Life was good. In all honesty, life was *Incredibly* good. Can't be a good sign. Magical Girl Hunters Episode 7: By Nate Devoll Created by Aaron Shattuck. ------------------------------------------------ Now, for the readers in our audience who thinks they can skip to the newest part of a fanfic, lets recap: We had, to say the least, one of the biggest, most well paying jobs sitting right there in the palm of our hands. Twelve magical girls, 500,000 yen per fuku. Needless to say, we grabbed it quick, quick like a bunny. Though I'd rather not think of bunnies....With me,they're usually pink, and mean and...Anyways. We took the job, and once AGAIN in our not-so-illustrious careers...! We pulled it off. Without so much as a few hitches. Murphy's law decided to pleasantly look the other way, and I wasn't complaining. We did, however, receive a most unexpected addition to our little "team". A fourteen-year old Magical girl with an affinity for heavy artillery and all things bold and military. She had come to us in hopes of paying us a measly 3,000 yen in order to kill her. In short, she was watching a battle between youma and a defense force, when she was hit with a stray blast of random energy. However, Mr.Ultra's forces decided she was too good to let die, and *blessed* her with the abilities given to their usual homemade,fuku-clad Magical girls. It was at this point, Itami decided to pull a 180 on me: He asked her to join us. Oddly enough, she accepted, wanting to be able to kill the cuteness of the Magical forces we are always up against. And myself and Itami found that she was fairly useful! She killed four of the twelve tots we knocked off. It did brighten me a little when she made the fuku and everything else camouflaged and all commando-like. What was even more fun was her name: Pretty Deadly. There. Consider yourself informed. ------------------------------------------------------ I pulled the number that Mr. Mizumo had given us out of my pocket , and walked over to a phone booth near the port. Gleefully I picked up the receiver, pulled out a phone card that made me feel all tingly, and dialed the number. As is normal with big companies, I got a receptionist. And an irritating old, one, at that. <"Hello, Mizumo Whaling Industry.."> I winced. It took her almost five minutes to say that. "Yes, may I speak to Mr. Mizumo?" <"Certainly...May...I...Ask...Who...Is..---"> I cut her off. "Just tell him that its about a recent business transaction he made dealing with members of the student profession. And please, do it quickly." <"Certainly.......Sir....Please...Hold..."> I waited well over twenty minutes. And it was one harsh twenty minutes... There was music while I was on hold..If you could call it that. And what was worse, was that it was now stuck in my head. <*Mmm-bop!...Oh,oh, mMM-BOP!*> I lifted my gun and contemplated shooting myself, but used the thought of money to clear the presumably female gibberish that streamed from the phone. <"Hello?"> I was snapped from my suicidal trance by Mizumo's voice. "Mr. Mizumo? This is one of the...Troubleshooters..You called. I'd like to say that we have indeed cleared all twelve tar---Contracts, you assigned us." I was smart enough to use buisness-speak when talking to someone who could get into considerable trouble from hiring killers to kill adolescents.It wasn't kosher with the local law enforcement, nor government officials....Or house-wives...Or anybody, really..But it was damn better than flipping burgers. DAMN better. <"You were able to complete all twelve contracts? Magnificent! However..."> However?...That didn't sound good. "However? Why is there a 'however'?" <"Do you have proof?"> Ah. I should have figured. "You'll have to clean the proof up at the dock. Its all over the walls..The stairs...The....Everywhere." <"I understand. As soon as there is a confirmation of the contracts, you will be called, and we will set up a place to make a transaction. Okay?"> Hrm...Risky. We'd have to run the risk of a backstab....It was then that I got an idea. "Hows about this? You send a coupla guys here, confirm it, and then you pay us. I don't like to wait, Mr. Mizumo." <"I understand. Two of my more trusted workers will be there rather shortly, Yoi-san."> We hung up almost at the same time. I stepped out of the phone booth and over to my "posse". Sailor H was doing the usual. She was all over Itami like ants at a picnic. Itami, meanwhile,remained indifferent, solemnly holding onto his mother's sword. Aika was the first to speak up. "Well?" I looked at each one of them in turn, and smiled. "He's sending some guys over now to confirm the kills. He doesn't seem to have any ulterior motives, but for safety's sake, everyone keep armed. We're ever so close to being in a heap of money, and I'm not losing this chance." Everyone more or less agreed with me, and nodded. And so we waited. And waited…. Sailor H whispered something into Itami's ear, at which point he blushed. But both of them walked over to the car and opened the back seat. I immediately removed the thought of Itami having sex with *anyone*, let alone a girl I would pay hard earned money for…*Ahem* I decided to bide my time talking with Aika, instead. "So..What do you plan on being when you grow up?" " A professional soldier!" Well. That conversation certainly bided my time for .05 seconds… I decided to find a different topic. She was in school, so I tried my best to recall exactly what I did when I was in school. It really wasn't much to look back on… -------------------------------------- "So, Sae-chan, what are plans for this--," *slap*. -------------------------------------- "So, Atsuko-sempai, might I be able to help you with those," *CRACK* -------------------------------------- "So, Hinako-sensei, I hear the teacher's lounge is empt--," *Sounds of incredible beating* -------------------------------------- Ah, my youth. I snapped myself back to the present as Aika kindly pointed out that a long black Sedan was pulling up to us. I stepped over to the car and rapped on the back seat, trying to ignore the moans that it was emitting. A minute later, the pair stepped out. Itami's hair was in more disarray than usual, and Sailor H's lack costume was all out of place. I attempted to help her out of the car, but found my self getting a slap as hard as any I received back in my school days. The sedan parked, and two men in full black suits stepped out of the car. They completely ignored us, and headed straight for the building where we had just recently mopped the floors with the "Dozen of Light". We all twiddled our thumbs and waited for the men to complete their inspection. After almost an hour of waiting for them to finish, they both stepped back into the open, bloodstains on their shoes, and socks. One turned from the other one, and headed for the car. The other one didn't change course and got straight in front of me. He was a tall man, and towered over me. He then spoke to me in a voice that is usually reserved for idol singers that make dogs ears bleed. "We were able to find the complete remains of 7 girls. The others, Yoi-san, you will not be compensated for. I apologize for this inconvenience. My partner is retrieving your fee." The whole of us tried not to laugh at the man's girlish voice, but kept ourselves in check, for now. I *knew* I was gonna get screwed over. I was about to step up to the man and start arguing when Aika put her hand on my shoulder. She bent me over and whispered something in my ear. A few gears turned, and I looked back over at the man. "How many of them were you able to find 'parts' of, though?" The tall man stared at me for a few seconds, and then walked over to his car. For far too many times this evening, we waited. And waited. Finally, both of them stepped out of the car and headed towards our quad of people. This time they were carrying a rather large briefcase. The tall man lumbered over to me, and once again, spoke in his high-pitched voice. "We will be willing to pay you the total of 4,500,000 yen. All in bills." In unison, we agreed. This would be able to pay for apartment! And everything else! I was in state of glee, as the man handed the suitcase to Aika. The men however, left as soon as they had delivered the money. That was usually bad. I punted the briefcase out of Aika's hands and towards their Sedan and side-tackled my commando-fuku-clad-comrade.. Itami did much the same, but Sailor H figured it out and caught Itami on the ground in a rather compromising position. Meanwhile, the briefcase exploded, making a rather messy work of the bastard's Sedan, and in all likeliness, char-broiled the two idiots inside. I smiled to myself, despite the fact we had just been royally screwed over, as usual. How the hell was I gonna pay the Finn? I left that matter for another time…. "C'mon, guys. Lets go home." We all turned around and headed towards the car. When something odd happened. From out of nowhere, a pencil embedded itself in the roof of the car. I turned around to find myself looking at a shadow being cast down from a lightpost. It was a fat, college kid. With nice coke-bottle glasses. In a nice suit and tie. And a top hat. I groaned. " For ever setting your dastardly hands near my dear, gone Princess Love, I, PRETTYBOY WARRIOR NEKOMI TECH KAMEN WILL DESTROY YOU!!" I dunno, is it just me, or do pedophiles show up at the worst times? ------------------------------------------ What on earth will happen to our fatal four? Why did I change my plot 90 times? How much wood could that demonic pink bunny from episode one chuck? Some of these questions to be answered in the next part, hopefully. Many thanks to the Shade Eternal, who helped by editing…. Please, send criticism and comments to:RDvll@aol.com I'd really appreciate it.