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 Chapter Four: Love and Rollercoasters. Robyn woke groggily to the sound of Override pounding on her hotel-room door. Inching her way to the side of the double bed she had been given, she rolled off the side, grabbing her sunglasses from the bedside table as she stood. The pounding continued as she made her way to the door, muttering curses in Atlantean at the man on the other side of the door. Wrenching the door open, she glared at Override through her sunglasses, growling slightly. "What are you doing getting me up at this decidedly nasty hour of the morning?" "Uh, Robyn... it's 10 o'clock in the morning." "What!? You mean 10 o'clock comes twice a day?! Why didn't someone tell me?!" Robyn placed her hand dramatically on her forehead, knowing full well, that the scouts were just around the corner. "Geeze Robyn, cut it out and get ready would ya? You're the one with the driver's licence around here." "Oh, all right." She stuck her tongue out at him as she closed the door. "All right guys, she knew you were there the whole time you know." Override called out to the girls hidden right around the corner from Robyn's hotel room. "She'll just be a sec." Ami walked around the door and took Override's hand, "Was she swearing at you?" Override laughed, "Yeah, she called me a 'Large green-spotted satanic purple dinosaur from the nine hells'." "Okay..." she was just about to ask what that meant, when Robyn walked out of her room, and shut the door. Robyn was dressed in a plain blue T-shirt, and a pair of jeans that seemed to have been caught between two rival gangs during a gunfight. Turning, she could see Mamoru and the girls staring at her pants. "What?! It's not like we're going anywhere fancy, and they're comfortable."  She looked around at the others, and noticed that they had also adopted the more casual American look. Ami had cut-offs and a T-shirt that said, 'Go ahead, make my day.' Holding her hand, Override was dressed in a pair of jeans and a shirt that said 'Earth Acadamy.' Rei was wearing a halter top and spandex pants, Makoto and Minako wore miniskirts and tank tops, Usagi had on a bikini top and shorts and Mamoru was wearing (to the obvious glee of Usagi) a muscle shirt and jeans.The group headed down the hall, stopping only long enough for Robyn to grab a can of 7UP from a vending machine in the lobby. "Lemme guess, you guys ate already, and that's the only reason I was allowed as much sleep time as I got." Override stared at her impassively from behind his sunglasses. "Okay, okay! Let's go." Mumbling to herself about 'frigging morning people', Robyn took off for the van. After a brief argument, the group decided to go to a small amusement park across town from their hotel. Arriving at 'FunLand: the Silliest Place on Earth' they tried to find rides that everyone could agree on. The two couples in the group, predictably wanted to check out the Tunnel of Luv, while Rei, Makoto and Minako waited to take the Triple Puke-Loop roller coaster, Robyn couldn't care less either way. The two groups decided to take the roller coaster first, and then while the couples took the tunnel ride, Robyn would go with the others and find something else to do. Usagi and Minako both lost their breakfasts after the ride, and the others had a good laugh about it. Mamoru, Usagi, Override and Ami got on the swan-boat-thingy -one pair to each boat of course- and Rei was about to ask the attendant how long the ride lasted, when Robyn pulled her away. "Hey, why'd you do that? I wanted to know when to come back for them." Robyn laughed, "It doesn't matter how long that guy thinks they'll be Rei. Override can make that ride last as long as he wants it to, and with Ami there, I have a feeling he'll want it to last a looooong time. They'll find us when the repair people finally manage to get the swan-boats unstuck. Betcha five bucks it's at least two hours before we see any of them." "We'll take that bet," Rei said, looking at her fellow Senshi. The four girls went off, and tried to have a good time, but they were all thinking about other things. The Senshi were thinking about Kunsite. They knew they had killed him that night, when they had banished Queen Beryl back to the Negaverse. How could he be back? For Robyn however, the nega-general was the last thing on her mind. Her mind was definitely not on work. She was thinking about gentle hands applying a bandage carefully, as if she were as fragile as a china-doll. A sigh managed to escape, and the Senshi began to giggle and poke each other in the ribs. They knew exactly what she was thinking about, or rather who. They wandered the park, loosing money at the dart games and ring tosses, most of them that is. Robyn was having an uncanny streak of luck, popping every balloon she tossed a dart at, and basically winning everything she tried. She ended up giving all of her stuffed fuzzy prizes to the Senshi; she already had more stuffed carnival-type prizes than she knew what to do with. Two hours later, Minako, Makoto and Rei were forking over their pocket change as the two couples strode towards them. "What's this all about?" Usagi was curious. "I bet them that the Tunnel of Luv ride would keep you guys occupied for at least two hours." Robyn grinned. "A word of advice ladies," Override was grinning, "never make a bet with anyone who can actually say Lady Luck is part of their family tree." "What?!" The Senshi were confused, "You mean she's not... normal?" "Robyn? Normal?" Override doubled over with laughter, shaking so hard he could barely breathe. When he finally got his breath back, all he could say was, "Robyn wouldn't know normal if it bit her." The group wandered around the carnival, the two guys spending most of their money trying to win stuffed animals for their girlfriends. As the afternoon wore on, Override noticed Robyn's strange behaviour, and took her aside to ask her what was going on. "We've been friends a long time Robyn, you can tell me what it is." "Yeah, okay. It's that guy Duncan... there's just something about him, I can't help but notice him." Override smiled, he was happy to see her finally fall for someone; it had been a long time. "It's about damn time Robyn. you haven't been like this since that Spanish guy in the 1300's." Robyn stuck her tongue out at him, and that distracted him long enough for Ami to sneak up, and tickle him from behind. He jumped, startled, and began to laugh. "I thought you were supposed to guard my back," he accused Robyn. "Only from people trying to hurt you, not tickle you." The group walked to the van, reminiscing about their soon-to-be-over trip to America. The Senshi were sad that the pair would not be joining them in Japan, but none sadder than Override's beloved Mizuno Ami. Putting on a brave face, she tried not to let him see her pain, but he noticed, and made a decision then and there. By the time they got back to the hotel, it was already six, and they only paused long enough to dump their carnival prizes in their rooms, grab jackets, and race back to the van. The movie didn't seem to be too popular, because only a few people had seats, and the group stood outside the movie theatre waiting for Duncan to arrive. "He uh... he probably had to close up the store," Robyn seemed uncertain, and fidgeted worriedly. The rest of the group was also growing fidgety, until Makoto remarked, "What's with all the electricity?" Her question confused everyone, until Ami pulled out her computer, and began to analyse electricity levels in the air. "There is a huge static charge building here. I have no idea what could be causing it." "Does it have a center?" Override watched as Ami tried to locate the center of the electrical build-up. The others were too jumpy to pay much attention to anything, until a man standing near Rei shouted. His cigarette lighter burst into a ball of flames as he dropped it, grasping his injured hand. Rei became entranced by the ball of fire, just as she had on the beach days ago. This time though, there were no strange voices, just Rei shouting, "Duncan's in trouble, at the shop... and it's Kunsite." at the same instant that Override and Ami said, "The antique shop." No sooner had she said it, than eight people were running down the street, headed for the store, Robyn in the lead, and outdistancing them all. Next --> |