El Hazard is owned by AIC and Pioneer LDC.  The author owns only the writing and any 
characters he himself creates.

El Hazard: The Magnificent Sequel
Chapter 7

The Genki teahouse was one of Ifurita's favorite
haunts. She would occasionally spend time over there
mulling over some homework or writing some reports
over a cup of tea. Maybe it was the atmosphere. Maybe
it was just the fact that it wasn't too far from her
apartment.
Today was no exception. Ifurita had been there for an
hour thinking on how to finish her paper. After
drinking 3 cups of tea, she picked up her power staff
and paid for her drinks. The manager often was curious
about her staff but thought that perhaps she just had
a sentimental attrachment to it so he never really
asked her about it. He accepted the payment and
Ifurita walked out of the teahouse.
Ifurita walked through the narrow back alley. They may
have been narrow and dark but this would not have
bothered a demon goddess. It was a short cut to her
apartment and it saved her about 5 minutes of walking.
She hadn't gone too far when she started to sense that
a pair of eyes were watching her closely.
*If it's someone who wants to rob me, they better
think twice. Do they really think that they can take
on a demon goddess?"
"My...my, I have been waiting for you." Ifurita was
surprised at the familiarity of the voice and turned
around. A shadowy female figure was slinking out of
the shadows.
"Who's there? Identify yourself?"
"The shadowy figure walked out slowly into the glare
of the streetlight.
"Kalia?" Ifurita looked surprised.
"I'm sorry to do this but orders are orders. Prepare
to defend yourself."
Kalia began to charge at Ifurita and fired a chi blast
at her. Ifurita neatly dodged it and drew out her
power staff. The blast had missed her by inches. It
had been quite a while since she had fought but she
had not forgotten her battle techniques.
Kalia fired a telekinetic blast at Ifurita. She only
succeeded in hitting some garbage cans as Ifurita
skilfully dodged. Ifurita retaliated by pointing her
staff at Kalia but Kalia was much quicker. Kalia
quickly flew up in the nick of time and the shot
missed.

Blast.
Zap.
Zap.
Blast.

The battle raged on for minutes as an audience of
alley cats watched. In the darkness of another corner,
another figure was watching. So far, he hadn't
revealed his true powers to anyone since coming to
Japan but....
Ifurita stepped back a few feet only to find what
seemed like a net made of electrical sparks enclosing
her as she heard a man's voice barking an order at
Kalia. Kalia responded by stretching her palm and
placing it on the trapped Ifurita's forehead.
*..so weak....*
Ifurita felt her strength drain away as the entire
world blacked out....

****************************************
Ifurita opened her eyes. Her two arms had been tied
together and she was being suspended by a rope tied to
the ceiling. She felt exhausted and looked weakly
around.
A very tall man with strange blue hair was carressing
a whip in his hand. He looked handsome but evil as he
licked his lips while grinning at her. "My name is
Lagus and I intend to make you suffer slowly before
you eventually die."
The whip flashed.
It tore a hole in the back of Ifurita's blouse leaving
a scar on her exposed back. She screamed in pain.
"But..but why?"
"Why? WHY? For revenge of course." He responded by
lashing at her again and again.
"It looks like you are becoming more and more human
since your obedience circuit was destroyed a long time
ago by Makoto Mizuhara. Your resistance to pain had
become weak."
He continued to lash her until she passed out.

*****************************************

It was Kotomi's turn. After 3 jumps, her red piece
finished off the last of Groucho's playing pieces.
"I win!" she cried in her usual cheery voice.
"Aww, you won again....That makes 5 games in a row. I
guess I'm no match for you," Groucho replied.
Henry suddenly walked in and picked up Kotomi by her
waist.
"Alright short stuff. Time for bed."
"Awww...daddy...can't I play one more game?"
"Sorry dear. You have that field trip tomorrow,
remember?"
"Oh yeah."
"Well, you'll need that sleep so that you can enjoy
your trip to the fullest. C'mon. I'll tuck you in."
"Goodnight Groucho."
"Goodnight Kotomi," the bugrom replied. "Have nice
dreams."
"Say...Groucho. Promise that you will never leave me,
okay? You're my best friend," Kotomi whispered in her
bed just as Groucho was about to leave her bedroom.
"Uh...sure."
*Liar. What was he saying?* Groucho felt awful
suddenly and walked quietly out of the room unable to
look Kotomi in the eye. He had never felt such a wave
of conflicting emotions before.
Groucho kept the checkers set and went to the blacony.
A familiar buzz was approaching him. What the buzz had
informed him yesterday was still troubling him.
"How is Queen Diva?"
"Not so good. She is getting weaker by the day and we
need to do something soon. However I may just be able
to lead you to her."
"I see."
Just then Henry returned from Kotomi's bedroom. The
messenger flew to Groucho's antennae and his mind was
flooded by images of the city of Tokyo. He immediately
knew where Diva was and how to get to her. He wasn't
aware of why he knew but expects would call that a
'homing intuition.'. Now all he needed was a way to
cross the city without catching too much attention.
Just as soon as the messenger flew away, Henry walked
to the balcony.
"Were you talking to somebody? I could have sworn that
I heard your voice out there."
"Uhh...no. I was probably making a prayer. If I talked
a little too loud, I'm sorry."
"It's alright."
"Ummm..could I ask a small favor?"
"I suppose so. What did you have in mind?"
"I need to search for some friends. I think I may have
an idea of where they are. I want to surprise them so
if I could borrow some clothes...."
"What did you have in mind?"
"A drenched coat and hat."
"You mean a trench coat? For a second, I thought you
might have asked for something else."
Groucho blinked, not fully comprehending.
Henry resumed,"I do have a trench coat, but it's old
and the stitches are starting to fall apart."
"That'll do. It shouldn't take too much time to get
where I want to anyway."
"Hold on a minute. I'll be right back."
Henry went down the hall into his room. Minutes later,
he came out and brought a long grey coat. He was also
holding a hat which shared the same faded shade of
grey.
"I wore these during my service as a detective in
Chicago. They're worn out but they should fit you fine
provided that you're not overweight. Now do you need a
map to find your way to where you want to go."
"That would be appreciated. Thank you."
"I suggest you start off tomorrow. The streets haven't
been exactly safe lately, especially with our recent
mayor. He hasn't exactly been doing too much to reduce
crime rates all over downtown."
"I'll be leaving as early as possible. Could you
please break the news to Kotomi? She won't be up when
I leave."
"Sure. I don't think that she'll be happy though."
"Tell her that I'll come back as soon as I can."
Their little discussion faded into the night. When
Henry finally went to bed, Groucho sat on the unfolded
couch. He looked at the coat and hat that were lying
on the arm rest.
*Lying to get myself out of here. What was I thinking?
Anyway I have to do what needs to be done. Hmm, that
map might be useful after all.*
He studied it carefully for a while, and then he got
up. He went down the hall to Kotomi's room. He slowly
opened the dorr and sat gently on her bed. He rubbed
her head gently and watched her sleep peacefully. A
good while later, he went to lie down on his bed and
reflected on what he had to do.
He didn't sleep well at all.

*****************************
*Ifurita. Where could she be?*
Makoto Mizuhara was worried. It was not like Ifurita
not to return his phone calls. And it was absolutely
not like her to stand him up. In fact, he had gone to
her apartment to check and she was not in. He even
called some of her classmates but no one seemed to
know.
*The Genki Teahouse! One of Ifurita's favorite
haunts!*

Of course the manager knew who Ifurita was even though
he didn't know her name. All Makoto had to do was
describe her. After all, it wasn't everyday, you saw a
woman with such gorgeous flowing, fair hair in this
part of Japan.
"Of course she was here earlier today. She left after
a few cups of tea."
*Right. That was very helpful.* Makoto mumbled to
himself in bitter irony as he started to walk along
the narrow alleys near the teahouse. Garbage cans,
stray cats.....a power staff.
A power staff?
Something metal, lying beside some charred garbage
cans caught Makoto's attention.
"It's Ifurita's staff!"
Makoto embraced the staff for a long time. He was
surprised to find tears flowing down his delicate
cheeks. It had been a while since he cried.
"Ifurita wherever you are, I will find you even if it
takes a lifetime. I made a promise to spend the rest
of my life with you and I intend to keep that
promise!"