She circled her prey slowly, her eyes never leaving the goal.  Ever watchful, she checked for others of her kind.  This prize was sweet to them, and this was the last one in the area.  It would be hers, she decided.  She felt a calling now, something deep inside her drawing her to her quarry.  Nothing would stand in her way, all that mattered now was her prey.
	Suddenly, movement.  In one fluid motion, she scooped up her prey and held it fast.  Slowly, she raised it to her mouth.  Jagged teeth tore through skin, revealing a soft, pulpy inside.  A horrible crunching sound issued from her mouth.  Minutes passed like hours, until finally she swallowed.
	Yes, Tejina thought as she took another bite of her apple, today will be a good day.

					* * * * * *

					Do-Gooders
		    The anti-angst, pro-active teen superhero team
		   without even a hint of an X anywhere in their title.
				  Their subtitle, however . . .

			     A FanArt HQ/Spoof Chase Improfanfic

			      http://pixelscapes.com/improfanfic

			   Episode 44: Music to Rule the World By
				 written by: Clint Milton

			      Original Concept by Stephan Gagne

					* * * * * *

		Warning:  Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear.

					* * * * * *

Recap:  Well, since this is Episode 44, a quick recap isn’t possible anymore.  Too much has happened to make anything like that feasible.  However, I know there’s some people out there who are just now getting into Do-Gooders and would like to know what’s going on.  So, here’s your recap. (Deep breath.)
	Tejina, Matsuro, and Kireiko form a band calling themselves "Do-Gooders" and pretending to be superheroes, only they’re attacked at their first concert and it turns out they really are superheroes with really neat (if a bit silly) super powers and swords and all sorts of stuff, and they kick butt over their enemies and then they find out they’ve got more problems then they can shake a stick at, what with adding two members, Becky, who also has super powers and a real bad case of split personalities, one of which being a gun freak American special agent and one being a Magical Girl, and Hanaki, who’s Tejina’s sister and a bit ditzy, also a pathological liar (she also has super powers), and Aki, who’s not a member of the band but still has super powers, the daughter of what can best be called the Do-Gooder’s arch-nemesis, who -- wonder of wonders! -- happens to be Named Nemesis Villyn, who is in love with the queen of the Darkverse (her name is Charity, and she’s nice even though she rules what passes for the evil dimension in these stories) and is always trying to kill our heroes, and Keiko, the witch who’s in love with Matsuro (she too has super powers), and Ayame, Tejina’s biological mother who was nailed with some weird ray and now is quite a few years younger and thinks she’s Tejina’s sister (she has powers of exposition, but I don’t know if that counts as a super power, although she was Sailor Exposition for a while, so it might count)(hey, run on bracket sentences can be fun too), and all the Seals and the Harbringers (people who distribute Har, not to be confused with Harbingers, guys whose very appearance foretells doom and destruction and not nice things like that), they don’t have super powers but they do have the Swords, Cleavers, etc. of Duality, which play a huge part in the Apocalypse, and the Dragons appeared and now live with Keiko, who killed them the first time, but they got better, and the Elder Gods make their obligatory appearances, cults and all, and the Apocalypse happened (don’t worry, it wasn’t the real one, just some guy trying to get back at Matsuro) and it’s been a long, strange trip, but we’ve all enjoyed it.

	And there’s your recap, and my entry to the Largest Run On Sentence in this Fanfic: 388 words.  I feel pretty good to have done two things with this: 1) I think I made a good showing for the win and 2) I brought back one of my favorite running gags from this series.  Anyhow, on with the show.

					* * * * * *

	In the basement of the Nakao house, the Do-Gooders were setting up for practice.  Tejina cracked her knuckles and played a couple of licks on her keyboard.  Kireiko quickly ran his fingers up and down his guitar, producing some quick rock lines.  Becky plugged her bass in and soon followed the lines Kireiko was playing.  Matsuro sat there twirling his drumsticks and looking angst-filled.  Hanaki just watched and prepared her voice.  After a few moments of preparing, all eyes fell on Tejina.  She took a deep breath.
	"All right," she said, "the concert’s this afternoon so we don’t have that much time.  We’re going to do all our best stuff.  And Becky, see if you can keep the snickering down to a minimum.  It ruins the dramatic moments of our songs."  Becky hung her head and chuckled to herself as she thought of the titles to their best songs.  Tejina shot her a withering glare then continued.  "We need to be at our best.  This is probably the first concert we’ll be able to finish."
	"What makes you say that?" Kireiko asked, "We haven’t finished one yet."
	"Well . . ." Ayame began as she entered the room.  The Do-Gooders as a whole screamed and dove under whatever they could find in the hopes that Ayame would get the message.  She did, and after pouting for a few moments, she left the room.  One by one, the band began to poke their heads up and slowly retook their positions with sighs of relief.  The terror, it seemed, had passed . . . for now.  After a quick retuning of their instruments, they were ready to practice.  Soon, all was as it should be.

				       * * * * * *

	At a small outdoor cafe in Paris, Nemesis and Charity sat sipping coffee.  The minions were all on bodyguard duty, cleverly spaced throughout the cafe.  However, given their natures and outfits, it was impossible for them to be inconspicuous, though not for lack of trying.  The two lovebirds paid no attention to the antics of the minions; their attentions were directed solely at each other.  They gazed deep into each other’s eyes as they sipped the espresso.  Charity smiled.  If Nemesis showed any emotion, his armor hid it.  It also hid the coffee stains on his shirt.  He was grateful about the latter, even if it was his cleanest shirt.  Coffee stains never impress dates, he’d learned that the hard way.
	"Nemesis-chan," Charity said, batting her eyes.  Nemesis swallowed hard.
	"Yes, Charity-chan," Nemesis responded, his voice shaking.  Charity smiled again.
	"We’ve been together for some time now . . ."
	"Yes . . ."
	"And we plan to see much more of each other . . ."
	"Yes . . ."
	"So," she swallowed hard, "Nemesis-chan, I have something to ask of you."
	"What?  Ask me anything, and I’ll do it."
	"Would you . . . take off your helmet?  I want to see your face, the face of the man I love."  Nemesis began to sweat up a storm.

				     * * * * * *

	Back at the Department of Mystical Destinies, things were in an uproar.  Files were scattered everywhere as agents ran all over trying to fix the damage the "Apocalypse" had caused.  Mystical Destines were rearranged to reflect the change.  Some people were given Mundane Destines and transferred to that department (after much cursing by both departments and a general complaint about lack of manpower).  Others were given even more mystical of a destiny and passed on to superiors (again, after much cursing and a complaint about lack of manpower).  Much coffee was consumed by all agents.  One of the destinies to come up was Matsuro’s.  The agent handling it sighed.
	"You know," he said wearily, "I just can’t handle this today."  He shook his head, marked it as "To Be Handled Later" and sent it up to his department manager.  He’d deal with the yelling later.  For now, the fresh coffee in the pot was calling to him.

				     * * * * * *

	Hours passed.  Soon it was time for the concert.  The Do-Gooders were anxiously setting up and preparing for the crowds that were expected.  After all, it’s not every day that one gets to see the Do-Gooders perform and actually finish a concert.  The bookies were the first to arrive, and they were already setting up shop and calculating the odds.  The die-hard fans were next, sporting their "authentic" Tejina outfits, Matsuro uniforms, and numerous unauthorized Do-Gooder T-shirts.  The casual listeners and people who bought the tickets because they were cheap arrived next and took the seats in the middle.  Last to arrive were the closet fans -- the people who really loved the Do-Gooders’ music and bought the bootleg CD’s, yet don’t want to admit it and will vehemently deny it if asked -- and the people who only wanted to see who would attack the Do-Gooders next.  The lights dimmed, and the Do-Gooders took the stage.
	"Are you ready?" Hanaki shouted in her typically bubbly and sugary-sweet voice.  The audience roared in response.  "I guess so.  Well, all right!"  Keiriko launched into the opening cords of "Drop Dead, Sis" and soon the concert was in full swing.  Tejina and Hanaki never sang better.  Keiriko’s guitar solo was perfect.  The whole band was at their peak.
	The crowd loved it.  They couldn’t get enough.  They pressed toward the stage, they danced where they were.  Those that could, sang along.  Soon, those that couldn’t sing drowned them out.  But that didn’t matter, because everyone was enjoying themselves.  It was like the world had stopped for this one moment, and everything was perfect.
	But, like all good things, this couldn’t last.  Right into the third song, the doors were blasted open.  As the smoke cleared, an army of Hello Cthulhu entered the room, led by Brother Maynard, who was laughing hideously.
	"ThIs TiMe, Do-GoOdErS, yOu ShAlL nOt DeFy ThE pOwEr Of ThE aRmY oF hElLo CtHuLhU," Maynard cackled, "tImE tO dIe."
	"These guys again?" Tejina sighed, "This’ll be too easy."
	"NoT sO.  LoOk CaReFuLlY aT mY nEw, ImPrOvEd ArMy."  Tejina looked, and saw that the entire army was wearing armor.
	"So?  Now they’re tin-plated wimps.  No big deal."
	"Uh, Tejina," Hanaki whispered, "did you happen to see the markings on their chest?"  Tejina looked, and sighed.
	"This could be trouble."

				    * * * * * *

	WILL THE DO-GOODERS TRIUMPH OVER THE ARMY OF HELLO CTHULHU?  WHAT IS THE STRANGE SYMBOL ON THAT ARMOR?  HOW MUCH WOOD WOULD A WOODCHUCK CHUCK IF A WOODCHUCK WOULD CHUCK WOOD?  WILL NEMESIS REMOVE HIS HELMET FOR CHARITY?  WHAT WERE THE ODDS FOR THE DO-GOODERS CONCERT?   AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, WHY WAS THIS EPISODE SO SHORT?

	Well, I’ll answer one of these questions later.  The rest of them will have to wait for the next writer.  Good luck.

				    * * * * * *

	Author’s Note:  Gosh, this was tough.  I don’t have much experience writing humorous stories, and I know it shows.  I’ll do better next time, really.  This was good for me, and I’m glad I did it.  I am amazed, however, that it took me this long to write.  But it was fun.  I can’t wait to see what the next author writes next.  I like this series.