Well, as promised, here's the beta for part one of ESLF.  Hope you folks
enjoy this series I'm starting up.  I'll be posting more character
summaries in the near future.


Peter L. Ward

falcon@best.com


-----


Peter L. Ward presents

A Tale of the Magical Girl Corps


Exquisite Soldier Lovely Freesia


Episode 1: I'm WHAT?!?!




In an office deep beneath the megapolis known as HyperTokyo, 
a raven-haired beauty sat behind a large desk, checking the 
reports that trickled in on the viewscreens built into it.  
"Hmmmm...the Southern Belles seem to be doing all right in 
the southeastern section of North America, and the Pretty 
Mounties have the northern portion of that continent secure 
for the moment." she mused as she scanned the reports.  
"Europe's also pretty secure.  No activity in Australia, but 
the teams in South America are having a bit of trouble.  
Maybe we ought to increase the teams in operation there.  
That reminds me..."

After the woman pressed a button on her desk, a viewscreen 
switched to show a girl with short, green hair.  "Kadokawa 
Misa here.  Oh, hi chief!"

"Misa, could you come to my office.  We still have to decide 
on the new team."

"Right.  Just let me get the files I've collected and I'll be 
on my way."

A few minutes later, the doors to the office slid open and 
Misa walked in.  She had the appearance of a woman still in her 
mid-twenties, with a shapely figure clad in a blue bodysuit.  
However, as many of her coworkers knew, she was far older than 
that.  She walked up to the chief's desk and set down a 
holocard.  "Here are the files, chief.  We've narrowed the 
choices for the new team leader down to five."

"Good." the chief replied as she inserted the card in the 
appropriate slot.  Like Misa, she too had the appearance of 
one in her twenties, yet being much older than appearances 
indicated.  In fact, she was even older than Misa was.  She 
also wore an outfit that was much different from Misa's but 
any student of history from the late 20th century up to the 
current year of 2095 would easily recognize it.  "You've only 
worked on candidates for team leader?  What about the other 
team members?"

"We're still working on that.  Once we select a leader, we'll 
get a good idea on how to narrow it down based on how well we 
expect those members to get along with that leader."  Misa 
responded.

"Of course." the chief grumbled.  "Standard operational 
procedure and all that.  Wasn't like that when I was on 
active duty."

"Guess not." Misa stifled a giggle.  She knew full well of 
what went on when the chief was a soldier, but not of the 
military sort.  Of course, most of that was from the chief's 
viewpoint, and was naturally skewed a bit.

"Hmmm...Kobayakawa Rie, Hibiki Sachiko, Miyakawa Mika...
Miyakawa Mika, eh?"

"Chief?"

"Misa, I've made my decision.  We're going with Miyakawa Mika."

"That was fast, chief.  You sure about this one?"

"Yup." the chief responded, a small smile crossing her face 
as she recalled some distant memories.  "Let's just say that 
I have my reasons for selecting her."

"Okay, chief.  We'll send liaison Penko out to bring her in,
then." Misa turned to leave, then paused and added, "By the 
way, chief, don't forget that you're supposed to meet with 
Tendo Natalia tonight."

"Right." the chief affirmed.  "Good night, Misa."

"Good night, chief."

The chief waited a few minutes after Misa left, recalling 
memories from nearly a century past.  She unlocked one of her 
drawers and pulled out a small photo album.  Flipping through 
it, she reached the picture she wanted to see.  

She was in it, of course, along with five of the best friends 
she ever had.  Four girls, one with brown hair tied in a 
ponytail, one with short blue hair, and two blondes, one with 
a rather peculiar hairstyle.  The handsome male seemed quite
close to the blonde with the weird hairdo, but the chief was 
over that.  She had over a century to come to terms with what 
happened back then, and she was happy things turned out the 
way they did, as they were supposed to.

Also in the picture were several others.  One of them was 
Miyakawa Mika, the girl in the files that Misa gave her.  Back 
then, the chief and Mika helped each other in coming to terms 
with some of the harder times in their lives, as well as coping 
with the ditzes they knew, and had become good friends as a 
result.  At this point of time, though, Mika wouldn't know the 
chief, so the chief will have to keep quiet about this until 
the time comes.

Setting the picture album back in the drawer and locking it 
back up, the chief punched up a videophone number and waited 
a few rings before the other end picked it up.  The screen 
lit up with the face of the brown-haired girl from the picture, 
now looking a little older.

"Kino Makoto here.  Well	, well, look who's calling!  What's 
up, Rei?"

"Nothing horribly urgent, Mako-chan." Rei smiled back.  "Is 
Usagi around?"

" Fraid not, Rei.  She's off to lamaze class with Mamoru.  
Won't be too much longer until Chibi-Usa will be born."

"Guess not.  It'll be kinda weird having her around as just a 
baby instead of as a little kid."

"Then again, we'll actually get to see her grow up." Makoto
grinned.  "Of course, considering that she was 900 years old 
when she travelled back to the 1990's, we're going to have 
to wait a while on that."

Rei laughed and got to the point.  "By the way, this time 
travel talk kinda relates to what I have to tell you guys.  
I got the files for the candidates for leader of the new team 
to look after HyperTokyo, and Mika-chan was among them."

Makoto paused for a moment, then asked in seriousness, "Did 
you pick her to lead the team, Rei?"

"Of course.  Left poor Misa a bit puzzled by how fast I chose 
her, but I knew I had to choose her if I want things to 
happen the way they should."

"I'll let the others know, then.  Especially Setsuna.  We'll 
need her when the time comes."

"Thanks, Mako-chan!"

"Hey, just make sure you keep in touch, okay, stranger?"

"Okay, okay!  You know how it is for me, running the corps and 
all that."

"That's no excuse, Rei!  Especially with Usagi's baby shower
coming up!"

"Gotcha!  I won't miss that, even if New Youma Citadel breaks 
off the treaty and starts another war!"

"Just making sure, Rei.  Have a good night."

"You too, Mako-chan."

After they hung up on each other, Hino Rei, supreme commander 
of the Magical Girl Corps as well as one of the Sailor Senshi 
stretched out with a bemused look on her face.  Deciding that 
going to dinner with the CEO of Nabicorp was not something to 
be done in her senshi uniform, she magically shifted to a 
tasteful outfit more suited for a night on the town and made 
for the door.

Before stepping out, Rei paused and thought, <Things are going 
to be pretty interesting around here these days>.

-----

In 2095, HyperTokyo was one of the regional capitols under the
United Earth Federation, the worldwide government that replaced
the United Nations in 2002.  HyperTokyo itself was built on top
of the ruins of old Tokyo after the Second Great Kanto Quake of
2025.  Now, the most striking thing about the city was the group
of six arcology towers that reached for the sky in a five-point
star pattern.  The Star Towers were built after the arrival of
the myanarans, a feline race of aliens in 2050.  It was a joint 
effort of the myanarans, the humans, and the boomers that 
populated the megapolis.

Midway up one of those towers, Tower Three to be precise, stu-
dents were just being let out at Mizuhara high school.  It was
the high school for one of the community levels, and there wasn't
much out of the ordinary about it.  Yet.

"Nee, Mika-chan, how'd you do on the test?"

Miyakawa Mika turned around to answer her friend, Hayashibara
Ayako.  Putting her hand in her lavender hair, Mika responded, "I
did pretty well.  I could've done better on the Gibson section,
but cyberpunk lit always threw me."

"No kidding." Ayako agreed as she adjusted the glasses on her
freckled face.  "They must've been really afraid of the future in
those days."

"I guess so.  Hey, Nobuo-kun, what about you?  How'd you do?"
Mika asked the boy who sat next to Ayako.

Sadamoto Nobuo straightened up, brought out of his reviewing the 
returned test intently.  "Mika-chan!  Sorry, you surprised me 
there.  I think I did pretty good.  Wanna have a look?"

"Sure thing, Nobuo-kun." Mika replied, allowing her gold-colored
eyes to make contact with Nobuo's brown eyes.  Nobuo blushed
slightly and turned away as he passed the test over to Mika.  

Mika took a quick glance through Nobuo's test and commented, 
"Pretty good'?  That's an understatement.  You got a near-perfect
on this.  That's pretty impressive, especially considering how
tough Kuno-sensei is.  Maybe I ought to study with you sometime."

Before the slightly embarrassed Nobuo could react, one of the
myanarans in class, a female one with red hair and green eyes,
butted in.  "What's this?  Mika's finally making the moves on
Nobuo-kun?  About damn time!"

"Ferris!" Mika protested, "Stop teasing me like that!  Nobuo-
kun and I are just friends, and I could use his help in lit,
that's all."

Only Ayako noticed the disappointed look that crossed Nobuo's
face at that moment.  Before she could say anything, though,
Ferris continued on.

"Yeah, right, Mika.  We can see through that.  Anyway, don't
forget that we've got a gymnastics club meeting tomorrow after-
noon."

"Sure thing, Ferris.  I'll be there." Mika replied, grateful for
the change in topic.

Ferris then turned her attention to a blonde sitting near the
group.  "Hey, Natsumi, did you catch that?  There's a club
meeting tomorrow."

Natsumi turned around and uttered, "Huh?  Wha?  Meeting tomor-
row?"

"Yeah, ditz." Ferris confirmed.  "You *are* going to be there,
right?"

"Of course, Ferris-chan!" Natsumi smiled brightly, not at all
bothered by Ferris's minor insult.

"Out of curiosity," Mika interjected, "how did *you* do on the
test."

"Um, I missed twenty-five." Natsumi said uncertainly, then added
cheerfully, "I think that was my best score so far!"

"Well, duh." Ferris spat out.  "We just started the school year
less than two weeks ago."

"Never mind that, Ferris." Mika waved off her feline friend.  "I
think that's an improvement over how she did last year.  I guess
there's hope for her yet."

"Really?  Thanks, Mika-chan!" Natsumi said while giving Mika a
quick hug.

"Uh...don't mention it." Mika said in embarrassment.

"Okay, Natsumi, come on.  We've got cleaning duty today." Ferris
muttered.

"Awww...I hate cleaning duty!" Natsumi protested as she joined
Ferris in getting out the cleaning supplies.

"It's my turn as well." Nobuo said as he got up from his desk.
"What about you two?" he asked Mika and Ayako.

"Sorry, but it's not our turn." Ayako answered.  Taking Mika's
arm, she continued, "Besides, there are some things I have to
discuss with Mika-chan here."

"You do?" Mika asked blankly.

"Come on." Ayako said firmly, barely giving her friend time to
gather her bags before leaving.

Several minutes later, the pair was off of school grounds and on
the way home.  Like the other female students at Mizuhara high, 
they were in identical gray dresses styled like sailor fuku with
white and blue trim and large blue bows on the chest.

A few blocks away, Mika spoke up.  "So what did you want to 
talk to me about, Ayako-chan?"

Ayako ran her fingers through her short, brown hair and asked,
"You didn't mean what you said back there about you and Nobuo-kun
being just friends, did you?"

"Why do you say that?" Mika asked, surprised by the question
posed to her.

"Ferris was right, you know.  We could see through that line."

Mika was silent for several long seconds before answering. 
"Maybe you're right, but I'm not sure if anything's going to
happen between us.  I mean, he keeps sending signals, but he
never asks me out or anything."

"He's just shy, that's all.  He was like that with me before 
we got together in junior high.  You know, you're not helping
matters any by going out with other boys."

"Well, what am I supposed to do?  They're asking me out while he
doesn't.  Besides, just because I'm going out with other guys
doesn't mean there's anything between me and any of them."

"Maybe, but he doesn't know that.  Besides, when you're saying
that you're just friends with him, that's just telling him that's
all you two will ever be."

"What do you think I should do, then, Ayako-chan?"

"Maybe you ought to take the initiative, Mika-chan.  Go ahead and
ask him out if you really like him."

"I guess you're right..."

"What is it now, Mika-chan?"

Mika paused again before continuing, "Are you going to be okay
with it, Ayako-chan?  I mean, he used to be your boyfriend a few
years back."

"What?  Is that what's stopping you?  I don't believe this! 
Mika-chan, you said it yourself.  It was over years ago.  Things
just didn't work out between us and we decided to be friends. 
Don't let me stop you from going out.  If anything, I'd be happy
if you two got together.  All three of us have been friends since
junior high, so of course I'm going to be for a matchup between
you two."

"Okay, okay, I get the point." Mika said, barely supressing a
laugh.  Before either of them could continue, she spotted some-
thing below them.  It was a robopet, with a silvertone shell and
in the shape and size of a penguin.  In recent decades, robopets
had gained popularity, not only with boomers since real animals
tended to be antagonistic towards them, but also with renters due
to no-pet agreements in their contracts.

Mika knelt down and took a hold of the mechanical bird.  "Why,
hello there little one.  Did you lose your master or something?" 
The robopet only gave a few clicks and whirs in response.

"Maybe we can try to access its ID chip with a unicom or some-
thing like that." Ayako suggested.

"Good idea." Mika agreed as she reached into her purse and pulled
out a device resembling a remote control from the late twentieth
century.  Pointing it at the robopet, Mika pressed a few buttons
and a small holographic display popped into existence above the
unicom.

"Hmmm...it says its name is  Penko', and...what?!?!" Mika said.

"What is it?  Did you find out who the owner is?" Ayako asked as
she came closer to take a look.

"Something's screwed up here." Mika muttered as she punched the
same sequence of buttons and got the same result.  "For some
reason, this thing is saying that Penko here is *my* robopet."

"That's weird!" Ayako commented as she pulled out her own unicom
and got the same information from the robopet's ID chip.  "I've
never known you to want a robopet, let alone own one.  Guess
you've got one now."

"This isn't funny, Ayako-chan.  What if this is some prank or
something?  Maybe there's some poor kid out there looking for
Penko."

"That could be." Ayako nodded in thought.  "Not a whole lot we
could do about it right now, though.  Maybe you ought to take it
home and post a lost-and-found notice on the community net
tonight.  Maybe the real owner will show up."

"I hope so.  I really don't want to have Penko around forever. 
No offense, Penko."

The robopet merely clicked and whirred again.

"Well, I'd better be heading home, Mika-chan.  Gotta study for
math and lit.  Let me know how things go with Penko, okay?"

"Okay, Ayako-chan!  Jaa, ne!"

With that, Mika scooped up the robopet while Ayako went on her
own way.  About fifteen minutes later, Mika reached her home, a
small condo in a complex near the arcology's massive windows.  

As Mika stepped into the doorway and called out the customary
greeting while removing her shoes, her twelve-year-old brother,
Ritsu tromped down the stairs.  "Hey, what's that you have there,
Mika?  A robopet?  I thought you only liked real pets."

"How were you able to afford that thing, anyway?" their mother,
Naoko, asked as she emerged to greet her daughter.  "You really
shouldn't be wasting your money on things like that."

"It's not like that, mom." Mika answered, then proceeded to
explain how she came across the robopet in question and what she
planned to do about it.

"I see.", Naoko mused as she considered what Mika told them. 
"Well, as long as you make a good effort to find the robopet's
true owner, I guess it'll be all right."

"And if not, you've got yourself a free robopet.  It isn't as if
you were going to get a real pet anytime soon, right?"

"Ritsu!" Mika spat out, stung by her younger brother's teasing.

"Now, now, children." Naoko soothingly said.  "Ritsu, it's not
good to tease your sister like that.  You know we can't have any
animals in the complex.  Mika, in case we can't find the true
owners, don't you think that Penko would make for a nice substi-
tute until you grow up and move into a place that'll let you have
your own pets?"

"I guess so..." Mika said quietly, trying to keep her disappoint-
ment over not having a real pet to a minimum.

"Sorry, Mika.  Guess I was out of line, there." Ritsu said before
heading back up the stairs.  Sighing, Mika followed suit and
headed for her own room.

Mika's room was a bit small, since the family lived in a condo,
but she kept it tidy and tastefully decorated with an overall
teal color scheme.  Several stuffed animals occupied the shelf
above her futon, and some pictures of friends and family were set
on the desk by her net terminal.

Pressing the sleep switch on her terminal, she muttered, "Now,
let's see if anyone's posted any "missing robopet" notices on the
community forum.  A half-hour of intense searching turned up
nothing, so Mika called up the word processor to enter her own
post.  

"Well, we'll find out soon enough if your owner's searching for
you." Mika muttered as she opened up her bookbag and took out her
planner.  Glancing through the entries for the next week, she
frowned as she looked over the subjects covered in the tests that
Ayako mentioned earlier that day.  "Hmmmm...the math, I can
handle, but a test on Effinger?  Geez!  Does Kuno-sensei have it
in for us or what?!  Oh, I wish the test was on Anthony!  At
least he had a sense of humor!"  

Pausing for a moment, she got an idea.  "Wait a minute, it's
four-thirty now, so I can't go off at this moment.  Too close to
dinnertime.  But maybe after dinner..."

Mika pulled her unicom back out of her purse and punched in a
videophone number.  The holographic display rezzed up again,
showing a static screen while the phone at the other end rang
until Nobuo picked it up.

"Nobuo-kun?  It's me, Mika-chan."

"Mika-chan?  What's up?"

"Well, you know what I was saying earlier today about the two of
us studying together?"

"Um, yeah.  Why?"

"How good are you on your Effinger?"

"Not too bad.  I kinda have trouble dealing with all the, well,
you know..."

"The transexuals and all that?  Yeah, I get your drift.  Hey, you
wouldn't mind helping me out with his stuff, would you?"

"Sure, Mika-chan.  What time did you want to get together?"

"How about seven-thirty, at the library?"

"Gotcha.  Seven-thirty it is.  See you then, Mika-chan!"

"See you then." Mika said as she hung up.  Sitting down against a
wall, she let out a sigh and said, "Guess Ayako-chan was right. 
Maybe I was the one who should've made the first move.  At least
I have a study date with Nobuo now.  He can probably help me
figure out what to do with Penko as well."  With that, she turned
to her other studies.

----

Along with community levels, each arcology tower had its commer-
cial and industrial levels.  Not too many people hung around the
industrial levels, since most of the functions was handled by
robot labor managed by industrial boomers.  Most of the arcolo-
gies' business occurred in the commercial levels.  This suited
some people just fine.

Several levels below where Mika lived was one of those industrial
levels, and a few beings had gathered secretly, taking advantage
of the lessened human and myanaran presence in that area.

"So, are we going to make our first strike, tonight?" A female
asked.

"Yes, my dear." a deep, resonant male voice answered.  The voice
belonged to a tall, solidly built male with olive complexion, 
very dark hair, and a beard.  "If our plan is to succeed, we 
must start tonight so that we can place the artifacts in the 
proper sequnce.  Matris, my dear, you will be in charge of
placing the first artifact.  Masaya, you will lead the diversion-
ary raid.  NYC intelligence tells me the Magical Girl Corps 
have yet to replace the Crystal Valkyries, so your job shoud be 
easy.  Just pop into the eighteenth level, raise havoc, maybe 
draw off energy, and disengage when we give the signal.  Got 
it?"

"Yes, Lord Kardon." a deeper, more ominous voice acknowledged.

"Good.  If we succeed in this operation, we will turn HyperTokyo
into another bastion of the Youma Empire in a matter of months,
much like we turned New York City into our own New Youma Cita-
del."

-----

At seven-twenty that evening, Mika stepped out of her condo and
started making her way to the library for her study date.  For
the occasion, she had changed from her school uniform to a 
oversized black sweater and beige leggings.  She took along 
Penko so she could see if Nobuo could do anything about 
finding out why the robopet was apparantly registered to her.  
Even if he couldn't, maybe he might have ideas on how they 
could track down the real owner.

As she walked along, she couldn't help but admire the view of the
evening sky that the humongous arcology windows a few blocks away
allowed her to see.  "To think, old Tokyo didn't have buildings
like these arcologies." she mused.  "Sure is nice to be this high
up on an evening like this.  Maybe Nobuo and I can go stargazing
after we're done at the library."

Before she could move on, though, her peaceful reverie was
shattered by the sound of an explosion a block away.  Quickly
turning around, she could only manage "What the..." before
catching sight of the apparent cause.

It was nearly three meters tall, and looked almost as massive as
it was tall.  It's misshapen body was colored in a sickly purple-
pink hue, and it reminded Mika of one of the mosters in that
awful game that her historian father had picked up some time
ago..."Dune"?   No, "Doom" was the title Mika recalled correctly,
and she hated that game.

However, after a moment of gaping, Mika realized what it really
was from her history lessons.  It was a youma, one of the four
officially-recognized sentient species populating Earth, along
with the humans, the boomers, and the myanarans.  She knew that
back in the 2030's and  40's, there was a war with the youma
after they took over New York City and made it their own, but
since then, they were pretty quiet.  Why would they be attacking
now?  And why was she just standing there and not taking cover?

Mika quickly turned the other way, seeking cover from the mon-
strosity. <Maybe they're just filming for some stupid magical
girls holovid show or something.  Yeah, that's gotta be it!> she
thought desperately, trying find some sense to what was going on
around her. <And those people on the ground are just bit actors
playing victims.  No way this youma attack could be real.>

Unfortunately, it was and Mika knew it deep down.  As she ran
along the street, Mika heard a voice into out, "To your left!"
and saw an alleyway she could duck down for safety.  Deciding
that it would be better than running down the street in full
sight of the youma, she did just that.  The blast that came her
way did more to push her down the alleyway than anything.

Stopping to catch her breath, Mika looked around to see if she
could spot whoever told her to go into the alleyway.  "I hope
they're okay." she wondered.  "I don't see anyone, though.  Maybe
I'm just hearing voices in my head.  Yeah.  That's it.  I'm just
going insane in my second year of high school.  This youma attack
is just a figment of my imagination and as soon as I calm down,
everything will be the way it was."

"I'm afraid not.  The youma attack is most certainly real." The
voice she heard earlier disagreed.  It was definitely female, but
had a kind of mechanical feel to it, as if it were synthesized.

"Huh?  Who's there?  Are you a boomer?" Mika called out as she
looked around wildly, still not finding anybody else in the
alleyway.

"I'm right here." the voice said again.  This time, Mika could
make out the source of the voice, and it came from in her arms.

<No...it couldn't be...> Mika stammered mentally as she dropped
Penko. <Robopets aren't supposed to be intelligent.  It's not
allowed.>

"You didn't need to set me down quite so abruptly." Penko chided
as she righted herself.  "As you already know, I'm Penko, but I'm
not a robopet.  That's just a cover.  I'm actually employed by
the Magical Girl Corps."

"Ma-magical Girl Corps?  You're kidding, right?" Mika said
disbelievingly.  This was getting to be way too much for the poor
girl, and the screams and explosions in the background weren't
helping any.

"No, I'm not.  I am a liaison with the organization, and my
assignment is to hook up with you.  I'm here to inform you that
you have been drafted into the Magical Girl Corps as a field
agent as of this moment."

"Whaaaaattt!?!?!" Mika cried out, not believing what she was
hearing.  "A field agent?  Right now?  I'm sorry, but I'm just a
high school student!  I don't know anything about being any kind
of agent!  Why me?!"

Penko gave an electronic sigh and said, "They never told me why. 
They just told me to make contact with you and induct you into
the corps.  The way things are looking, you'll have to have a
baptism by fire."

"You mean taking on that monster?   No way!  I don't have any
magic powers or weapons!  I'll get slaughtered out there!"

"No, you won't."  Penko countered.  "We'll give you what you need
to fight that rogue youma.  Here.  Take this."

As Penko gave the order, a silver necklace with a purple crystal
set in the pendant materialized in front of the bewildered girl. 
Mika slowly took it and muttered, "This is supposed to help me? 
This piece of jewelry?"

"Yes.  It is your link with MGC command deep beneath this city. 
All you have to do is put it on.  Once you do so, the key phrase
to activate the pendant will pop into your head."

"Okay." Mika said slowly, forcing herself to calm down as she
followed Penko's directives.  As she did so, what Penko told her
turned out to be true.  The key phrase did come to her mind, and
she thought it to be rather stupid one at that.  "It's worked.  I
know the phrase now."

"Then say it."

"Here goes.   May the sweet scent of justice rise up!'"

Before Mika could say anything else, a bright light emitted from
her pendant.  It enveloped her and she could feel herself almost
melting into it.  She felt it reshape her figure, making her a
little taller and shapely.  She also felt her clothes dissolve
into the light, but she could feel no shame or modesty in the
brief moment she was exposed in that light.  A new outfit materi-
alized on her, covering her new body, if only barely.

The light faded away and Mika was able to see the results.  Her
bust and hips were bigger than she remembered them to be, while
her waist was just a bit narrower.  She was, indeed, taller as
well.  

One thing that didn't escape her notice was the brevity of her
new outfit.  It resembled a silvery one-piece swimsuit with a
white micro-skirt attached only for the effect, not for coverage. 
In fact, the suit barely covered her at all.  The neckline, such
as it was, came down in a v-cut all the way down to just below
her navel, exposing her belly button as well as a large amount of
her newly-enhanced cleavage.  It was also cut high at the legs,
exposing most of her hips as well.  It seemed that her white
elbow-length gloves and knee-high boots offered more coverage
than the main outfit.  The necklace had also changed to a silver
choker, with the crystal set in it.

This was compounded by the name that formed in her mind; the name
she knew that she'd be going by unless she did something about
it.  At that point, she snapped, grabbing Penko by her metal neck
and shoving her against a brick wall.

"Exquisite Soldier Bismark?!?!?!"

"Why, yes, Mika.  That's the codename assigned to you by MGC
command's computers." Penko said matter-of-factly, trying to
ignore the rough treatment the girl gave her.

"Exquisit Soldier Bismark??  I'm expected to be referred to in
life by that stupid name?" Mika reiterated.  "It's bad enough I'm
going to be running around in...*this*..." she continued, indi-
cating her brief costume, "but I'm *not* going to go around by
that name!  Find some way to change it.  NOW!!!"

"All right, all right.  This is highly unusual, and it's wasting
time."  One look at the fire in Mika's eyes, evident even through
the green plexiglas visor she now wore, convinced Penko to
expedite matters.  After a few moments, Penko looked up and a new
name popped into Mika's head.  "How's that?  Happy?" Penko asked.

" Exquisite Soldier Lovely Freesia'?  I suppose it'll do.  Better
than  Bismark', that's for sure." Mika muttered.

"Good.  Now, go out there and get that youma!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Mika spat out as she leaped away and into battle.

-----

Masaya was enjoying himself.  He had longed to tear it up among
the lousy humans, myanarans, and boomers that opposed his race at
every turn, and so far, the boss hadn't called him back yet.  He
hadn't resorted to killing anyone, but not out of pity.  No, he
left his victims alive so they could relive the terror he dished
out again and again in their nightmares.  To the youma, that was
far more satisfying.  Besides, one really can't draw a lot of
life energy out of a corpse anyway.

One of the best ways of getting energy from these puny beings was
to inspire terror in them, and that's what he did best.  Already,
he smashed several homes around him, as well as cars and various
fixtures lining the street.  His proudest moment was completely
humiliating a team of AD Police sent to deal with him.  The heavy
firepower they dished out was made to be a futile gesture as he
unleashed his supernatural powers on them.  They may be equipped
for the occasional anti-social boomer, but they sure couldn't
cope with youma.  It puzzled him when they withdrew early, but
that just meant he could turn his attention back towards general
mayhem.

As he returned to terrorizing the people around him, a blur
caught his eye.  Curious to see what the humans would throw at
him this time, he watched as it landed, revealing itself to be a
girl in a rather revealing costume.  By the way Masaya couldn't
make out any identifying features about her told him one thing.

This was a magical girl.

"Looks like NYC intel's proven itself worthless again." the 
youma grumbled as he turned to face his opponent.  "Oh, well.
There's only one, so this should be a cakewalk."  

"Not quite!" the girl called out, having apparently heard the
youma's muttering.  "I am the exquisite soldier, Lovely Freesia,
and I am not one to be underestimated!"

<Where in hell did *that* come from?!> Mika thought as she found
herself reciting a long, dumb, and rather boring speech automati-
cally. <I am definitely going to have to have a talk with Penko
about that!  I can't believe I'm spouting such a corny speech!  I
hope nobody recognizes me in this getup!>

When she finally regained control over herself and the speech was
over, she was surprised that the youma didn't attack.  Taking a
look at him, she figured out why: his eyes, what she could make
out of them, were at half-mast. <Hmmm...guess there was some
purpose to that speech after all.  Better take advantage of it.>
Mika thought as she launched herself at the monster.

While Mika wasn't trained in martial arts, she did have better
agility than most humans due to her years in rhythmic gymnastics. 
Her blows only served to rouse the youma from its semi-drowsi-
ness, but at least she was able to dodge most of his blows, even
while trying to compensate for her changes in mass and its
placement on her body.

What really helped her was the fact that her agility and strength
was enhanced along with her figure.  At first, she had to learn
to compensate for her increased abilities to avoid leaping into a
wall or something, but she quickly got the hang of it and was
leaping around the youma like one of those superballs that
remained popular for over a century.

As agile as Mika was, though, she was making very little headway
against the monster.  Whatever kicks or punches she landed, he
merely shrugged them off.  Unfortunately, she couldn't say the
same for the few times he did manage to connect with her.  She
certainly could feel the blows, but at least they didn't seem to
do as much damage as she thought they would.  She hoped it wasn't
something like shock that was causing her not to feel the damage
done.  At least he hadn't clawed her.  Yet.

Deciding that maybe a magical power would do the trick, Mika
paused while balancing herself on a stone fence and tried to
think of a power that she might have.  One came to mind and she
recited the name of the power to invoke it.

"Flower...Petal...Blitz!!"

Before she could consider what kind of power it was she invoked,
the immediate area was instantly obscured by clouds of flower
petals.  Fresia petals, to be precise.  Mika immediately regret-
ted it because not only did it lack any apparent offensive
capability, but it kept her from seeing what was going on.  She
only hoped that it did the same for the youma...wherever it was
at the moment.

"Mika?  Can you hear me?" Penko's voice called out in the floral
fog.

"Penko?  Where are you?  What the hell did I just do?"

"Don't panic, Mika.  You just used your Flower Petal Blitz,
that's all.  He can't see you now, but you'll be able to see him. 
Just use your visor."

"How?" Mika asked as her thoughts switched to trying to use her
visor.  Just thinking about it brought the visor's functions to
the fore, activating an autoscan feature.  Instantaneously, she
was able to make out where the youma was, and she could tell that
while it was confused, it was also quite angry.  

She also made out the location of a nearby traffic sign and
walked over to it.  Getting a good grip, she tried to pull it out
of the cement with absolutely no success at all. <No super-
strength, I guess.> she shrugged as she considered what she could
do about the youma.  

Mika quickly counted any possible weak spots the youma had that
she saw, which were few in number, and none of them would give
her a decisive victory.  Considering the apparent fact that the
youma was male, Mika went for the most obvious weak spot, or so
she thought.

"Really." they youma said cooly a second after Mika's right foot
made contact with his crotch.  "You couldn't hit a more obvious
point, could you?  Did you really think that the youma are so
stupid as to not fix that weakness that us guys would've had.  A
little extra armor does the trick, don't you think?"

As Mika stood there agape, the youma first grabbed her ankle with
his massive hand and jerked it to the side.  This caused her to
yelp as she lost her balance.  His other hand grabbed her upper
thigh, rather close to where her leg joined her torso.  For a
moment, Mika could feel the revolting flesh of his thumb rub up
against her most private of spots through the fabric of her
costume.  She let out a shocked gasp as he wiggled it for a
second, accompanied by a sound that was a half-chuckle, half-
grunt.

The next thing Mika knew, she was slammed against a wall several
meters away.  Were she a normal human, the impact would've left
her a corpse that was shattered on the inside.  However, the
enhancements that were given to her protected her from most of
the damage, if not some of the pain.

However, no enhancement could protect her from the private
humiliation that the youma gave her.  No one had touched her even
remotely like that, and she was angry.  Angry enough to ignore
the pain that her body was experiencing.  Angry enough to shove
the prior humiliations and embarrassments that she endured to the
back of her mind.  She stood up and faced the youma with fierce
determination, knowing what the only thing she could do was.

"MAGIC...SOUL......BLADE!!!!"

Mika stacked her clenched hands, one on top of the other, and a
bright light blinded what little view anyone had in the area of
the fight.  The light consolidated into an energy blade that was
an incredible five meters in length, all of it held straight up
by the furious magical girl.

Even through the cloud of flower petals, Masaya could see the
blade. <Maybe I shouldn't have had my fun with her.> was all he
could think.

"DIE!!!!!" was the only thing that came out of Mika's throat as
she rushed the youma and started bringing the blade down on him. 
Unfortunately, the girl still hadn't quite made the adjustment to
her magical girl body, and the increased mass in her bust caused
her to lose some of her balance.  The downward motion of her
blade finished the job and she fell flat on her face and bosom. 
Fortunately, the flower petal cloud prevented anyone from seeing
Mika embarrass herself thoroughly.

Also, the blade, being extraordinarily long, was able to reach
the target and slice him neatly in half.  Before the halves were
able to fall to the ground, they caught fire and were soon
rendered into ashes.

Mika got up from the ground and watched it happen before her
eyes.  While she felt that the monster had it coming, she 
could not find any satisfaction in it.  She just stood there 
in silence as parts of the corpse fell away while disintegra-
ting.

<It's over.> was all she could think at the moment.

Her stunned silence was interrupted by Penko's voice, carried by
the built-in communications function of the crystal.  "Mika?  Can
you hear me?  Are you all right?"

Mika sighed and said quietly, "Except for my pride, yeah.  Still
a little sore, though."

"Good.  Now, let's get out of here, while we still have the cover
of the Flower Petal Blitz."

"Yes, ma'am." Mika replied tiredly as she jogged for a nearby
alleyway.

-----

"Sir!  The artifact is in place!"

Lord Kardon turned to face Matris.  "Good.  Now we can recall
Masaya."

Another team member stepped forward with a downcast look to his
face.  "Sir, I've been monitoring the communications net for the
arcology, and it looks like Masaya fell in battle.  Early reports
have it that someone who could only be a magical girl was his
undoing."

Kardon sighed and said, "A pity.  Masaya was a good youma
soldier.  At least he did not die a futile death since the
artifact was installed as needed.  It seems our old friends, the
Magical Girl Corps, were a bit more prepared than we were led to
believe.  You said that there was one, correct?"

"Yes, my lord."

"We'll have to act fast, before more show up.  The next time we
make a sortie, eliminate her.  This should knock our friends off
balance for a bit.  For now, rest.  We accomplished what we
needed to accomplish.  Sadly, we lost one of our own in the
process, but that is the course of war, I suppose."

-----

"Oh, no..."

Mika finally reached the library at ten minutes after eight. 
Naturally, she shifted back to her civilian identity and form
before making her way there, and she appeared as she had before
the youma attack started, with the exceptions of a few bruises
where she either was hit or she hit the ground or walls.

She looked around the spacious study hall in the library, not
finding her study date at all.  Turning around, she walked out
into the main foyer and over to a community bulletin board. 
There, she saw it.  The note that Nobuo left behind earlier.


Mika,

I waited until 7:50.  I guess you aren't showing up after all.

See you at school tomorrow.


Nobuo

-----

Mika collapsed on her futon at long last that night.  When she
got home, her family was worried because they had just caught
wind of the youma attack on the news before she came in.  Natu-
rally, they asked about the bruises on her body, but she was able
to reassure them that she was alright other than the bruises and
that she was able to keep relatively safe during the attack.

They also asked about the necklace that she was now wearing. 
That was harder to explain, but she convinced them that it was
merely a gift from a friend.  This brought about even more
questions about who gave it to her and why.  She was finally able
to explain things away and get off the hot seat.

"Is it going to be like this all the time, Penko?"

"No.  I'm afraid that they might get tougher as you go along."
the liaison said from where Mika set her down in the darkness. 
"Don't worry.  We're working on locating teammates for you, so
you'll have some help in your battles."

"Good.  I take it I'm now stuck with you."

"I'm afraid so, child." Penko answered.  She waited for the
girl's reply, but was treated to quiet breathing as Mika fell
into a deep sleep.

<Go ahead and sleep, child.  You've earned it.> Penko thought as
she regarded the new member of the Magical Girl Corps. <Not
exactly one of the most auspicious debuts I've ever seen in my 
years as a liaison, but I think she has what it takes to make 
it.>




Next Episode: Welcome to the Corps!


Sailor Moon characters are coypright Takeuchi Naoko and are
brought over to the states by DIC.  Boomers and AD Police are
copyright Artmic/Youmex/AIC and are brought over to the states by
AnimEigo.  Ranma 1/2 characters that some original characters are
descended from are copyright Takahashi Rumiko and are brought
over to the states by Viz Communications.  All such characters
are used without permission.  All original characters are copy-
right Peter L. Ward.  Story is copyright Peter L. Ward, 1997.