"He's fast!" gasped Sasami.

They were having a hard time dodging-just dodging-the charges of the costumed intruder. Apparently Saitou's strategy was to keep shaking them up and keep them from devising a game plan. Quite the opposite of those Saturday-morning villains who show off a lot while giving the heroes time to regroup and take stock of the situation.

It drains their stamina, too.

Yurika dropped onto the sand with a loud wail. She couldn't get up anymore.

"Tch!" said Sasami. "This is really bad. I'm not sure I can manage this on my own." To Suzuko, " Hey, are you gonna stand there and watch us d-"

"Look out!"

Sasami felt a powerful yank and all of a sudden she was sent flying out to sea. She plunged in a huge splash. Yurika was on her own.

"Hurrgh-Hurrgh-Hurrgh-Hurrgh," laugh-growled the creature menacingly as it approached the prone Yurika. What is there to do?! If she didn't stir in the next five minutes she'd probably be flung away somewhere worse... there was an open roast pit some distance away with live coals in it! But nobody in the gang had the nerve to intervene. Poor girl... poor, poor, poor thing!

Yurika began to rouse groggily just as the shadow of the beast touched her form. She could not see all that clearly... but there was something in the sand right before her. She squinted hard, struggling to register the object into her sight. And there it is! A... A, storybook?

She quickly got up and flipped through frantically. There must be a weapon of some sort inserted into here! But what weapon would fit into a kid's book? There it is! A playing card. She instinctively knew what to do, sprung to her feet, and threw the thing, which flew straight at Saitou. Surely the flying card will slice that monster in half!

It landed with a soft bump on the costume and fluttered lamely to the sand.

Everybody screamed in terror.

What was I thinking ?! Yurika lambasted herself. I'm not even half as stylish to pull that one off. Mascot the Saitou was now towering over her. there's nothing left to do. "D-D-D-D-Do y-you want a... a... a... a story...? She flipped quickly through the pages and began to read.

"Once upon a time, there was a little girl who sat alone in a playground."

The gang hushed as they paid attention to the tale.

"She was all alone in the park as she watched others play with their playmates. Other kids had their Moms and Dads with them... but she, she had no one with her.

"As the sun set and everybody went home, she cried alone at the park bench and wished aloud..." Sob... "She wished aloud that she be turned into a beautiful flowering bush that all people will marvel at. So at least somebody will touch her.

"The next morning, the girl was gone, and in her place was an azalea bush. Now, maybe, everyone will come and see and be her friend. But then, a group of rough boys came up, and..." Sob, sob... "They stripped the bush of all the flowers, and even the leaves, and left her bare..."

"Even so, the bush grew new leaves and new flowers every morning, but all she had was fierce winds blowing away her blooms and insensitive men throwing used cigarette butts at her... Will she ever get better?

"Will she ever find someone who will truly appreciate her for what she is? "Will she ever find the true meaning of friendship? W-Why am I crying?

"Why is she like this?! What did she do to deserve this ?! Why, Mascot the Saitou?!

"Why...?!"

Saitou stood stock-still in the sun, unmoving, but, in a moment, he began to tremble violently. "Arrrghhh!" it roared clutching its head in despair. It grew stiff and slowly toppled onto the sand.

Mascot the Saitou is vanquished.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Yatta!" cheered everybody.

"Hahhhh..." sighed Yurika in relief sinking to her knees. "That was so close. I didn't know if I was crying because I'm touched or I'm crying because I'm scared. Maybe both."

The girls gathered around the defeated Saitou, whose mascot head came off, and saw for themselves. It was... Aya?! She was in a deep sleep. She was still narcoleptic the whole time? Was she sleepwalking, er, sleepfighting, er, sleep-menacing?

"Let's take her back to the hospital," said Yoshino. "We can't just go on having fun here if her sleep attacks are this bad."

"It's... It's a very dark place." Aya related sitting in the hospital bed. "I think I was leaning against something hard, and I felt really messed-up overall. And there was this strong smell of gasoline..."

The gang wasn't quite getting her.

Suzuko rubbed Aya's head tenderly. "It's alright, you don't have to push yourself. Here, have a few cookies so you won't think of having nightmares again."

They sat with her there till evening sharing the snacks with her and having some light banter over the upcoming performance. Before they could leave, however, a group of nine burst into the room in full concert costume.

"And who are you?" grumbled Sasami.

They cleared their throats theatrically. "I'm Miyu, and his is Mayu. This here's Kaori, and with her's Aguri. Tomori and Akari. Natsumi and Chiemi! Aaaand Maria."

"Is there anything we can help you with?" said Aina.

"Ohoho, no! We're here to help you! We cheer up hospital patients through our awe-inspiring shows. We even perform in the operating room and the surgery's always a 100% success."

"Say," whispered Emi to Suzuko. "we can top that. Let's sing in a morgue so the dead become undead. Like, 'Thriller! Thrilla night!' "

"Emi!" she chided.

"We are," they said getting into formation, "the Ginyu Force!" Miyu was startled. "Wait. That's not it. Eh, enough of the intro. I'll just tell them. OK, we're the Waku-Waku Runners Club and we're also here to learn from you, because we heard you're News, and we plan to join forces with you. New groups are coming into town. They have weird names like New Generations, Candy Island, and Asterisk. Blech! Candy Island, can you believe that?"

"Sure," beamed Emi. "But I think there should be a second group to complete our lineup."

The Waku Waku girls looked at each other and laughed. "What second group? There's no second group. The eighteen of us is all the group we'll ever need."

"I heard the invaders have millions to their name, and we can't even muster twenty-seven?"

"Come on," insisted Miyu. "If Leonidas can hold off those millions you speak of with only three people, eighteen will be more than enough!"

"Oh, is that so?" She stood up and approached them. "Tell me about it. Come on, let's hash out a deal away from these guys. I'm their Supreme Leader, you know. I will be the one to talk. Here," she said opening the door, "behind closed doors." As soon as the group was outside, she quickly darted back in and slammed it shut. "Phew. There's no second group or third group, we're the only News in town, right guys?"

They were all staring her down, seething. Sasami was standing in the lead. " 'Supreme Leader,' huh?" she said. "Who are you, Kim Jong-Un?"

"Relax," Emi chuckled nervously waving her hand. "Of course you're the Resident Legend, Kobayashi-sama."

Hi. StudioHOP here. Sorry for the hiatus again. It's fun to be back for a bit, but I'm also in the middle of a huge project. Thanks for your patience.