right, go in there and get him!"

"Nuh-uh, you go first!"

"Hel-loooo, superior officer here!  I get to order
you, not the other way around!"

"But it's gross in there!"

The gaggle of girls began to dissolve into a heated
argument amongst themselves.  This was something that
Tannim, armed with several cardboard box pieces and a
Sharpie marker, did not fail to take advantage of.
With a frankly absurd mischievous grin, he began to
scrawl foretellings of a sale of truly epic
proportions and left them strategically around Zack's
3rd Avenue.  The deed done, he then began to make his
getaway.  It would not be long until one of the girls
noticed the ruse; such girls were attracted to sales
like moths to a flame.

As Tannim expected, their finely-tuned shopping senses
locked onto the signs quickly and all sense of reason
and propriety left them entirely.

"Look!  They're having a sale at ninety-percent off!"

"Omigod!  An unscheduled sale?  We've got to hurry
before the rest of the girls find out!"

Of course Tannim was far from out of the woods just
yet.  The group that was chasing him was not the only
one to notice the signs.  Others were quick to catch
on through word of mouth, and soon there was a steady
stream of amazons making their way towards Zack's 3rd
Avenue.

Tannim found that he had made a gross miscalculation.
While the Amazons were indeed enthralled by the
prospects of a sale, it made his clean getaway all the
more difficult.  Luckily, he spotted one of the side
exits, commonly tucked discreetly between stores in
all malls.  He praised Belldandy silently and ducked
into the passageway amidst the throng of crazed
teenaged females.

The green-eyed man paused to catch his breath, and
allowed those eyes to drift shut as he leaned his head
back against the door.  They shot open moments later
when he heard a voice yell triumphantly down the
corridor from his position.

"Aha!" Makoto shouted, "I knew you'd try to escape
this way again!"  She was flanked on either side by a
gaggle of weapon-toting women who did not look at all
amused.

The young man stared at Makoto blankly.  His right eye
twitched for a second before he felt a frenzied scream
work its way up through his stomach and pause at the
top of his windpipe, before it ripped itself from his
throat.

Tannim, for lack of a better word, howled in
frustration.  It held a cocktail of curdled dreams and
soured choices, with a hint of black despair, all
blended perfectly into one sound lasting not more than
a few seconds.  Makoto was impressed.

He shot back out the door as though Carrot Top and the
MTV VeeJays of old were after him.  He'd rather face
the rest of the mall combined than deal with that
crazy chick again.

Surprising a number of amazons looking in his general
direction, he vaulted clear over the railing and
headed to the first floor by the quickest means
without any hesitation whatsoever.  It was something
of a small miracle that he didn't land on anybody.

Unfortunately due to his yell, Tannim didn't get much
of a head start.  It took all of five seconds for
Makoto to burst out from the doors he left behind,
shout "After him!" and proceed to give chase.

Fleeing from the quickly growing mob Tannim noted that
at least his diversionary tactic was half-successful;
many of the amazons were reluctant or outright refused
to leave the supposed 'sale.'  Most that did follow
him did so half-heartedly, and not at full speed.

However, the mallrats were much more organized than
Tannim anticipated.  This was made quickly apparent by
the throng of women quickly walking down the
thoroughfare in the middle of the mall, filling the
walking area in front of him and impeding his first
idea of simply making a mad dash for MegaGamers.  His
only viable exit left to try was the stairs of the
second floor again, which he did so as fast as he
could, taking the stairs two or three steps at a time.

"He's going up!  Level two units, engage!"

Immediately swarms of girls began pouring out of the
stores on the second floor.  Tannim had to admire the
tactical brilliance of it all; those particular stores
were located in the center of the mall itself, and
thus an excellent place to hold a rapid-deploy reserve
force.  Soon the entire upper floor of the mall was
filled to capacity with angry, bustling teenagers,
heading in his direction and making passage next to
impossible.

Soon he found himself being herded onto a bridged that
connected the two sides of the second floor, as it was
the only open space available to him.  With amazons to
the front of him, and amazons coming up from behind,
Tannim did the only thing he could think of.

He could hear several of the girls gasp in surprise as
he slipped over the railing.  It was here, underneath
the middle of the bridge, that Tannim attempted a
Saotome specialty: clinging to the ceiling for dear
life.  In this case he was aided by the structural
supports underneath and was able to swing himself up
and catch one of the opposite supports with his legs.

While it did get him out of reach of those above him,
this did leave him dangling in plain sight.  Not
exactly what he'd been hoping for, but then again, he
hadn't exactly given this plan much thought, either.

"There he is!"  "Get him!"  "Get his feet!"

Tannim glared balefully at the growing mob of teenage
girls below him.  Then, he grinned with sudden
amusement.  The view of a horde of women in skimpy
clothing from directly above left nothing to be
desired, especially with all the arm waving and
jumping about.

A voice pierced the din with crisp, clear authority.

"Attention!  Form up!"

Surprisingly enough the Mallrats obeyed, emptying the
middle of the mall to form rows in front of the
stores.  Several girls unused to the practice had to
be guided by their fellows, but everything was
accomplished quickly and efficiently, much more so
than Tannim would have thought possible from a horde
of teenagers.  At least, a horde of teenagers without
Green Beret training.

Tannim craned his neck to where the voice originated
from.  What he saw nearly caused him to lose his grip
in shock.

There was Deedlit, the same girl from this morning,
only this time she was in full battle regalia.  Flack
jacket, army boots, and camouflage gear with twin
ornamental lines of green paint down her cheeks were
all scary enough, but the sword at her hip completed
the intimidating look and gave Tannim chills.  Coupled
with the way she barked orders at the surrounding
girls, she projected an aura of menace.  Deedlit acted
more like a drill sergeant than a high school girl as
she urged her comrades into position.  What happened
to the airheaded valley girl he had met earlier?

It was only after Tannim got over his initial shock
that he noticed the platoon of cheerleaders marching
behind her, moving in synchronized lockstep.  This was
obviously the elite of the amazons.  They all wore the
same purple cheerleading uniforms, not from any nearby
school, but one that had "Bonnie" stitched across the
front in big letters.  The "B" in "Bonnie" had a small
crown hanging from it at an odd angle.

'Things... do not look good,' thought Tannim wryly.
'I think I may be screwed.  Royally.'

Then the cheerleaders did something Tannim supposed he
should have expected, but surprised him nonetheless:
they began to form a human pyramid.  Their movements
were quick, precise, and obviously well-practiced.

"Hey, that's pretty impressive!" he called out
cheerfully.

No answer, save Deedlit's deepening scowl, was
forthcoming.  So much for flattery.

In no time at all three of them had made their way up
to within grabbing range of Tannim's hanging trench
coat, with two more quickly ascending to grab the man
himself.  One of them even managed to snag the coat.
An experimental yank by the offending mallrat did
nothing to persuade Tannim to let go.

Later, when he was all alone, Tannim would think back
and marvel at his luck that, at just the right moment,
a girl in the middle of the pyramid had to sneeze.

And what a doozy of a sneeze it was.  In fact, it just
managed to unbalance the whole pyramid, and send it
tumbling.  Now while those sequence of words didn't
sound impressive written out, it was a lot of fun to
watch as the girls slowly collapsed under the pressure
of not having enough coordinated balance to keep them
up anymore.  In fact, Tannim could have sworn it was a
sport watching those poor girls fall underneath the
weight of themselves.

It was this moment that Tannim decided to take the
opportunity to skedaddle.  He let go of the supports,
landed, and turned to make a run for it.

It was unfortunate that he found, much to his dismay,
Deedlit already waiting patiently for him with rapier
pointed towards his throat.  He almost skewered
himself on the end of it in his haste but stopped just
in time.  Instead Tannim managed to leap back several
feet and get outside of immediate strike range.

"You'll never take me down," he warned.  Bluffed,
really, but he'd been doing so much of that lately he
was starting to believe in his own lies.

"That remains to be seen," Deedlit sneered.  "But
first, I wanna to get my licks in, before I drag you
kicking and screaming before the queen."  The blonde
sheathed her rapier and shrugged off her combat vest,
leaving her wearing a tan short sleeved t-shirt.  She
raised her fists into a fighting position reminiscent
of a boxer's stance.  "I've got a score to settle for
my fellow warrior women."

"All right," Tannim replied.  The man readied himself
for the upcoming fight by discarding his trench coat.
"You asked for it, then."

Without so much as a warning, Tannim made the first
move as soon as the words were out of his mouth and
his coat hit the ground.  He'd already been pushed
around enough today, and rather than wait for Deedlit
to come at him with who knows what, he figured a
frontal assault with a Gaijin Smash could probably
give him enough breathing room to make a break for it
again.  Bringing his glowing right fist to bear, and
pleased that it held his brightest glow yet, he
charged headlong at Deedlit with fist cocked back and
ready to lay one into her.

Things didn't go exactly as planned.  They rarely do
when you're facing a person who is an expert in
martial arts, especially one who specializes in
re-directing their opponent since they're usually so
much smaller than everyone else.

Deedlit expertly caught Tannim's outstretched arm and
slid into a hip-throw maneuver that sent the man
literally flying, projecting him head-long towards a
nearby pillar.  His reaction speed was enough that he
managed to get his arms crossed in front of him before
he hit.

This was particularly unfortunate since he still had a
Gaijin Smash in hand.

The thing about the Gaijin Smash technique, Tannim was
about to find out, is that it didn't care which
direction it released the energy in.  One of the
things Rukia neglected to mention in his training,
even if he could remember, was that the reason she
herself had to build up so much momentum before
hitting him was so that she wouldn't be thrown back
herself by the technique.  The release of pressure
from the blast was, in fact, omni-directional,
something Tannim hadn't discovered since he hadn't
used one at such force before.

The end result was that Tannim suddenly and very
violently punched himself in the face.

CRACK!

Tannim flipped head-over-heels in an arc of trajectory
that brought him sailing over the surprised Deedlit to
land behind her in a heap.  It was several seconds
before he could blink the stars out of his eyes.  It
was several more before he could form coherent
thought.

"Oooooooh... wha' hap'en?"  Any other attempt at
speaking was thwarted by the fact his head was ringing
more than the Sistine Chapel at high noon.

"You just pummeled yourself, looks like," replied
Deedlit worriedly.  Her fighting stance relaxed in the
face of this new development.  "You okay?"

"Su-u-ure.  Just lemme... stop the bells..."

This was accomplished by placing both hands over his
ears until his brain stopped vibrating.  After that,
initial damage estimates were surprisingly good, as
nothing else felt out of place, or even hurt.  It was
something of a miracle and at the moment Tannim was
simply thankful that he hadn't taken his own head
clean off.  That would have been an embarrassing way
to go; death by decapitation from your own technique.

"Okay," he said.  "I think I'm ready for round two."

Tannim rolled to his feet and happened to end up
standing next to one of those benches littered about
the mall for weary customers to rest their feet.  He
grabbed the top wooden beam of the bench intending to
rip it free so as to provide himself with a weapon,
and pulled.  He underestimated how well the bench
itself was made, and overestimated how well a job the
screws holding it down were doing, and ended up
holding the entire bench in one hand.  This surprised
everyone watching the event, including Tannim.

The words, "Jeez I'm strong!" escaped Tannim's lips
quite unintentionally.  He stared at the aloft object
held lightly and easily in his hand, completely
dumbfounded at his own immense strength.  He missed,
however, the subtle sound a rapier makes when sliding
free from its sheath.

It was hard to miss when the bench was sliced
lengthwise in half.  It landed with a resounding crash
to the floor, and Tannim dropped the other half in
shock.  It was only then that he noticed Deedlit
standing in front of him with a very sharp sword and
the look of murder in her eyes.  The rapier itself
tickled the edge of Tannim's memory, but he pushed
that to the side as more important matters, like not
dying, held his immediate attention.

"If you want to up the ante to weapons, that's like,
totally fine by me."  This threat was punctuated by a
few lightning-quick slashes to demonstrate just how
quick she was with her weapon of choice.

Tannim meeped.  He didn't know he could.

Deedlit raised her arm to attack.

Then, much to Tannim's surprise and relief, everything
froze.

That wasn't entirely accurate, Tannim realized after a
moment of careful observation and thankful prayer.
While for the most part it appeared as though time had
stopped, he discovered it was still in motion at a
crawl; everyone was still moving, just very, very
slowly.

'Huh,' thought Tannim absently.  'This must be what
bullet time feels like.  Thank God this happened when
it did.'

It was then he realized Deedlit's rapier was still
moving towards him at a fairly brisk pace, though
still extremely slow compared to the
lightning-quickness shown previously, and Tannim
barely managed to get over his amazement to duck out
of the way in time.  His entire body felt like it was
moving underwater, but this slight resistance was not
enough to hinder his movements.

Even if the rest of Deedlit was moving as if stuck in
molasses her sword arm continued the assault with what
must have been to the natural eye blazing speed.  With
each swing slowed down significantly, however, it was
child's play to stay one step ahead of the ponderous
blade.  A vertical slash was sidestepped, and the
follow-up diagonal strike to his midriff was dodged by
leaning to the side.  The following thrusts were each
avoided using minimal movements while shifting his
body so that the attacks missed by mere inches.

Tannim nearly broke into laughter as Deedlit's
surprise slowly spread across her face.  He settled
for smirking arrogantly at the girl.

Several seconds of constant dodging later, Tannim felt
bold enough to counter-attack.  On the next overhead
chop he clapped his hands firmly around the blade
imitating the "ninja catch" he'd seen in countless
samurai flicks.

What he didn't anticipate was her twisting the sword
and pulling it free, slicing his hand in the process.
Apparently a rapier's thin blade wasn't the best of
weapons for that particular maneuver.

Tannim looked down expecting to see a deep cut in his
hand, but to his shock there was merely a thin line
where the first couple of layers of skin had been
sliced through.  To his further amazement, that line
quickly disappeared as he watched.

'Huh,' he stared thoughtfully at his hand, dumbfounded
for the second time that day, at his own toughness and
regenerative abilities.  'Hey, this is startin' ta get
cool.'

Time returned to normal as Deedlit stepped back and
panted slightly from exertion.  Apparently as soon as
someone stopped attacking him for real, the effects of
bullet time wore off.

"Are you anticipating my movements and dodging them?"
she asked warily, giving a cautious look to the hand
Tannim was staring at.  Deedlit stomped a foot in
irritation.  "Hey, why aren't you bleeding?"

The young man shrugged helplessly.  "I have no idea.
But I hope it's because of the training from last
night."  He honestly didn't want to consider the
possibility that something else beyond his control was
messing with him.  Again.  The book was bad enough.
Maybe this was a side effect of that spell Belldandy
used earlier to heal him and make him strong?  Yeah,
that was it.  Gotta be.

Deedlit didn't know what to make of the boy in front
of her.  One second he was being tossed around like an
untrained monkey by not only herself, but is own
techniques; now he suddenly had the ability to
perceive and evade her swiftest attacks?  Fast enough
and agile enough to catch her blade mid-strike?

Regular attacks were not working.  It was time to use
another method.

Deedlit pointed directly over Tannim's shoulder with a
shocked expression on her face.  "Oh, my, GOD!  What
is that behind you?"

Tannim turned around quickly to look.  "What?  What is
it?  What's--"

Deedlit's rapier rested gently on Tannim's neck.  "Do
you yield?"

Tannim almost nodded and gave himself the closest
shave of his life, but he held the motion just in
time.  "I yield," he answered, also resisting a strong
impulse to swallow.  Sure, he probably could have
survived his jugular being cut, but who wanted to bet
their life on that?  Not him.  Maybe if he had more
time to experiment with his invulnerability, but for
now, it was better to be safe than dead.

Then the man realized he had been fooled by the oldest
trick in the book and felt like he could die from
sheer embarrassment.  "Okay, you got me fair and
square," he admitted.  "What are you going to do with
me now?"

A voice rang out from outside the ring of Amazonian
warriors.  "You're going to fight me!"  The
surrounding mallrats parted to allow Makoto through,
and then quickly closed ranks behind her.  She had a
particularly satisfied expression on her face that was
graced with a nasty smirk.  "How does it feel, to be
fooled by your own trick?  You did the same thing to
me when we first met."

It was only then did Tannim remember the event, where
he had bluffed the amazons into allowing him to
escape.  It turned out irony wasn't very funny when it
was directed at you.

"Remember that day, when you accepted my challenge?  I
demand that you stand and fight me!"

The rest of the mallrats cheered at this proclamation.
Cries ranged from catcalls to calls for blood.

Deedlit whispered from behind Tannim's back.  "And
you're going to stand still for the first hit,
understand?"  Deedlit gave the man a not-so-subtle
nudge with the tip of her rapier.  "Promise."

"All right, all right."  Tannim raised his arms in
surrender.  "I promise!"  He craned his neck around to
look Deedlit in the eye.  "You don't have to get your
panties in a twis--"

Tannim was interrupted by a gentle tap to his
mid-section.  Incidentally, at the same moment, a dull
crack echoed throughout the mall.

If someone had had thrown a giant bucket of water on
the surrounding crowd, they would have gotten much of
the same reaction as all the girls in the area quieted
down instantly.  Many of them winced sympathetically
while a few looked as though they might be sick.

Tannim whipped his head forward just in time to see
Makoto painfully pulling back her right leg from his
ribs.  She hopped awkwardly several times, all the
while cursing hard enough to put a sailor to shame,
before realizing movement just made things worse and
quickly sat down as painlessly as her injured foot
allowed her to.

"No fair!  You've got metal under your shirt!"  Makoto
accused through clenched teeth while clutching her
foot in pain.  "It felt like steel or something!"

Deedlit wasted no time in literally carving Tannim's
t-shirt off his upper torso and peeling it from his
body with her sword, while Tannim held as still as
humanly possible.  After she was done she slid her
hand over Tannim's bare back.

The assembled mallrats held their breath.

"Omigod."  Deedlit quietly whispered in shock.  "It IS
like coiled steel!"

Well, he did have that new physique, Tannim realized.
Experimentally he tried flexing a few muscles and
received several appreciative gasps from the audience
for his efforts.

"Hey!"  Tannim jumped several feet in the air in
surprise.

Deedlit stared at her hand.  Yep, she decided, his
butt definitely felt as good as it looked.

"I wanna touch!"  "Me too!"  "Lemme through, I can't
see!"

Before Tannim knew it he was buried under a squirming
pile of female flesh, all desperately trying to get a
feel for his torso.  A few of the daring girls were
trying to grope more private areas, which he valiantly
defended against the onslaught by clutching his family
jewels despite several vain attempts to pry his hands
away.

"GAIJIN PERIMETER!"

A swiftly expanding globe of nearly invisible energy
pushed all the girls in a six foot radius centered on
Tannim away, sending them sprawling in all directions.
Not unlike a downing man who had just broken the
surface of the sea, Tannim heaved several gulps of air
before the panic he'd been feeling moments before
finally settled enough for coherent thought to return.

The man grinned wildly at the rest of the girls who
were standing around in shock, and laughed at the ones
who were still trying to pull themselves out of the
tangle mess of limbs and bodies.  That act of bravado
helped hide his discomfort at nearly being glomped to
death by a horde of teenage girls.  Though in theory
that wouldn't have been a bad way to go, it was much
more frightening a prospect in real life.

On the upshot, at least he learned a new technique.
Or remembered an old one.  Whatever.

"I guess life-threatening situations really DO work to
bring those forgotten techniques out," he stated
ruefully as the surrounding girls started to get to
their feet.  He made a 'come hither' motion with an
outstretch palm.  "C'mon, wenches, lets get this over
with."

"Get him!" rang the uninspired battle cry.

Tannim lashed out with a fierce right hook and a
glowing fist, sending the leading cheerleader flying
backwards into her fellows with a perfectly timed
Gaijin Smash, incidentally knocking five of the elite
cheerleaders down at once.  On instinct he ducked a
punch from behind, and his retaliatory leg sweep,
pivoting on his left foot while swinging with the
right, sent two more girls tumbling.

The space around him cleared, Tannim used this
opportunity to jump as best he could away from the
encircling mob of crazy cheerleaders.  He surprised
himself by leaping hard enough to nearly send himself
through one of the mall's skylights.  It was only by
using a hand to push away from the ceiling did he
avoid a potentially painful catastrophe, and thanks to
his momentum, he was carried past the edge of the
mallrat mob and into the clear.

High on adrenaline and relief at escaping, the man
couldn't resist at least tossing one taunt over his
shoulder.  "You'll never catch me alive, coppers!"

"We're not police!" Deedlit shot at Tannim's
retreating back.

Tannim paused long enough to turn around and point an
accusing finger at the girl.  "You copped a feel!"

Deedlit grinned happily at the memory.  "Guilty as
charged!" she cheerfully proclaimed.

"No sense of common decency in youngsters these
days..."

And that was all the time Tannim had for banter before
nearly being swarmed by amazons again, though this
time they were attacking him with more passion, and
less bloodlust.  With his enhanced physique it wasn't
too difficult to outpace even the fastest of the
mallrats chasing him.

And he would have gotten away, too, if it hadn't been
for that advertisement display in Wardenbooks.

It was big.  It was gaudy.  It was lined with sparkles
and sequins.

And worst of all...

Worst of all...

It was him.

Well, sort of.

Perhaps if Tannim had drawn himself in the manga style
Japan was famous for, and added copious amounts of
green dye to his hair, the guy in the picture and the
person standing before it might have resembled one
another.  But the thing that had halted the fleeing
mortal in his tracks wasn't actually the picture of
the comic book being advertised, but the name of the
author who drew the damn thing.  It was a name Tannim
Murphy had used for years as an alias in his personal
gaming habits, a name that he used pretty much
exclusively off the internet and didn't know how
anyone had gotten a hold of what he previously thought
to be a pretty unique alias.

What had stopped Tannim from sheer shock was an
advertisement for a manga authored and drawn by one
'Matt Knudsen' entitled 'Otaku Muyo.'

'Title seems almost familiar,' Tannim thought to
himself in wonderment, 'though I doubt I've ever read
anything with a name as stupid as "No Need For a Fan."
I've got to check this out.'

And so, without so much as a backwards glance at the
mallrats closing in on his position, or a single
thought of common sense that he could probably obtain
the merchandise he wanted later somewhere else, he
marched himself into the store.

---

"Mihoshi, how did I let you talk me into looking at
manga, rather than looking for the wanted suspect?"
asked Kiyone.

"Because I need to get the latest book out on Otaku
Muyo!  You know it's my favorite series!"  Mihoshi
turned to Kiyone and gave her The Look.

"Ah yes, the puppy dog pout," Kiyone said
dispassionately.  "Now I remember.  Well, I suppose it
beats running around willy-nilly..."

A third voice injected itself into the conversation.
"Not to seem like a bother, but what is Otaku Muyo
actually about?"  An arm reached past the teenagers to
grab the first volume.

Both girls turned to look at the man.  Kiyone with
shock, and Mihoshi with joy at discovering a potential
fellow fan.

"I'll tell you everything I know!" Mihoshi cheerfully
exclaimed.  She then proceeded to do so.

A Mihoshi babble was quite spectacular to watch up
close, Tannim noted.  And it was obviously on a
subject she loved.  Somewhere in the stream of
constant dialogue he managed to grasp that this 'Otaku
Muyo' story was about one man's journey through the
multiverse as he was flung from dimension to dimension
on a quest to save his love.  Or loves.  Mihoshi
wasn't clear on that part and Tannim didn't have the
courage to interrupt her while she was going full
steam.

"-and that's why I think Otaku Muyo, or 'oh em' as it
is known in fan circles, is currently the best manga
on the market!"  Mihoshi paused to draw breath.  "So
what do you think?"  She looked at Tannim expectantly.

"Sounds like a contrived, sorry excuse for a story,"
he stated flatly, then reluctantly admitted, "...but
it sounds interesting at least.  I'll have to check it
out."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Kiyone shouted and pointed a
finger dramatically at Tannim.  "We're supposed to
capture you!"

Tannim looked behind him, and noted a steady stream of
amazons lined up just outside the bookstore.  "Yeah,
about that.  Why aren't they attacking?"

"Mall Protocol Seven Five Three states that any person
involved in Total Mall Combat shall not engage the
enemy inside any store, less precious merchandise may
be harmed," Mihoshi rattled off.  "In such an event
the person is allowed to make up to five purchases
before being dragged out forcefully and made to
continue."

"Huh."  Tannim thought things over for a moment.  He
was getting tired of running, and while it wasn't his
first choice, he supposed this was as good a spot as
any to stop the madness under his own terms.  As it
stood he'd either be run out of the place for good or
face capture by combat again.  "I don't suppose if I
surrender to you I'll get a calm walk back to Bonnie?"

Kiyone blinked.  "Uh, sure.  You sure you don't want
to run away again?" she asked almost hopefully.

"No, I'll go peacefully.  Just as long as you call off
your horde of fellow teenagers."

It was this point that Deedlit entered the store,
still completely intimidating in full battle regalia.
Her hair disheveled and eyes blazing, she locked her
gaze at the only male standing in the room and raised
her rapier to point at his chest.

"You're coming with me," Deedlit spoke in no uncertain
terms.

"Yep," Tannim easily agreed.  "Kiyone and Mihoshi here
caught me."

Deedlit looked uncertain for a moment, before she
deflated.  "Oh.  I thought you were going to give me
another good fight."

Tannim winced.  "No, I'm ready to face the music now."

The rapier was sheathed with an unsatisfied grunt.
"Well that sucks."  Deedlit grabbed several plastic
zip ties from a pocket, pulled Tannim's arms behind
him, and cuffed them together.  "I don't suppose
you'll give me a little struggle?"

The man rolled his eyes.  "If it'll make you feel
better."

Deedlit slapped him on the butt, hard.  When Tannim
turned to face her she was grinning shamelessly.

"Let's get going then!"  The girl started dragging
Tannim out of the store.

"Wait, I haven't purchased my manga!"

"Too late!"

---

TBC...

Author's Notes:  Man, what a beast.  While this
particular bit of plot with Bonnie was initially
started on a whim because I thought "Amazon Warrior
Mallrats" sounded funny, I was forced to write them to
their logical conclusion when I had all the pieces in
motion, and am almost sorry I came up with such a long
and involved idea even though parts have been fun to
write.  Also, what I hope has been an action-packed
chapter contains the most action I've written, ever.

Hopefully I'll get better with more practice.  I'm
still relatively new to the writing scene.

While I don't consider myself a very good writer,
Otaku Muyo has been a great experience in many
respects, and allowed me to practice writing for the
more long-term (a skill, if you note my other works, I
seriously lack).  It has had its ups and downs, with
failed or discarded ideas and a lack of what I'd call
solid pacing, but it has meandered along better than I
could have hoped for.  Not the best I could have
wanted, but better than I thought I could do.  Much of
this has been me trying to find a particular writing
style that I'm satisfied with, which I believe I'm
close to approaching.

Now, I feel I should address the issue of why this
chapter in particular took so long.  Part of the
slowdown was due because I was, well, away from home
for six months out of the year in 2007.  Another part
was sheer laziness, as writing the mallrats was not an
easy task, given the number of variables they could
conceivably produce.  Many ideas I came up with for
the mall battle scenes had to be discarded or
rewritten.  Much of what I had planned early on never
materialized as I realized that none of it would help
or advance the plot.  Originally I had planned on
adding every young hero under the age of 14 to the mix
in coming to Tannim's aid in one large climactic
end-battle, but that would have taken more research
and work to put together than I really wanted to deal
with, so we're left with just Tannim vs. the Mallrats.
Again, I am thankful that this arc of the story is
finally coming to a close.

I feel BlackAeronaut deserves a shout-out, as Ben
helped me piece together a couple of scenes I myself
was reluctant to write, and jump-started me back into
working on this.  There's something to be said for
momentum when you work on a project.  Kyle, also known
as Taiteki Kagato, has been a great help and good
friend for a long time, and deserves some praise
directed his way.  Freddy Isnot helped me along with
some good comments and corrections, and while I'm on
this thanking kick, I feel that I should mention that
The Eternal Lost Lurker and Jared Waddell have both
been awesome encouragers throughout most of Otaku
Muyo.  Thanks also to everyone who left reviews or
responded with comments.

For any wondering, the following chapter should be a
transition from this arc to the next, and the last to
seriously deal with the mallrats.  It's been a blast,
and as things are winding down with Tannim's life in
Crossroads, I want to thank you all for coming along
with me for the ride, and staying with me through this
insanely long, long delay.

All five of you.  ^_^