Kyouji awoke to find that he was lying on grass, staring at the yellow
clouds floating in the orange sky above. Why was he here? Last he could
remember, he had been fighting the whatchamacallit, and then Tsugiko had
gone all green and destroyed it and then...

He rubbed his head, surprised that he could only feel slight pain. Maybe
Tsugiko hadn't been so angry about what had happened. The... kiss, if
you could really call it that, was a complete accident, right? Maybe she
understood. Kyouji sighed. Although Yumi did have really soft lips.

Wait a minute, Kyouji thought, where are they? He sat up and looked
around, seeing only the red trees and grass. He hoped they weren't in
trouble.

"Isn't today a great day?" he heard Yumi's voice say.

"Found them!" he cried as he stood up and ran towards the sound of the
voices. He darted around a tree and came to a stop.

There was Yumi, in her beautiful pink dress and bracelets, Tsugiko in
her white blouse, jacket, and skirt (he avoided looking at her legs
again, lest he stare) and a third girl.

She had black hair, and although he couldn't see her eyes, he knew they
were brown. She was a bit shorter than Yumi, with an outfit that seemed
a cross between the other priestesses: a blue dress that was very form
fitting up top, showing off a modest amount of cleavage, and went down
to a bit below her knees. The kind of outfit that showed you a bit, and
tantalized you with what you couldn't see. She had on white gloves,
black boots, and seemed to be carrying a sword. For some reason she
seemed very familiar... but he couldn't place her, or her name. Too bad,
because she was quite the beauty.

"A perfect day, of course." Tsugiko said in an almost disgusted voice.
"Could you be any more cheery?"

"Hey, Yumi! Tsugiko! I'm over here!" Kyouji started to run up to them,
and found himself unable to. "Wha... hey!"

"Oh, I think it's a perfect day," the girl in blue said, before leaning
against Yumi, who giggled in response.

Tsugiko glared at the pair, before turning back to the path. "Come on,
we have to get to the realm of the Runts before nightfall."

Kyouji tried to move again, and failed. "Wait, wait Tsugiko! Don't go
without me!" He finally managed to break free and run over to them. "I'm
back, isn't that great?"

Yumi turned to Tsugiko. "You're just angry because Teru-chan agrees with
me." Kyouji stopped dead in his tracks, horror spreading across his
expression.

Teru-chan? This was Teru? Him? He was her, this girl in a tight dress,
falling all over Yumi? No! He was a-- he patted himself to find himself
lacking a few... important attributes. And having a somewhat less than
masculine chest. She looked up to see her--himself! leaning against
Yumi, and realized he was wearing the blue dress he had seen before.
This, of course, led to a very simple and perfectly logical response.

He screamed.

* * * * * * * * *

The Starburst Crystal
By Ardweden

Legend Two: Follow the Lemon Drop Road
By Mechalink

* * * * * * * * *

"Yaaaaaahh!" Kyouji screamed, as he bolted upright out of his
unconscious state, and promptly fell back over at the throbbing pain in
his head. He weakly patted himself once more, making sure that that WAS
just a dream and, finding himself intact, promptly attempted to forget
about it.

Of course, he mused, it is kind of hard to forget about being a girl for
a while. He was very VERY glad he didn't have to go through all that
Warrior Priestess junk. But, he was like that before, so the spirit
said.

"Hello, Kyouji," Tsugiko said to him. He turned his head to the side to
see her looking at him, seeming somewhat concerned and embarrassed. "Are
you alright?"

"About as alright as you can be when you were pounded by a magic
hammer," Kyouji muttered as he rubbed his head and sat up. "So, where's
Yumi?"

That was obviously the wrong thing to say, as Tsugiko's face went from
concern to anger in a split-second. "She's out with Kit-Kat and
Snickers, picking up supplies. *I* stayed to make sure you woke up
okay." She walked over into the corner and crouched down, glaring at
him.

He sighed and stood up, stretching a bit, the dream still running
through his mind, ignoring Tsugiko's stare of blunt glowing doom. In the
dream, he had been falling all over Yumi, and Tsugiko was acting...
jealous? Oh, right, Yumi had told him Tsugiko liked him.

Kyouji shook his head. "Dream must still be confusing me, or I wouldn't
have forgotten that," he muttered. He glanced over at her, where she was
still looking at him, although it didn't seem so angry anymore. He
sighed again. Well, better try to defuse her.

"Look, Tsugiko. The whole thing was an accident, so don't be so angry,
alright?" He crouched down to her eye level, staring into her green eyes
and getting no response. "Tsugiko? Are you paying attention?" He waved
his hand in front of her eyes, only to have her blink and wobble off
balance, grabbing at him to try to stay up.

Unfortunately, he was still somewhat dizzy from being beaten over the
head with a magical hammer. Furthermore, crouching isn't the exactly the
best position for someone to use you for the purposes of balance. And
although the priestesses had many powers, bending the laws of physics
wasn't part of the deal. So, to put it simply, he fell over on top of
her, both his eyes and hers widening as they realized what was
happening.

They landed on the ground with a soft whumph. Kyouji, being the
moderately intelligent and perceptive guy that he was (as well as having
a finely tuned self-preservation reflex), immediately jumped backwards
off of her, and prepared for the inevitable violent response. Hopefully
she wouldn't pull out the hammer, he thought as he winced and closed his
eyes.

After a few seconds, he cautiously opened his eyes to see Tsugiko
standing back up and offering a hand up to him. "Sorry," she said,
blushing furiously.

Kyouji put on his best smile and took her hand and pulled himself up.
"No problem, Tsugiko," he said as he silently offered a prayer to
whatever kami had intervened on his behalf. "Now, let's go find
Snickers. He said he had heard a rumor about where the crystal might
be."

* * * * * * * * *

Yumi walked through the streets, greeting various Skittles. It hadn't
taken long for everyone to hear about the new Warrior Priestesses. After
all, they were the ones who were going to save them and their planet. It
was an awesome responsibility.

Especially for a schoolgirl. Yumi sighed as she looked at the various
types of food, asking about which was best for travelling. Things were
going to be different now. She wasn't at St. Hebreke anymore.

Not that that meant too much to her. School, music, and all that stuff
just didn't satisfy her, and all those accomplishments came too easy to
be enjoyed. Her 'friends', if you can call most of them friends, just
wanted to be with the most talented girl.

It was kind of lonely, when nobody liked you for who you were. And when
you didn't do anything important. What was life worth, when you did
nothing but drudgery? Going on, working in a company, getting money. It
just never seemed right before. And then there wa-

"Gika!" Kit Kat interrupted, climbing up on her shoulder and peering at
the food. Well, at least Kit Kat was happy. Yumi laughed and petted the
cute furry animal.

"Leave it to you to make me laugh when I need it," she commented,
smiling. Besides, it could be worse. Life was still good. And with
Tsugiko-chan, Kyouji-san and Kit Kat here, it wasn't very lonely at all.

"Giiiika," the carret purred. Yumi turned her attention back to the food
stall and was interrupted by Snickers.

"This will work well when you're travelling, Priestess," Snickers told
her, holding up a bowl full of something that looked like beef jerky.
Yumi sighed. Another group of people that were just going to listen to
her because she was well known.

"You can call me Yumi, you know," she said to Snickers.

"Sure, Priestess," he replied. "Now come on, we've got a lot more things
to pick up if you're going to save the world!" Yumi nodded and picked up
the packs they had been filling with supplies.

"Hello, Yumi!" she heard from behind her. She whirled quickly.

"Kyouji-san! Are you okay?" she said, before feeling his head for bumps.
After all, it wouldn't be good if Tsugiko-chan had hurt him. Kyouji-san
and  Tsugiko-chan were different from those other people. They actually
seemed to care, even if Tsugiko said she didn't.

"Yes, I'm fine, Yumi," he replied, smiling nervously as Tsugiko walked
up behind him. "So, how are things--"

"Giiiika!" Kit Kat yelled as it pounced on Kyouji.

Kyouji immediately backed away and tried to get it off his chest. "Gah!
Off!" Yumi giggled as Tsugiko rolled her eyes at him.

"Really, Kyouji-san. Kit Kat's harmless, aren't ya?" Yumi held out her
arms and grinned. "Come on back, looks like Kyouji-san is scared."

Kit Kat heard Yumi's voice and jumped on her, climbing up on top of her
head before curling up. Kyouji smiled sheepishly before standing up.
"Kit Kat and you get along well, don't you?"

Yumi smiled and petted the carret. "Of course. Kit Kat's such a cutie,
how could I not?" Tsugiko snorted. Yumi's smile grew wider. At least
Tsugiko-chan was here. She looked back at Snickers. "So, do you think
we've got enough stuff?"

Snickers turned his head to the three packs that he and Yumi had been
assembling. "I think so, Priestess." Yumi nodded and turned to the only
two friends she had, smiling brightly. After all, they were together,
and they were going to beat the queen and save the world!

"Come on, guys! Let's pick up these packs and get back to Snickers's
house. We've got to talk about what the rumors Snickers mentioned." Yumi
picked up her pack, thinking about what they had to do. A real
challenge, and doing something important for a change. All these people
who really needed help, and she was the one who could. Finally, things
felt... right.

* * * * * * * * *

Tsugiko walked back into Snickers's house, glaring at Yumi. Still bouncy
and cheery, as always. Even on a different planet with Kit Kat on her
head. And did she have to go and flirt with Kyouji like that? Kyouji
always paid more attention to Yumi. It was so frustrating.

As everyone put down their packs, Snickers waved them to sit on the
floor. "Don't worry, Priestesses, this won't take too long." Kyouji
hmphed. "I'm not a Priestess, thank you very much," he said to Snickers,
who waved his hand as everyone sat down and Kit Kat jumped off of Yumi's
head to sit in her lap. They certainly got along well.

"Priestess, Protector, whatever. Anyway, let me tell you what I've
heard." Snickers walked over to a bookshelf and pulled out a green
scroll, rolling it out on the ground. Tsugiko peered at it, as it seemed
to be a map of sorts.

"This is a map of the world, made about 100 years ago, before Dark Queen
Wintergreen was freed." Snickers pointed to an area on the map. "This is
where the Sprees live. I haven't heard too much about them, but a few of
the heroes that tried their hands at defeating Wintergreen told me that
there is a civil war going on up there over a rare crystal shard," the
reluctant leader of the Skittles said. "I don't know much more than
that, but at least it's a hint, right?" Yumi nodded and smiled.

"Thank you so much, Snickers!" Yumi said, before he rolled the map back
up and handed it to her.

"Take this. It isn't going to do me much good, but at least it will help
you all out." Yumi grinned at Snickers, before giving it to Tsugiko.

"Here, you take this, Tsugiko-chan! I'm sure you'll keep it safe!"
Tsugiko smiled weakly at Yumi. Sure, give the poor girl something to do.
Isn't that nice of Yumi-chan? Tsugiko's smile changed to a scowl as she
stuffed the map into a pocket on her pack and stood up.

"Well, thank you, Snickers, but I think we had better be leaving." At
least one of them had to take charge and get going, and Tsugiko thought
she might as well.

Kyouji nodded, "Yeah, we'd better go. After all, the sooner we take care
of Wintergreen, the better everyone will be, right?"

"Right!" Yumi agreed, before hugging Snickers, who blushed furiously.

"What's going on here?" Tsugiko turned around to see a large skittle
wearing a red hat staring at Snickers, who was backing away quickly.

"Nothing, Red, nothing! These are the Warrior Priestesses of prophecy!
They're going to save us, that's all." Snickers said nervously. The
skittle, who appeared female to Tsugiko, had green eyes and red hair.
She was at least a Skittle head taller than Snickers and quite a bit
broader. Her face had a scowl on it as she peered at the three of them.

"Priestesses, eh? That one doesn't look like much of a priestess," she
harumphed, pointing at Kyouji, who quickly agreed.

"I'm not a Priestess, I'm a Knight Protector," he said proudly.

"Knight Protector, eh?" She looked at his sword with thoughtful
interest. "Well, you look to have the weapon." She looked at him for
another second, and turned to Tsugiko. "And shouldn't you be wearing a
bit more clothing, missy? That's a lot of leg you're showing."

How dare she, Tsugiko thought. Sure, it was a short skirt, but the woman
didn't have to imply that she liked it. "This is my priestess outfit,
I'll have you know."

"Oh, sure. 'Priestess outfit.'" she said, glancing at the hammer once
before turning back to Snickers. "Well, aren't you going to introduce me
to our saviors?"

Snickers stammered a reply and turned to face the trio. "Yumi, Tsugiko,
Kyouji, I'd like you to meet my wife, Big Red." Tsugiko's jaw dropped.
Snickers's wife? They didn't seem anything alike. But then again,
Tsugiko thought as she glanced at Kyouji, that wasn't really a factor,
was it?

"Red, these are the heroes of prophecy, Yumi, Kyouji, and Tsugiko,"
Snickers said, as Yumi did a little bow and Kyouji nodded his head.
Tsugiko bowed as well, even though that may not have been the way things
worked here.

Big Red looked oddly at them. "Well, they certainly look the part. Maybe
they'll be able to do it." Red then walked over to the little kitchen
area in the corner. "So, are they staying for lunch?"

Tsugiko shook her head. "No, we want to go as soon as poss--" and
stopped as Kyouji put his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure we'd love a good meal before we go on the road, right?" he
said, glancing at Yumi and Tsugiko.

"Sure!" Yumi exclaimed, while Tsugiko just nodded.

"Fine then. Just have a seat, priestesses, and the food will be ready
soon," Big Red said, before getting down to cooking.

* * * * * * * * *

Kyouji set down his fork and pushed back from the table. "I'm full."
Yumi and Tsugiko both nodded their agreement. "Very good food, Big Red."

"Yes, it was really tasty!" Yumi said, smiling at the Skittle. "You have
some odd foods here, but they are really good." Big Red's scowl was
replaced by a beaming smile as she turning to Tsugiko.

"And what did you think about it?" she said. Tsugiko started, blushing,
as she turned her head to Big Red.

"Um, good. I liked it," she said absently.

"Well, I'm glad you all liked it," Snickers said.

Kyouji finished wiping his mouth as he moved to stand up. "I think we'd
better be going," he said. Sooner they got going, the sooner he could
get back home. And away from this cat-thing, he thought, as he tried to
shoo Kit Kat away from his leg.

"Gika..." it said, almost pouting, before it went and jumped on
Tsugiko's lap. Her head snapped up, before refocusing on the cat and
smiling briefly, before picking it up in her arms. "Yeah, we should go."

"One second," Snickers interrupted, before standing up and walking to
the center of the room. "I have a story to tell you. Be seated, and hear
the story of the Warrior Priestesses, and the salvation of the world,"
Snickers intoned, moving his hands in a dramatic manner. Kyouji looked
up at him immediately, as did the other girls. "Back when the land was
in peril, and the planet's rivers ran with the lifeblood of the races of
Mars, who were killed by the bloodlust of Wintergreen, slaughtered by
the Spear of Mint, the Priestesses came to save us."

Snickers spoke in a deep, powerful voice, which surprised Kyouji. "They
came from lands far away, with powers that had never been seen from
anyone but the Dark Sorceress Wintergreen. Their names have been lost to
the whirls and eddies of the stream of time, but their deeds remain as a
shining example and hope for our planet." Kyouji watched as Snickers
moved around in an animated fashion, arms and hands gesturing with the
story, as the words drew him in.

"With wisdom, power, and compassion, they traveled throughout the land,
giving the people a reason to live, and a belief in the future. They
constructed the greatest magical relic in the history of Mars, the
Starburst Crystal, which glowed with a powerful light, at which all the
evil scurried away in terror." As Kyouji watched, entranced, he could
almost see images in his head. Was Snickers that good a storyteller?

"But the Dark Queen was not so easily defeated. The planet's chosen
warriors came before the Queen, bringing the full power of the Crystal
to bear. And so, they attacked."

"It was a glorious battle. Under the light of the crystal, the
priestesses fought. A sword, blue gem shining, mystic runes glowing,
clashed against the Queen's Spear of Mint. Beams of light, as powerful
as the will of all people, as bright as the sun at noon, crashed against
her magical shield. A hammer, glowing with the righteous fury of an
entire planet, smashed into the evil magical power of the Queen. And
although they were right, and they had faith, and they had love, one by
one, they fell. And all seemed lost." Snickers paused for a second,
building up momentum.

"But the Crystal shone. The hopes and dreams of the entire planet
prevailed. And Dark Queen Wintergreen was trapped within the Crystal,
the last sign of the Priestesses' power on the planet. And so it stayed
for thousands of years. And yet, the Priestesses left us with a promise.
If the times ever became dark once more, if the power of the queen was
unleashed again, they would be reborn, returning to deliver us from
bondage once more." Snickers lowered his arms, and blushed.

"Sorry, I kind of get carried away in the stories," he said, before Red
hugged him.

"That's the kind of thing that makes me remember why I married you,
Snicks," she said lovingly.

Kyouji inhaled sharply as he realized he had been holding his breath the
entire time. From the sounds besides him, Yumi and Tsugiko had the same
problem. Even Kit Kat had stayed silent during the entire thing.

"That was ... um, really nice, Snickers," Tsugiko said hesitantly. Yumi
just sat there for a second, eyes filled with emotion, before bringing
her attention back to the here and now.

"I figured you would want to hear the story, so you would know what
people will think of you. Supposedly there are larger scrolls and
tapestries of the Priestesses' actions, but I don't have access to
those," Snickers stated apologetically.

"No need to apologize," Kyouji replied. "You've helped us enough
already, and there's nothing to be sorry about."

Tsugiko nodded her head and added, "Thank you for the story, Snickers,
but we had best be going." The leader of the Skittles waved his hands at
them in almost a shooing motion.

"Of course, of course. I will delay you no longer," Snickers said, his
voice still retaining a bit of its dramatic tone.

Yumi skipped over to Snickers and hugged him, much to his wife's
annoyance. "Thanks for everything, Snickers!" He blushed and glanced at
his wife.

"You're welcome, Priestess," he responded. Yumi's smile dimmed a bit,
before turning to pick up her pack. Looked like it was his turn.

"Thanks for all the supplies, Snickers." Snickers nodded and shook his
hand.

"No problem. And keep those girls safe, all right?" Kyouji blushed as
both Yumi and Tsugiko looked at him.

"Ehehe.. sure, right. Knight Protector, after all." He didn't need to be
put on the spot like that, he had enough girl troubles as it was without
bringing that up. At least he didn't call him 'Priestess'. Kyouji moved
away to pick up his pack, when he saw Tsugiko and Kit Kat move over.

"Thank you for your hospitality, and your story. I hope we manage to
free you all," she said solemnly. Kyouji blinked. Solemn? Serious? Not
angry or withdrawn? Tsugiko? He'd have to ask her about that later.

"Goodbye, heroes of prophecy! Good luck!" Snickers yelled, as the three
walked out of the door.

* * * * * * * * *

Tsugiko glanced over at Yumi and Kyouji, and saw Yumi skipping along the
path, still cheery after walking for two hours. Tsugiko didn't know how
Yumi could do it. Two hours, and still Yumi was happy, and flirting with
Kyouji. Tsugiko thought it was boring.

She turned her attention back on the road as they continued to walk
east. Why was Kyouji always hanging around her anyway? It wasn't fair.
One look at Yumi, most beautiful girl at St. Hebreke, and he forgot all
about poor little Tsugiko. She kicked a yellow rock off of the path in
frustration.

"Gika!" Kit Kat exclaimed, as it scampered onto her shoulder. Well, at
least Kit Kat liked her somewhat, she thought as she absently petted the
carret.

Tsugiko figured that the whole kiss was probably just an accident. They
were in battle, a beam hit Yumi, and she fell into his arms. Purely
accidental. Absolutely.

But as Tsugiko glanced at Yumi and Kyouji as they shared a laugh, she
began to wonder.

"Focus on the road, girl," she muttered to herself. She had been spacing
out lately. When she had sat in the corner before and not been paying
attention, she had a flash of memory, a scene similar to the one she had
just experienced. Except it was a girl instead of Kyouji. And the house
wasn't exactly the same. But the strange thing was that the girl
reminded her of Kyouji, somehow. And... she couldn't remember any more!
It was like a dream, and just as frustrating.

"Hi, Tsugiko."

She stumbled as she heard Kyouji's voice, but quickly recovered as he
walked up besides her. "Hi," she responded cheerily. Maybe he liked
cheery. "What's up?"

He waved his hand. "Oh, just talking. It's a long walk, and we don't
know each other all that well. So I figured we'd talk, ya know?"

Tsugiko sighed in relief. That's all they were doing, just talking.
Nothing to be worried about. "Sure, that's a good idea." Get to know
him, always a good thing in a prospective boyfriend.

* * * * * * * * *

Yumi watched Tsugiko-chan walk along the path with Kyouji-san, talking
with him. It was good for them, especially since Kyouji had been talking
to her for so long.

The conversation was nice and all, but Tsugiko-chan looked so sad and
lonely over there. And it wasn't fair for Kyouji-san to ignore her.
After all, she really liked him.

It was obvious to her. Tsugiko snuck glances at him, she was jealous,
she blushed when he surprised her, all the signs were there. And he was
a very cute guy. A great catch.

But Tsugiko saw him first. And she had to be fair, after all. Tsugiko-
chan was her friend. But if Tsugiko ever turned him down there was
nothing wrong with Yumi picking him up.

"GIIIIIIIIIII!"

She turned her head towards them as she heard Tsugiko laugh. Kit Kat had
jumped on Kyouji, making him panic again. Yumi couldn't help but giggle.
He was such a sweet guy.

Yumi looked back at the road and saw a fork coming up. "Tsugiko-chan?
Which way are we supposed to go?" Tsugiko started and pulled out her
map.

"You'll be going nowhere today, children." Yumi looked up to see the
summoners from earlier that day.

"Twix and Twix." Tsugiko spat, pulling out her hammer and hefting it
menacingly. "You won't be getting away this time." Kyouji nodded and
pulled out his sword, making sure his cape was loose as he put his pack
down. Yumi merely freed her wand from the loop on her belt and lowered
her pack to the ground as Kit Kat scampered into the grass with a
"Gika!"

"So, come back to make threats at us? We've got a weapon that can defeat
you now." Tsugiko said, glaring at them. She had the power of a
priestess.

"Oh, no need for threats, little girl," male Twix said.

"We only make promises," female Twix finished. "We've got a beast that
will be able to take care of you."

"And so... we summon thee..." chanted male Twix, as he pointed his palm
at the ground in synch with his sister.

"Beechnut!" female Twix shouted.

Yellow beams of light sprung from their hands, hitting the ground and
causing it to open, and with a gust of wind, a large insect came out. It
was kind of like a bee, if bees were 20 times larger. It had massive
multifaceted eyes, large furry legs, huge wings, and a very deadly
looking stinger on the tail end. The beechnut glared at the heroes
before launching itself into the air.

"Okay! Let's go!" Tsugiko yelled, as she hefted her hammer, waiting for
the monster to come down to the ground. Yumi nodded to Tsugiko, before
bringing up her wand.

Yumi focused on the fact that she had to kill the monster, and a pink
beam of light shot from the wand, missing the beechnut by inches. Kyouji
threw a few poppies at it, all of them missing as the beast stopped and
dove down towards Tsugiko.

Tsugiko saw her chance and swung the hammer at the bee, slamming it into
its side, sending it spinning down to the ground. "Got it!" she yelled.
Yumi took the opportunity to blast it with magical energy. Tsugiko
concentrated. All right, now it was time to use her powers. She tried to
call forth the green flames and the light.

Nothing.

"Come on, you stupid powers. We could use your help right about now..."
she grumbled, concentrating and attempting to create the flames. Why
weren't they working?

Kyouji closed in on the weakened monster, hoping to get in a crippling
blow while Tsugiko concentrated, but was stopped as the monster put its
front legs together and shot a stream of orangish liquid out. He tried
to dodge, but the beechnut's attack hit him, coating his legs with the
gooey substance. "Great, now I'm a poppy turret," he muttered before
throwing a handful of poppies at the creature.

The poppies just missed as the massive bee took to the sky once more.
Dodging and weaving to avoid Yumi's blasts, it kept trying to get close
to the already stationary Kyouji. Yumi was NOT going to let that thing
get near Kyouji-san. "Tsugiko-chan! Protect Kyouji!" she yelled,
continuing to attempt to hit the beechnut with her magic.

Tsugiko looked up from her concentration and sighed. Well, she wasn't
going to be using those powers anytime soon. Gritting her teeth in anger
and annoyance, Tsugiko held her hammer, prepared to hit the bee if it
came closer. Yumi fired another pink blast of magic from her wand,
narrowly missing the monster as it suddenly dropped straight down into a
nose dive, directly at Kyouji. This thing was not moving her, she vowed
silently, hammer at the ready.

The summoned bee gained momentum and brought its stinger to the front,
getting closer and closer. "Almost... ready... NOW!" she yelled,
swinging the hammer with all her might.

She felt the point of the stinger on her chest, but before it went
through her the bee was knocked down to the ground by the force of the
Tsugiko's attack. The priestess almost dropped to her knees with the
realization that she came *this* close to ending up with a stinger
through her body.

As she looked up, setting her hands on the hammer, she saw the summoned
monster take off and immediately dive towards Kyouji, clawing at him
with its legs. Kyouji was having a hell of a time trying to defend. He
couldn't move, and there were two front legs to his one sword. The
beechnut started scoring hits, opening wounds on his arms and torso.

He gasped with relief when Yumi's magic beam tore off one of the beast's
legs, causing it to scream in pain and take to the air as amber blood
oozed out of the damaged monster. Kyouji didn't think he was going to be
doing any good in a fight with these wounds. He shook off those thoughts
as he threw more flowers at it in the hopes of scoring a hit.

"You will never beat beechnut like that, Child Priestesses," female Twix
said, laughing as she did so.

"You might as well give up now," male Twix added, laughing as well.

"Never!" Tsugiko shouted, as she attempted to draw on her flames once
again, and again, got nothing. What was with these powers?

The bee, however, not waiting for Tsugiko to finish concentrating, dove
at her as she stood motionless, almost shoulder-charging her and
knocking her back more than twenty feet and smashing her into the
ground.

Kyouji watched in horror as the bee stood back up, almost seeming to
smile before it sped at him stinger first. He barely felt the stinger go
through his stomach.

He coughed blood and chuckled grimly. He hadn't expected to be killed by
a monster bee today, he thought, before slipping into unconsciousness.

"KYOUJI-SAN!" Yumi yelled. The bee had hurt Tsugiko-chan, and it might
have killed Kyouji-san! She felt an emotion she hadn't felt in a very
long time.

Anger. Rage. That MONSTER had hurt her friends! Tsugiko-chan was thrown
at least twenty feet! Kyouji-san might die! Yumi held her wand out in
front of her, as the crystal on her forehead and the orb on her wand
flashed in synch. The Twixes drew back.

"It seems that you all are stronger in some areas then we thought," male
Twix commented.

"We shall return to play with you children another time," female Twix
finished, before they teleported away.

"W.. wait," Tsugiko said, moaning as she sat up, only to see Yumi start
glowing pink.

That was the only way to describe it, really. Her entire body was
covered in an aura of pink light, getting brighter by the second, and
the light was starting to focus on her wand. Her eyes were half closed
as the power seemed to gather.

The beechnut, recognizing her as the immediate threat, flew towards her
in an attempt to stop her from firing.

It never had a chance.

The light became almost blinding for one second before it focused on the
tip of the wand and struck out at the bee, a foot thick beam of white-
pink light slamming into the monster. Tsugiko watched in awe as the
monster roared and screamed as the beam grew wider and wider, covering
its whole body for a moment before it disintegrated in the blast, one
final scream of pain its final mark on the world.

Tsugiko stood up slowly and checked herself for broken bones. Finding
none, to her surprise, she looked up to see Kyouji freed from the goop
in which he had been stuck. He immediately slumped to the ground, the
gaping hole in his body oozing blood.

"No! Kyouji!" she screamed, running over to him and lifting him slightly
off of the ground. The hole looked sickening, much worse than any
biology class dissection. Tsugiko shifted her eyes to Kyouji's face and
seeing that he was blissfully unconscious, cradled his head in her lap
as best she could.

"Gika?" Kit Kat questioned as it padded its way back towards the trio,
looking at Kyouji inquisitively.

"He's going to be fine, Kit Kat." Tsugiko said. "Kyouji... you have to
survive. We need you to protect us, remember?" she asked his unconscious
body, tears forming at the corners of her eyes as she did so.

"Allow me." Tsugiko turned her head at the almost-familiar voice to see
Yumi, still glowing with power, the crystal in her forehead still
flashing with light. She touched the wand to Kyouji's wound and closed
her eyes as the light flowed into the hole.

Tsugiko watched, amazed, as the pink magical light filled the wound. As
it faded, Kyouji was whole again! She sobbed with relief as the pink
light briefly covered her body as well, making all of her aches and
pains drain out of her.

A brief flash of jealous thought crossed her mind as she wondered why
Yumi could access her powers and she couldn't, but that was quickly
forgotten when Kyouji moaned and started awakening. She almost didn't
see Yumi collapse.

* * * * * * * * *

Kyouji opened his eyes to see Tsugiko's face, smiling even with tears
covering it. He coughed and gave a weak smile. "Either I'm in paradise,
or I managed to survive," he said, causing Tsugiko to blush a fierce
red.

Funny, he didn't feel any pain at all, even from the little cuts he
received in the fighting earlier. He looked down at his stomach,
surprised to see that it wasn't a gaping bleeding hole. He turned to
Tsugiko. "What... happened?"

Tsugiko looked past him, slightly to his right. When he followed her
line of sight, he saw Yumi lying on the ground, looking somewhat pale.
"You got speared, and then she glowed bright pink, and blew the monster
away. And then she came over here and healed both of us back up, and
then collapsed," she rambled.

"So, she did what you did earlier today..." Kyouji trailed off as he
said so. "I wonder if I have a power like that," he said absently.

"Shhh," Tsugiko said to him. "Rest a bit. Let's wait for her to wake
up."

"Gika!" Kit Kat exclaimed, pouncing on Kyouji. He tried to draw back,
but was stuck on the ground, trapped between Kit Kat and Tsugiko. Not
the worst position to be in, he thought wryly.

"So, should we continue speaking where we left off, Tsugiko?" he said,
in an attempt to forget exactly where he was resting his head. Tsugiko
nodded, and they broke into conversation once more.

* * * * * * * * *

Yumi opened her eyes to the sound of laughter. She weakly sat up and
turned her head in the direction of the noise. Tsugiko and Kyouji were
talking and laughing, like a pair of old friends.

"Good morning, Yumi," Tsugiko said, with an amused smile on her face.
Yumi grinned too, as she recognized Tsugiko's playful side. It didn't
come out too often. "Sleep well?" she asked, with a twinkle in her eye.

"Yes, Tsugiko-chan," she responded. "Is everyone alright?" Tsugiko
nodded while Kyouji pointed to his stomach.

"Well, I don't see any massive gaping chest wounds, so I guess I'm all
right," Kyouji said, smiling too.

"Gika!" Kit Kat added, before jumping out of Tsugiko's lap and into
Yumi's arms. She laughed and cuddled the carret.

"Well then, no need to waste time!" Yumi stated, standing up. "Let's
go!" Tsugiko and Kyouji nodded and stood up, all three of the heroes of
prophecy picking up their packs before walking down the road to the land
of the Sprees.

* * * * * * * * *

Author's Notes:

Whee. I finally got up the courage to sign up for a part on my own, and
lo and behold, I end up writing the follow up to Ard-chan's starter. And
after a week of slow writing, and finally hitting the groove the night
before (about 27 hours before it was due), it's finally done. Not even
Ultra, not even a pure Face-Face fight in Ultra was as hard to write as
this. But this was a lot more fun. ^_^

I'd like to thank Ard-chan for writing such a waiwai starter. ^_^
(Fanboy, yes, I know. ;P)

Also, thanks to Ard-chan and Ravi for being sounding boards for ideas,
Phoebe, Todd, and Steph for extra special support when I was feeling
sad, and Steph, Ravi, and Phoebe for prereading. *hands out MLINKChan
special sundaes* ^_^

A little note here: I was hoping not to use a candy name for the
summoned monster, but I ended up using an obscure gum brand name.
Remember, not everything is going to be named after candy. There are
thousands of people and things, and not all of them can have candy
names. ^_^

I'm sorry if I made things a little too dramatic or made Yumi too sad,
and I'm sure Shun will make everything all fun and happy again! Wai! I
just hope I gave everyone some internal characterization. Third person
limited can be hard to write, as I discovered here. Oh, and let's
continue with punny sweet candy titles! Wai!

Well, now that I am happy and have forgotten completely about the horror
of writing the second chapter of a story... maybe I'll sign up again.
^_^

Oh, and I crave feedback. mikey44@hotmail.com, or a review on the
messageboard would make my 15 seconds of attention span. ^_^

Anyway. This is more than enough rambling for one-third of FalChaMlink.
Ja ne. ^_^

Mechalink (mikey44@hotmail.com)