(begin opening credits)
(sung)
- - -We hate Animes
- - -What's with these guys anyway?
- - -Tiny mouths and hubcap eyes
- - -Repair bills are on the rise
- - -Karl better soon get wise
- - -Before it's one of use who dies.
- - -Dr. Karl Stoopenstein
- - -Had a little to much wine
- - -Now we're stuck in space and time
- - -Tell us, just what was our crime?
- - -Now we're the
- - -ANIME HOSPITAL!
- - -ANIME HOSPITAL!
- - -Nine to five we're curing ailments
- - -Of people purely fictional!
- - -Toni's got an attitude
- - -Let her bark, her bites hurt more
- - -Heather's got both her eyes glued
- - -On every single guy's barn door.
- - -Mike's a romantic
- - -Pam's a mystery
- - -Karl's always frantic
- - -Brain the size of a flea.
- - -Life's a little dangerous
- - -Doctors only raise a fuss
- - -Screaming out our final plea
- - -All we want's reality!
- - -Cause we're the
- - -ANIME HOSPITAL!
- - -ANIME HOSPITAL!
- - -Nine to five we're curing ailments
- - -Of people purely fictional!
C R A S H ! !
ANIME HOSPITAL
by J L Morreale
episode # 6
Just B-ko's
"Otakus!" Toni grumbled. "This time they've gone too far!"
"Hm?" Heather said as she approached the front desk. She had a few files to
deliver to various doctors, but if there was something interesting to talk
about, she saw no reason not to stand around for a bit. After all, Mike was at
the far end of the north wing, so there was no danger of him catching her
milling around. "What about otakus?"
Toni gave the nurse an annoyed look when she leaned on the desk with an elbow.
"We have to endure C-ko for a while, and it's all their fault!" She extended a
hand toward the waiting room, where dozens, possibly hundreds of fans were
drifting about as though they were lost souls. "Look at them, acting as though
it were the end of the world and never once thinking that if they hadn't been
so stupid it never would have happened in the first place!"
While Heather was usually bored with news that had anything to do with otakus,
Toni had succeeded in sparking her interest.
"What do you mean? What did they do?" she asked, leaning closer.
Toni's face twisted into an expression of disgust. She could have really gone
for a jelly donut right then, but with so many people hanging around, she
couldn't risk it. She'd have to wait for her lunch break before she could
enjoy her favorite treat. "Those idiots went and devoted an annual holiday to
her. She cooked up so much food that she made herself sick tasting it all to
see if she got it all right. It's just like I've always
said, 'The only place stupidity and persistence lands you is in the
hospital.'"
Heather looked at the huge crowd of otakus, moaning and crying over their ill
idol. "They gave her a holiday all her own?" she asked. "What'd they call it?"
Toni winced and grumbled something. "You sure you want to know?"
Heather considered that. "Ah, go ahead. How bad could it possibly be?"
"C-ko de Mayo."
It was Heather's turn to wince. "You were right. I didn't want to know."
Toni gave one more glare in the otaku's direction. "Bloody, stupid socially-
challenged men with nothing better to do with their time than drool over
animated characters..." she mumbled half to herself.
"The ladies can be just as bad," Heather reminded her.
"No surprise hearing that from you."
"Can I help it if I'm fashionable?" Heather said defensively. "Besides,
remember when Kurama and Hiei were both sick at the same time?"
Toni looked at the dreamy-eyed expression on Heather's face and said, "How
could I forget that nightmare? As I recall, you managed to give sponge baths
to both of them."
Heather giggled and looked at the sour expression on Toni's face. "So? What's
wrong with that?"
"You didn't use a sponge."
Mike did not look very happy when he finally showed up at the front desk.
"Where has she gone off to now?" he said.
"You mean Heather?" Toni asked. "She said she had some things to do in the
east wing."
"I've been looking for Nurse Farley all day, and she keeps avoiding me. She
knows this is the day for her yearly review. Why does she always do this?" He
stormed off down the east hall, and the look on his face caused quite a number
of doctors and nurses to decide they suddenly needed to be somewhere other
than near him.
Once he was out of sight, Heather rose from behind Toni's desk. She was
munching on a jelly donut. Toni gave her a baleful look, snatched the donut
away and whapped her on the head with a clipboard.
"Ow!" Heather complained. "All right, all right." She rummaged through her
purse and withdrew several bills. "Thanks for covering up for me."
Toni was meticulously shaving off a thin section of the munched donut so that
as much of it could be saved as possible. "Twice that now," she said. "The
original deal didn't cover my donuts.
Heather looked annoyed, but reached into her purse again. "I hate yearly
evaluations. Mike's always so strict about it."
Toni looked at her again with a slight smirk and said, "You want a good excuse
that'll keep you away from Mike the rest of the day?"
Heather's face lit up, but then she glanced protectively at her purse.
"Maybe," she said.
"No charge," Toni assured her.
"Please!" Heather said, falling to one knee and taking two handfuls of Toni's
skirt while she begged.
Toni put her hands on her hips and said, "Stop being so pitiful." With one
fluid motion, she kicked one of her drawers and it calmly slid open. Inside,
scrunched up in a fetal position, was Toni's daughter. Toni reached inside and
lifted her sleeping daughter out of it. "Your father was worried sick about
you, you know that?"
Billie was trying to look guilty and wounded at the same time. It wasn't
working. "How'd you know?" she asked.
Toni brought her daughter right to her face and with a feral look in her eyes
she said, "I know everything."
Billie grew appropriately terrified and was shaking slightly when Toni set her
down. The beleaguered mother looked at Heather and said, "Take her on a tour
of the hospital. She's been bugging me for months about it, so I figure this
would be a good way to get her to shut up."
Heather looked down at the child, who's face had suddenly grown hopeful beyond
compare. Suppressing a sigh, she said, "All right."
"Yay!" Billie immediately shouted. "I get to see the Animes!"
This immediately got the attention of all the otakus who were sitting in the
lobby, and they began to approach the front desk. A hard glare from Toni sent
them back to their seats. "Make sure nobody else finds out she's mine, you got
that?" she warned the departing nurse.
After they faded from view, Toni breathed a sigh of relief. Then, when she
glanced up, she nearly choked. A-ko and B-ko were both approaching the desk,
the only thing breaking up the looks of concern on their faces being the
glares they gave each other.
"I'm here to see C-ko," they both said in unison.
"Why am I not surprised?" Toni asked.
"When am I gonna get to see the Animes?" Billie complained.
"Around here, it's just a matter of time." Heather assured her.
As if on cue, Gally stepped out of her room. Like all the other patients, she
was dressed in a flimsy hospital gown. upon sighting Heather, she approached
and said, "Nurse, I'd like to request another room."
"Gally!" Billie said excitedly. "I have all your adventures!" She began to
rummage through her little sack. "Here's your first issue. Sign it, please!"
While the cybernetic girl obliged the rambunctious fan, Heather asked, "What's
wrong with your room?"
"It's my roommate. She keeps trying to examine me and take me apart to see how
I'm put together."
Heather started flipping through her clipboard. "Yung-Freud? No wonder. All
right, I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you," Gally said, and went back into her room."
"Wow! Yung-Freud's in there too! I want her autograph!" She started to head
for the door, but Heather caught her and said, "We don't disturb the patients.
Let's keep heading this way-" Heather suddenly stopped in mid-stride and took
a step back to the door they had just passed. "Shin, from Universe 88." she
breathed. She looked back at Billie and said, "On the other hand, why don't
you go ahead and have fun on your own. Just don't leave this hallway,
understand?"
Billie nodded eagerly.
Heather chuckled to herself and said, "I won't be long," before she slipped
into the room.
Billie just stood still for a long moment, feeling as if she would explode
with excitement. She was going to meet all the Anime's in the hospital. With a
heartfelt squeal, she started to run off down the hall, wondering who she'd
meet first. The squeal was cut short, though, when she was caught from behind.
With a sudden yelp, she came to an abrupt halt, and when she looked up, she
saw Pam looking down at her, waving the finger of her free hand in front of
her in an "ah-ah-ah," manner.
"Darn," Billie said, and hung her head in defeat.
B-ko and A-ko were both standing outside of C-ko's room, and they were arguing
about who would get to see her first.
"It should be me, I've known her longer," A-ko insisted.
"Oh yeah, well I care more about her than you do," B-ko shot back.
Suddenly Mike showed up and said, "Hey, now, what's all this about?"
A-ko and B-ko both turned to look at him, and as soon as they laid eyes on
him, their scowls faded away. Their hands clasped together in front of them
and the both sighed. "Hi, Nurse Jones," they said together.
Mike looked at the expressions on both of their faces and began to blush. "Er,
ladies, are you here to see a friend?"
B-ko snapped out of it first at those words. She turned and said, "Yes, I'm
here to lend my support and love to my darling C-ko." She turned and started
to open the door to her room and step inside. The dreamy look on A-ko's face
suddenly faded away and she grabbed B-ko and started to pull her away from the
door.
"Oh, no you don't! I'm going to see her first!" They started to struggle, but
Mike came in to break them apart. As soon as his hands touched their
shoulders, they both fell against him, each taking an arm into their hands and
laying their head against it. Mike's blush deepened and he quickly jumped back
and stammered a bit.
"Girls, you shouldn't fight over your friends, do you understand?"
"Uh-huh," they both agreed, and began to lean against each other as they
stared at Mike. When they realized that they were touching each other, they
moved apart and began to elbow each other slightly.
"Girls!" Mike said reproachfully. They both straightened up and acted like
they were hanging on his every word.
"Now girls, I understand that you both care a great deal about your friend..."
Mike began, still not fully recovered from his blushing fit.
He was interrupted by Lum chasing Shinobu, hurling lightning bolts at the
unfortunate girl. "Leave Darling alone!" Lum said as they passed in-between
Mike and the two girls. A-ko and B-ko gave each other angry sidelong looks.
"...You have to realize, however," Mike continued, undaunted. The two
continued to look at him, but he was again interrupted from the other
direction by Ryoko and Aeka, who were duking it out with each other with
typical energy.
"Tenchi's mine! You stay away from him Aeka!"
"In your dreams! He's marrying me!"
A-ko and B-ko looked at each other again. Their hands had clenched into fists
which did not loosen when they turned to listen to Mike again.
"...It just isn't right to go around fighting each other..."
Shampoo and Ukyou passed between them just then, arguing about Ranma. Mike
continued his speech undaunted, and did not notice that A-ko and B-ko had
started to elbow each other again. When Ryouga and Kunou passed by from the
other direction, a pushing match was just getting started between the two
girls.
"I will have Akane! I am the Blue Thunder!"
"Die!"
"...So I'm sure that you two can come to a peaceful resolution to your
problems..."
Two nurses passing by each other suddenly hugged. "Umao! Wherefore art thou
Umao?" one said.
"Ushiko! Wherefore art thou Ushiko?" the other said.
"...So, do you think that you can both do that?" Mike concluded hopefully. A
proud smile had spread across his face.
"A-ko! I swear to you, this day, you will die!" B-ko said suddenly.
"Hah! We'll just see about that!" A-ko returned.
Mike looked crestfallen. "I was so sure all they needed was a good nudge in
the right direction."
* * * Commercial Break * * *
[A slideshow of different anime characters begins to play. They begin to slide
back into a panoramic collage of pictures while a man and a woman step in
front of the camera.]
Man: Have you ever wondered how all those anime characters get such incredible
hair-dos?
Woman: Have you ever wanted one of your own?
[The pictures fade away to reveal a large sign that reads "ANIME HAIR SALON"
The Camera pans away to reveal the entire salon while the man and woman
continue.]
Man: That dream can become a reality here, at the Anime Hair Salon.
Woman: All the greatest anime characters get their hair done here, and now you
too can have hair styles you thought were impossible.
[Switches to interiors of the salon. The man and the woman are passing by
people getting their hair done by certified professionals.]
Man: We gave give you a Lum-chan extender, complete with cute horns, if you
like, or if you're into something more adventurous, perhaps the Ryouko spiked
hair-do is more to your preference.
Woman: Seeking something more conservative? We can have you done up like
Madoka, Shinobu, or Kasumi just as easily.
Man: There's no limit to the hairstyles we can create. Guys, you too can enjoy
a brand new anime hairstyle, from the fantastic curls of Kunou to the sexy
styles of Captain Harlock and Shin.
Woman: That's right, and just to make it complete, every hairstyle we do is
washed to a anime-perfect shine thanks to our own patented hair formula,
AnimEiglo.
Man: Guaranteed to give your hair an anime luster, and it comes in any color
you prefer!
Man: So remember,
Woman: If you didn't get it at the Anime Hair Salon,
Man and Woman: It's not Anime!
* * * End Commercial Break * * *
The battle had carried itself to the lobby, and A-ko was desperately trying to
defeat B-ko despite her Akagiyama-23 armor. Mike was quickly following them,
still trying to get them to calm down. The dents in the walls did enough to
show how effective he was being.
"What the-!" Toni suddenly shrieked. "Mike! What's going on?"
"Nurse Jo-" Mike began to say, but after he had to duck a thrown chair, he
decided not to make an issue of it just yet. "The usual," he gave as his
explanation.
"Give up, B-ko! This never works!" A-ko was saying.
"That may be so, A-ko, but I've come prepared this time!" B-ko said, and she
leaped a few yards back to avoid another punch by A-ko.
"Now what's she doing," Toni thought out loud.
B-ko suddenly reached for her wrist pack, causing everyone, including A-ko, to
duck, thinking that she was about to fire her missiles, but instead, she slid
a card out from it.
"Hey!" Toni said, recognizing the card. "How did she get that?"
"Metamorforce!" B-ko said, lifting the card into the air as she got bathed in
energy. When the energy dissipated, her suit had changed slightly, taking on a
few of the aspects of Moldiver's costume.
"This could get to be bigger trouble than we thought," Mike said. "I'd better
get DR Stoopenstein."
"Oh, no you don't!" Toni said. "The last thing we need is him coming in to
mess things up. Now what's she doing?"
By this time, B-ko had withdrawn a broach and two pens, and was lifting them
in the air.
"Please, somebody tell me this isn't happening," Toni mumbled.
"Moon Prism Power! Make Up!" B-ko said, and was again bathed in energy. "Mars
Power! Make Up! Mercury Power! Make Up!" In the flash of an eye, B-ko had
again altered her costume, and
it now slightly resembled the costumes of the Sailor Warriors.
A-ko was too stunned by the spectacle to move, as was everyone else caught up
in the sight of B-ko raising both her arms into the air. "Pegasus Ryu
Transformation!" she said.
While her suit took on the aspects of Saint Seiya's cloth armor, Toni set her
chin into one of her palms. She looked annoyed and bored at the same time as
she said, "Is she finished yet?"
Apparently she was not, for B-ko had suddenly unsheathed a sword out of
nowhere and had lifted it into the air as well. Toni's hide her face in her
hands as she tried to avoid seeing what was going on. "Why do I have a bad
feeling about this?" she wondered aloud.
"By the power of Greyskull! I have the power!" B-ko said. When she was
finished, her outfit looked nothing like her original battle armor, and she
smiled evily at her nemesis. "So, A-ko. Are you prepared to do battle with me
now?"
Toni clutched at her belly and stuck her tongue out with a nauseated
expression. "I think I'm doing battle with my stomach."
The first thing that crossed Heather's mind was that the hospital shouldn't be
shaking the way it was, and that it might not be a bad idea to get out while
she could.
The second was that Billie was nowhere to be found.
Muttering curses, she headed off down the hall towards to the front lobby,
hoping that Billie had gone off in that direction.
There were other doctors and nurses running down the halls, and they seemed to
be just as confused as her. Despite how careful she was, however, she was
still knocked down when Karl came running down the hall, and he promptly
toppled over her.
Heather rose, and with a snarl, lifted DR Stoopenstein by his collar up to her
face. "What have you done this time?" she demanded.
"Nurse Farley!" Karl said. He had all the look of a lost rabbit, and it was
clear just from that he had no knowledge of what was going on.
Heather studied his face for a while and finally just sighed, "Oh, just run,"
she said, and released him.
The hospital shook from another explosion, and Heather had to grab Karl as the
doctor started to run off. "This way, stupid," she growled.
"Ah yes, of course," Karl said, and started to run in the proper direction,
with Heather following right behind, staring daggers into his back the whole
way.
It did not take them long to get to the front lobby, and when they got there,
they noticed a large hole in the ceiling and much debris everywhere else.
Everyone else had left by this time, and Karl made no reluctance in his
efforts to also get out.
Heather, on the other hand, organized a quick evacuation for everyone else who
was still running from the periodic explosions. "If I don't find out what's
going on soon, somebody is going to die," she swore.
Finally, after several more minutes of fleeing bodies, Heather was positive
everyone had gotten out of the hospital. She quickly stepped out herself, when
suddenly she heard a familiar voice calling out. Looking back, she saw the
last thing she needed right then.
Billie, clinging to Pam with all her might, and the stalwart nurse making her
way to the exit as quickly as she could. Tears were streaming down Billie's
cheeks and she was whining about how scared she was.
"Pam!" Heather called out. "Hurry up!" She was about to go back in after them,
but the doors suddenly closed tight, and a huge metal wall sprang up from the
ground, making it that much more impenetrable.
"Damn!" Heather yelled, pounding on the wall with her fist. When the hospital
began to move of its own volition, however, she stepped back as quickly as she
could.
Mike, Toni, and all of the otakus in the lobby had been the first to abandon
the hospital when A-ko and B-ko had started their personal war all over again.
B-ko was exploiting every advantage she could, but still she could not get the
best of her red-haired nemesis. Finally, B-ko flew high into the air, beyond
A-ko's reach, and announced, "So, you think you've beaten me, do you A-ko?"
Piles of nurses, doctors and patients were streaming out of the hospital. Toni
was the first to notice Karl spring out. As soon as he saw the source of the
destruction of his hospital, he made a run for A-ko, apparently believing he
could get her to end the war. "Mike, get him before he gets himself killed,"
Toni
said.
Mike was already halfway there by the time she finished the sentence. He was
holding the squirming doctor over his head when he came back mere moments
later. "Please, Toni," he said to her, as he set the wild doctor down. "It's
'Nurse Jones'"
Suddenly the very earth shifted, knocking everyone, including A-ko, off of
their feet. The ground continued to shake as the south wing of the hospital
began to slowly rise into the air as though it were axeled to the center of
the building. The subsections began to twist and fold, and the sections they
were
connected to also began to move to and fro until finally it began to take on a
discernible shape.
B-ko was laughing the whole time this was happening. "You have no idea what
you're in for now, A-ko! I put all my heart into this one!"
Heather finally managed to stagger her way to the rest of the group. "Who?"
she said, grabbing Karl by the scruff of the neck again. "Who did you hire to
repair the hospital the last time it was destroyed?" She began to shake him
violently. "Who?"
"Erm, well, it was such a bargain, I thought it would be the best company to
let have the job," the doctor stammered. "And their quality rating is second
to-"
"Who?!" Heather repeated with another shake.
"The Daitokuji Corporation," he admitted weakly.
Heather threw him to the ground at the admission and prepared to hurl herself
on top of him. "I'm killing him for real, this time!" she announced. Mike
caught her in mid-leap and held her aloft. "Let me go, Mike! I have to do it!
It's the only way to save us all!"
Mike simply turned so that Heather was looking face to face with Toni. The
receptionist had her hands folded together and she grabbed the nurse by the
collar so that she faced her in the eyes. "Where is my daughter?" she asked
with a venomous edge to her voice.
"Oh, boy," Heather said.
The south wing had fully converted into an arm, and the other wings were
busily changing shape into yet another arm and two legs. A-ko finally got up
after staring wide eyed for a while at the fantastic spectacle. "Just what is
that thing?" she demanded of the flying B-ko.
The monstrosity was rising to its feet so that it could stand straight while
B-ko laughed maniacally. "This is your doom, A-ko! Even if you can stand up to
all the power I now posses, you won't stand a chance against my greatest mecha
ever! A-ko! I have created your death, and it's name is... MEDISAUR!!"
Toni looked up from her chewing out of Heather just long enough for her to
say, "The stupidity of her mechs are exceeded only by the stupidity of the
names she gives them."
"Medisaur?" A-ko said. "When will you give up making these stupid things?
Guess I'll just have to smash this one too." A-ko started off for the
monstrous thing that stood before her with the full intention to do just what
she had said.
Medisaur was truly huge. The hospital itself had covered an area of
over thirty square miles, even though it was only one level. It stood on its
legs, which were all that could be seen of the thing. Everything else was lost
in the clouds. Everyone could still tell that it was preparing to attack,
though, by the angle the two feet were leaning. It was a wonder the thing
didn't topple over, or shatter, or collapse in on itself.
"I wish we could defy the laws of physics like that," Toni mused. then
suddenly a realization struck her. "A-ko!" she shouted as loudly as she could.
"Don't! My daughter's in there!"
While A-ko turned around in confusion, everyone else hanging around the area
began mumbling to each other. "Toni has a daughter?" "I didn't know that!" and
"Boy, you think you know somebody," were some of the more common comments
being uttered.
"Blew it," Heather said cheerfully.
"Forget that for now!" Toni said. "A-ko! You can't smash that thing! If you
do, Pam and my daughter will be killed!"
"If they're not dead already," Heather said, but when she saw the look on
Toni's face, she quickly said, "or not," while holding up both hands in a
"steady, there," position.
Just then, one of the massive hands of Medisaur came down in a huge fist which
A-ko only barely dodged. The impact, however, left a crater the size of the
Astrodome and knocked everyone several feet into the air before they fell off
of their feet.
"A-ko! Help!" Came a voice from one of the legs. It was C-ko, too confused by
what was going on to realize that she should have evacuated like everyone
else. A-ko ran up to the leg and tried to pry open enough of the metal shell
of Medisaur to get C-ko out, but it was no use.
"B-ko! Stop this thing! C-ko's trapped inside!" She screamed as loudly as she
could.
B-ko, however, had also heard the screams, and was actively trying to use her
assembled powers to also pry C-ko out. She had built it too well, however, and
her efforts were as useless as A-ko's. "It's no use! I can't make it do as I
say! C-ko! Don't die!"
"B-ko! Do something!" A-ko insisted.
"I can't! Nothing can stop Medisaur! Not even my incredible genius!"
"Lay it on thick, why don't you?" Heather grumbled. It earned her an elbow by
Toni, who was watching the situation with genuine concern on her face. Mike
was lending her a steadying hand, and many other doctors and nurses were
physically restraining Karl, who seemed intent on rushing suicidaly to his
transformed hospital.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, came Tuxedo Mask. He rode in on a white horse, cape
flowing, and with style that can only be described as inhuman, his hand
whipped out and sent a rose flying out at Medisaur.
The Rose sailed straight through the air at impossible speeds, until it
disappeared into a tiny crack in Medisaur. There was a brief flash, and
suddenly the giant mech stopped, leaned over, and slowly unfolded back into
the hospital.
"She was fine," Pam assured Toni for the hundredth time. Toni was still not
convinced, and again made a thorough examination of her daughter before she
was satisfied, at least for the moment.
"I still want to know how you managed to take control of Medisaur away from B-
ko," Mike said.
"You should have put it under your control," Heather said. Toni whapped her
over the head for being obnoxious, but Pam didn't seem to be bothered.
"I was about to," she shrugged.
Toni, Heather, and Mike all looked at her quizzically. "We're never gonna
figure her out, you know that?" Toni said to the other two.
"Say," Heather suddenly said, "Toni, weren't you the one who decided on a
punishment for B-ko.
Toni grinned devilishly and said, "I sure did."
"Before you start celebrating," Mike said, "I seem to recall that you have yet
to be evaluated today."
"Nuts," Heather said, hanging her head in defeat.
Outside, amidst the wreckage, B-ko was desperately trying to clean up the mess
she had made. Making sure that she was quick about it were Usagi, Ami, Rei,
Saint Seiya, Moldiver, and of course, A-ko.
Preview of next week's episode.
--------------------------------------
Threatening phone calls demand that Anime Hospital be shut down! Mysterious
accidents plague the halls, and the longer they continue, the less doctors and
nurses there are to treat the patients! Who is the voice on the other line of
the phone? Find out next week as Speed Racer, Science Ninja Team Gatchaman,
Kimba, Crusher Joe, and the crew of the Yamato guest star in "Classic
Symptoms!"