There are two types of people in the world.
     Well, in fact there are rather more than two types.  In fact, there
are about as many types as there are actual people -- and depending on how
loosely you define 'people,' that can be quite a lot.
     But for the purposes of this narrative, there are two types.  Those
who are morning people, and those who are not.
     Troi Mikagami was not a morning person.  He was only, in fact, a
'person' by one of the aforementioned loose definitions.  But from long
ago, he had established his love for the night, of the beauty of the
darkness and the things that could only be done out of the sun's blinding
gaze.  Even with the era of his darkest deeds far past, he still was
consumed by a passion for the night.
     "Good morning, dear!"
     "Mmrph."
     Which meant he was positively incoherent until his first cup of
coffee.
     "What would you like for breakfast?  I've made eggs and toast, or we
could have some miso..."
     Unlike, for example, his wife.
     "Gyahh."  Troi scowled as he took a long gulp from his coffee mug
(emblazoned with dark and ancient runes that spelled out 'World's Greatest
Dad' in High Demonic).  "This tastes hideous.  I don't care what they say
-- squid ink is in no sense a substitute for virgin's blood."
     "I know, dear, but you know that virgin's blood is bad for your
cholesterol.  You've got to watch your diet these days."
     "Mmf."  He took another sip of coffee and grimaced.  "Eggs will be
fine.  Yuri up yet?"
     "AAAH!  I'M LATE!"
     "Oh, I think so."
     Troi had to grin despite himself.  "You know, I think she's really
started blossoming lately.  Making decent friends, enjoying her
classes...  It's like a complete turnaround from the old days."
     "Oh, I don't know."  She delicately whisked the eggs in the frying
pan, scrambling them into a light and fluffy mass.  "She hasn't even been
there a week, yet.  It takes time to settle into a new school, after
all.  And you always said that getting through Dark Heart was sheer heck."
     "I said 'hell,' darling.  Sometimes literally.  And I meant it in a
good way."  He set down his coffee as his wife lightly buttered two slices
of toast and set them on a plate on the table.  "It's just that it's so
much of a relief to see that she might not take after your side of the
family after all."
     Yuri, freshly scrubbed and hastily dressed in her school uniform,
burst into the kitchen like a well-contained tornado, snatching up the
toast on her way
past.  "HiMomHiDadcan'ttalkgonnabelateforschoolseeyoulater--"
     "Yuri-chan!"
     Yuri froze by the door, a startled expression on her face and two
slices of toast in her mouth.
     "Don't wolf your food, dear."
     Yuri carefully chewed the toast, then swallowed.  "Sorry, Mom."
     "It's all right, dear.  Now, you're not *that* late.  You've still
got enough time for a little breakfast.  There shouldn't be much traffic
to slow you down, seeing as it's Saturday."
     "Yeah, I guess you're right.  But can we make it quick?"
     Her mother smiled.  "Of course."  She set a plate of scrambled eggs
and golden-brown toast at Yuri's place, along with a small glass of
fresh-squeezed orange juice.  "It's a half day today, isn't it?"
     "Yeah, I think that's what the schedule said."
     "Any plans for this afternoon, then?"
     "I'm gonna be meeting Reika-chan and Atsuko-chan for lunch at
Aurora.  When we realized we'd all be going to different schools this
year, we promised we'd get together after the first week and catch up on
what our schools are like and what we did over vacation and
everything.  It'll be great seeing them again."
     Troi shook his head.  "I never liked you associating with their
kind.  There's something so... so..."
     "Wholesome?" his wife smiled.
     "That's the word.  They're entirely too... *wholesome,*" he spat,
managing to load the word with all the disgust normally associated with
the words 'intestinal parasite' or 'tax inspector.'  "Bad enough you had
to go to school with that type for so long.  You're making friends at Dark
Heart, right?  Like that nice boy and girl I met yesterday?"
      "Bala and Leilei?  Sure, they're neat.  But Reika-chan and
Atsuko-chan and I have been friends since we were like seven.  And anyway,
we promised."   She finished the last of her eggs, gulped down the rest of
her orange juice, and stood, grabbing her bag.  "I'd better go now or I
really will be late.  Bye, Mom.  Bye, Dad."  She kissed both her parents
on the cheek before dashing off.
     Troi shook his head as his daughter left.  "Maybe I was jumping to
conclusions," he admitted.
     "Well, maybe," his wife smiled as she started clearing the table of
Yuri's dishes.
     "Those girls are a bad influence on her," he muttered.  "I should've
eaten them when I had the chance."
     "Oh, now don't be silly, dear," his wife giggled.  "That's hardly
polite.  And besides..."
     "Yeah, I remember.  Darned cholesterol."

*********************************************************

                     Dark Heart High

           Netherworld Educational Institution for  
     
              The Universal Propagation of Evil          

                      started by Mads

*********************************************************
Part Three: Recreation!
by Scott Johnson
*********************************************************

     "Good morning!"
     Yuri slowed to a halt just inside the school gates and rested there
for a moment, gasping, with her hands on her knees.  "Good morning,
Leilei.  Good morning, Bala.  Give me a minute to catch my breath."
     Leilei smiled.  "Did you get a late start?"
     "Kinda.  And I had to have breakfast before I could leave.  Am I
late?"
     Leilei shook her head.  "It's almost time for class, though.  We
better get going."
     The three of them looked curiously at the bulletin board just outside
the main building as they approached.  Students of all descriptions were
tacking up brightly colored posters and leaflets advertising one club or
another.
     "They're putting up flyers already?" Yuri wondered.  "I thought that
wasn't until Monday."
     "I think that's just when they have the people there to sign up
with," Leilei offered.  "Some of them probably just want to get people
thinking about them early."
     "Oh."  Yuri looked a bit more closely at the flyers.  "Have you
thought about which one you're going to sign up for?"
     "Well, I can't, really, since I don't technically go here.  But Bala
was a really great soccer player in junior high!"  She smiled up at the
mummy-boy, who was looking at the notices impassively.
     "Oh, really?  I guess it makes sense...  You've definitely got the
legs for it, Bala," Yuri noted.  "Are you thinking of trying out again
this year?"
     Bala looked at her for a moment, then blinked and shrugged.
     "Do you play any sports, Yuri-chan?"
     "Not really," Yuri said.  "I was in the Literature Club back in my
junior high school, but I don't know if I want to go back to
that.  There's just so many options..."
     Maybe even too many options.  She examined the rows of
flyers.  Softball, Soccer, Tennis, Swimming (suits provided; bring your
own flippers), English, Latin, Babylonian, Witchcraft, Torture (she
blanched a bit at the rather graphic picture on that one), Reformed
Orthodox Druids (Wicker Man Burning every Thursday!  Bring your own
sacrifice!), Ancient Illuminated Seers of Bavaria, Campus Crusade for
Cthulhu...
     "What's this one?" she asked, pointing to a flyer in a particularly
arcane script.
     Leilei peered closer at it.  "Um...  Oh, it's Enochian.  It says
'Ancient Order of the Golden Dawn.'  Sounds neat."
     A new voice from behind them scoffed, "It's a collection of fools."
     The trio turned in surprise to see a familiar-looking girl behind
them -- familiar to Yuri at least.  It was the upperclasswoman who had
come across Craig after the aborted sacrifice.  The one with the black
dress that matched her Ingram.  She was looking at all three of them with
an expression of pure amused contempt.
     "Some words of wisdom, freshies.  Not that you'll take them.  But any
cult that has to advertise around here is garbage.  Doubly so for any you
might have heard of outside.  They're either posing fools who don't know
what they're talking about or pawns for the *real* powers... who tend to
stay out of the spotlight."
     "Really?  Why?"
     The girl raised an eyebrow at Yuri.  "You're either very stupid or
very cunning to ask that.  Either way, I don't like it."  She idly toyed
with the safety on her weapon, looking at Yuri speculatively.
     Bala's one visible eye narrowed.  With a quick movement, he had
interposed himself between Yuri and the young lady making less-than-veiled
threats against her.  Catching the upperclasswoman's eye, he shook his
head firmly.
     "Ooh, a brave one," she smiled coldly.  "Anyone ever tell you it's
not a good idea to make enemies of your betters?"
     Bala's gaze, if anything, grew even harder.
     The girl laughed.  Not a roaring bitch laugh of the type Yasuko had
been envious of Yuri for, but something closer to type one, the soft, evil
chuckle.  Despite its lack of volume and outright malice, it somehow sent
shivers down Yuri's spine.
     "I'll remember you, freshies.  Which is not generally something
people want.  But for now... aren't you supposed to be getting to class?"
     Yuri looked at her watch, looked at the clock on the school wall,
eeped, and grabbed Bala and Leilei as she ran at a breakneck pace to get
to class before the bell rang.
     Could the day possibly get any worse?

                                 *****

     The twisted crone dipped a ladle into the cauldron, scooping out the
thin, green steaming liquid.  All eyes were upon her as she brought it to
her lips with a trembling hand and sipped it.
     She scowled.  "And this, children, is why you do not leave out the
lizard meat, no matter how 'icky' it may seem."
     Yuri blushed as the rest of the class had a laugh at her
expense.  (Yasuko, as bound as ever on overdoing it, had burst into a full
roaring bitch laugh.)  "Sorry, Baba-sensei."
     "Aww, guess the widdle girl's all squeamish," Craig chuckled under
his breath.
     Baba-sensei fixed him with a withering glare.  "I notice you aren't
finished yet either, Maimsworth.  By all means, don't let us delay you."
     Craig gulped.  Suddenly aware that all eyes were upon him, he fumbled
through his ingredients.  He grabbed the canister of powdered bat wing and
gave it a good shake into his own cauldron.
     **BOOM.**
     When the smoke cleared, Baba-sensei was the only one left standing,
her expression unchanged.  "And *that*, children, is why you never add the
bat wings before the salamander blood.  Maimsworth, take two buckets and
stand outside.  You'll be cleaning the classroom next period."
     Craig pulled himself up and stumbled towards the door.  "Man, I hate
home ec..."
     Baba-sensei ignored him.  "Right, class.  Empty those
cauldrons.  Next up is my casserole recipe."

     "Having fun?"
     Craig glared at the girl in the witch's hat and round glasses
standing just down the hall from him.  "Ah, shaddup."
     "Just asking.  So, what are you serving time for?"
     "Eh, this girl in my class distracted me and I screwed up my
stew.  So naturally the teacher gets mad at me, not her.  It ain't fair."
     "What did you expect?  This is Dark Heart High, after all.  I think
arbitrary cruelty is somewhere in the teachers' contracts.  If we want
justice -- or vengeance -- it's up to us to make it ourselves."
     Craig shifted the buckets in his hands.  "Ain't you got a class to
get to?" he growled.
     "I'm on an errand for Nurse Sybil.  But as I was saying, I may be
able to help you get back at that girl.  I've got just the thing for
causing a little mischief and embarrassment, so she feels what she did to
you."
     He eyed her warily.  "I'm listening."
     "Robo-rats."
     Craig snorted.  "No freakin' way."
     "Oh, come on, they're perfect!  I've designed them for the ultimate
in stealth and speed, able to zip from place to place without being seen
and engage in humiliating sabotage against their designated target."
     "Craig Maimsworth doesn't use rats.  I mean, come on.  They're tiny,
stinky, pathetic little animals.  I mean, dragons are one thing, but--"
     "Ah, so it's dragons you want.  Dragons, I can do.  Just a
second."  She turned around and pulled out a small pouch of tooled leather
and something that looked like a cross between a soldering iron and a
cattle prod.  She set the pouch on a nearby windowsill, stuck the end of
the device inside it, and poked around for a few minutes, avoiding the
occasional flurry of sparks that came out the mouth of the pouch.
     "Voila!"  She tucked the gadget away, scooped up the pouch, and
handed it to Craig as he set his buckets down.  "Behold, my custom
designed humiliation robots -- the dracobots!"
     Craig looked skeptically at the pouch in his hand.  "There's robots
in here?  It's pretty small."
     "Pouch of holding.  It's enchanted so it can fit them all.  But the
moment you open it up, the dracobots will burst forth to do your bidding,
ready to teach that girl a lesson she'll never forget!"
     "Well..."  Craig looked skeptically at the pouch.  "I guess it's
worth a shot."
     "Excellent!  And don't worry about paying me now -- I have an
excellent credit plan.  I'll just bill you later."
     "Whoa, whoa, wait -- bill me?  You never said anything about--"
     "Oh, don't worry, don't worry, just a trivial detail you don't need
to worry about."  She hustled him down the corridor.  "Now you just go put
that somewhere safe until just the right time to use it.  Go on now,
hurry, no time to waste!"
     Liza leaned back against the wall and smiled as the slightly
befuddled Craig walked off down the hall, muttering to himself.  "Always a
pleasure to see a satisfied customer," she murmured.  Then she
smiled.  "Shouldn't you be in class, incidentally?"
     Around the corner from her, leaning against the same wall, shrouded
by shadows, Ki Tamaida grunted noncommittally.  "I have my ways."
     ("Say, Leilei-chan, do you notice anything strange about
Tamaida-kun?"
      "What makes you think that, Yuri-chan?"
      Yuri looked at the log dressed in Ki's clothes standing before his
cauldron, with a wooden sign hanging from its 'neck' reading 'Secret Steel
Thorn Clan Body Double Technique.  Back in 5 min.'
      "Just a hunch...")
     "You realize," Ki continued, "that I can't let this stand."
     "Up to you.  I just sell the things; I don't guarantee nobody will
get in their way.  In fact..."
     "What?"
     "Well, if you're dead set on stopping him, I do have just the thing
to negate those robots."  She pulled a small vial, half full of a neon
orange liquid, out of her jacket.  "I call it...  'electro-cheeze.'"
     "'Electro-cheeze.'"  If Ki had been any more deadpan, his face would
have cracked.
     "Sure.  Attracts robots like flies.  Just smear a bit of it on that
sword of yours and they'll be lining up to throw themselves on it."
     "Smear this 'electro-cheeze' on my sword.  On the unholy ancestral
blade of the Steel Thorn Clan.  In order, presumably, to balance a lack of
skill on my part."
     "Exactly!  What do you say?  I can give you a real discount if you
buy now..."
     "What I say is that you are a startlingly arrogant woman."
     "Just doing my job.  Arms races pay the bills, you know.  Quite aside
from their inherent amusement value, of course."
     "Well, I will not be a part of this one.  And I shall destroy your
robots."
     "Nothing wrong with destruct testing.  I wouldn't have sold them if I
wasn't done with them, anyway."  She pushed off the wall.  "Tell you
what.  Take it as a sample.  You use it, you owe me.  Otherwise, you can
give it back, but no harm in being prepared, right?"
     Ki caught the vial in one hand.  "The last words of many an
overcautious fool."
     Liza laughed.  "Yeah, but how many more non-fools has it saved?"

                                 *****

     And finally, the day was over.
     "You'd think a half day wouldn't seem as long as a full one," Yuri
sighed.  "Aug-sensei can really stretch a lecture out, though.  At least
we didn't have gym."
     "Yeah, but it's the weekend at last!" Leilei grinned.  "Hey, Bala and
I were going to go to see that new movie.  Did you wan't to come?"
     "I can't, sorry.  I was going to meet some friends from my old school
so we could catch up on things.  We kind of promised each other..."
     "Oh, okay.  See you on Monday, then!"
     "You bet!"
     And as the friends separated with a smile and a wave (or just a nod,
in Bala's case), they didn't notice the figures lurking in the shadows.
     Craig smirked, watching Yuri leave.  This was going to be perfect.
     Ki smiled, as well, watching Craig.  The perfect setup.

                                 *****

     "You think she'll come?"
     Reika brushed her bangs out of her eyes.  "Of course she
will.  Yuri-chan might be a little weird, but she's our friend.  And she
knows how important this is."
     "Yeah, I guess you're right."  Atsuko polished her glasses with a
napkin.  "She's just kind of late, that's all.  That's not like her."
     "Wasn't her new school farther across town from here than yours or
mine?  She probably just underestimated how long it would take to get
here."
     "Reika-chaaan!  Atsuko-chaaa!  Sorry I'm late!"
     "See?  There she is now, right... over... there?"
     Yuri happily hurried through the brightly-lit cafe to the table her
friends were sitting at.  "It's so good to see you both again!  Things
have been pretty strange lately, but pretty exciting, too, and it's so
good to have someone to tell it all to, and...  Why are you looking at me
like that?"
     "Y-y-yuri-chan?!" Atsuko gasped.
     "What on earth are you *wearing?*" Reika demanded.
     Yuri looked down at her outfit.  "It's just the uniform for my
school.  It's a little different, but my Dad told me it was official,
so..."
     "Yuri, it's black," Reika said flatly.  "And red -- blood red, I
might add."
     "It's got a pin with a bleeding skull on it," Atsuko noted.
     "And that skirt is *leather.*  Yuri-chan, just a month ago I'm pretty
sure you'd never even *seen* leather clothes.  What the heck happened to
you?"
     Yuri blinked.  "It's like I said.  It's my new school."
     Reika looked at her skeptically.  "Sit down.  I was hoping to hear
about this school before... but now I *really* want to know everything."
     As Yuri sat down, hanging her schoolbag on the chair's back, she
noticed the person at the booth across the aisle only in passing.  Black
fedora, black sunglasses, black trenchcoat over massive black armor,
newspaper propped awkwardly in front of him in a way that looked more like
he was hiding something than reading it... nothing suspicious about that
at all.  Well, not compared to most things she'd seen the last few days,
anyway.

     Craig wasn't very happy about the 'dracobots.'
     It wasn't that he had anything against robots, or subtlety, or doing
what works.  He was a pragmatic guy.  Heck, he'd sell his own mother for a
chance at respect and power, if it weren't for the fact that his mother
would just find it cute.
     It was just that the four robots he'd hidden behind a newspaper on
the table in front of him didn't look very useful.  Or very dragonlike,
for that matter.  Or...
     To put it bluntly, they were rats.  Metal rats, yes, rats with wheels
and flimsy tinfoil wings, but ultimately about as far from the
fire-breathing monstrosities he'd hoped for as they could get.
     He sighed.  "Okay, you guys can fly at least, right?"
     One of them cocked what passed for a head at him.  "<Sqwurk?>"
     "Figures.  Remind me to hurt that witch later."  He shook his
head.  "Anyway, the mission for the day is harass, humiliate, maybe a
little maiming if you can work it in.  Got it?"
     "<Skwark!>"
     "Good.  Then your target is... them!"  He flung his hand out
dramatically, towards the table of his enemies, towards the two mundane
girls talking with his classmate...
     "You mind gettin' your hand out of those, boy?"
     ...into the mashed potatoes on the waitress's tray.
     Craig watched speechlessly as the waitress moved off towards the
kitchen, muttering to herself about wasting perfectly good food.  And he
had only one thing to say as the dracobots scattered to hunt down and
destroy the vicious and threatening foodstuffs.
     "Aw, dragonturds."

     "So," Reika said flatly.  "Let me see if I've got this
straight.  Your high school trains villains and evil people.  Your best
friends now are a mummy and a seven-year-old high school graduate."
     "I think so.  Maybe college.  She never said."
     "Uh-huh.  There's a cute samurai boy who might like you.  There's a
succubus who hates you.  And a black knight and a shape-changing nurse and
I don't know what else.  Is that right?"
     "Um...  Yeah.  Basically."
     Atsuko picked her words carefully.  "Yuri-chan...  While we know
you've always been rather imaginative...  That is to say, while we may not
have mentioned this before, due to sensitivity to your feelings...  This
latest story..."
     "...is crazy," Reika concluded.
     "Reika-chan!" Yuri exclaimed.
     "What did you expect us to say?  'Gee, Yuri, it's so great you've
landed in a school out of an American 'B' movie; now let me tell you about
this cute ghoul in my class that I like?'  Things like that just don't
happen."
     "I don't get it.  I mean, sure it's a strange place, but not much
stranger than some of the places my Dad's taken us for vacation."
     "Right.  Let's talk about your dad..."

     Ki Tamaida was not very happy with what he saw.
     He'd followed the Maimsworth fool to this small cafe.  He'd carefully
taken up a position in the brush outside the large bay windows where he
could see all but not be seen.  He'd planned the perfect dramatic
entrance, crashing through the windows with a mighty leap so as to land on
Yuri's table and destroy the attacking robots with a single
slash.  Perhaps he would manage to injure Maimsworth in the process.
     But the fool seemed to have fouled the whole matter up.  After a
confusing exchange involving a waitress and some mashed potatoes, the
robots had scurried off, and Maimsworth after them.  And despite his
pathetic disguise, Yuri was too engrossed in her conversation to notice.
     This was bad.  There was no way he could dramatically rescue Yuri if
there wasn't an obvious threat to her.  And rats in the kitchen were
hardly an obvious and immediate threat.  He was many things, but Health
Code inspector was not one of them.
     There was only one solution, then, short of declaring this journey a
wasted afternoon.  If the danger wouldn't come to Yuri on its own, he'd
have to help it a bit.

     "Well, yeah, I know your families aren't like that.  But what's so
weird about what my Dad's like?"
     "Yuri-chan, *nobody's* fathers are like that.  Not even yours, I
bet."
     Yuri blinked.  "But you've never even met him.  He always went down
to the basement when you were coming over.  I don't think he likes
children very much.  So even if he wasn't, how could you tell?"
     "She has a point, you know," Atsuko smiled.
     "You're not helping."  Reika turned back to Yuri.  "Look, dark
shadowy nightmare beasts from beyond the fields we ken just don't
exist.  And even if they did, they wouldn't settle down in Japan and raise
middle-class families.  Demons aren't real, magic's not real, giant
two-headed dogs that crash into children's' birthday parties aren't
real..."
     "Actually, Cerebus-chan had three heads, remember?  And Dad was just
looking after him for a friend.  He was really sorry he'd chased us
afterwards."
     "Right.  Fine.  And he wasn't real."

     "Almost got you, you little..."  Craig dove at the dracobot, only to
have it dodge at the last minute yet again, and send him crashing headlong
into the side of the dumpster (yet again).  The robot paused to snigger
for a moment before resuming its attempts to get into the dumpster and
humiliate the mashed potatoes within.
     Craig muttered to himself about the idiocies of technology and was
about to try yet again when he noticed the shadow looming over him, and
the glint of reflected light within the shadow.  He barely had time to
draw his sword and parry as Ki's razor-sharp katana sliced at him.
     "You?  What the heck are you doing here?"
     "None of your concern.  But I won't let you ruin this through your
bungling."
     "What are you talking about?"  The two slashed again, parrying each
other, then backed off to a respectful distance.  "Look, if this is about
that Mikagami girl, I'm not gonna hurt her.  Just teach her a lesson,
maybe do something to her friends."
     "Which could be a problem.  You are a far less credible threat than
I'd hoped."
     "Yeah, especially with these robots not wanting to go anywhere near
her...  Wait, why would you worry about that?"
     Ki ignored him, instead sheathing his blade as he walked up to one of
the dracobots, which was making its best effort to burrow through the side
of the dumpster without the aid of anything but the brute force available
to a common remote-controlled toy.  Craig, nonplussed, lowered his guard.
     The rats were obviously not obeying Maimsworth.  And Maimsworth was
obviously not going anywhere until they did.  And whatever they were
fixating on was buried somewhere deep in the garbage, most likely lost and
definitely unpleasant to get to.
     Only one thing to do, then.  As much as he disliked being in debt to
that witch.
     He took the fragile glass container out of his sleeve.  There was a
door wedged open nearby, which Maimsworth had obviously come to, and
through it he could just get a view through the restaurant kitchen to
Yuri's table.  It would be a difficult shot, but worth it.
     He took aim.  Waited for the waitress to pass.  Then threw...
     The vial hit the leg of the table dead on.
     And bounced.
     Obviously, not quite as fragile as he had thought.
     Oh, well.  There was at least one more option, come to think of it,
though a fairly weak and untenable one.
     *CLANG*
     Maimsworth didn't manage to parry this time, and the sleeve of his
trenchcoat slid off, revealing the nick the katana had cut in his armor.
     Craig growled.  Now his mother was going to get on his case for
getting his armor damaged.  He raised his sword again.
     And so the battle was joined again.

     The waitress stepped up to Yuri's table, notepad in hand, not even
registering the tiny 'crunch' from beneath her feet.  "You ready to order
now?"
     "I'll have the soup of the day and a glass of tea, please," Atsuko
said.
     "Me too," Reika nodded.
     "An egg sandwich and a blueberry ice for me," Yuri said.
     "What, no tea?" Reika asked.
     Yuri shook her head.  "I never really liked the blend they have
here.  And their ices are great."
     "Right," the waitress said.  "That's two soups, two teas, an egg
sandwich, and a blue ice.  Anything else?" 
     "That should be it," Reika said.
     The waitress nodded and turned away, only to catch her feet on
something and fall, barely catching herself on Yuri's schoolbag.  There
was a tearing sound and a small ping as one of the pockets tore away.
     "Oh, gosh, I'm so sorry about that," the waitress apologized as she
regained her balance.
     "It's no problem," Yuri said, pulling at the torn pocket.  "My mom
knows how to sew."
     "I just tripped there, somehow.  It felt like something was running
across..."  She trailed off as she realized that hinting at the presence
of small uncontrolled animals in the dining room of a restaurant was not a
good idea, especially if she wanted to remain employed.  "...I'll just go
get your lunches now."
     She walked off uncomfortably, scanning the floor for any more
unexplained moving things.  Which is why she noticed the small vial with
the bright blue liquid rolling up against a nearby table leg.
     "Huh.  Who left the blueberry flavoring out here?"  She crouched down
to get it, then sniffed the air in disgust.  "And just what the heck did I
step in?"

     "Well, look, what sort of normal things did you think we'd be talking
about?"
     "I don't know," Reika admitted.  "Something like the things we've
been doing.  Like, I tried out for the track team at Daikan this week.  I
think I've got a pretty good chance of making it, too."
     "Really?  That's great!" Yuri exclaimed.  "We're starting club
signups and sports trials on Monday at my school.  I don't know what I'm
going to try for, though.  Some of the cults looked kind of interesting."
     "Cults," Reika said flatly.
     Atsuko quickly cut in.  "I've signed up with the Drama Club this year
at Kaien.  They're planning on putting on a rather daring production of
_Chuushingura, the Forty-Seven Ronin._  Or possibly _UltraFighter Team
Saves Mars._  There's been a bit of a dispute about that." 
     "Drama?  Really?"  Yuri grinned at her friend.  "Wow.  I never
thought you would try that.  You've always been kind of shy."
     "Yes, well, it does us all good to change a bit now and then."

     Dracobot Gamma made the small drop from the ventilation duct onto the
shelf.  It had taken quite some doing to make it up there.  Wheels and an
awkward wingspan made climbing even the gentlest of slopes a difficulty,
much less the kind of makeshift supports it had been forced to deal
with.  (The mop handle had been particularly traumatic.)  But now, the
goal was in sight.
     The human who had bathed her feet in the most holy of fluids had
removed her shoes and placed them in a box on the next shelf over, even as
she placed a vial onto this shelf with all the other blue canisters.  It
would only take a small jump -- a trifling thing with the speed of its
wheels -- and then the holy fluid would be all its.  Then the dracobot
could... could...
     Well, never mind that it had no idea why it was doing this.  The holy
fluid must be its!
     Down below, the other dracobots were milling about the feet of the
humans, trying to get closer somehow to the holiness.  The fools.  One of
them nearly tripped a human carrying a tray with bowls and glasses on it,
who quickly set it down right beneath Gamma's shelf.  The human reached up
blindly onto the shelf and took down one of the canisters, just barely
avoiding grabbing Gamma in the process.  That had been too close.
     Gamma revved its engine.  The time was now.  It let its wheels skim
for a moment, then raced down the edge of the shelf.  There was just
enough clearance between the edge and the row of canisters to give it
room.
     Unfortunately, Gamma had forgotten about its wings.  And also about
just how far the vial was sticking out from the otherwise mostly-even row
of canisters.
     The tip of Gamma's wing clipped against the vial, sending both of
them spinning across the shelf.  The vial popped open as it rolled near
the edge, spilling its contents into the bowls below.  Gamma barely
noticed, though, because it had been sent spinning off of the shelf and
right towards the open and extremely hot oven.
     It is said pets sometimes take on characteristics of their
owners.  Even machines, it is said, can sometimes acquire bits of
temperament.  Whether this is true or not is unknown.  But it would
explain the last thoughts to pass through Gamma's tiny electronic brain
before it overheated and melted down.
     <Aw, *humanslag*...>

     "Here's your orders," the waitress said, passing the food around the
table.
     "Thank you!" Yuri chirped as she walked away, then took a big slurp
from her blueberry ice.
     Atsuko poked dubiously at her soup.  "Is this kind of miso supposed
to be blue, do you suppose?"
     "Dunno," Reika said, slurping down a spoonful of it.  "It's pretty
good, though.  Guess they're experimenting with food coloring."
     Atsuko took a cautious sip.  "It's not bad," she admitted.
     Reika nodded, then turned back to Yuki.  "Look, Yuki-chan, it's not
that we don't believe you exactly.  It's just that, well..."
     Exactly what it was would remain forever a mystery.  At that moment,
there was a horrible clamor in the kitchen, and all eyes turned towards
the doors there as several chefs ran out, screaming.
     "What in heaven's name...?" Atsuko began, then had to clutch the
table as a wave of dizziness hit her.
     The answer came as Ki leapt backwards through the doorway, landing in
a crouch with his sword at the ready.  Craig entered a moment later,
breathing heavily, his trenchcoat in tatters around him.
     "Tamaida-kun?  Maimsworth-kun?"
     "You know these weirdoes?" Reika asked, somehow managing to focus a
bit on them.  Everything was getting so blurry.
     "They're classmates of mine.  But I don't know why they're
fighting..."
     "Mikagami."  Ki turned a fraction of his attention to Yuri.  "You
should leave, now.  Before he attempts to harm you."
     "What?"  Craig looked at Ki in disbelief.  "Aw, come on.  I wasn't
gonna hurt her.  Just maybe, you know, spook her a bit.  Just to teach her
a lesson."
     "What?  Hold on, what are the two of you talking about?" Yuri asked
indignantly.  She then turned to Reika and Atsuko.  "Maybe the two of you
should... um... uh-oh."
     A full dose of Liza's genuine 100%-guaranteed toadwart potion (patent
pending) was intended to grant massive strength to its imbiber for a full
cycle of the moon, at the expense of random and uncontrollable changes to
the form of a werebeast during that period.  Yuri's sample had been a much
smaller bottle, barely enough to last a single night.  That dosage had
further been split between two recipients, neither of whom fully consumed
their portions.  In other words, all things considered, it was quite a
mild effect.
     Comparatively speaking.
     Yuri watched in horror as Reika's short runner's haircut and Atsuko's
straight, ear-length black hair grew shaggier and longer, as the girls
stumbled to their feet, breathing rapidly.  They seemed to swell, to bulk
up, as each added several inches to their height, and several inches
across their shoulders (incidentally causing some small damage to their
school uniforms in the process).  Atsuko's glasses popped off and
shattered on the ground.  Fur sprouted from the girls' arms, their faces,
their whole bodies.  Their fingernails lengthened and twisted into claws,
as their faces warped into muzzles.
     And then they howled.
     "Aw, man...  Okay, I just want to make it clear I had nothing to do
with this," Craig said to a rapidly-emptying room.  He continued with an
eloquent "Urk," as the wolf-beast that had been Atsuko leapt across the
room in a single bound and grabbed him by the throat, growling and
slavering.
     "R-reika-chan?  What happened to you?" Yuri asked, deeply
unnerved.  Seeing monsters and horrors at Dark Heart was one
thing.  Seeing her oldest friends turned into them was quite another.
     The Reika-beast growled, staring across the table at Yuri's
throat.  A small trail of drool escaped from her muzzle.  Then, she
*leapt*...
     Yuri cringed as she saw her friend hurtling across the table towards
her throat.  She knew she had to dodge, to block, to do something,
anything, but the suddenness of it all had her pinned in place like a deer
in headlights, about to be eviscerated by the oncoming slavering, fanged
car.
     Fortunately, though, Ki was not similarly transfixed.  With a sudden
leap, he intercepted Reika in flight, his sword glistening in the
light.   The two landed in crouches, Ki with blood on his blade, Reika
with a rapidly-healing wound on her abdomen.  For a moment, neither moved.
     Then, Reika slowly toppled over.
     Yuri looked down at Reika in surprise.  She'd heard something about
werewolves only being hurt by silver once, and sure enough, the slice
seemed to be almost healed over already.  But somehow, Reika was
unconscious.
     Atsuko tossed the unconscious Craig aside, having grown tired of
thumping him against the wall after the first few dozen times, and having
nearly broken a tooth on his armor.  She turned to where the strange boy
had cut her pack-sister down, where the terrified girl was still standing
in shock.
     "Atsuko-chan!  Atsuko-chan, listen to me!  I don't know what happened
to you, but please, don't give into it!  I'm sure you can fight this if
you try!"
     The beast once known as Atsuko stalked towards her slowly.  There was
something about this girl.  She was babbling something Atsuko couldn't
understand, but the tone underneath...  The girl had backed up against the
wall by now, and Atsuko was almost pressed against her.  She sniffed at
the girl's neck.  There was something about her smell... something
familiar... something dark...
     Something delicious.
     Atsuko snarled, mouth gaping wide as she dove for the girl's
throat.  And then a sharp, shooting pain in her back caused her to slump
over.  A cold shiver ran through her body as her vision faded.
     And Ki wiped his blade with a silk handkerchief.
     Yuri slumped against the wall, breathing heavily.  It was over.
     Except that it wasn't.  Ki was still standing over the bodies of the
werewolves, blade out and at the ready.  He positioned himself by Atsuko's
neck and raised his blade high...
     "No!"
     Ki blinked at her sudden outburst.  "What's the matter?"
     "You were going to kill them!"
     Ki blinked.  "Indeed.  And...?"
     Yuri just stared at him as if he was insane.  He looked blank for a
moment.  Then he understood.
     "Of course.  My apologies.  In the heat of the moment, I was thinking
only of your safety."
     That actually induced a blush.  "My safety?"
     He nodded, sheathing his sword.  "I would recommend being away from
here when they awaken, in any case."
     "But... but what if they're still like this when they wake up?  They
could hurt someone?"
     "My secret techniques should have them unconscious for some
time.  And... observe."
     Yuri looked down at her friends.  Already they were looking slightly
less fuzzy.  Clumps of werewolf fur had already fallen to the floor.
     "Oh, good.  They'll be all right.  But then... shouldn't I try to
explain it to them?"
     "Explain what?  If, as you said, you don't know what happened, I
doubt you could explain it to their satisfaction.  And after what has
happened, they may not be eager for your company."
     Yuri nodded slowly.  "Yeah... I guess you're right," she said sadly.
     Ki turned to the door.  "Farewell, then.  Until Monday."
     "Right.  Goodbye."  She shook off a little of her shock.  "And
Tamida-kun?  Thank you.  For saving me, and everything."
     Ki paused in the doorway, silhouetted in the afternoon light, and
half-turned his head back towards her.  "You are welcome."
     And then he was gone.

     In the street outside, Ki mentally cursed himself.  He had gotten
carried away, and not quite realized that Mikagami still had a problem
with killing.  He hadn't quite expected that.  But it made a certain
amount of sense.
     It didn't matter, though.  She was falling for him, clearly.  A few
more incidents and she'd be putty in his hands.  And then the plan could
truly begin.
     And when that happened, she'd glory in the rapture of blood as much
as he.
     It had been a fine day, indeed.

                                 *****

     Yuri slouched in the front door.  "I'm home," she called out without
much enthusiasm.
     Her mother stepped out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dish
towel.  "Welcome back, dear.  How was your lunch?"
     "Not great," she admitted, setting her bag down and kicking off her
shoes.  "A couple of people I know from school showed up and started
fighting, and then... well, I'm not sure Atsuko and Reika are gonna want
to see me again after this."
     "Oh, honey..."  She gathered her daughter up in a gentle hug.  "I'm
sorry.  But I'm sure things will get better.  They've been your friends
for a long time, after all.  I'm sure they won't let little problems get
in the way of a true friendship."
     Yuri sighed.  "I hope you're right, Mom."
     Her mother released her from the hug and squeezed her hands.  "I'm
sure of it.  Now come on, I was just about to make cookies.  You can help
if you want to."
     "Well... okay."  Yuri smiled.  Mom always knew how to cheer her up.
     From the living room, Troi Mikagami grumbled, "I still say I should
have just devoured them.  That'd solve all these problems right away."
     Yuri giggled.  "Oh, Daddy."
     Her mother smiled.  "Dear, how about you help with the cookies,
too?  We can make some with extra sulfur..."
     Troi Mikagami sighed.  But it was a happy sigh.  There were parts of
his daily life he didn't enjoy, aspects of his home life that didn't
entirely suit him.
     But sulfur cookies were definitely not one of them.

                                 *****

Author's Note:

Well, it's finished, though far closer to the wire than I would have
liked.  Writer's block and a few unpleasant incidents in the mundane world
delayed my finishing of this chapter until almost the last minute... but
it's done.

I worried a bit about introducing Atsuko and Reika, due to fears of cast
bloat, but I finally went ahead with it.  Yuri had mentioned that she
would stay in contact with her old friends, and this episode does provide
a rather strong reason for them to stay away if future authors don't want
to use them.

Special thanks to my pre-readers, especially Mads and Mervyn.

                                 *****

     The two girls awoke slowly.  They took stock of the situation as they
stood.  Uniforms ripped and tattered.  Restaurant trashed.  Guy in black
armor lying unconscious off in one corner.  Fur and blood scattered
everywhere.
     Atsuko finally turned to Reika.
     "This would be another of those incidents that didn't happen, then?"
     "Right." 
     "Like her eighth birthday party."
     "Don't remind me.  I've still got a scar."
     "From the dog that didn't exist."
     "It existed, okay?  It just was a normal dog.  It didn't have two
heads."
     "Three." 
     "Right.  Three heads.  Which it didn't have."
     There was a long silence as the two of them trudged down the road.
     "If you're really grasping about for a mundane explanation, it could
have been food poisoning."
     "Food poisoning.  Right."
     "The type that shatters tables, puts claw marks in walls, and leaves
fur everywhere."
     "Right."  Another silence.  "Atsuko-chan?"
     "Yes, Reika-chan?"
     "If I ever say yes for another lunch with Yuri-chan, slap me.  Hard."
     "Only if you agree to do likewise for me."
     "Deal."