(MasterOfRa)
It was a quiet summer day. The Sailor Soldiers had finally managed to defeat
Queen Nehelania for the second time. Rini, after nearly disappearing from
existence due to the battle, had told the other girls that she expected to
return to the future a few days after experiencing her next birthday in the
present, making this the last time she would visit the past before being born in
Serena's future.
Serena was determined to make this a birthday Rini would never forget. So, that
day, she had called Amy, Mina, Lita, and Rei to Rei's temple to discuss an idea
for Rini's birthday party.
"Thanks for coming everyone." Serena said, "I was hoping we could come up with
something special to do for Rini's birthday since this is the last time we'll
see her in the past."
"What about a party?" Mina said, "She seemed to like that last time."
Serena shook her head. "It's a good idea. But I was thinking of something really
exciting, something she'll never forget. We have to brainstorm things she
likes."
"There's a word I never thought I'd hear you say." Rei said, "But she's right.
Rini goes back to the future for good after her birthday. It's safer for her
there."
"Well, what does she like?" Lita asked.
"Let's see." Amy said, getting out a pad of paper and a pencil. She started
writing list. "She really likes rabbits, anything the color pink, and drawing
pictures from what I've seen."
"Good start." Rei said, "She also likes art in general. Remember when she was
taking that art class with Michelle?"
"Don't forget cooking." Lita said, "Her cookies were always better then
Serena's." Everyone but Serena laughted.
"Hey!" Serena said, "Mine weren't that bad. Anyway, what else does she like? I'm
not doing well thinking so hard."
Mina spoke up. "There was that one time she got really big and walked around
town trying to find Serena. She seemed to really like being bigger."
"If I recall Mina." Amy said, "She got in big trouble for what she did."
Serena suddenly jumped up. "That's the perfect idea!!"
"What?!" Rei said, "You want us to get Rini in trouble again?"
"No, not that." Serena said, "But Rini did like being really big. So here's what
I propose; Why don't we make Rini bigger?"
"How do we do that?" Lita asked, "The only way is to use Luna-Pi, which only
listens to Rini."
"I don't mean make her physically bigger." Serena said, "But let's build a
miniature version of the city for her to play in."
"It's a good idea." Amy said, "But a feat like that would take some time to
build. And where could we build it?"
"It's summer vacation." Serena said, "We have two months until Rini leaves for
the future." She turned to Rei. "Can we use the gathering building behind the
temple to build the city? It's large enough right?"
"I'd have to ask my grampa." Rei said, "But I'm sure it would be alright."
"What about the buildings?" Mina asked, "We know Rini loves to break stuff. Her
natural reaction is going to make her want to start stomping on stuff. So we
can't make the buildings too tough or else she won't be able to crush anything."
"We could make them out of balsa wood." Lita suggested.
"That would take too long." Rei said, "What about really stiff printer paper?
You know, the type people print high definition photographs on. We can tape the
paper together into buildings and draw and paint windows and doors on them."
"Yeah." Serena said, "That would be great. And Sammi has a hundreds of old toy
cars he doesn't play with anymore. I'm sure he'd let us use them. And I think
they're even some cheap plastic so they'll totally crunch when stepped on." She
rubbed the sole of her shoe. "I should know, I've done it, without shoes on.
Those sharp points hurt."
"Great." Mina said, "Then were all set right?"
"Hold on." Rei said, "What about little people? A city can't be devoid of life."
"I have an idea." Amy spoke up, "We could use gummy bears as people so she can
eat them."
Rei laughted. "That's totally devious Amy."
"I didn't know you could be so sinister." Lita said.
"What are you talking about?" Amy said.
"Don't you get it?" Serena said, "It'll be like Rini is eating actual tiny
people."
Amy blushed. "Oh dear. Your right. Forget my idea."
"No way!" Serena said, "It's a great idea. Let's go for it."
"Ok, so we know what to do." Mina said, "So who's going to do what?"
"I'll ask granpa for the use of the storage building and get it cleaned out."
Rei said.
"I'll get the toys from Sammi." Serena said.
"Gummy bears for me." Lita said.
"I can design a miniature scale for the city." Amy said, "Including the
dimensions and. . . "
"Why don't you just do it and get back to us." Mina said, "I'll get started
making the buildings. However, some structures like the Tokyo Tower, will have
to made of a tougher material. Is that alright?"
"As long as Rini can smash it, I'm sure anything is alright." Lita said.
"We'll meet back here in one week to start building." Serena said, "See you all
then." The girls split up, each one to her own task.
- ONE WEEK LATER -
After gathering the supplies, the girls meet back up at Rei's temple. Rei's
granpa had allowed the use of the building and everything had been cleared out,
leaving a large square area to build the miniature city of Tokyo. Amy had
already begun her part, building a wooden raised stage to build the city on top
of. One end of the stage had three steps to get up on top of the stage where the
city would be.
"Hi Amy." Serena said, "You've sure been working hard."
"Hi girls." Amy said, "I'v completed the foundation of the city. I've already
painted on the city streets, sidewalks, and basic details for the entire city,
such as lightpoles, signs, and traffic devices. All we need now are the
buildings, vehicles and people. And look at this." She pressed one finger onto
the street. As she pressed, the street actually depressed, forming a small
crater.
"I made the street surfaces out of a clay-like substance." Amy explained, "That
way, the street will get damaged with each step Rini takes without sticking or
causing stains on the soles of her shoes."
"You did all this in one week?" Mina asked.
"Once Rei said it was alright, I started immediately." Amy said, "I worked
morning to evening. Only the best for Rini's sake."
"Speaking of Rini." Lita said, "Does she suspect anything Serena?"
"I don't think so." Serena said, "I've been extra careful to leave early before
she wakes up in the morning to avoid her seeing me."
"Your getting up early for once." Rei said, "That's very impressive." Serena
flustered.
"Let's not fight." Mina said, "We have a job to do."
Each girl had brough their supplies. Lita had two large bags of gummy bears to
act as people in the city.
Serena had gotten the toy vehicles from Sammi, who had given them to her without
asking what they were for. Mina and Rei had already started putting together
buildings over the week and began placing them on the foundation. They had to be
careful where they stepped, standing only on the solid parts of the foundation
where other buildings would eventually be placed, so their footprints wouldn't
be left in the street.
In front of Rei and Mina, Serena walked around placing toy vehicles in stategic
spots, creating traffic jams in usual places, less traffic in some places. She
even placed small toy trains on railways and bridges crossing over the streets.
Amy watched Serena before speaking up.
"There's a few streets to keep clear Serena." Amy said.
"Huh?" Serena asked standing up straight, "Why's that."
"I'll show you." Amy said. She picked up a toy car from her own supplies and
placed it on one of the streets. Walking to the side of the stage, she pushed a
button and the car she had placed began driving around the city.
Serena was shocked. "How did you do that?" Serena asked. She lifted her foot as
the car approached to allow it to drive past.
"I've built some of the streets with magnetic tracks inside them." Amy
explained, "Once activated, the magnets grip the car and pull it along the track
in an endless loop."
"That's amazing." Serena said, "You put a lot of work into this."
"It's all for Rini." Amy said.
"It almost seems like a shame to let Rini stomp it all flat." Lita said.
"Almost." Rei said.
While Serena, Rei, and Mina continued putting the city together, Amy was still
working on the surrounding details. She had covered the walls with blue sheets
to simulate the sky around the city instead of the walls of the building. Lita
meanwhile, was completing some of the more elaborate buildings, including the
tokyo Tower, which would be the tallest structure in the miniature city. But
even at it's height, it would only reach as high as Rini's knee if it was lucky.
- ONE MONTH LATER -
After nearly a month of work, the city was very close to being done. A few
finishing touches were all that needed to be added. Serena was trying to place a
few flags on some of the taller buildings, but because the solid parts of the
foundation now had buildings on them, it was very difficult to find a place to
put her feet without stepping on a car, building, or "damaging" the street. The
street was barely wider then Serena's two feet placed side by side.
Finally, after managing to place the flags without crushing anything, Serena
climbed down from the stage and joined her friends. A complete miniature city of
Tokyo was spread out before them. Thankfully, the room was so large. The city
spread 25 feet long and nearly 20 feet wide. The tallest structure, the Tokyo
Tower, only stood 1 foot high, barely the height of Rini's knee. But the rest of
the city was in direct proportion to it, with the exception of the street width,
which had been widened to allow Rini to walk through easily. There was even a
miniaturized version of Serena's house and Rei's temple with small trees around
it.
"It's finally finished." Serena said.
"And with time to spare." Rei said, "Rini's birthday isn't until next week."
Mina looked around. There were still several dozen toy vehicles lying around and
plenty of supplied for buildings. "What should we do with all the rest of the
supplies?"
"I call dibs on eating the leftover little people!" Serena said. She grabbed the
bad and began swallowing the gummy bears with great gusto.
"Well, that figures." Mina said.
"Serena." Lita said, "Why don't you take the toy cars home with you and let Rini
play with them as an early gift?"
"Good idea." Serena said.
"Just make sure you don't give away the real surprise." Rei said, "I know how
you can't hold your tongue."
"Hey!" Serena shouted, "I kept it hidden this long didn't I?"
"She's got a point." Amy said.
"Uh oh!" Lita said, "You know what I just noticed? We forgot to put in Tokyo
Bay."
"Well, there's no room for it now." Amy said, "And we didn't get any toy boats
anyway. Rini will just have to be happy smashing the airport instead." She
pointed to the airport in one corner.
"Oh, I'm sure she'll like that." Lita said.
"Well, it's getting late." Serena said, "I'm going to head home now." She picked
up the bag of toy vehicles and, still holding her bag of gummy bears, headed
towards the door.
"Bye Serena." Mina said, "Remember, don't spill the beans to Rini."
- THAT NIGHT, TSUKINO RESIDENCE -
When Serena got home, Rini was sitting on the couch in the living room reading a
book. Rini looked up as Serena entered.
"Your home late." Rini said, "Where have you been?"
Serena realized she could use the excuse, 'Our enemy attacked' since there had
been no attacks in several months. "Well I am in high school now. I had to study
late at Rei's place."
"But it's summer vacation." Rini said.
"So?" Serena said, "Gotta keep my studies up for school in the Fall season. So,
what did you do today?"
Rini smiled. "I've been reading a great book."
"What's it about?" Serena asked.
"A Pegasus." Rini said, "And how it helped a little girl overcome her fears."
"Your still hooked on Pegasus?" Serena said, "That was a year ago. You really
need to move on." She dropped the bag of toy cars on Rini's lap. "Here. These
are for you."
"Huh?" Rini said, "What are these for?"
"You can break them if you want to." Serena said, "Like the rest of your toy
cars."
Rini blushed. "You knew?" She asked.
"Don't worry Rini." Serena said, "I've known for a while. The trash is full of
broken toy car pieces, I keep hearing crunching sounds coming from your room
late at night, and you keep asking me to buy you more toy vehicles."
Rini smiled. "Thanks Serena."
"No problem Rini." Serena said, "Just wait until . . " She stopped herself.
"Until what?" Rini asked.
"Oh, never mind." Serena said, "It wasn't important." She turned and started
walking upstairs to her room.
"That was a close one." She said to herself.
- THE FOLLOWING WEEK -
Finally, it was the day before Rini's birthday, the day the girls had planned to
surprise Rini with the mini city of Tokyo. It was early morning when the girls
meet at the building behind Rei's temple.
"I can't believe we are going to pull this off." Mina said, "Serena never blew
it even once." Serena growled.
"All we have to do now is call Rini and wait for her to show up." Rei said. She
handed Serena a cell phone. "Call her over Serena."
Serena took the phone and dialed the number. Back at her house, Rini was still
reading her book when the phone rang. She picked it up.
"Hello?" Rini said.
"Hi Rini, it's your future mother!" Serena said.
"What do you want?" Rini said in an annoyed tone of voice.
"Listen Rini." Serena said, "Dress in your best clothes and meet me at Rei's
temple. I have something for you."
"Something for me?" Rini said, "What is it?"
"Oh no." Serena said, "You have to come and see it for yourself."
"Alright." Rini said, "Wear my best right?"
"That's right." Serena said, "See you soon." She hung up. Rini put the phone
down, wondering to herself. Walking upstairs to her room, Rini had no idea what
Serena was putting her up to. Rini picked out her outfit; A white, knee-length
dress with a black stripe along the neckline, waist, and lower dress. She picked
a pair of matching black gloves and shiny black dress shoes with a bow on the
toe section of each shoe. Pinning a plastic white rose onto the chest of her
dress and grabbing her companion Luna-Pi, Rini left the house and walked down
the street towards Rei's temple.
Meanwhile, Serena informed the girls Rini was on her way. After the girls went
back to the building, Serena went and stood outside Rei's temple, waiting for
Rini to arrive.
It wasn't long before Serena hear the familiar clicking of Rini's shoes on the
stone stairway. Sure enough, Rini soon appeared at the top of the stairs. She
spotted Serena waiting for her.
"Well Serena." Rini said, "I'm here. And this is the best outfit I have. What
did you want to show me that's so important?"
"Follow me." Serena said. She lead Rini around the temple and to the building
behind it. Serena gripped the handle of the door.
"Ready?" Serena asked.
"Ready as I'll ever be." Rini answered.
Serena pulled the door opened and allowed Rini to step inside.
"SURPRISE!" The girls shouted, "Happy early birthday Rini!"
Rini easily spotted the sprawling miniature city of Tokyo. She gasped, dropping
Luna-Pi as her hands went to her mouth in amazement.
"Wow!" Rini said, "You built all this for me?!"
"That's right kiddo." Serena said, "It took just over a month to complete."
"A month?" Rini said, "For me?"
"That's right Rini." Mina said, "We all know how much fun you had when you were
stomping around Tokyo last time. So we thought we would recreate the situation
for you."
"What?" Rini said.
"Remember Rini?" Lita said, "When you grew really tall and tried to find Serena.
You seemed to have a lot of fun."
"Right, I remember." Rini said. She bent over a picked up Luna-Pi. She smiled.
"Girls, this is really great, especially for my last birthday with you guys. But
do you mind if I ask for one favor?"
"Sure Rini." Rei said, "What is it?"
"I wanna play a game of hide-and-seek." Rini said, "Wanna play? I'll be it and
try to find you."
"Sure." Amy said, "That sounds like fun."
"I'll make a blindfold." Rini said, bouncing Luna-Pi. "Luna-Pi, Kitty Magic!"
Luna-Pi bounced high and released a cloud of pink smoke. When it reappeared,
there was no blindfold. Instead, a strange looking ray gun fell into Rini's
hands. She aimed it at the five girls.
"Hide." Rini said. She pulled the trigger. A beam of electricity shot out and
struck the girls.
Thankfully, the beam didn't hurt at all. But Serena and the others were
enveloped in a bright light and were soon unable to see what had happened. But
when the light cleared away, Serena and the girls found themselves in a much
different predicament.
As the light began to clear away, Serena opened her eyes and looked around.
When she looked up, the ceiling was much further away. The walls seemed to be
miles away as well. Suddenly, the floor began to shake rythmically.
"Look out!" Mina screamed pointing up. Serena looked and saw Rini walking
straight towards them. But she wasn't small. To be exact, Serena and the girls
were small! Rini, who stood just over 4 feet tall, now towered over the five
girls, who were no more then 1 inch tall each. Rini reached down one hand and
grasped a hold of all five girls in one fist. She was gentle as she carried them
back towards the miniature city.
"Alright girls." Rini said lowering Serena and the others, "I'll give you ten
seconds to find hiding places." She placed each girl in a separate corner of the
city, leaving Serena alone in the downtown area. Then, she backed up to the far
wall, turned around, covered her eyes, and began counting very slowly.
Serena was still in shock. Here she was, standing only an inch tall at best, in
an exact duplicate city of Tokyo but smaller in size.
"That little twirp!" Serena said, "She shrank us. And now I'm alone in here."
"5. . . 6. . . 7. ." Rini was almost done counting. "I hope you girls aren't in
the same places I put you or this game will be really easy."
Serena jumped to her feet and began running as fast as she could down the
street.
"8 . . 9 . . " Rini counted.
Serena managed to make it around a corner. She leaned against the paper wall of
a buildings, trying to catch her breath. She soon realized she was near her own
neighborhood.
"10!" Rini completed her count. "Ready or not, here I come girls!"
Serena felt the stage shutter as Rini climbed the stairs and took her first
steps into the toy city. She peaked around the corner and was startled by what
she saw.
With the exception of the Tokyo Tower model, most buildings barely reached past
Rini's ankles. Rini still towered over the city.
"What a miscalculation on Amy's part." Serena said softly to herself, "That
won't slow Rini down at all. She can step right over them. Or worse, she could
step on me!"
Serena peered back around the corner. Rini still hadn't moved. But she was
turning her head, looking around the city, possibly trying to see anything tiny
try to run across the streets for cover.
----
Meanwhile, the other girls were getting aquainted with their locations. Rei had
been dropped at her temple, Mina at the airport, Amy at the Shinjuku district,
and Lita at the apartment complex just down the street from the Tokyo Tower.
Each location was across the city from each other, making a reunion of all five
girls very difficult without being spotted.
Just then, Serena thought of something. Fishing into her pocket, she pulled out
her communicator, a device used when they were scouts to relay information, like
a cell phone with video features. She flipped it open.
Whispering, Serena spoke. "Can anyone hear me?"
"Serena?" Amy's voice came in, "Is that you? Good call using the communicators.
Were are you?"
"I think I'm near my house." Serena said, "Can you make it to where I am?"
"Not sure." Amy said, "I'm in the Shinjuku district, near the Tokyo City Hall
building."
"I'm going to try to meet you at my house." Serena said, "Try to get in contact
with the other girls and tell them to get there. This city is just the same as
real life so it should be easy to get there as long as you aren't seen."
"Right." Amy said, "I'll get in contact and we'll try to get there." Amy hung
up.
----
Just then, Serena felt the stage trembling again. She looked around the corner
and saw Rini beginning to walk forward down the street towards where Serena was
hiding. Serena, thinking Rini had seen her, began backing down the sidewalk
slowly, keeping close to the buildings so Rini couldn't see her.
"Serena?" Rini coaxed, "I know this is where I put you. Are you nearby?" Rini
walked up to the intersection just as Serena ducked behind another building.
From the shadows, she peeked out.
Rini was looking towards the street. Turning around, she took one step back down
the street, so buildings were on either side of her. She noticed a toy bus along
with several toy cars in the street.
"I don't suppose you hiding inside one of these toy cars or buildings are you
Serena?" Rini said. She lifted one foot. "Why don't we find out." Serena watched
Rini.
A toy car was the first to fall victum as the heel of Rini's shiny black shoe
descended on it. There was a crunch as Rini's heel pressed down, crushing the
plastic car. Rini lowered the sole of her shoe to the road surface, crushing a
pickup truck and another car underfoot. Then, she lifted the same foot and
positioned it over the toy bus. Her shoe pressed on the bus' roof, forcing the
chassie down on the wheels, before the entire bus was crushed under the toe of
Rini's shoe.
Rini then lifted her other foot, turning her attention to the buildings lining
the street. Gently, Rini pressed her foot on the fragile building. As she
pressed harder, the building simply collapsed and crumpled into a heap beneath
her shoe. Since the buildings were only made out of high grade paper, they
offered little resistance and were smushed easily. It wasn't exactly realistic,
but it was still very real.
Rini shifted her foot back and forth of the crumpled building. Then, she lifted
her other foot and placed in on two smaller buildings on the opposite side of
the street. In a similar fashion, Rini crumpled the buildings under her foot,
shifting her foot to ensure they were crushed.
Using her first foot, the one she had used the crush the first building, Rini
simply lifted the heel of her shoe and slid her foot backwards, positioning her
heel over another building before pressing her heel down. The building, like the
others, was destroyed with little effort.
Shifting her feet, Rini smashed two remaining cars in the street before turning
around, her feet trampling the crumpled buildings. She eyed one last building.
Raising her foot, Rini easily crushed the small building flat, twisting her foot
from side to side. Finally, Rini relaxed.
"I guess you weren't there Serena!" Rini said, "I'll have to keep on looking."
She turned and walked back down the street, more plastic cars crunching under
the soles of her shoes. Serena breathed a sigh of relief as Rini moved away from
her position. Once the coast was clear, Serena ran down the street in the
direction of her house.
----
Meanwhile, Mina was mingling around the airport. She had managed to get inside
the terminal, one of the more complex buildings she had built earlier in the
week. Since it wan't made of paper, the terminal offered a little more
protection then the more common building.
"So, if I'm at the airport." Mina said, "Then that means downtown is towards the
middle of the stage." She peeked out one of the windows of the terminal's front
side, looking around for Rini. She could see Rini towering over the town, but
she wasn't coming towards the airport. Mina could tell Rini was stomping
something when Rini lifted a foot high to step on something in her path.
"Well." Mina said, "I guess Rini's not being careful about where she steps.
Which means I better be careful. I wouldn't last long underfoot." Slowly, Mina
emerged from the building and began sneaking her way into the city.
----
Rei, who was still at her temple, now tried to hide in the makeshift trees. Made
out of crumpled up green paper, the trees didn't offer a lot of cover, but it
was safer then out in the open.
"I still can't believe that Rini had the nerve to shrink us." Rei said, "I mean,
we put all this time into her present and she wants us to be a part of it? How
does this lousy game end anyway?"
Leaving the safety of the trees, Rei moved into the city, heading towards
Serena's house, knowing that's where Serena would always go.
----
As Lita made her way down from on top of one of the apartment buildings, she
could see Rini moving towards the opposite side of the stage. Her trail was easy
to follow as crumpled buildings and broken toy cars littered the streets that
she had passed through.
Spying a train bridge, Lita climbed on top of it. Right on time, a train was
running across the bridge. As it passed, Lita climbed onto one of the flatbed
cars, which was just long enough to hold her.
"This is great." Lita said, "I'll just see where this train leads and maybe I'll
meet up with some of the others." The train, unknown to Lita, was headed
straight towards the part of town Rini was searching.
----
Poor Serena had big trouble. Rini had come back and was now only feet away from
Serena's hiding place. As Serena tried to hid between a pair of buildings, she
could see Rini's shadow darken the cars in the street. Rini's footsteps shook
the ground. Serena looked up and could see Rini's body towering high in the air
above her.
Suddenly, Rini looked towards the spot Serena was hiding. Thinking she had been
spotted, Serena quickly dashed behind the building and over to the next street.
"Is that you Serena?" Rini said, bending towards the place Serena had been
hiding. She reached out with one arm. Her hand closed around the building Serena
had been behind. Crushing the building in her fist, Rini lifted it out of the
way and looked around.
"I know I saw someone here." Rini said, "I saw something move." But since Serena
had moved, Rini found nothing. Dropping the crumpled building, Rini stood back
up and began slowly walked down the street.
Serena exhaled loudly. Another close call. She ran down the street, finally
reaching her house.
----
As Amy made her way through the downtown section of the mini Tokyo, she suddenly
got a call on her communicator. It was Serena.
"Hi Amy." Serena said, "I made it to my house. Rini hasn't seen me yet, although
there were a few close calls."
"She hasn't come to my part of town yet." Amy said, "But I can see her heading
this way." She watched as Rini stepped on a few buildings just over a foot away.
"She's getting close Serena." Amy said, "I'll meet you at your house."
Just as Rini was reaching the place Amy was hiding, her attention was drawn
away. Amy looked in the direction Rini was staring and watched as a model train
approached, crossing a bridge just down the street.
----
Lita was beginning to panic. The train was going downtown, just a few feet away
from where Rini stood in the street.
"Please don't see me." Lita thought. Unfortunately, Rini's footsteps told a
different story. Rini stood just ahead, her legs stradling the bridge with ease.
As the train began passing under her, Rini simply reached down, her hand closing
around the locomotive.
Rini picked up the locomotive, the train cars still connected. Lita clung to the
flatbed car with all her strength as she was lifted high into the air. A few of
the cars after Lita's car disconnected, falling to the ground. As they hit, a
few of them flattened the surrounding buildings.
Finally, the train stopped rising. Lita opened her eyes and looked around. She
was startled when she saw Rini's giant eye looking right at her. Rini's other
hand came up and gripped Lita by her shirt collar, lifting her from the car.
Droppping the train, Rini gently placed Lita in the palm of her hand. She
laughted.
"I found you!" Rini said, "Sorry but you lose."
"Alright Rini." Lita said, "You found me. Now what?"
Rini lifted Lita towards a pocket on the chest of her dress. She dropped Lita
inside. "Now, we find the others." Rini said proudly. She stomped down the
street, leaving the train in ruins.
----
As Mina walked through the city, she soon noticed a familiar sight, Rei's
temple. Dashing up the stairs, Mina saw Rei was nowhere to be seen.
"Rei!" Mina called out, "Are you here?!" She got no answer. Unfortunately, she
did get Rini attention. Rini was closer to the airport where Mina had originally
been placed, but she now turned her attention to the area of Rei's temple.
However, Mina didn't realize what she was doing. She continued to call out. Her
shrill voice was one of the loudest of the five girls, with maybe the exception
of Serena.
Mina was just about to call out again, when a dark shadow was cast over her. She
turned around just in time to see Rini's giant gloved hand coming towards her.
Mina screamed. But as Rini's hand closed, Mina managed to jump away.
Instictively, Mina ran down the stairs at a breakneck speed. She reached the
street and ran as fast as she could towards the downtown area to try to hide. A
very loud crunching sound caused her to look over her shoulder.
Rini had stood back up and given chase. Her foot came down on top of Rei's
temple, smashing the fragile temple underfoot without a care in the world. As
Rini stepped away after Mina, the temple lay, crushed and destroyed in her wake.
The hill Mina had run downstairs was a simple step for Rini as she easily kept
pace with Mina. As Mina ran by cars in the street, those same cars were soon
trampled by Rini underfoot mere seconds after Mina had passed them.
Finally, Mina could go no further. Even with her extensive vollyball training,
she was out of energy. She collapsed on the street. Rini stopped her chase and
picked up Mina tired body, gently cradeling it in her hand.
"Are you alright Mina?" Rini said, "You put up quite a chase for me."
"I'm fine Rini." Mina said, "But you win this round."
Rini smiled. She gently slipped Mina inside her dress pocket. Inside, Mina meet
Lita.
"She got you too?" Mina said, "How?"
Lita nodded. "Mistaken train route. You?"
"Shouting." Mina answered.
----
Only Serena, Amy, and Rei remained in the city. Serena had made it to her house
and waited for the others. Amy was a few blocks away and still hidden from Rini.
Rei was farthest away, still stuck in the downtown area. And now, Rini was
between her and Serena's house.
Rei was determined to sneak by Rini to get to safety. As she stepped out from
her hiding place, she could see Rini was only a few blocks away. She was patting
her dress pocket, having just captured Mina. While her attention was drawn away,
Rei tried to slip past. However, she was soon cast in a dark shadow.
Rei looked up, fearing Rini was about to catch her. But Rini's back was turned
to her. Rei watched as her knees bent and Rini came down closer to the ground.
She reached out with one hand. Placing the palm of her hand on the nearest
building, Rini simply pushed down, crumpling the building under her hand.
Rini lifted her hand, giggling at the smashed remains. Rei noticed Serena's
house was directly past where Rini was now crouching. As Rei approached, she
watched Rini reach out with her hand again. Another building was reduced to
crumpled paper under her hand.
Just then, Rei heard another sound, the sound of one of the motorized cars Amy
had programed into the city layout. She looked as the car rounded a corner,
heading down the street straight for Rini's feet.
Rini heard it to. As the car approached, Rini simply tilted her foot back on
it's heel. As the slow moving car tried to pass underneath, Rini stomped her
foot back down, crushing the car. But Rei noticed the car now caused Rini's shoe
to be slightly off the ground, to the point someone could crawl underneath.
"Here goes nothing." Rei said quietly. She tip toed up to Rini. Rini was still
preoccupied with crumpling the paper buildings with her hands that she didn't
notice Rei approach. Rei got down on her stomach and began slidding under Rini's
foot. As she did, she looked at the smashed car. It was barely holding together
at all.
"Please hold." Rei whispered, "If you don't, I'll end up like you." Finally, Rei
managed to emerge from under Rini's shoe. But now, she was trapped between
Rini's feet. She tried to quietly skirt around the back of Rini's shoe. She
could see Serena's house. She wasn't far now.
Thankfully, Rini didn't notice Rei and she broke into a dead run to get to
Serena's house. But as she approached the house, she didn't see anyone around.
"I thought for sure this was the meeting place." Rei said, "Did they get
captured by Rini? No, she only caught Lita and Mina." Then Rei heard voices. She
walked around behind the house and found Serena and Amy.
However, Serena had found one of the gummy bears that had been placed to mimic
people in the city. The bear was as tall as they were and Serena was happily
biting her teeth into it. Amy was nearby trying to keep Serena quiet.
"Serena!" Rei said, "What are you doing?"
"Well, we were waiting for you." Serena said, "But you were taking so long. And
I was hungry."
"Your future daughter is stomping around our model city and all you can think
about is eating?" Rei said, "I'll never understand you."
"Oh relax." Serena said, "What's the worst that could happen?"
"She could step on you!" Rei said, "Think about it. If you die, she won't exist
in the future."
Serena was a little startled. She realized Rei was right.
"So?" Serena asked, "What do we do?"
"There's only two endings to this game." Rei said, "Either Rini captures all of
us. Or she destroys the entire city."
"And considering we made the city specifically for Rini to smash it." Amy said,
"I think we should avoid capture for as long as possible."
"Wait a minute!" Serena said, "Where's mina and Lita?"
"I'll give you one guess." Rei said pointing towards Rini as she stomped on more
paper buildings.
"They got caught?" Amy said.
"Yeah." Rei said.
----
Rini was having a great time. Even if she couldn't find the rest of the girls,
there was still plenty of the city that hadn't been touched yet.
"Such a big city" Rini said aloud, "So many buildings to step on, so few girls
to find."
----
"Did my daughter just taunt us?" Serena asked.
"She doesn't seem too motivated to find us." Amy said, "We should use this to
our advantage."
"But where do we go?" Rei asked.
"How about the airport?" Serena said.
"Any why there?" Rei asked.
"Because." Serena said, "If you remember, the airport is closest to the edge of
the table. And Rini left Luna Ball as the shrink gun. Maybe Amy can reverse it
and get us back to normal size. It's the only way to wwin this game."
Rei was stunned. "Did you just use your brain Serena?"
"Hey!" Serena said, "I can be smart too!"
"In any case, it's a good plan." Amy said, "Let's start going there but be
careful."
The three girls walked back around Serena's house and down the road, being
careful to remain out of sight in case Rini walked their way.
----
"Come on guys." Rini said, "Stop hiding." She stepped on another building.
"I didn't realize destroying a city could be such a chore." Rini said, "It's
tedious work. Hm, maybe they're at Serena's house. But where is it? AH! There is
is."
Rini began walking in the direction of Serena's house, the very place Serena,
Rei, and Amy were just leaving.
----
Rini towered high above the street, her feet stomping towards the three girls.
"Watch out!" Amy said, "She's coming this way!"
"In the shadows!" Rei said.
Serena Rei and Amy jumped betwwen two building, barely avoiding being trampled.
Rini continued down the street, unaware just how close she was to finding the
three remaining girls.
"Where do you suppose she's going?" Rei said.
They watched as Rini walked around a corner and stopped. She looked down at
something.
"Oh no!" Serena said, "That's my house!" She left the safety of the building and
raced towards the street corner.
----
Indeed, Rini was looking down at a model version of Serena's house. The tiny
wooden model barely rose higher then Rini's ankle, another miscaluclation on
Amy's part. The city certainly should've been made bigger.
"Anybody home?" Rini said, "Serena? I'm home! Aren't you going to welcome me?"
She lifted one shoe over the roof of the house.
"It may be a really cute model." Rini said softly, "But it is still a potential
hiding place." The sole of her shoe settled on top of the house. Her foot rocked
side to side, finding a sweet spot.
Serena dashed around the corner, just in time to witness the destruction of her
own house.
Rini's foot pressed on the fragile roof, the wooden structure cracking loudly,
bending and straining under the weight. Finally, the roof split apart, crunching
as the boards snapped like twigs. Rini's foot continued down, smashing the
second story, and continuing all the way to the ground. The two story house
crumpled to a flat pile of rubble under Rini's shoe.
"It really was a cute model." Rini said as she twisted her foot back and forth
on the rubble, "Very detailed. I almost feel bad crushing it. Then again, that's
why the girls built it for me." She lifted her foot and looked at the remains of
Serena's house.
----
Serena watched in horror as Rini demolished her very own house. She never
imagined Rini would go so far as to step on it. Sure, it was just a model, but
still. It was a model of her home.
"How could she?" Serena whispered, "Our house. If she really was a giantess,
would she really do that?"
Serena felt a tug on her shoulder.
"Come on Serena." Rei said, "We need to get to the airport."
Picking Serena up to her feet, the three girls ran towards the airport.
On the way, they passed the temple. They all stared at the rubble in amazement.
This time, Rei was in shock.
"No way!" Rei said, "She smashed the temple flat!"
"Now you know how I felt when she stepped on my house." Serena said.
Thankfully, with Rini's attention on Serena's neighborhood, the girls had little
trouble getting to the airport. But they did notice Rini had already been in the
area as most of the cars and buildings around the airport were smashed.
"Isn't this where Rini put Mina down?" Serena said.
"That would explain all the damage." Rei said, "Come on. Let's find that gun."
The girls ran through the terminal and onto the tarmak where the toy planes had
been placed. Serena ran up to the edge of the table. Sure enough, on the floor,
lay the shrink gun.
"It's over her!" Serena shouted.
----
Meanwhile, admist the destruction she was causing, Rini noticed a single gummy
bear that seemed smaller then the others. Reaching down, Rini picked it up. She
observed tiny bite marks.
"Serena." Rini said, "She was here."
----
"How do we get down there?" Rei asked. The drop to the floor was easily two feet
down, too high up to survive a drop at their size.
"Over there." Amy said. One of the cardboard boxes used for carrying materials
was nearby. Amy and Rei jumped down onto the box, then down to the floor while
Serena remained on the edge of the table watching.
"Give me just a minute." Amy said as she began workng on the shrink gun. "Ok,
it's ready."
"Good!" Serena shouted, "Now make me regular size so I can punish Rini."
Rei lifted the front of the gun and pointed it up towards Serena. Amy grabbed
the trigger and pulled with all her might. Finally, with a slight click, the gun
fired.
The beam hit Serena squarely in the chest. A bright flash lit up the room.
----
From across the city, Rini saw the flash.
"Uh oh." she said. She knew what had just happened.
----
As the light faded, Serena looked around. She was normal sized now and towered
even high then Rini did over the city.
Not forgetting her friends, Serena lowered her hand down to the floor, allowing
Rei and Amy to climb aboard. She lifted them up high.
"Aren't you going to return us to normal size?" Amy said.
"As soon as we get Mina and Lita back." Serena said, "Besides, I could get use
to Rei being this small." She laughted.
"That's not funny Serena!" Rei said.
Serena turned around, facing the city. The airport could barely contain even her
feet and several of the toy planes crunched loudly as Serena unintentionally
stepped on them, crushing them flat under her uniform shoes.
"Watch your step Serena." Amy said, looking down at Serena's feet, "You're
stepping on stuff."
"Relax Amy." Serena said, "Remember? We built this for Rini to smash. But
there's no reason I can't have some fun too."
----
Rini saw Serena glaring at her from the other side of the city.
"Your back to normal." Rini said uneasily, "I guess that means the game is
over?"
"Rini!" Serena shouted, "How could you shrink us?!"
"It was easy." Rini said, "Luna Pi can become anything."
"I mean why did you shrink us?" Serena said, "We made all this for your
birthday."
Rini laughted. "I thought it would be fun. And I was right." She dug into her
pocket. "Even if I did only find two of you before the game was over." She
pulled Lita and Mina out and set them on the ground at her feet.
Serena walked over to Rini, placing Rei and Amy at her feet. The four tiny girls
stood in a group between Serena's black uniform shoes and Rini's black dress
shoes. They looked up at the two giant girls.
"So, um." Rei asked, "What about us?"
Serena and Rini smiled. "There's still a lot of city left." Serena said, "Wanna
finish it off?"
"I think that sounds like fun." Rini said. She looked down at the girls again,
"You have ten seconds to hide. Then, we'll find you."
"OH NO!!" the four tiny girls shouted, "NOT AGAIN!!"
END