_________________________________________________________________________

Mondays were always a bane for Laurine, and possibly most other teenagers. It meant the start of a painful new week at school. On the plus side she will get to see her friends and there are some fun classes with great teachers like the ones in Art and Spanish, but there is also the down side, such as Mr. Noss’s math class.

Weekends were something she indulged in. She got to sleep in, hang out with her friends and even try to accomplish some goals such as seeking a part time job. She had gone to several places and applied to many until her wrists ached from all that writing. It would be great to earn more money. She could save it for a car, even if it was a crappy car.

This weekend had been a bit different for her. Her original plans were to help Gina and her mother with some of the plants at the Gardens, look for a job, relax at the pool where her other friend, Sadie worked, and work on another sculpture. Rescuing that rabbit had changed all that. Correction that odd woman and her plant monster had changed it all. If they hadn’t attacked then Celeste wouldn’t have sought her out, and she wouldn’t have turned into Lady Andromeda.

'"So did you do your homework?" Ricardo asked Laurine as soon as they slid into their seats.

"Yeah I did it." She replied. "Didn't you?" It wasn’t easy for her. She wanted to do it as well as find a way to earn some cash, but she also had to deal with Celeste telling her that the Dark Kingdom will not stop after one attack and that she needs to be prepared for more battles. She also wanted to find something on the news that wasn’t about her little adventure Friday night.

"No I was too busy studying for that test."

“You spent the whole weekend studying?” Laurine asked. Ricardo wasn’t a complete slacker, but he wasn’t also the serious studious type either.

Ricardo smiled, forming a dimple in each of his cheeks. “Most of the weekend.”

"All right Class place your homework on the desk and get your things we are going to an assembly." Miss Williams said after the bell rang.

“What kind of an assembly?” Donna Spangler asked from the back of the room. The African-American girl was one of the tallest and prettiest girls in the class. Laurine suspected that Ricardo had a crush on her.

“Unfortunately I have not been given that information,” Miss Williams looked a little put out. From what she had seen in class Laurine new their teacher did not like to be kept in the dark.

“Maybe it’s about graduation?” Raymond Cheng suggested as he placed a small manila folder onto the table. He always turned his assignments in that fashion while everyone else just stapled or used paper clips.

“That would be my guess,” Miss Williams shrugged. “We will know when we arrive there.”

The room was filled with the sounds of footsteps, rustling papers and backpacks being picked up. Laurine placed her homework down onto the growing pile. It was only two sheets of loose leaf papers, college ruled, and stapled together. She didn’t have time to get it typed.

"All seniors report to the auditorium." Principal Barton announced through the speakers with the shrill feedback, that did not die down after the principal finished.

“That thing is so annoying,” Donna glared at the nearest speaker with her hands over her ears. “When are they going to get that fixed.”

“Beats me,” Laurine said. She stared at the box shaped metallic speaker. Those things were not working right since her freshman year. The school needed money to help repair the speakers as well as paint the halls. What was once a brilliant burgundy and gold had changed to a rust and ugly shade of yellow due to all of the years of fading and accumulation of grime.

She saw several more groups of seniors leave their rooms and merge into the growing line. A few shot her acid filled looks. She recognized a few of them from the crowd yesterday when she rescued Celeste. She just glared back.

“Yeah keep walking,” Ricardo said. He gave Laurine a light tap on the shoulder. “Don’t let them bother you.”

“I won’t,” Laurine said.

“Were they ones making bets on Friday?” Donna asked. “If they give you trouble let me know.”

“Thank you,” Laurine smiled at her friend. She had only one other class with Donna, but they were both took gymnastics’ at the YMCA. Donna was better at doing somersaults than Laurine, but she never felt jealous. She was glad to have her as a friend.

“Keep walking in a straight line,” one of the teachers said. “Single file.”

“What are we in kindergarten?” Donna rolled her eyes.

“No talking,” the same teacher said. Well somebody thought they were in kindergarten.

The students groaned as they walked to the auditorium, but they kept mostly silent, until Ricardo mooed. A few laughed.

Laurine shuffled with her classmates when she noticed a small gray blur outside the auditorium building. She stopped dead in her tracks, causing Ricardo to bump into her. She whispered an apology but continued to keep her eyes open for what she suspected to be her pet. A soft furry head with long ears and whiskers poked it’s head around the corner. Laurine broke free from the line and ran to where the rabbit was, ignoring the shouts of the teachers.

"This better be important," She whispered angrily once she had caught up with Celeste. “What are you even doing here? How did you get here.”

“How I got here is not important,” Celeste said. She seemed quite proud of herself, and did not seem to notice how annoyed Laurine was with her. “There is some familiar energy at this school. There is at least another Galactic Lady here.”

“This is why you came?” Laurine blinked. Did Celeste not understand anything. She risked a lot by being seen.

"I located your Ax, its located in a fantasy store." Celeste said not losing that smug expression on her face

"My ax?"

"All Galactic Ladies have their weapon. Yours is an ax." She paused to clear her throat. “The Melody Ax once created from the light within and harnessed by the great Queen Serenity. It is a blade made out of pure silver.”

"And its at one of those fantasy medieval shops?" Laurine had no idea what to do with an ax. What was she going to do, head off to Central Park to chop some wood?

"Yes , I'll give you the address after class."

“Couldn’t you wait until after school to tell me this?” Laurine had enough. “You just cant show up at my school like that. What if somebody sees you?”

“I have been trying to tell you everything this past weekend,” Celeste said in an annoyed clip. “You refused to listen, always telling me you have homework to do, a test to study for, jobs to apply to.”

“Because that is important.”

“Being a Galactic Lady is important.”

“Right now I have too much going on in my life to be some super heroine. You just can’t pop into someone’s life. Tell them they are destined to be something, give them a magic pen and expect them to drop everything. I am senior in high school. I want to graduate. I want to go to homecoming, prom and other dances. I want to get a job, get a car, go to college. I want to have a life.”

“If the Dark Kingdom succeeds then you will not have chance for all of that.”

“I’m sorry,” Laurine sighed. “Maybe you should find someone else to be Lady Andromeda.”

“You don’t understand,” Celeste softened her tone. “I can’t find anyone else. You are Lady Andromeda.” She shook her head. “I’ll go home. We can talk about this later.”

"I'll be applying for a job at the new under 21 club after I come home from that we will talk. I promise no hanging out with friends, no talking on the phone, no TV or music."

“Thank you,” Celeste turned and froze. The fur on her back bristled like that of a house cat, even her ears flattened against the back of her head.

“What is it?” Laurine asked and stared in the direction Celeste was looking at. A leg draped in blue material caught her eye as it slide up against the glass. Someone was climbing the side of the school.

“What is going on?“ Laurine ran outside of the building

“Laurine where are you going?" Miss William’s voice was heard before the door was shut on her.

Laurine ignored it and only took note that Celeste had followed her outside.

“Laurine, look up,” the talking rabbit instructed.

Laurine tilted her head back and stared up. A man dressed in blue armor, sculpted to fit his body was climbing the side of the building. The man wore slick black shoes with spikes protruding from the soles that appeared even sharper than cleats. He wore a blue shroud over his head and face, obstructing every feature except for the eyes. A symbol of a Q with three slash marks was printed on his chest and he had a large silver hammer clipped to his belt.

“That’s a Quarryman,” Laurine said.

“What are they?” Celeste asked.

“A group that formed in this city not long after gargoyles have been revealed.” She continued to watch the man as he climbed up, wondering why he was at her school. Once glance at the stone gargoyles at the top revealed his attentions to her.

"Hey what are you doing?" Laurine yelled.

“What is going on?” Miss Williams caught up with her. If her teacher was mildly upset before she was completely pissed off by now.

“I think a Quarryman wants to destroy school property,” Laurine pointed at the hooded figure as he continued to climb up.

“Hey,” Miss Williams cupped her hands over her mouth. “What do you think you are doing?”

“He’s heading to Rex,” Laurine said when the Quarryman was heading straight for the largest of the gargoyle decorations that had been dubbed Rex by the school. "Leave Rex alone you freak!" She looked at ground, hoping to find a rock, but all she could find were several pebbles and chips of cement. They were going have to do. She scooped them up in her hand and threw them with all her might at the figure. To her amazement one pebble struck his head, but he refused to turn.

“Laurine,” Miss Williams gasped, but she didn‘t look upset with her.

"There is more where that came from buddy!" Laurine yelled.

“What the hell?” Ricardo asked. He and Donna had somehow managed to break free from the line and caught up with her. More students were gathering around in a crowd. Underclassmen and more faculty crowded around the windows.

"He is trying to destroy Rex." Laurine said.

“I’m going to call the police,” Donna said.

The crowd of students continued to grow and many were throwing things at the Quarrymen, from the same bit of pebbles that Laurine used, to pencils, wadded up balls of paper, anything they could get their hands on to while the teachers tried to wrangle them back inside.

‘Too bad I'm not alone or I'd transform and you will be sorry.’ Laurine thought. She refused to budge until she heard the wail of police sirens. __________________________________________________________________________

The dark mists of the Kingdom was a bit annoying at times. In her own personal room, Sylvite did not have any of the fog like substance waft in through her door. Only in the larger and more open rooms did it grow thick and prove to be a bit of a hindrance. Not only did it make everything feel uncomfortable but there had been times when it grew so thick that Sylvite could not see where she was going and she had nearly run into one of the youma’s

It shouldn’t matter much longer anyway. Once the planet had been cleansed she and the others would be free and instead of being in this dread subspace they would have taken over the planet. The idea made her smile as she gave her a hair a few last brushes.

Her reflection in the viewing mirror was removed and replaced with an image of an odd white building. It was topped with two short towers. The shortest of the two seemed to be made out of glass and had a white stone rectangle in the center. The other was like a stack of rings with the smallest ring on the bottom and the tallest at the top.

“What’s going on?” Sylvite asked as the image switched again to a block of buildings. She turned around to see Chrystia standing behind her.

“I’m trying to find the place Feldspar has located,” her friend answered. While Sylvite favored green, Chrystia preferred long flowing dresses in the colors of rose, gold, and orange. Her waist length purple-black hair held a tiara filled with multicolored gems.

“He has been taking his time,” Sylvite said.

“He wants to be careful,” Chrystia explained as she held up one of the few fingers on her hands that wasn’t wearing a gemstone studded ring. Her eyes brightened. “This is the place.”

Oh?“ Sylvite turned. The not yet lit sign of the Neon Lizard appeared in a mirror. "What is this place?"

"Its a place where people dance" Chrystia said while checking her makeup.

"Why would anyone want to dance in a place like that?" Sylvite asked as she checked her nails. They were still nice and pointed and her bright green nail polish had yet to chip. “It doesn’t look glamorous.”

“Not everyone wants to dance in some place glamorous,” Chrystia said after she finished applying bright pink lipstick. “Some want to be in places with lots of people and lots of music. They want to dance with their friends and strangers.”

“I still don’t see the appeal.” Sylvite would never dance at a place that common where she might brush up against sweaty zit faced social outcast. She shuddered at the thought.

"Now now Sylvite, just because you don't have a boyfriend to dance with doesn't give you the right to trash a dance club." She reached up to touch one of the four sparkling necklaces that hung from her throat and shook her head, causing her dangly earrings to jingle.

“Ladies would you come in the main room?" Azurite called.

The women walked into the main room. It was just like the viewing room, large and vast and filled with the thick gray clouds of mist. Several youmas had crowded around them, but stayed back within the shadows.

Sylvite’s brother, Azurite stood to the side. He was her twin but they only shared the color of their hair. Her eyes were green and his was blue and he preferred to dress in blue. His crisp button down shirt and slacks were dark blue. He wore a cerulean jacket over his shirt and had a bluish lavender cloak and matching headband. He simply nodded at his sister and Chrystia when they had entered.

Borice sat on his throne that was carved out of onyx and accented with blood red cushions. He was a tall and well tanned man with wide shoulders and a lantern shaped jaw. He wore a silver crown on his head that was covered in spikes. A few of his dark brown curls dipped underneath his crown and threatened to cover his crimson eyes. His bulging muscles rippling through black velvet top and were hardly contained by his armored chest plate. He crimson cloak was draped across his shoulders.

‘Ooh what a dream.’ Sylvite thought as she stared at him. He was perfect in every way, smart, handsome, strong and cunning. He was the right choice to follow in Beryl’s footsteps, and someday she will be his queen. Chrystia may joke that she has no one to dance with, but someday she will be waltzing around her new castle with Borice

"Now Feldspar has told me he found a new place to gather energy." Borice said. His rich voice sent a chill down Sylvite’s spine. "Is that right Feldspar?"

"It is true." A man in the back said. His long red hair was tied in a ponytail, his features were like stone hard and chiseled. His eyes were steel gray. He wore a gray silk shirt, dark gray slacks, black leather jacket and boots, and gray leather gloves. "The ladies have been watching the place. Many young humans go there to dance. They are full of rich energy."

“Is that so?” Borice adjusted his legs. His heavy and ornate boots echoed across the floor. “Drain them dry.”

__________________________________________________________________________

"So?" Tracy asked while she was seated on the edge of Laurine’s bed munching on popcorn. "Did you get the job?"

"I have no idea," Laurine said while she fed the fish in the aquarium in her room. “I have to wait until they call me, so that means I need you to try and stay off the phone.“

“What if it’s something important?“ Tracey shoved her hand back into the bag of popcorn, and pulled out another handful. The back of her hand had golden streaks of butter.

“Knowing who is dating who is not important,” Laurine stared at her sister. She had vacuumed her floor yesterday and she did not feel like breaking out the vacuum again, not when she needs to talk with Celeste and wants to get a start on her sculpture for the upcoming art contest.

“It could be about homework, or maybe one of my friends is sick or gets hurt.”

“Go talk with mom or dad about it.” Laurine pointed to the door. “Now get out.”

“Why?” Tracy scowled.

“Because this is my room, and I don’t remember inviting you in the first place.” She placed her hands on hips. “Now get out.”

“Fine,” Trace stood up. “Jesus.” She stomped outside.

“Finally,” Laurine sighed and slammed the door closed. “I thought she would never leave.” She leaned her back against the door.

“Was that really necessary?” Celeste asked. She had pretended to be asleep while Tracy was in her room.

“Having a million of siblings I think you would understand,” Laurine said.

“I was an only child,” the rabbit sat up.

“But you’re a rabbit,” Laurine raised an eyebrow.

“What does that-” Celeste shook her head. “That is not important. I need to relay you information about your mission.”

“There is more to this Lady Andromeda gig than fighting monsters?” Laurine asked. As if fighting monsters was easy.

“The Galactic Ladies were champions from the Andromeda Galaxy. They were given the ability to become warriors in this solar system by the Moon queen. They fought along the side of the Sailor Soldiers.”

“Who or what are they?”

“Another group of young warriors,” Celeste hopped down from the bed. “Both teams shared a common enemy.”

“This Dark kingdom?” Laurine asked.

Celeste nodded. “They were lead by a cruel queen and a demon. They brainwashed many soldiers from Earth to doing their bidding. The evil had been sealed away a long time ago.”

“But it recently been freed,” Laurine heard this before. She had seen several cartoons, and movies and this even sounds like an episode of Buffy. “And because the evil has been released new heroes have been called.”

“Precisely,” Celeste nodded. “But you are not the only Galactic Lady. There are four more and I believe one or more of your classmates happens to also have the power dormant inside.”

“How are you going to find them?” Laurine asked. “You just can’t keep coming to my school, and I cant bring you. There is no way I can carry you around in my backpack all day.”

“Why not?”

“Because I carry my books inside, and they are heavy, and I don’t want you to get squished.” She pet Celeste on the head.

“I do appreciate your concern, but there has to be someway for me to find the second lady.”

“You were also telling me about my ax?”

“I have pretty much told you all about it, but the ax will useless unless we also get you your star pendant. It is what powers up the weapons.”

“This is a lot to digest,” Laurine said as she pulled out the clear plastic bins from under her bed. She found the ones containing old newspapers, flat boards of plywood and junky blocks and wedges of wood, A stack of foam rubber sheets, scraps of cloth, beads and a aquarium rocks, pieces of cardboard, and brightly colored feathers. “Wish me luck on getting a job. I can use that money to buy the ax.”

“I wish you plenty of luck,” Celeste said. “And you be careful with those bins.”

“I’ve done this millions of times before,” Laurine said. She managed to carry the stacks of bins as well as her old bent metal tackle box outside of the room and into the living room. She set everything down.

“Now what are you doing?” Celeste whispered.

“What I do best,” Laurine opened her tackle box and removed the masking tape. She opened the newspaper bin and grabbed a small stack of papers from it.

She had just finished taping the paper down when their mother followed by Dylan, walked into the room.

"Good news girls. I sold two apartments and tomorrow I will be in Queens showing a few houses to a client. Mom said. Her cheery demeanor dropped when she saw what Laurine had started. “Are you going to be long at this?”

“It might take a few days,” Laurine said as she removed tow sheets of plywood from it’s bin. “There is an art contest at school. The top three works in the different mediums will be displayed at the sidewalk art show at Central Park.”

"Hey mom." Tracy ran out of her room. “I heard you had a big sale today, congrats.”

"Thank you,” Mother smiled again “Tracy you can really thank me by helping me with dinner."

 Laurine gathered around her piles of junk fused two of the plywood boards together. She then glued pieces of wood to the base. She pulled out her yellow box cutter out of the tackle box and used it to cut into the foam rubber. She folded, twisted, and crumpled more newspaper before gluing it to her project.

"Looks like a dead body." Tracy commented before heading back to her room.

"Dead body eh?" Laurine muttered before continuing. She made another figure kneeling next to the body crying. Then she made an angel rising above the body.

The door opened and Laurine's father entered the apartment. He put down his briefcase before saying something smells good. He kissed Laurine on the top of here head and petted Celeste before entering the dining room.

"Dinner's ready! wash-up everyone!" Mom called out.

“I’ll be there in a bits” Laurine said and scrubbed of the nozzle of her gun before putting into an old tackle box with her blade. She washed up and sat down at the table.

"Mom, Dad, did Laurine tell you what she did at school today?" Tracy asked while buttering her bread roll. Just lovely, why didn’t Tracy tell mom when she got home from work? Why did she have to make a big production out of it and tell everyone at dinner?

"What did you do Laurine?" Dad asked as he ripped open the blue paper packet and dumped the artificial sugar into his iced tea.

"I defended the architect of our beloved alma mater." Laurine replied before eating a piece of broccoli. It was steamed, just the way she liked it and it had been flavored with just a hint of lemon.

"How?" Mom asked. She was cutting up her chicken.

"She was yelling and got the whole school to stop some weirdo from destroying one of those stone gargoyles on top of the school." Tracy said "I don't see why the school loves those ugly things." She took a bite out of her bread.

"Tracy your a freshman so your forgiven for your ignorance,” Laurine said. “ I didn’t know either when I started. Ahem! each club and sport team has adopted a gargoyle. Before a game or play or recital or whatever the captain of the team or president of the club will pet the head of their gargoyle for good luck. Rex is the biggest and the football team's gargoyle. It's also a tradition for the senior varsity quarterback to hang his jockstrap on Rex's claws on graduation day." Laurine blushed at the last part. She had no idea why. She had heard similar stories from her father from his fraternity days.

"I'm going to be that varsity player." Dylan said in triumph.

________________________________________________________________ 

"Thanks for driving me to school mom." Laurine said as she and her mother carried her finished sculpture towards the cafeteria entrance. She had gathered more newspapers and ripped them into strips and made a flour and water paste mixture. Her sculpture had more definition. For the final details used tempura paint, yarn for the hair, feathers in the wings and shiny aquarium stones for eyes.

“You need help carrying this into the cafeteria,” her mother said. “And I’m proud of you.”

“Proud?” Laurine asked. She wondered if her mother meant her getting a job at the Neon Lizard. “You are proud of the good luck? It was nothing but good luck that I got a phone call asking for an interview and another call saying I got the job.”

“I am proud of your determination,” her mother said. “Both your father and I.”

"Excuse me miss are you Laurine Chancerdd." A man who was dressed in a crisp short sleeve and button down shirt, striped tie, and khaki pants asked her. He was carrying a note pad and a pen.

"Yes now let us through. We need to get this in" Laurine said trying to open the door.

The reporter opened it for them. “I hope you don’t mine, but I have a few questions for you. Were you the one who rallied the school against the Quarryman yesterday?"

"Yes I-"

"Why?"

"Just good ole fashioned school pride." What was it a slow news day or week?

"Now young man will you please leave my daughter alone." Laurine’s mother said as they entered the cafeteria. They carried the sculpture to a long table with an administrator at one end.

"Name, grade, and name of the sculpture." The administrator said in a fast flat voice.

"Laurine Chancerdd,12th grade,’ Loss of Innocence'" Laurine said in a heartbeat.

"Ah the school heroin." the administrator said with a smile.

Laurine left the cafeteria puzzled . “What was that about?”

“You stopped a vandal, and saved what many students and faculty consider a bit of a tradition of the school.” Her mother said and glanced at her watch. “Well have a good day at school. I have to get to work.”

__________________________________________________________________________

The administrator wasn’t the only one to consider Laurine to be a heroine. Miss Williams smiled at her when she walked into economics. Mr. Perez thanked her for the saving the gargoyles in Spanish. Several students cheered at her and asked for high fives. The ones who were mad at her for last week had forgotten their anger and also smiled at her.

"This is so weird," Laurine said to Gina as they walked to their lockers to grab their books and folders for English.

"Yeah they’d think your that girl who saved everyone at the gardens the other day or something." Gina said as she placed her books and folders from her first two periods into her locker.

Laurine blushed. “I heard a lot of people were getting sick and they saw a monster that looked like a mutated Venus fly trap. How did you and your mother escape?”

“We did feel a little tired as we were leaving,” Gina said. “But we both made it out before things became serious.”

“Shit!” Ricardo raced by them with a look of fear on his face.

"Your dead Cabellero!" An angry member of the football team ran after him.

"Looks like Ricardo is up to his pranks again." Gina said with a smile.

Laurine opened her locker. Her transform pen fell out and on to the floor.

"Hey where did you get that new pen?" Gina asked as Laurine picked it up.

"My dad got it from me. I think it was from one of his clients." Laurine said as she put it in her purse. She had to be much more careful with that in the future. She also gave the inside of her locker a look. There was plenty of room inside to hold a rabbit, but she doubted Celeste would like to be inside that for the whole school day and she was sure it was hard to see through the slots. Even if the right student walked past her, she wouldn’t be certain who it was.

___________________________________________________________________

"I thought school would never end." Laurine thought." I received a B+ on my English test, and got stupid math homework to do over the weekend." She entered the Neon Lizard. The entrance hall had a long counter with several registers. Several people were preparing them.

"Hello Laurine," Her boss, Mrs. Carson said." Right on time." She was a short woman in her early thirties and had a short and stylish haircut

"Hello Mrs. Carson." Laurine said and was handed a black vest with her name on a red tag.

"You and Terrence will be on door patrol. Just check their ID’s and let those who qualify inside." Mrs. Carson instructed.

“ID’s?” Laurine asked. The youngest age allowed in was fifteen and not everyone had a drivers permit. Even those sixteen and older still didn’t have a driver’s license.

“If they have their driver’s license they will use them,” Mrs. Carson said. “Otherwise check their student ID’s, every high school in the city makes sure their students has one.”

“Right,” Laurine smacked the side of her head. “I’ll get right on it.” She stood outside the entrance.

She had no idea her job would be so boring at the start. Granted the place did not officially open until 5:30 and she kept checking her watch. A few teenagers trickled in to form a line at the door and Laurine recognized some of them from her school.

“You must be Laurine,” a tall and slightly overweight teen boy greeted her. “I’m Terrance.” He wore a black shirt under his vest and bleach stained pair of jeans. His hair was cut into a buzz, except for his bangs which were dyed bright orange.

“Hi,” Laurine greeted. “Is this your first job?”

“Nope,” Terrance shook his head. “I was a grocery store bagger for over a year. We get paid the worst even though we do a lot of heavy work. The janitors were paid better than we are.”

“My first job,” Laurine said. “Unless you count all the times I babysat.”

“This should be easier,” Terrance said and turned to the small gathering crowd. “At least for me, and the pay is much better.”

“Better pay is always good,” Laurine placed her hands behind her head and nodded.

5:30 rolled around and she and Terrance opened the doors. She was only just a slight bit disappointed in the fact there would be no velvet rope, but this was a new teen hangout, not a ritzy club that was frequented by celebrities.

The job was pretty straight forward. They would allow people to enter two at a time, and not before they checked their identification, making sure they were either old enough to enter. They had to shoo away a few fourteen year olds. Some of the people who were entering were in college. It was for fifteen to twenty one. It made sense to Laurine. She had no idea why someone who was twenty one would want to come to the Neon Lizard. They can go to other clubs and bars.

During lulls she and Terrance would talk. He was a pretty cool guy. He was in the 11^th grade at Central Park High. He loved to read comic books and loved music by Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins and Marilyn Manson. He also admired Laurine for defending the school’s gargoyles and wants to meet the real ones someday.

Soon 8:00 o’clock rolled around and it was time for Laurine's break. The Neon Lizard had a dining area and was told by Mrs. Carson that they served various hot sandwiches, hamburgers, pizza, tacos, salads, chili and ice cream dishes.

The dining area was what she had expected. There were a few round tables with chairs surrounding them and a few booths. She ordered a grilled chicken sandwich with fries and a diet coke and found a place to sit down.

As she took her first bite she stared around the room. The place was jumping. The dance floor was filled with people and there were several more in the dinging area, chatting as they ate. Laurine wished she could take the time to enjoy her food. The sandwich was perfect. The chicken was nicely grilled with mayonnaise and Dijon mustard and it came with lettuce and tomato and onions and the fries were nice and warm, not too greasy and had just the right amount of salt. She only had twenty minutes for her break and that meant she had to down her meal and fast so she could return on time and let Terrance take his break.

_______________________________________________________________________

“All right everyone I hope you enjoyed that last request,” K-zog said as he fished around his cassettes for the right mix tape. “For the next few minutes there will be nothing but the beat. Now I see you wave your arms in the air, and wave them like you just don’t care.” He slipped in the tape and pressed play. It was a fifteen minute dance mix. It would give him just enough time for a quick smoke break.

He slipped into the alley and pulled out his golden package of Benson and Hedges. He can’t complain about his job. He was long past due from leaving the WRAI morning show where had interned for the past five years. Getting a steady gig as a dance club DJ was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. Still despite the fun and the money he still needed to suck down his nicotine fix.

He had just lit his cigarette when he heard a hiss. He would have thought it was a cat, if it weren’t right in his ear.

Standing next to him was a hideous creature over seven feet tall. Its gray skin was tight and clammy and appeared wet. It had big golden eyes near the side of his head that resembled the eyes of a fish. It’s nose looked melted. The thing grinned, his thin lips showing crooked green teeth.

“What the f-” K-zog never got to finish his sentence. The monster had grabbed him by his throat with it’s long thin fingers ending in black claws. K-zog’s eyes bulged when the monster squeezed him. He tried to wrench himself free but the creature held fast. The last thing he saw before he became unconscious was the monster’s features shifting around till it looked like him.

_________________________________________________________________________

Laurine stared at her stomach. She certainly hoped her rush eating wouldn’t do a number on her digestive system. That was the last thing she needed. The not so bad would be that she would pass gas and the worst would she would be hauling her butt to the ladies room due to diarrhea.

“Tomorrow I’m bringing a bottle of pepto,” she gave her stomach a small pat. At least if she did fart then she wouldn’t embarrass herself in front of Terrance, and the fact that nobody was coming to the club also relieved her of that possible tension. Even if more teens did arrive they would be someone who had come into the club and had their hand stamped. They would just show her the hand and she would let them in.

“I bet this is the most boring part of the job,” she complained to no one in particular and stared at her watch. “He’s been gone for twenty five minutes.” She decided to give Terrance the benefit of the doubt. He may have had to rush to the bathroom. She could wait.

Five minutes passed and nothing, followed by ten minutes. She hoped he wasn’t sick or anything like that.

“I’m not going to leave my post,” Laurine said as she opened the door to the club. “I’m just going to stick my head inside and ask one of the cashiers if they have seen Terrance.”

She wouldn’t be able to ask the cashiers anything. They were slumped over their desks. One of them still held onto her hand stamper. They were drained of color and their closed eyelids were gray in color.

“Hey,” Laurine jostled one of their shoulders. “C’mon wake up.” Not a single one budged. She looked inside the club. Goosebumps appeared on her skin, both from the drop in temperature and from hat she had seen. The ground was covered with the unconscious forms of the club’s patrons. It was just like it was at the Garden’s last week.

“I was expecting these guys to show up sooner or later,” Laurine said as she pulled out her transformation pen. "Andromeda Galaxy Power Make-up!"

She ran across the dance floor, trying to find that witch again.

“I was warned about you,“ K-zog said.

“K-zog?“ Laurine pointed at the African-American DJ. “You are working for the Dark Kingdom.”

“Yes and no,” K-zog held up a finger. “I am not really K-zog.”

“What?”

The DJ laughed as his features melted and reshaped themselves until it resembled something from the Black Lagoon.

“These guys are getting uglier,” She leapt in front of the DJ. “Release these people from your spell." She demanded.

K-zog shook his head and opened its mouth. Dozens of needles shot out.

Lady Andromeda ducked and rammed her foot into the thing's shin.

It reeled back and got ready to launch another needle shower. Andromeda ran into the dining area.

She dove to the ground to avoid the onslaught, but she felt two stings in her left shoulder and upper arm. She rose to her feet and ran to the dining area at a lightening like pace.

“Damn,” she scrunched her self under one of the booth’s tables and stared at her arm and shoulder. Two needles were sticking out of it. “I hope these aren’t poisonous.” She gritted her teeth as she pulled them out. Where was Celeste? She shows up at school where she was not needed but now that she needed her she wasn’t there.

“It’s up to me,” Andromeda said as she crawled out from under the table. It was all up to her. She was the only Galactic Lady. The only one who had been awakened. She had to figure out some way to fight the monster. Her eyes widened when she found three round serving trays. Those will be helpful.

She held them to her chest and started to crawl on the floor carrying them. The creature was searching for her. She could hear it hissing. All she had to do was wait for the right moment and-

She stood up and tossed a tray like a Frisbee and it hit the monster in the back of its head as she ran towards it.

The monster turned and launched more needles at her.

Andromeda held up a different tray. The needles struck it creating a small sound like rain striking the roof. She threw it at the monster.

The thing ducked and now was in her face.

She smacked it in the face hard with the last tray and kicked it twice.

"Andromeda Soundwave Shatter!" Lady Andromeda sent her attack.

The creature shook violently before it turned into smoke.

__________________________________________________________________________

Feldspar stared at the growing sphere of energy before him. As each second passed by the silvery ball grew even more. They may have enough energy break free from their prison and take over this pathetic planet.

Without warning the sphere shook and shattered. All the energy that he had gathered had dispersed.

__________________________________________________________________________

Laurine had reverted to normal after the monster had been destroyed and she ran off to find the nearest phone so she could call the police. She sat outside at her post while she waited. Her arms wrapped around her knees. Her arm still hurt from where those needles had struck. She also managed to find the first aid kit which had a tube of antibacterial medicine and a few band aids.

She stood back up when she heard the sound of the sirens. There were two of the familiar black, and white cars with the flashing red lights. Several ambulances and an old model red car that also had a siren. She figured it to belong to an undercover detective, although she had no idea why they came.

"Inside. I don’t know what happened." Laurine said as the police approached her. She pointed inside the building. “No wait I think I did.” She grabbed her head. “I’m not sure if I saw was right.”

“Easy,” one of the officer’s said. He was a tall African-American man with a moustache and a kind voice. “You witnessed something traumatic.” He turned to his partner. “Hey O’Malley have one of the paramedic’s check her out. I think she’s about to go into shock.”

“I’m fine really,” She watched as paramedics began to check on the victims. The cashiers were sitting up and staring around in confusion.

"What happened?" One of them asked.

"You were unconscious," One of the meds said. “That is what the report said.”

"Excuse me miss?" A woman addressed Laurine. She was beautiful woman with caramel hued skin and dark blue-black hair. She was dressed in a black shirt, blue jeans and a crimson jacket.

"Yes?" Laurine asked. Her eyes widened when she recognized the woman’s partner. He was a tall man with red hair, wearing a trenchcoat. It was the same jerk who ruined the experience with the moon rock.

"Where you the one who called Nine one one?"

"Yes."

"I’m detective Maza, this my partner Detective Bluestone," They flashed their badges. "We just want to ask you a few questions."

"Okay." Laurine said. “My co worker was late coming back from break and when I looked inside I saw the cashiers were out cold,. I looked into the main room and I saw more bodies, and there was a monster, and I think I saw that girl in the news fighting her. That’s when I called 9-1-1"

"And then?" Bluestone asked.

Laurine looked down and breathed deeply. "I hid," She said with an embarrassed tone.

"It’s all right," Elisa put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You did all you could do."

‘Boy is she ever right,’ Laurine thought.

__________________________________________________________________________

Feldspar was not looking forward to getting chewed out by Borice. He could not believe that he had failed his king. He walked down the long mist filled hallway. Several youmas were standing around clucking their tongues at his failure.

“Best get this over with.” He took a deep breath and entered the throne room. He did not look at Borice as he kneeled down before him.

“You may rise,” Borice instructed. If he was angry he did not show it. "Well Feldspar what do you have to say for yourself?" Borice said. “Your target was a prime source of energy, yet you came back with nothing.”

“I am sorry,” Feldspar hung his head. “I had a great amount of energy gathered, and then that girl that Sylvite mentioned interfered."

“Don‘t let this happen again,” Borice said. “You are dismissed.”

Feldspar exited the throne room, half expecting to see more youma crowding around to see what Borice would do. He was surprised when he saw Chrystia was standing next to the door way.

"Don't fret Feldspar." She said. "You will do much better next time. You are the Dark Kingdom’s best soldier."

"Thank you Chrystia." Feldspar said. He cradled her chin and leaned down to kiss her.