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Series One Episode Forty-Five A trio of boys, twelve or thirteen years old, stood around outside
the theater, just hanging out. Their topic of conversation: paint
brushes. "I can't believe Kikos can't be painted Pirate!" raged one of the
boys. Twelve years old, he had dark blue hair that looked rather like
a Kiko itself: it was smooth and glossy and curved just the right amount.
People generally didn't make the connection unless there was a Kiko
in the area, though. "Well, Poogles can. Why don't you paint your Poogle?" suggested
another boy. "Are you kidding? Max would rather be invisible. He's
a lot older than my Kikos, and they get in his way a lot," said the blue-haired
boy. "But what's the fun of an invisible paint brush? It can't
look cool if you can't see it." "Word," agreed a third boy solemnly. "Now, the all-time coolest paint brush," the Kiko-haired boy continued,
"has got to be..." "Kevin! THERE you are!" The blue-haired boy spun to see the very angry face of one Jody,
stylish green-haired natural leader with a head that looked as though there
were a JubJub sitting on it. Although none of the boys knew this,
she also happened to be Sailor JubJub. Funny how these things work. "Now, there's an interesting thing about the Neopian language,"
said Jody as she strode up to the boys. "It usually means what it says.
So when Mom says 'let's do some things together as a family this weekend,'
she doesn't mean 'let's have Kevin hang out with Rob and Daniel the whole
time,' and when she says 'come home by noon for lunch,' she means, 'come
home by noon for lunch.' And yet it's one o'clock and here you are,
most definitely not with your family." "Aw, c'mon, Jody," began Kevin. "It's not like Mom doesn't
get to see me every other month anyway - and I'd rather hang out with Rob
and Dan than you - ow!" He said 'ow!' because his big sister
had grabbed him unceremoniously by the ear and started dragging. "See you later, Kevin," said Rob. "Have a good time with your family," added Dan. "Bye - ow! - guys," called Kevin as he was dragged away. By the time they reached the area of the Neopia Central General Hospital, Jody had relinquished her hold on Kevin's ear, and he was walking glumly beside her. Quietly he tallied the difference in height between them in his mind. She was still about half a head taller than he was - but he was growing, that was clear. It looked like construction was being done on the hospital: there was a large squarish area dug up and surrounded with yellow "caution" tape. "This is new," remarked Kevin, glancing around. "There's been an increase in pets and users that need hospitalization," Jody explained. "Why? Neggitus outbreak?" "No. Energy loss." Kevin glanced up at his sister. She looked vaguely upset at something - as if it were her fault that people were getting overtired, or something. Girls. There's no figuring them out. He looked the other way - and froze. A moment later, Jody realized her brother had stopped. She paused and turned to glance at him quizzically. "Come on-" Wait a minute. Something was clearly not right. Kevin was standing perfectly still, every muscle tensed, eyes wide in an expression of utter horror. Jody followed his gaze, preparing to reach for her henshin pen as she scanned the area in that direction for Sailor Chia, mutant Grundos, Hissladys, Devilpups, or something equally menacing. Certainly Kevin looked as though he'd seen Sloth himself. But the bank and the food shop had only innocent-looking pets and users milling around them, in a perfectly normal fashion. "What? What is it?" "Her," replied Kevin in a whisper, raising one arm to point stiffly. And now Jody saw what her little brother had noticed. A red Lupess was skipping along with a bag of groceries in her mouth, at the side of a short girl with fluffy brown hair. The girl turned to look down at her Lupe, revealing a rather cute face with round glasses. Maxima Mono. Kevin, snapping out of his daze with surprising speed, turned urgently to Jody. "We have to get out of here. NOW! Or she'll see me!" "Come on, Kev, she can't be that bad. And besides, there's nowhere to go -" "Oh, yes, there is!" And with that, Kevin turned around and ducked under the tape into the construction area. "Kevin, wait! You're not allowed in there!....Oh, Balthazar's claws," muttered Jody. With a resigned sigh, she slipped under the tape and followed her brother in. There were a couple of bulldozers and cranes and piles of dirt, but nothing seemed to be in motion just then, so Jody jogged along the path left by her brother's sneaker prints in the rough soil. He'd gotten far enough ahead that she'd lost sight of him; how could one little kid move that fast? All right, so he wasn't so 'little' any more, but still, she remembered when she could run circles around him. And had, too, until he would get so upset that Dad shouted at he to quit bothering her baby brother. Where was he? The huge pieces of equipment and veritable mountains of mud cut off her vision, and blocked noise admirably. Jody could barely hear the hustle and bustle of the nearby Neopian marketplace. It was like a different world here. She caught a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye. "Kevin?" And then Jody turned, and what she saw was definitely NOT Kevin. "Why, Jody," purred an all-too-familiar voice. "I'm surprised to see you here." "Sailor Chia," hissed Jody. "I could say the same for you. You're not trying to turn hospitalized pets into nets now, are you?" Chia laughed. "Oh, ye of little faith! No, I discarded that plan long ago - in favor of new, better ideas. They come along all the time. Intelligent folk know when to give in." "So what were you doing at the hospital?" replied Jody, refusing to get bogged down in insults. "What do you think? Surveying my handiwork, of course. It's just lovely to see all these pets sunk so low - and because of me! I have a few special cases that I see over and over. And they're all so clueless - it's heartbreaking." She laughed, a high-pitched laugh that made Jody's hair stand on end. Not that it wasn't doing that already. "I'm not letting you leave here," Jody announced. "Oh? Are you going to take me on all alone?" sneered Sailor Chia. "Face it, kid, you can't kill me on your own. But I just might be able to kill you. Especially since I'm - oh, look! - already transformed." She laughed again, and then in the middle of the laughter chotled, "Chia Giggle!" A bolt of orange energy shot at Jody, who dove to the side as she grabbed her henshin pen out of thin air. "JubJub Neo Power, Make Up!" "I don't plan to kill you," Sailor JubJub announced as she landed on her feet in full sailor fuku. "Just to knock you out. The Faerie Queen will have to be your judge." "Nobody will judge me except the Chaos Faerie," snickered her orange-haired opponent. "And I'm sure she'll judge me admirably if I bring her the body of a Sailor Neopet." "Oh, like that's worked the last eighty times you've tried it!" shot back JubJub with a laugh. She raised her hands and felt fluff gathering around her as she opened her mouth to shout her attack. "JubJub..." The fuzz condensed into a ball in her palm, and she took aim. "...Fuzz!" Unfortunately, Sailor Chia was just as good at dodging as she. "This'll be like a game of Wocky-and-Miamouse," chuckled Chia. "You're horribly outmatched. I could have fun with you for quite a while, assuming none of your pathetic little friends show up." "Jody? Did I lose you?" cut in a boy's voice, and Kevin rounded one of the nearest heaps of dirt. "Whoa!" "Oh! What fun!" exclaimed Chia. "Someone even more pathetic than you!" She turned and took aim at the astonished Kevin. "Don't you dare!" shouted JubJub, taking aim again. "JubJub Fuzz!" Chia dodged it almost effortlessly, and the ball of fluff detonated on a bulldozer, singing its side. "Chia Chaos..." she began. "Dude, what's this?" asked Kevin, holding up an ornate gold and silver chalice. "A cup?" Several things then happened at once. First: Sailor Chia finished her attack. "...Ruin!" Second: Kevin pulled a grey and navy blue pen out of the Sacred Chalice. Third: Sailor JubJub dove in front of her brother. You knew that was coming, right? As the vortex of destructive blackness hit, JubJub took the full force of it and let out a shriek. Then she fell to the ground unconscious, leaving Kevin to stare down at her in shock. "Jody..." Then he looked up at Sailor Chia. "You just blasted my sister!" "That I did, kid," replied the orange-and-purple-haired sailor with a grin. "And you're next. Chia..." "Mynci Punch!" A green and yellow glowing fist whacked Sailor Chia in the side, throwing her off balance and interrupting her near-deadly attack. Kevin looked up, still clutching the pen, in the direction that the punch had come from, wondering just who his savior was. And . . . wow. Perched on top of one of the mountains of dirt in a rather dramatic pose was another Sailor Neopet. She was a little short and rather skinny - or maybe slender would be a better word - and clad in a fuku of pale green with banana-yellow accents. Her hair was short and thick and chocolate-brown, and her eyes shone bright green behind a small pair of glasses. 
Placing one hand defiantly on her hip, the mystery sailor glanced over the
scene and took it all in quickly. "Kevin!" she exclaimed. "You're
a sailor too? Take your pen and hold it up and say your transformation
phrase!""Huh? What's that?" "Just whatever comes into your head -" "Chia Chaos Ruin!" The attack this time was aimed at the mystery sailor, and she let out a screech as she was blasted backwards off of the dirt pile (and the pile itself was relieved of its top half). Oh, she'd done it this time, Sailor Chia had. First attacking his sister, and now this cool - and pretty - girl who had tried to help him? Kevin held up the pen and felt a phrase explode in his mind. "Kiko Neo Power, Make Up!" A torrent of water, glowing deep blue, wrapped around Kevin, and when it dissolved he felt strangely lighter. Stronger, too. His veins were surging with an adrenaline rush, and he felt charged with energy. He turned to glare at Sailor Chia; in this state, he could beat her easy! He was sure of it. Sailor Chia grinned in the direction of her latest act of destruction, then turned back to stare down Kevin . . . and her eyes went wide. She clapped a hand to her mouth. She snickered. And then she started laughing, huge laughs that shook her whole body. She fell over, cachinnating uncontrollably. "All right, that's it," snarled Kevin - or rather, Sailor Kiko. "You think it's so funny? You're not gonna be laughing in a second." The energy rushing through his body seemed to charge behind his eyes, and they lit up as another phrase rushed into his head. "Kiko...Stare!" Twin lasers, brilliant beams of blue light, blasted from his eyes and slammed Sailor Chia in the stomach. Already on the ground, she clutched her chest, the wind knocked out of her, and struggled for breath. It didn't help that she was still convulsing with laughter. Eyes wide with panic, she palmed something small and black and pressed a button. If it had been labeled, the device would have read "Emergency Teleport Request." A moment later, she vanished. Sailor Kiko immediately bent down to check on his sister. She was already stirring. "Kev...you transformed. Good for you," she murmured, and then giggled. "Look, what IS so funny?!" demanded Sailor Kiko. "I just took out the sailor that took out both you and that other one! That's nothing to laugh at!" "Cool," said Sailor JubJub. "But have you taken a look at herself?" He hadn't thought of that. Sailor Kiko glanced down to see just what he was wearing. He'd assumed it was some cool outfit that looked as good as the mystery sailor's green and yellow outfit had looked. He was wrong. He was wearing the exact same short skirt, sailor collar, and massive bows as the female sailors. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The weekend's "quality family time" ended up being spent partly in the hospital, as Jody stayed there a day to recover. She hadn't broken any bones, but she'd been beaten up pretty badly. Later, as soon as she was out, she took Kevin to Faerieland and met with Fyora, who took in Kevin's dilemma in an instant and had a commission of Air Faeries sew a Sailor Kiko fuku in the male style. (It turned out there already was a male style; some of the original team had been guys.) While trying on the new uniform, Kevin told Jody what had happened after she'd been knocked out. "And she was so concise and straightforward!" he explained of the other sailor, whom he'd already described in physical detail. "She told me exactly what to do. Not like that scatterbrained airhead Maxima, who would have squealed and pounced on me or something..." Jody decided not to burst his bubble. |