Hanaki and Tejina were sitting on the edge of the bed, while
Ayame was sitting on the floor.  Pepper was floating near Hanaki
and Daisy was lying on the floor by Ayame.

"That's it?"  Hanaki asked.

"Yesh, it would sheem so," slurred Daisy.

"Well, I'm tired.  I'm going to bed."  Tejina yawned and trudged
off to her room.

Hanaki blinked and rubbed her eyes.  "Me too.  We've got class
tomorrow.  Night!"  She walked out, leaving Ayame alone with
Pepper and Daisy.  Daisy took that opportunity to pass out on the
floor but Pepper, in his fishbowl, was floating around the room
agitatedly.  

"Queen Amore, we must talk."

Ayame blinked.  "Very well.  Is there more to it than what you
told the girls?"

Pepper nodded gravely, or at least would have if he hadn't been a
goldfish.  As it was, he just kind of moved his head a bit. 
"Yes, I am afraid there is."  Floating over to Daisy, he tipped
his bowl over a bit and dumped some cold water onto the cat.

Daisy jumped up three feet into the air, startled sober. 
"YEOW!!!  What did you do that for?!"

"Hmph!  We need to tell Queen Amore what else we learned." 
Pepper said.

"Couldn't I have a tiny drink first?"

*****

Do-Gooders Original Concept by Stefan Gagne#39 - Ofuda!  And
sundry other things!By Delfina

*****

Hiryuu suddenly shimmered and changed into a human, and made
himself a bit more comfortable to do his thinking.  Aki sighed
and picked up one of the manga lying around.  [I love this one! 
Hotohori-sama.]  She then proceeded to immerse herself in the
manga while Hiryuu continued pondering.

*****

".And that's everything.  Could you please help us, Keiko-san?" 
Koohii finished, looking somewhat nervous.  Going to Keiko's had
tested her levels of bravery greatly, seeing as she might just
decide to kill them again.  Since Ichiban had the only means to
their rebirth, it was actually a threat this time.

Keiko frowned.  "So basically, your family wants to kill you and
you need a place to hide out?"

"Our evil uncle Ichiban - no!  Make that former uncle!  He is an
awful person!  An awful, awful, mean, nasty, EVIL person!" 
Koohii exclaimed.  "He was going to do horrible things to us! 
And he has a new plan!  And wants to kidnap one of your Sailor
friends!  So Aki was probably the one!"

Keiko sweatdropped.  "Okay."

"Basically, we need a place to crash, and you're our best
option." Scotch said.

Mermaid pushed back some of her hair uneasily, "Koohii's been a
little unraveled by this."

"Well, this is all very interesting, but we need to rescue our
friend, Aki." Charity said.  "We were just about to do that, when
you arrived."

"Right.the girl with the awesome magical powers was kidnapped by
a dragon.  What color was this dragon?"

Everyone looked at Charity.  She blinked.  "Oh dear.  I think he
was blue."

Scotch looked thoughtful.  "Blue?  Uncle Ichiban is a black
dragon.Would it help if one of us transformed?"

"Oh, certainly.  Go ahead."

"Okay."  Scotch shimmered and changed into his dragon form.  He
was a long, golden form with thick muscles and shining scales.

Charity looked at him, puzzled.  "But you don't look at all like
the dragon I saw.  He looked different."

"Well, it could be that he is a different kind of dragon."
Mermaid started.  "We follow the Blue Dragon of the East and
Heaven, he might follow the Green Dragon of Center and Earth."

"Let's talk about this later, all right?  Right now we need to
rescue Aki, and you three are going to help." Keiko commanded. 
Dragon Childe hung their heads meekly and followed as Keiko led
the way.

*****

"Must you always gaze into your soup like that?  People are
staring."

Baron Stagner von Carrlson of the Kingdom of Obscurity looked up. 
"I'm sorry, but you are worried about people staring?  You?  The
idiot who got himself killed by a group of little girls?"

"Hey!  They were tough!"  Spike protested.

"It doesn't matter.  Now, here's what we need to do."

"This won't involve kidnapping that Sailor girl you're so keen
on, will it?"

"The flower of my delight?  The epitome of loveliness?  The light
of my life, Sai - "

Spike sighed.  "Forget I mentioned it."

*****

Deep in the heart of the super-secret basement laboratory Villyn
had specially built, a reconnaissance mission was being planned
to get Aki back from the clutches of her captor.  

Villyn looked at his minions, ranged in front of his imposingly
large examination table that he had gotten on sale from the Mad
Scientists League.  "All right, how could you let my Aki-chan get
kidnapped?"

"She made me leave!  I'm so sorry Villyn-sama!  It was that girl
with the - "

"We were with you Villyn-sama!"

"Yeah!  The whole time!"

"The three of us!  It was all their fault!"

"I had to clean all those dishes!  I couldn't make it back in
time, Villyn-sama!"

Villyn sweatdropped.  "Err.well.um.  The important thing now is
to find Aki!"

"Right!" the minions chorused.

"But.how do we find her?"  Gazing around at the various cabinets
and shelves filled with peculiar gadgets and devices - most of
them that he had picked out because they looked cool - he finally
spotted something that might work.  Rushing over to a small shelf
on the wall, he picked up a black, oblong device with lots of
buttons and lights.  "Ahh!  A tracer!  It can track Aki-chan down
anywhere!  All we have to do is to get something of hers and
stick it in there," a small part of the device slid open to
reveal a small cavity, "then it will begin tracing her.  Quick! 
Get me something of hers!"
"I will, Villyn-sama!" all of the minions chorused, then realized
when they got to the stairs that they weren't all going to fit
through.  Of course, this was after the Quake Camper, T-kun, and
the Blank Psychic all got crammed in the stairwell.

*****

"Hey, Yukiko.are you all right?"

"Fine, Esu.  This whole Magical Girl thing has been really weird
though.  I'm still waiting for a dandelion wielding kamen."

"."

"Why are you looking at me like that?"  Yukiko went off into a
dreamy state.  "He'd be Kamen Spring, to melt the cold heart of
Winter."

".Why me?"

*****

Charity, Koohii, Mermaid, and Scotch were all wandering down the
streets following Keiko as she led them to wherever it was Aki
was being kept.  Villyn and his minions happened to be wandering
down from a side street and bumped into the group.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Koohii exclaimed.

"Don't be so disrespectful to Villyn-sama!" the Blank Psychic
retorted.

"Oh, sorry miss."  Villyn said, not paying attention to them, but
more focused upon the device he was carrying.

Charity happened to notice him.  "Villyn-san?"

"Wha?  Charity-san?  I got your note."  Villyn fumbled for
something to say.  "Have you found Aki yet?"

"Actually, she should be right in here, Villyn-san," Keiko said,
and pointed to a large cave in front of them.

"What's a big, ominous-looking cave doing in the middle of
Tokyo?" Mermaid said to herself.  No one answered.

*****

Junko looked critically at the rack of weapons.  "And you say
these are the top of the line models?"

Doctor Isaga spoke in the tone of one who's patience has been
tried and who has given up on life, "Yes, ma'am.  As seen in
'Shinto Today', the Ofuda Launcher 5500 will disable any oni in
one shot - with the special Saigo Kawasu no Ofuda, of course."

Jinko hefted one of the OL5500s.  "Hm, not bad."  She then
experimentally aimed it at Doctor Isaga and smiled.  Doctor Isaga
paled.  "Let's see how good this thing really is."  Pulling the
trigger, she grinned as an ofuda shot out and landed square in
the middle of the doctor's forehead.  "We'll take it.  How much?"

"500,000 Yen."

Junko frowned slightly.  "All right, now tell us how much it
really costs."

Dr. Isaga spluttered.  "But that is how much they cost!"

"I don't think you understand.  We are willing to pay you,
say.200,000 Yen."

"What?  You can't do that to me.  That's highway robbery.  I'm
running a business here."  He suddenly found a tanto at his neck,
wielded by Jinko.

"You were saying.?"

"Right.  200,000 Yen for each OL5500 and that's 25,000 for the
Saigo Ka - " after looking at the expressions upon their faces,
he hastily changed that, "I mean, I'll throw those in for free. 
So that will be 400,000 Yen please."

Grudgingly, Junko paid him the money and they both picked up
their purchases and left.  Doctor Isaga breathed a large sigh of
relief and slumped bonelessly in a nearby chair.  [They are the
only people who can scare me.]

*****

Finishing off the last manga, Aki broke out of her reverie and
looked around.  Hiryuu was still contemplating.  [Why me?] 
Glancing out of the corner of her eye at him, she she started to
mentally rate him.  [Hm, not bad.  Not quite as good-looking as
Hotohori, but he has an almost Nuriko-like charm.  And he's
persistent, got to give him that.  If it weren't for the fact
that he kidnapped me, I'd give him an 8.5, at least.]  Putting
the manga down, she examined her situation.  [All right, I've
been kidnapped by a cute guy, who also happens to be a dragon.]  

Frowning, Aki glared at her captor. Hiryuu was lying with his
arms crossed under his head, his eyes closed, and his face calm.
Either he was deep in contemplation, or...

Hiryuu rolled over and snored softly.

...or he was asleep.

Aki considered waking him up and giving him a piece of her mind,
but then stopped and decided to look for a way out of her current
situation.  Approaching what looked to be an entrance, she paused
when she heard some people trying to be quiet very close by.  And
failing miserably.

*****

Jinko and Junko opened their purchases eagerly, like children who
had just woken up on Christmas morning and were tearing through
their presents.

"So you think that these new spells will work on him, Junko?"

Junko loaded a clip of ofuda into the OL5500 with an audible
click.  "I certainly hope so.  We'll try them and see.  If not,
we'll just have to do something else - at our employer's expense,
of course."

"Oh, but of course."

*****

Chiang rubbed his hands together.  "But you must marry Aki!  It
is destiny!  You cannot change destiny!"

"She's my sister."

"You know, incest was a very common practice in royal circles."

Matsuro sighed.  "Aki and I do not want to get married."

"Whatever happened to that nice young girl you introduced me to a
while ago, Matsuro?" Akemi asked.

"Keiko?  She's okay."

"Now Master Chiang, I like Keiko. I do not want my son and
daughter to marry each other.  Could you read that prophecy to me
again?"

"Yes, Akemi."  Chiang reached into his pack and pulled out the
ancient scroll.  "All right, let's review.  ''Only when the
Champion of the DarkVerse unites with the Champion of the Kingdom
of Delight and those of the Center and Earth can the worlds be
united and survive the Coming of The Apocalypse.'"

"Hmm." Akemi hmmed.

"Pardon me, but may I suggest something?" Elric asked.

Chiang looked mildly surprised.  "Of course Elric.  Go ahead."

"The prophecy states that the Champions have to be 'united',
correct?"

Chiang nodded.  "Yes, which is why they must get married."

"The two happen to be twins now, correct?"

"Yes.  What are you getting at?"

"They're twins.  They're united already.  Being in the same womb
is about as united as you can get."

"I hadn't thought of that," Chiang mused.

"And." Elric added, "It doesn't say which Champion.  From what I
can gather, all of the Sailors were supposed to be Champions of
the Crystal City."

"Very good, Elric!  Now my children don't have to get married to
each other!" Akemi exclaimed.

"Who are the Champions of the Center and Earth, though?" Matsuro
asked.

"I'm not sure," Chiang replied.  "I'll have to do some more
research, I'm afraid."

"I've been told that I'm the 'One' of the Seals and Harbringers,
and the Harbringers fight for some Dragon, I remember them saying
something about Center and Earth."

"Can you get in touch with any of those people?  I'd like to talk
to them."

"Come by at lunch tomorrow.  As for right now, I am going to
sleep."

*****

The cute little furry woodland creature hopped through the
various gardens and paths on its way to locate a certain someone. 
Strangely enough, it could be heard muttering, "I am going to
kill Kahi and Yoru when I find them!"

*****

Kireiko wandered along in the morning light on his way to school. 
Carrying his heavy books with ease he cheerfully whistled as he
thought of his date with Hanaki next weekend.  Trees, mountains,
and signs reading 'Okinawa - 3 kilometers' and 'Nagasaki - 14
kilometers' passed by unnoticed.  Suddenly he realized he was in
a forest.

"Huh?  I'm not asleep, am I?"  He pinched his arm just to make
sure.  "Ouch."  Deciding that this wasn't a dream, he looked
around and noticed his oni father sitting on a convenient boulder
nearby.

"I got one thing to say to you, son."

"Hey dad.  What's that?"

"Duck!"

FWOOSH!  A barrage of ofuda barely cleared Kireiko's head. 
"What's the deal?!"  Looking to see who had tried to shoot him,
he spotted Jinko and Junko, wielding large guns with 'OL5500'
blazoned on the sides.  [Woah, those are the new Ofuda Launcher
5500s, as seen in 'Shinto Today'.  Good thing my parents
subscribe to that, otherwise I wouldn't have known what those
were.]

"Darn.  You weren't supposed to know we were here.  We need to
get a refund on that misdirection spell," Jinko said.

Junko glared at Jinko, "It was probably your loud stomping that
told him we were here!"

"I don't mean to interrupt, but I've got to go to class.  See
ya!"  Kireiko sprinted off in the general direction of the
school, leaving Junko and Jinko in his dust.

*****

Becky and Rover were sitting in her bedroom, having a
dialogue.err.monologue.  To be more specific, Rover was
discussing, while Becky looked as though she'd been asleep for a
long time.

".and so that's all we found out about your Mystical Destinies," 
Rover concluded.  Looking at Becky's prone form, he sighed. 
"Becky!  Wake up!  I just told you all about your Mystical
Destiny and you fell asleep?!"

Becky stirred and rubbed her eyes.  "What were you saying,
Rover?"  Glancing at the clock she gave a little start.  "Oh no! 
I'm going to be late for school!  Gotta go, talk to you later
Rover!"  And she was gone, leaving a Becky-shaped puff of smoke
in her wake.

"I hope she changes out of her pajamas before she goes."

*****

Hanaki, Tejina, and Ayame were already at school and standing in
front of a large bulletin board in the hallway.  They seemed to
be very excited about a particular post.  Well, Tejina and Hanaki
were, Ayame looked as though she was fighting to stay awake.

"I can't believe it!  This is going to be so great!"  Hanaki
exclaimed.

"Wait til the others hear about this!  Another concert lined up
already!"  Tejina chimed.  "Hey look, there's Matsuro."  Waving
at him to come over, she jumped up and down and showed him the
post.

"'Need bands for a gala affair at Happy Hello stadium.  Will pay
well.  Audition first, call 555-5887 for info.'," Matsuro read.

Tejina enthused, "Yeah!  Isn't it great?!  We'll just have to
call the number and go!"  Ripping the paper off of the bulletin
board she put it into her pocket.  "We'll have to talk about it
more at lunch.  Come on!  We're going to be late to class!"

*****

Yumeki was late.  Very late.  So late in fact that she wouldn't
be locked out, but they would insert needles under her
fingernails and pour boiling tar upon her.  Well, not really. 
But she was really late.  As she darted over hill and dale trying
desperately to get to class, she failed to notice the kawaii
little bunny rabbit that hopped into her way.  This is why she
tripped over it.

"Aiiiyaah!!!" she exclaimed as she flew through the air.

"You IDIOT!" the bunny exclaimed as it flew through the air. 
Landing on Yumeki, it began to beat her over the head with the
blunt end of its switchblade.  "Didn't you see me in the path? 
Did you have to trip over me?"

"It's you!  That psychotic rabbit!" Yumeki screamed.  "Don't hurt
me!"

"Stop your screaming.  I'm not going to hurt you - too badly. 
You're Sailor Hatred, right?"

"Uhh.yeah.  Why?"

"Because I've got to be your Advisor.  Got a problem with that?" 
The bunny looked very threateningly at her and held its
switchblade in a professional way.  Yumeki gulped.

"No.no problem." Yumeki stammered.

"Good.  Let's go talk to the others.  We need to get Sailor
Darkness back into the fold."

"So what's your name? Floppy ears? Buster? Fiver? Peter? 
Thumper?"

"Nope. And if you give me a cute nickname you can kiss your nose
goodbye."

"Well, what is it?"

"Cecil."

"..."

"Now stop gawking, you're late."

"For what?"

Cecil rolled his eyes.  "The tea party of course. For school, you
idiot!"

*****

Daichi grinned - bishounely of course.  This new plan of his
would work brilliantly.  Another concert for the Do-Gooders to
attend, and maybe he could get his hands on that lovely Sailor. 
It was strange, really, how the whole thing came about.  That odd
man he had met in the coffee shop told him about it, and asked
him to help him plan it.  The really funny thing about him was
that he kept staring into his tea and muttering to himself. 

*****

Tejina stepped into her classroom and looked around for Keiko,
she'd want to know about the concert.  Keiko, however, was
absent.  [Hm.wonder where she could be.  I know Matsuro has
already headed off for class.]

*****

Kireiko and Yumeki both rushed into class at the last minute,
with the teacher staring disapprovingly at them.  They exchanged
embarrassed glances and slid into their seats.

*****

In Aki's classroom, the teacher marked down five absences.

*****

At lunchtime, the group got together as usual and sat down in
their normal places.  Aki's and Keiko's seats were empty.

"Where could they be?  Keiko wasn't in class today.and it's not
like Aki to be absent." Tejina wondered out loud.

Becky suddenly choked on her rice.  "Oh no!  Aki was kidnapped! 
Then we had to go to that training."

"What?  You mean you knew Aki was kidnapped and you didn't even
go after her?" Hanaki cried.  "Poor Aki."

"We should probably go rescue her." Matsuro said.

"Charity was there!  And I'm sure there were some minions
somewhere."  Tejina defended herself.  "But where is Keiko?"

*****

Aki was getting really nervous.  She could hear some people
outside trying to get in and she couldn't tell if they were
friends or foes.  Hiryuu [the idiot!  Although a cute idiot.] was
still snoozing.  Putting her ear to the wall she could hear some
snippets of conversation."If we place it there the wall should
explode."  ".don't think this is the right time."  "..sure
Aki-chan is in there."  "..what kind of dragon is this again."  

Being the smart girl that she is, Aki prudently stepped as far
away from that wall as possible.  This turned out to be a very
good thing as the wall exploded to reveal Villyn, Charity, Keiko,
Koohii, Mermaid, Scotch, and the Minions.

"What's going on.?"  Hiryuu asked, as he groggily came awake. 
Then he saw the very angry crowd of people who had blasted the
hole in his wall.  "Uh oh."

WILL HIRYUU SUFFER MUCH PAIN AT THE HANDS OF AKI'S RESCUERS? 
WILL CHARITY AND VILLYN GET BACK TOGETHER?  WILL MARIKO BE UPSET
NOW THAT YUMEKI HAS HER OWN ADVISOR?  WILL THE DO-GOODERS PLAY AT
THE 'GALA AFFAIR'?  WILL TEJINA AND COMPANY GO OFF TO RESCUE AKI
TOO?  WILL MATSURO BE FREE TO MARRY KEIKO NOW?  WILL CHIANG MAKE
IT TO LUNCH?  ARE ALL OF THE ENEMIES OF THE DO-GOODERS IN LOVE
WITH A SAILOR?  WILL YUMEKI KEEP HER NOSE?

Author's Blurb:

Wow, it's been a while since I've written for DG.  That could be
a good thing.  I'd like to give lots of thanks to my wonderful
pre-readers, Steven Scougall, Jonatan Streith, Eslington, and
Phoebe.  Omi for helping me with Cecil.  Thanks lots to the DGML
and to the Impro chat for providing much help and comic relief,
(especially when hearing about Kireiko's death) - and to Nihility
for pricing the OL5500s.  Oh, and JakeW  - that was priceless. 
^_~

I'm hoping this part is DDD compliant.I tried!  No new
characters, and I even managed to tie up a plotline.  If it
remains that way.well this is Impro.

I'm afraid there aren't as many OCRs and such as you're used to,
'cuz well.I couldn't think of any.  Sorry.  I know this has been
a dismal, dull chapter, but if you made it all the way here it
couldn't have been that bad, could it?  Anyways, kudos to the
next author.the indescribable John Evans!  [throws confetti]
C&C can be emailed to me at delfina@texas.net or go visit my
website!  <insert shameless self-plug here>
delfina.home.texas.net