|
Series One Episode Sixty Venus Anandini, alias Sailor Korbat, walked slowly down the main street of Neopia Central, holding her hands up and letting the breeze dry her shiny pink nails. It was a chilly day in the month of Awakening, but Venus' heart was warmed by the thought of the movie she was about to see - Pirates of the Krawkibbean, from the wonderful world of Dizzy. Specifically, the lead actors made her feel deliciously un-cold inside. When Venus reached the theater, Kaida Welsh and Jody were already there. "Hi!" chirped the blonde, entering the cozy lobby and carefully shedding her parka. "I just got my nails done!" "Cool!" enthused Jody. Under her fluffy hooded jacket she had worn an equally fuzzy shirt, and looked a little uncomfortable in the warm building. "Let's see." Venus slung her parka over her arm and held out her hands. Her nails, filed into almond-shaped curves, shone pink in the light from the concession stand. "Ooooh," cooed Kaida. "Those are gorgeous." Kaida wore a set of ripped jeans and a black shirt with a Fire Faerie on it, which was cut high to show off her pierced navel. "I know, I know!" bubbled Venus. "But sooo expensive. Uni Salons charges a claw and a wing just for a shampoo - and this is a total pampering manicure." The other two nodded in sympathy. "Once in a while, it's worth it," Jody observed. "Tim didn't think so," put in Kaida. "He always got mad when I tried to do anything nice for myself. He, like, hardly ever got the check when we went out, either." Venus - who was tired of hearing about Kaida's old boyfriend - changed the subject. "Did you get the tickets?" she asked Jody. "Yep," replied the green-haired girl. "We're just waiting on Kami." Five minutes later, with all three girls glancing nervously at their watches, Jody made a decision. "Here," she said, handing Kaida and Venus their tickets. "You two go in. I'll give Kaida her ticket when she gets here." Kami arrived at some point during the movie; when the credits started rolling, she and Jody met up with Kaida and Venus on the way out. The four girls gushed about the movie for a while; they ended up at Pizzaroo, splitting a Flaming Fire Faerie Pizza. Venus gingerly took a slice. "Oh!" she remembered. "Kami, did you see my nails?" "Noooo." Kami shook her head; her Acara-horn pigtails flapped. "Oooh," she glowed as Venus displayed them. "The color suits you." "Thanks!" Venus took a bite out of her pizza. "So where were you?" asked Kaida to Kami. "You were, like, really late." The blue-haired girl sighed. "Kelly still needed her snow shoveled . . . Ji skipped her turn again, so she was really annoyed, and made me do an extra-neat job." Jody and Venus nodded, but Kaida looked blank. "Like . . . who's Kelly?" she asked. Kami fidgeted uncomfortably, so Jody stepped in and explained. "Early on - remember Neopetv2? Around that time - this girl named Kelly got photos of some of the sailors transforming, and blackmailed them. So now they have to do all these jobs for her. They take turns mowing her lawn, shoveling her snow, doing her homework . . ." "Actually," put in Kami, "Zelda handles the homework part." "That's smart," remarked Venus. "She's kind of scary," Kami continued. "Kelly, not Zelda." Jody nodded. "I know Leslie's scared of her." "Leslie? No!" exclaimed Venus in disbelief. "I can't see Leslie being scared of anything," Kaida added. There was silence for a moment, then Kami shook her head. "You guys don't hang out with her a lot, do you? . . ." Venus and Kaida shook their heads in unison. "But . . ." Kaida began. "She's, like . . . Leslie." She lowered her voice. "She's Sailor Lupe. Our fearless leader." "Yeah, but still," countered Jody, "she's just human - like all the rest of us." "Except the half-faerie and scorman ones," Kami put in. Jody sighed. "You know what I mean." The sun had gone down by the time the girls had finished their conversation and pizza. They pulled on their jackets as they left Pizzaroo; it had gotten chillier as well as darker, and the wind had picked up. "Brr," commented Venus. "Let's go somewhere," announced Kaida. "Dance, hang out, window shop, something like that." "I've gotta get home," Venus put in. "I have homework . . . and besides, HollyBayBie will stay up, like, really late if I don't tell her to go to sleep." "And my dad will get worried if I'm out too long," Kami added. "Let's do this again soon, though," put in Jody. "Especially if there's another Jettsy Depp movie out." There was a shared dreamy sigh among the four. Jettsy Depp's role in this particular movie had been the major deciding factor in which movie they wanted to see. Kami stopped walking. "Well, my house is back that way, so . . . see you guys later." "See ya!" "Bye!" Venus waved, nails flashing. "Aren't your hands cold?" asked Kaida as they continued. Venus had been holding her hands out in the air still, and wasn't wearing gloves. "A little," admitted the blonde. "But if I put 'em in my pockets, that could mess up my nails . . . and I want 'em to look nice for school tomorrow. There's, like, this really hot guy in my history class - did I tell you about him yet? . . ." Venus was five minutes from her house when her communicator started beeping. She pulled the little pink device out of thin air and held it carefully with her fingertips. "Venus here." There was no answer - just a flashing light labeled EMERGENCY and a static photo, next to a simple map. Sailor Acara - or Kami - had pressed her panic button. Venus turned around and started running. She found Sailor Acara on a path not too far away, held fast by a sailor in a red-and-black fuku with crimson-streaked black hair. Venus ran towards the scene, then stopped short. Behind the pair, dimly illuminated by the moonlight, was a massive Jetsam. Held lightly but firmly between its teeth was Sailor Skeith. Venus stepped back, ducked behind a pine tree, and transformed as quietly as she could. Now wearing gloves, Sailor Korbat was very careful of her hands as she confronted the scene. "Put them down - right now!" "And who are you?" asked the red-and-black-suited soldier smoothly. "I'm the gorgeous soldier of love and laughter, Sailor Korbat! In--" "Enough," snapped the other, cutting her off. "I get the point. I'm Sailor Jetsam." "Let - me - go!" choked out Sailor Acara. "Not a chance," purred Jetsam. "But thank you for sending that distress call. More of your fellows will show up shortly." To Korbat she added, "Try anything, and Bubbles here--" she nodded at the Jetsam-- "chomps your other friend." Korbat decided not to move. As she stood there, she noticed the blinking light on the ground: Kami's communicator. It was unassumingly sending along its little signal, calling all nearby sailors to the scene. If not turned off, it would extend its range, pulling sailors from every corner of Neopia until they had all joined Korbat in this standoff, where they were frozen in place, unable to act, frozen . . . "Zafara Ice!" And then they really were frozen. Sailor Sakasa Zafara walked carefully over the icy ground, studying the situation. Three good sailors, one evil one, plus a freakin' huge Jetsam. Shifting back into her standard Sailor Zafara from, she used a low Zafara Flame to thaw out Sailor Korbat. The blonde, once mobile again, looked a little panicky. "Don't worry," Zafara assured her. "I have a plan. Just listen." "Will it mess up my nails?" asked Korbat nervously. Zafara, who was busy turning off Acara's communicator, shot Korbat a puzzled look. "Your . . . nails?" "I just got them done," explained Korbat. "They're really nice now. I got the whole works - filing, polishing, cuticles - you know, that's the skin at the base of your nails . . ." Zafara knew what a cuticle was. She just didn't think it was relevant. "It's more important to save their lives than to have pretty hands, don't you think? Now, listen up. I'm going to thaw the big fish first. You then have to send a Korbat Claw below its throat - below the rib cage, if you can envision where that is." She pointed it out, and the blonde nodded. "But why?" "So the Jetsam'll cough up Sailor Skeith. You're basically doing the Heimlich maneuver." "The what?" "Never mind. Once Skeith's free, we both take on Jetsam. Ready?" "Yeah. Sure." Korbat looked nervously at her hands, then held them out in attack stance. "And this will, like, solve the whole problem?" "Yes," replied the brunette simply. "Ready . . . set . . . Zafara Flame!" "Korbat Claw!" A jet of flame melted the ice, and the Jetsam was forced to cough by a punch from a pair of sharp, white, and perfectly manicured Korbat claws. |