TAOM: Emily - Technical Issues

Note: It should be noted here that, at some time between Rhia's introduction to the Society and now, a second kitchen was discovered in the Library. Rhia was given sole ownership of that kitchen, both because she is a fantastic cook and because she was the only person brave enough to buckle down and clean the place after years (possibly centuries) of disuse.

This event took place inside the Society Role-Play thread (located on our FFN C2), for those interested, and is more fully explained in a flashback in a later chapter.

And now, on with the story. ^_^



Harriet tapped gently on the door, positive that the occupant of the room was still asleep, for there was no light coming from the crack between the door and floor. It was unusual though, because her charge was normally up at this point – they had a lesson in fifteen minutes.

"Emily? Are you awake?"

There was no answer, but Harriet was sure she could hear a low groan inside the room. Making up her mind, she pushed the door open and flicked on the lights. The ten year old girl's room was a mess. Books, tools, scrunched up bits of failed artwork, and clothes littered the floor, and the walls were splattered with bits of artwork, that were either finished, or in the process of being finished. Emily's pride and joy was the giant tree that she had painted onto the ceiling.

The artist herself was curled up underneath her duvet in a small ball. Picking her way carefully across the cluttered floor, Harriet sat on the edge of the bed and peeled back the covers. A pale, thin face looked back at her, a faint sweat on her forehead. At first Harriet thought she might have had a nightmare, but as soon as the light hit her face, Emily squeezed her eyes shut, and her face went paler. She also seemed to be doubling up in pain.

"What's wrong?" Harriet asked, rubbing her back soothingly. The ten year old girl took a deep breath to answer... before clapping a hand over her mouth and sprinting for the bathroom.

Harriet blinked several times, surprised at the speed with which the young girl had moved, until the sounds of Emily being sick next door snapped her out of it, and she pulled out her phone.

"Val? Could you come to Emily's room please? We have a problem."

OOO

"What's wrong, Palm Tree?"

The smallest of the sisters was holding back tears of pain.

"My tummy hurts..."

"Oh dear... must have been the oysters," Ashley's face was sympathetic. "You get into bed. Relax for the rest of the day."

"I wish Willowe were here," June muttered to herself. "She knew a great remedy for stomach-aches..."

Maybe it was irritability brought on by her illness, or annoyance that she was being treated like a baby at eight years old, but the youngest sister snapped a retort out as she clambered back into bed.
"If she's so wonderful, then why isn't she here?"

The sister's faces had turned stony, and for the first time, Palm Tree felt scared.

"Don't you dare speak about your sister that way," June said sternly. "Now go to sleep."

OOO

"Food poisoning," Valerie declared. "Must have been the pizza last night."

"That can't be," Harriet objected. "We all had Dominos last night, and no one else is ill."

"I dunno," Tash called from the bathroom, where she was on her hands and knees cleaning up the mess. "I'm still being haunted by the image of Leonard gnawing a hole through his..."

All the girls shuddered, and Emily curled up tighter under her covers.

"I think Val is right," she admitted. "And I was the only one to have ground beef on my pizza. Maybe that was it."

"Do you think you can try and keep some food down?" Valerie asked. Emily went pale and shook her head, the very thought of eating making her more nauseas than ever.

"Water?" the healer asked, knowing dehydration was the biggest problem when someone was sick. Emily shook her head again. She had tried to keep water down through the night, but it had just made her worse.

"What about flat lemonade and flat coke?" Harriet suggested. "That's what I had when I had food poisoning. Worked pretty well."

Valerie thought for a second. Flat fizzy drinks would give Emily plenty of energy in lieu of food, and keep her hydrated, while the acid neutralised her stomach. It was definitely worth trying.

"We'll give that a go. I'd rather not have to put her on a drip. In the mean time, can we move her to the medical wing? I'd like to keep an eye on her."

Emily stumbled as she got up, and eventually, Harriet decided to carry her. Her legs were too shaky to support her weight, and so, wrapped in her duvet, blanket, and with her arms tightly around her pillow, the ten year old was carried to the wing. By the time they made it, she had fallen asleep again.

OOO

And over there is kitchen one..." Harriet trailed off as screaming, human shaped blur shot past them. Emily couldn't see who it was, but at this point, another figure rounded the corner, and she had to blink several times – it looked like a three foot high stick of wood with claws and teeth. Without a word, the wood raced past the two and after the feeing male agent.

"And that was Ben, and his muse Shirley..." Harriet added. "Don't piss Shirley off..."

"NO! NOT THE LIVER! PLEASE NOT THE LIVER!"

Harriet paled and steered her charge into the kitchen without another word.

OOO

Emily was woken by a clatter somewhere next to her head.

"Here..." Rhia had placed a tray on the table, and was explaining to a surprised looking Valerie. "I heated them to get them flat faster, so they may still be a little warm."

"Good idea," Valerie nodded, and took the glass of coke. "Thanks Rhia."

"One more thing," Harriet said, before Rhia could vanish again. "I know your kitchen is clean Rhia, but would you mind just disinfecting the surfaces again? We're pretty sure she's got food poisoning from the pizza, but on the off chance it is something more sinister, we don't want to take any risks."

Rhia nodded. "What about kitchen one?"

"Tash is doing that now," Harriet assured her. "Something about people being ill turns her into an obsessive cleaner."

Emily wished they'd all be quiet and let her sleep, but Valerie was shaking her shoulder gently to get her to pay attention.

"Emily, can you have a few sips of this please?"

The ten year old stubbornly buried her face into the duvet.

"Don't wanna..." she whined. She knew she was being petulant, but she really didn't want to be sick again, and she was worried that drinking would do just that.

"You don't need to drink much," Valerie soothed. "Just a little bit. It should help."

"Its flat coke..." Emily stated. "It'll be icky..."

"She must be sick," Harriet muttered. "She's never said icky in her life."

"...there's a colourful straw in it," Valerie said, brightly. Emily cracked an eye open and winced – the world seemed a bit too bright for her liking.

"What colour?"

"Green," Harriet said. "Rhia thought you'd find it amusing. The one in the lemonade is yellow."

Sighing, Emily raised her head enough to take a few small sips. She didn't like the taste at all, but it wasn't as bad as she had expected.

"Thank you," Valerie smiled. Emily's only response was to stick her tongue out and close her eyes again.

"We'll wake you up in a bit so you can have more," Harriet was saying, but Emily wasn't listening. Another wave of tiredness was overcoming her, and she quickly nodded off again.

OOO

"Umm... hi Natasha," Emily was caught off guard seeing the Society leader here – especially since she seemed to be sneaking out of the Vault of Abandoned Ideas. Emily knew what the room was of course, it was just she had been under the impression that no one but Adrian was allowed in there... certainly the Librarian was the only one with keys.

Tash paled and hastily hid something behind her back, though not fast enough for Emily caught a glimpse of it. It looked like a small silver keyring with a large blue button on it.

"Hi Emily... what brings you down here?"

Emily hefted the books in her bag. "Just had a lesson with Harriet... what were you doing in the Vault?"

"Nothing," Tash answered too quickly, and she began shifting nervously. "I'd better be going now..."

She raced off down the corridor, leaving a confused, and insatiably curious ten year old girl.

OOO

Emily wasn't sure what time it was when she woke up, but she got the feeling that she hadn't been sleeping for long. Tash was sitting next to her bed, fiddling with what looked like a large twisted piece of metal, but which Emily immediately recognised as a flight stabiliser. Her stomach was still cramping, but she knew she should probably drink a little more. A quick glance around told her that Valerie had gone somewhere, which was good, because she was dying to talk to Tash.

"Hey hon," the second in command smiled. "How do you feel?"

"Tired," Emily said truthfully, sitting up slowly. At least, she realised, she didn't feel dizzy and weak any longer. "Any of Rhia's magic lemonade around?"

Tash picked up the glass and helped her drink. "This reminds me of when Hati had food poisoning," she admitted. "She spent the whole weekend in bed, and she barely ate a thing. There was just me running to the corner store to get Coke and Schweppes."

"Where was Lauren?" Emily asked curiously, finishing another sip, and resting the glass on her lap.

"Gone home for the weekend," Tash shrugged. "Though we think she must have a stomach of steel, because she ate exactly the same as Hati and she didn't get ill."

Emily shrugged, before focusing on the flight stabiliser in Tash's lap. "Won't you blow your little secret if everyone sees you with that thing? What will they think?"

Tash gave a mischievous grin. "They'll think I'm bringing you something to mess with while you're ill. Relax, I doubt they'll guess the truth. I was actually wondering if you knew what I was doing wrong. I was trying to wedge it back into the wing, and it wouldn't go."

Emily gave the stabiliser a look, took another gulp of lemonade, before examining it.

"...which way were you putting it in?" she asked, handing it back to her friend. Tash held it out stretched in demonstration.

"Like this..." she said. Emily rolled her eyes and turned Tash's hand upside down so that the stabiliser was the right way up.

"Ooooh... right," Tash said slowly, her cheeks turning pink with embarrassment. "Sorry..."

Emily's sigh turned into a groan of pain, as her stomach reminded her it was there, and her throat began to burn.

"You alright?" Tash said, dropping the stabiliser and reaching for the bowl on the bed side table.

"Too much lemonade," Emily managed to say, before grabbing the bowl and vomiting once more.

OOO

"I'm sorry..."

"Stop saying that Emily," Harriet said patiently.

"But I am," the ten year old said. "I'm really sorry... I singed all your eyebrows off!"

Harriet patted her on the head. "They'll grow back. Trust me, my eyebrows and my hair could set a world record for the speed they grow."

Looking for comfort, Emily petted a dozing Meg on the head. The collie, freshly washed to get all the brownie mix off her fur, had parked herself on her lap, and didn't seem to want to get off. Beth had warned Emily that Meg could make herself incredibly heavy when she didn't want to move from someone, and so it looked as though she was stuck in this sofa for a while.

"Don't worry," Tash smiled. "Rhia is letting Emma use her kitchen, and they're making another batch – Emma's brownies are the best. Trust me, they're worth waiting for."

Emily shot a look in the direction of the Library's main kitchen, from which the smell of burned plastic, cake and hair could still be detected. "Still... I feel bad. I'm supposed to be good with machines and I blow up the bloody oven!"

"Language young lady," Harriet warned sharply, and Emily buttoned her lip.

"Emily, blowing up kitchen stuff is half the fun of baking," Beth told her, sitting down beside her. Meg immediately changed laps, causing Beth to groan in exasperation, and Emily looked curious.

"It... is?"

"Yeah," Tash nodded. "We've all done it."
Harriet smirked. "Yup. We've added the wrong amount of ingredients to our food... broken plates... some of us even set oven gloves on fire..."

Tash gasped. "Harriet! You swore you would never tell!"

Beth burst out laughing, and Emily felt herself giggle. Meg, overexcited by the sudden noise, leaped off Beth's lap and began bouncing around on the floor.

"See," Harriet grinned. "Cooking is meant to be fun."

Emily paused and thought a little. "Well... my sisters never ate cake and stuff. They complained it ruined their figures. So I'd never really got to cook before."

"Don't worry," Beth told her. "Once your two week ban from the kitchen is over, Emma and Rhia can teach you. They're really good at it."

"And just remember, that making mistakes is part of the fun," Harriet said. Now it was Tash who was smirking.

"And remember, setting oven gloves on fire, isn't half as bad as "bleach doesn't stain"."

This time it was Harriet who gave an outraged gasp, as everyone laughed once more. Emily however was thinking.

Mistakes aren't bad? she thought in wonder. My sisters never told me that...

OOO

Emily felt as though someone was banging very hard on her skull with a hammer when she woke up. She knew it was probably because she was dehydrated, and she really should try and drink a little bit of coke. Strangely, dreaming about 'the brownie incident' hadn't made her feel any sicker, and the cramps in her stomach had lessened slightly. She hoped that meant her stomach was empty of things to throw up.

As soon as she moved however, her throat and jaw began to burn again, and she seized the bowl. Someone was pulling her short hair back and rubbing soothing circles on her back, which made it slightly more bearable.

"That's better," Valerie said, when she was finished. "You're just bringing up fluid now, so hopefully that'll be the last of it."

"My head hurts," Emily complained, as she settled back down and the healer handed her some mouthwash.

"I'm not surprised," Valerie stated, before handing her the glass of coke. "You need to drink more of this."

Emily sighed and took a tiny sip, before feeling that was enough, and replacing the glass on the table.

"Oh Tash left this earlier," Valerie said, holding up, what looked like a small computer panel, with wires trailing from it. "She thought when you're feeling better you might like to fiddle with it."

Emily smiled. She knew exactly where that piece of machinery was from.

"Can I ask what this is?" Valerie asked. Emily shook her head with a grin.

"Sorry. Tash made me promise."

Valerie's eyebrows arched. "Big secret?"

Emily pressed her finger to her lips. "Secret secret."

The healer chuckled. "Alright. You'll probably feel more up to it after tomorrow. Hopefully your body will start trying to recover."

The girl nodded and curled up. "I hope so...I had a dream about food, which probably didn't help..."

"Really?" Valerie asked. Emily nodded.

"Yeah, the brownie incident."

Valerie chuckled again. "Oh yeah... the week you got banned from the kitchen and the tech labs... you were so bored..."

"That wasn't my fault..." Emily complained weakly. It was true. She blamed that entire incident on Miriku. It had been the red haired agent's idea to have a Transformers Animated marathon, and consequently Emily had spent the next three days driving Camille up the wall, insisting that Doyle was a Decepticon. She had been banned from the lab for two weeks to allow the stressed technician to work in peace.

Valerie patted her head. "Rest Emily. I'll be round in a little while to make sure you drink more."

Groaning at the thought, Emily drifted off again.

OOO

Had she not heard the singing, Emily might never have known that there was someone else coming down the corridor. She looked up from the Prohibitor that she had been unscrewing (she had wanted to see how it worked inside) to see a young woman approaching with a stack of paperwork in her arms. She had long brown hair and by her shoulder flew what looked like a small dragon. On closer inspection, Emily realised it was a fire lizard, and she recognised the woman from the few times she had seen her – it was Valerie, the Society healer.

Emily had heard that Valerie had a tendency to wander around singing to herself, but she had never actually heard it before now. She had never particularly liked music – her sisters all had lovely voices, which had sent men and women of all ages falling over themselves when they heard it. This had just added to the number of talents that they possessed that they used to make everyone love them. Emily couldn't understand how someone could fall in love with a voice. But now she did – Valerie's singing was beautiful.

So distracted was she, that her screwdriver slipped from her grasp, clattering against the floor and rolling through a doorway that had been left ajar. Uttering a few of Tash's choices swearwords (that she really wasn't supposed to use, according to Harriet), she bolted after it.

The screwdriver had bounced down the staircase, and Emily scrambled down them in its wake. The room had lights glowing from the walls, but like many of the rooms in the Library, the lack of windows made shadows jump from everywhere.

As her hand clasped over the screwdriver, she realised where she was.

The cell bars were chilling, but more so were the faces behind them. Though the Sues and Stus looked to be in good condition, the very fact that they were behind bars seemed to give them a more helpless and defeated look, which was only enhanced by the Prohibitors keeping their powers in check.

Emily swallowed thickly, and stumbled towards the staircase, praying that none of them would recognise her.

"Traitor!"

Too late, Juniper's face was framed in her cell door, most of her beauty gone, replaced with fury at the sister who had betrayed them all.

"Your own sisters Palm, and you leave us to rot down here? How could you?"

Other Sues began shouting and screaming, and now they knew who she was Emily knew she would not be spared the insults. She covered her ears and gave into her instinct – to curl up on the floor and make herself as small a target as possible. Through the din, the voices of Holly, Juniper, Ashley and Aspen were clearest, yelling, cursing at her and swearing their revenge against the one who had put them in prison.

A loud screech cut through the shouting and the Sues fell silent, but fear kept the ten year old in her place, until a gentle hand set itself on her shoulder and strong arms pulled her upright. Emily couldn't see through tears, but she knew from the soothing voice that it was Valerie who was now urging her out of the basement, and from the soft wing beats, it had been Ari's cry that had silenced the Sues.

After that a new rule was introduced in the Society that exempted Emily from any duties that required her to go near the basement.

OOO

For the rest of the night, Emily drifted in and out of something resembling consciousness. She didn't remember waking up, only the vague sensation that someone had held her and given her more to drink before letting her fall immediately back to unconsciousness. Her stomach had felt like someone was trying to tie it in knots, and her headache had swung between a pounding hammer and a falling blacksmiths anvil on her skull. She had no idea how long she had been like this, nor did she really care. She just wanted to not be sick anymore.

When she next woke up, Harriet was sitting at the foot of her bed. The clocks above Valerie's vacated desk, at the end of the wing, said seven thirty two GM time (which was what Emily ran on). The girl yawned, and realised that her stomach had stopped cramping finally, but she had never felt so exhausted.

"Morning..." she told Harriet. The leader raised an eyebrow.

"Evening sweetheart," she said, and Emily blinked in confused. "It's Friday evening. You were completely out of it today."

Surprise worked its way onto Emily's face. It had been Thursday morning when she had woken up feeling so ill. Sure enough, the glasses of lemonade and coke were different – or at least they had different straws – and to her surprise, the beds opposite her were occupied. Drake was lying back with a bag of blood being fed through a tube into his arm, and Tyler was next to him with an ice pack over his forehead.

"What happened to you?" Emily asked the boys. Tyler gave her a look.

"Adrian's booby traps happened," he informed her, before looking at Harriet. "Can I go yet? I've been here six hours already..."

"No," Harriet said firmly. "Not until Valerie is awake and she's seen you."

"Where is Val?" Emily asked, looking around for the healer.

"Sleeping," Harriet said. "She was up most of the night with you. I told her I'd watch the ward while she got some rest."

"Are you sure you're inserted this needle correctly?" Drake asked, checking how much more blood he had to go through. "This seems to be taking a long time..."

Harriet looked at him in wonder. "You got a huge gash ripped in your side by a swinging knife, and you're worried about my ability with a needle? For crying out loud, I used to be an auxiliary nurse. I know what I'm doing!"

She sat back on the bed with a loud huff, and Emily gave a giggle, which turned into a yawn. She couldn't believe she was still tired after doing nothing but sleeping for the past day.

"Get some more rest," Harriet told her. "Your body is still trying to recover all the energy it's used up."

"Mmm... yes mother," Emily sighed, leaning back and counting the ceiling tiles in an effort to relax herself.

The last thing she heard was Tyler leaning over to Drake and whispering.

"Dude... what was in that pizza?"

OOO

"Take it!"

"No way June!"

"Palm Tree you have to learn this! Take the sword!"

"Why? Because Willowe knows it? Who cares about her? She's not even around anymore!"

CRACK!

She couldn't believe what had just happened, but the stinging in her cheek held the proof. Juniper looked just as surprised at her own reaction, but her face turned stern quickly again.

"Never speak ill of our sister. I've embraced my powers, and soon Ashley and Aspen will too. You must start training."

"Training..." the girl was holding back tears, but she had one last thing she wanted to say. "Training to be perfect?" She raised her head and glared at her sister. "That's how killers are made, Juniper."
And she turned on her heel and stormed out of the room.

OOO

"...ugh, Kyon you're stupid!" came an agitated voice.

"Oh God...is she still here?" Emily asked herself, uncharacteristically annoyed at being awoken. "I thought even fae needed a break from reading..."

Aster had shown up first thing in the morning with a stack of manga volumes to 'cheer Emily up'. Emily had thanked her, but stated that she was too tired to start reading them now. Aster had looked extremely put out, especially as Emily had started fiddling with the computer panel that Tash had left behind, and she had produced a volume of Haruhi from nowhere and started reading. Emily had fallen asleep just after lunchtime, and apparently Aster had not moved from her spot.

"I wonder if she'd notice if I got up and stretched my legs..." the ten year old thought, before deciding she had been in the bed too long, and pushing the covers back. She got slowly to her feet, shaking a little as she passed between the beds. She really wanted a shower, and for the first time in two days, she felt a little hungry.

"Emily," Valerie appeared through the doors, supporting Ben, who looked to have been jumped by his aggressive muse again – his shirt was ripped, and blood was streaming from teeth marks in his side. Emily pulled a face.

"You need a leash for that cliché stick," she told Ben firmly. The boy gave a pained wince.

"Are you alright?" Valerie asked. "Don't feel dizzy or anything?"

Emily shook her head. "If I do, I'll come back. I just want a little walk and maybe something light to eat."

Valerie nodded slowly. "Okay. Don't be too long."

The girl nodded and left the wing slowly as Valerie steered Ben toward a bed. There was a moment of silence, as Aster paused in her complaint against the defenceless book character, and glanced at the now empty bed upon which she was perched. She frowned in confusion.

"Emily-chan? Where did you go?"

OOO

"Emily, have you seen my good baking tray?" Rhia asked, sticking her head into one of the Renaissance reading rooms, in which Emily was surveying her latest masterpiece – her take on Michelangelo's 'Creation of Adam'. Naturally, it was painted straight on the ceiling. Rhia didn't really want to ask how she had managed to set up scaffolding without anyone knowing.

"Oooh..." Emily bit her lip. "I may have used it as a paint tray for the base coat of my fresco..."

Rhia closed her eyes slowly, and sighed. "Catalogue is on my kitchen table. Page 24. Item G."

"Expected in five working days," Emily finished, as Rhia exited the room.

OOO

"Emily... what are you doing out of bed?"

Emily, who had just left her room, showered and in a fresh pair of pyjamas, saw Adrian giving her a surprised look at the end of the corridor. She tilted her head, for the Librarian was carrying a toolkit in his hands, and he was sans his trench coat.

"Getting some food," the girl said, eyeing the toolkit. "What are you doing with that?" Her eyes went wide. "Oh! Did Tash tell you about her secret project? Is that why you have it?"

The Librarian looked more confused than ever. "Umm... no. What secret is this?"

Emily chewed her lip. "Ooops... I'm not supposed to say..."

"What secret?" Adrian asked, taking a step closer, his ears and tail perking up in readiness for a chase. Emily squeaked and started running in the opposite direction. From the hasty footsteps, the Librarian was not far behind.

"I'm not saying!"

"ADRIAN!"

Harriet's scream was enough to half them both in their tracks. The leader looked furious.

"She's ill for Gods sake! And you're chasing her around? Have you no sense?"

"But... I wasn't..." the Librarian cringed under Harriet's furious gaze. The leader took her charges hand, and led her away.

"Come on Em. Let's get you something light to eat..."

As she was led away, Emily couldn't resist turning around and sticking her tongue out at Adrian. The Librarian sighed.

"Insolent girl..." he muttered, before his ears perked up with realisation and he chuckled. "Guess she's feeling better..." Smirking to himself, he pulled out a folded up sheet of paper and flipped it up in the air before catching it. "And it's nice to see she's able to keep a secret… cause my dear lover can't keep our little artisan to herself… not when I've got a project of my own in the works..."

Insert Outlandish Sound-Bending Skill Here

The entire fire nation had never been as peaceful as it had been since the Fire Lord Zuko had taken over as the throne and all around ruler.

It also helped that Aang, the Avatar, was always around to make sure that any and all fights/disputes were settled, which were very little considering the fact he "Energy Bended" the Bending ability out of Fire Lord Ozai (Or Phoenix King Ozai, they never knew, he kept referring to himself as such) and locked away in jail.

Azula, on the other hand, was a different story. Locked up deep in Boiling Rock didn't make her any less different, even locked away in the Cryo tubes still made her dangerous, it didn't help she lost her frigging mind.

Ah well, until then, peace reigned for the most part.

Zuko was proving more and more each day that he was more than capable of being the Fire Lord, a calm, collected, benevolent king, and with Mai by his side it just made it all the better.

Aang and Katara were currently exploring their new relationship after the long war had been over, and were currently succeeding in both being happy.

Sokka and Suki were… a bit chaotic in their relationship, but regardless, being a Kyoshi warrior, Suki would have the patience she needed to be dating someone like Sokka. Besides… she liked the fact that he was a goof in more than one sense, claiming "That's what makes him unique."

Toph wasn't the kind of person to go looking for a relationship, instead going back to getting her hands (or feet for her matter) dirty and becoming one of the most feared earthbending wrestlers in the Earth Kingdom. She rose to being a star in little to no time at all, her name something of nightmares for her opponents.

Iroh still happily owned the Jasmine Dragon, climbing the ladder of popularity, what with his knowledge of teas, both rare to common, reaching to all forms of customers.

All in all, it was a happy life for almost everything.

THAT was when the bomb was dropped.

"Fire Lord, Fire Lord!" Exclaimed a rather erratic looking Fire Palace Guard, almost tripping as he neared the Fire Lord but ultimately regained himself, saluting quickly. "It's… it's urgent news, someone wishes to see you!"

Zuko frowned. "Did they give you a name?" he asked the guard calmly. He'd been getting rather good at that.

"She didn't say my majesty." He panted. "All I know is… she told me… to tell you… She's an Airbender!"

Silence reigned for the one second in the throne room.

…

Her name was Juniper Skye Broadband Topaz Veronica Esme Foxblade and at first glance she would never look like an Airbender but… hey, who knew? As Zuko approached, Juniper looked off to the side, finger twisting into her auburn hair nervously.

"So." Zuko said, sounding extremely skeptical as he walked over to the young girl. "You're the girl who claims to be an Airbender."

"Yes, your majesty." She said courteously, curtsying with her Airbender robes as best as she could.

Zuko frowned as he stared at her another moment. "Prove it."

Juniper blinked innocently and nodded her head, her hair bouncing perfectly. She reeled back, and thrusted a hand forward, sending a blast of cold air out, striking a statue of Ozai (what was THAT doing there?) and causing it to fall and crumble into bits of rubble and dust.

She smiled back at Zuko, who blinked at the little spectacle. "Anyone can do that." He mumbled under his breath, "If Sokka can fake fire bending, anyone can fake air bending… Aang!" he shouted into the castle.

A moment later, there sounded like a flap of wind and Aang flew down on his new Wind Rider, landing down beside his new friend.

"What's up, Zuko?" The Avatar asked the Fire Lord.
 
"This girl claims to be an Airbender," Zuko explained, making the Avatar gasp and recoil, "Do you think you can help her prove it?"

Aang walked over carefully and began to inspect her very slowly, looking her up and down. He couldn't tell, what with all her luscious, flowing hair (Which smelled good, he might add) but there was another thing…

He grabbed her sleeve and forced it up, doing the same to the other one. There were two bright blue arrows pointing outwards on the tops of her hands.

"Whoa." Aang said. "Well… that's convincing…"

"Anyone can paint those on," Zuko snapped angrily, "Have her try something only an Airbender can do."

Juniper sighed and began to spin her hands around in front of her. A ball of air was formed and she hopped on top of it, spinning around with a gleeful smile on her face. Afterwards, she leaped into the air and as she began to descend, she blasted a force of air down, allowing herself to keep herself in the air.

Aang and Zuko watched with dropped jaws.

…

The small group of heroes were gathered in the throne room as Juniper spun her tail of sadness. Apparently she liked Aang ran away from home, but not because of Aang's reasoning, to not want to become the Airbender, but because of her guardians.

The guardians that had watched over her treated her as their own, and she loved them more than anything. Apparently, according to Monk Gansja, she would be the strongest Airbender to date, besides the Avatar. She was trained almost on a daily basis, to the point of bones breaking.

She didn't like this. No one would.

So, when she couldn't take anymore, she ran away, ironically on the very same night as Aang did. As per usual, she too would get caught in the storm she did. Needing some time to think she managed to bend herself into a large air bubble, had it frozen by the freezing cold rains and allowed herself to think for another 100 years.

Upon having the Avatar wake up, it caused a chain reaction that unfroze her from HER Ice bubble. All was well.

"Wait," Toph said very slowly, "If you were around… why didn't you try to find Aang and any other Airbenders?"

Juniper shrugged. "Amnesia."

And of course, they bought it.

At that moment, the Fire Palace guard from before ran into the room, looking an absolute wreck. "Sir! Sir!" he shouted to Zuko, panting very hard.

"Oh what now?" Zuko sighed, as everyone looked to the panting guard. "Did you find another Avatar?"

"No!" he shouted in horror. "It's… it's worse! It's Azula!

"She's escaped!"

…

"Oh brother!" Screamed the now completely insane Azula as she walked through the Fire Nation street, people screaming in horror, running away. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" she shouted, lighting a nearby building on fire with her blue flames.

"Stop right there Azula!" Aang shouted as he dropped down right in front of her. "Either you come peacefully or we make you come!"

Azula shot Aang a rather insane looking grin, tilting her head to the side. "Oh! The Avatar! I was wondering when you were gonna get here." She giggled. "This is gonna be fun!"

"I'm gonna take that as a "We'll make you come with us," Reaction," Sokka said, pulling out Boomerang (which he found, amazingly enough, after the war).

"Heh, I like that reaction," Toph grinned, cracking her knuckles hard. She lifted her foot up and slammed it on the ground, causing the ground to ripple, and a large 'wave' of earth shot forward towards the insane Fire Princess.

Azula didn't need to do much, she lifted her right hand and her index and middle fingers, shooting off an impressive ball of fire, that completely decimated the wave and she blew through it, punching Toph in the cheek with a sneer.

She lost her footing however, when Katara dove down and shot a water whip in her face, knocking her back a second. Aang and Juniper both leapt down and thrusted their fists forward, creating a typhoon strength wind to cause Azula to cringe and try and hold her ground. She didn't last long, and was thrown several feet behind her, tumbling head over heels.

Zuko leapt down and got quickly into a fighting position. However, as Azula had gotten up, Juniper leaped in front of him. "What are you doing?" Zuko snapped. "This is my fight!"

"No way!" Juniper shouted. "I've been useless for far too long! I want to do my fair share!"

Aang smiled. "She's so brave…"

"Oh GAG me," said a rather bored voice from above the burning sky, and all eyes turned as a figure in a straw hat, black robes, mask of tragedy secured against his face, and broad sword in his hands. "You, Juniper something or other, are under arrest by the Anti Cliché and Mary Sue Elimination Society!"

"The who?" Aang asked.

"The what?" Sokka asked.

Juniper glared. "Hey! You're that one guy who tried to take us in back at Card Captor Sakura!"

"That's right!" Michael shouted, "Now either come with me or it's about to get bloody up in here."

Juniper giggled and charged up an air ball in her hands. "Please, I got plenty of power here!" She exclaimed. "So any blood about to be shed is YOURS!" And threw the ball, striking Michael and knocking him down to the ground.

"Kay… ow…" Michael groaned a bit. "Okay! That's it, I was hoping to avoid doing this…" Michael mumbled, pulling out a small, thumbnail sized pill. "A oneshot!"

"A what?" Juniper queried.

"A oneshot! By swallowing this little thing, I can take something unique from this Fandom and use it like my own! So let's pray I don't get boomerang…" And popped the pill into his mouth.

"What's wrong with Boomerang…?" Sokka whimpered a bit, nuzzling Boomerang affectionately.

Michael swallowed the pill, and grinned at Juniper. He stood up and thrusted his hand forward, shooting a massive fireball at the girl, who squeaked and dove to the side.

"Heh, Firebending… I can get use to this." He smirked. "Now then Juniper… I believe I said you were under—"

"MICHAEL DAVID JOHN WASSON!" screamed two very familiar, very ANGRY voices…

He paled hard. "Oh nooo…" he shuddered, eye ticking.

Two people dropped down right in front of him, two people you NEVER wanna anger. Miriku and his girlfriend Claire, who both had a weapon, Miri a long, orange staff and Claire two large blades that traveled up her arms a bit, light blue.

"And just WHAT Do you think you're doing out of bed?" Claire said, narrowing her eyes.

"You need to be sleeping and resting!" his little sister exclaimed to him.

Michael began with, "…um… well… ya see… the thing is…"

"And how exactly did you GET on this mission? Tash would NEVER allow you out in your condition!"

"Forgery is a funny thing…"

Both girls glared down HARD at him and sighed. "You worried us to death…" Miri whispered.

"Yeah." Claire agreed. "We want you to come back to the Society Head Quarters…"

"Um, hi, excuse me?" Juniper reminded the lot of them that she was still there. "I'm still here, and I still wanna plow your boyfriend into the ground…"

"Like hell you will!" Michael shouted, jumping to his feet. "Guys, you can chew me out later, I've got a Sue I need to get rid of." He jumped to his feet.

"Oy!" Claire shouted, "Get back here! You're in big trouble young man!"

Azula, on the other hand, was glaring at the two fighters. Who do they think they are…? She seethed to herself. I'll show them both! And began to charge up a ball of blue flames in her hands, ready to scorch both Michael and Juniper…

When all of a sudden, Miri's staff found itself on her wrists, causing the flames to go out.

"Were you just trying to attack my Michael?" Claire whispered to Azula, an evil gleam in her eye.

"That's signing a death warrant…" Miri said with the same evil gleam.

…

Michael at this point was wishing he had rested a little while longer before jumping into a battle with one of Willowe's sisters.

The two of them were leaping around buildings with amazing acrobatics (Well, Juniper was, Michael was being a bit more cautious so he wouldn't have more bones broken before this was over) all the while he threw fireballs at the feux-air bender.

Juniper was doing a lot better than Michael, having sustained no damages so was having quite a bit of fun, floating around in the air and throwing air balls at Michael with the strength to crumble the walls to the buildings.

Zuko wasn't pleased, shouting, "She's destroying the town!" he exclaimed in horror. "Someone has to stop her! I'm responsible for these people!"

"No, wait!" Aang shouted, "That man's attacking her, she's just defending herself!" he nodded. "I'm sure she'll help rebuild everything when she's done!"

"Not bloody likely!" Michael exclaimed as he leapt in front of the ground. "She's not really what she seems! She's gonna try and take over the whole fandom if we don't—"

He didn't get much out as a massive air tendril wrapped around his waist and flung him into the air.

"Don't listen to him!" Juniper exclaimed innocently. "He's an assassin, trying to get rid of me!"

"WHAT?" Michael shouted.

"I have to take care of him myself!" She threw Michael down into the cabbage man's cart. What he was doing there and not in Omashu, we'll never know.

"MY CABBAGES!" The man screamed in horror, dropping to his knees as he wept for his lost cabbages. Couldn't he get a break? ONCE?

"Um…. sorry sir… I'll pay for those later…" Michael said, rubbing the back of his head.

"That's what they always say!" he cried and raced off.

Juniper leapt onto a nearby building and began to throw more and more Air balls down at Michael, attempting to flatten him under the pressure, but luckily he was able to dodge and roll out of the way.

Opening his mouth, he released a blast of red flames from his maw up at the fake airbender. She bounded off of the roof, barely missing her but lighting the building on fire. Floating down in front of Michael, she blew him back with a powerful burst of air, and threw him against a nearby building, knocking the air out of his lungs.

"You're out of your league, buddy," Juniper said, as she flicked her hand, and pulled the Prohibitor out of Michael's hand, as he was pulling it out of his back pocket. Throwing it on the ground, she crushed it under the heel of her boot.

"And now, I'm gonna make a little example of those who keep going after me and my siblings…"

She grabbed Michael by the throat, and began to make small motions around his mouth with them. Michael shuddered as the air in his body began to be forced from his lungs. He was turning pale, and his eyes rolled into the back of his head….

When a large boulder flew from the side and clocked Juniper in the side, causing her to go flying. Michael gasped for air, looking over to the side to see Aang standing there, in a fighting position.

"That's enough!" He shouted, his tattoos glowing bright blue.

"What are you doing?" Juniper shouted, standing up. "You SAW him attacking me! I was doing self defense!"

"An airbender NEVER kills if they have a choice! And you had a choice this time, and I'm not going to stand by and let you kill someone! Airbender or not!"

Juniper growled and leapt to her feet. "Then bring it on, kid! I'm taking this fandom over and I'm not gonna let some bald headed kid say otherwise! Bring it on!"

It was brought on, and Juniper got torn APART.

Despite the fact she was a Sue, she didn't stand a ghost of a chance for the Avatar. She was thrown around the square with rocks and fireballs and water whips and air balls of all shapes and sizes, needless to say Aang knew what he was doing. Everyone watched in wonder as Juniper was thrusted against a wall by Aang, currently in the Avatar state, eyes and markings glowing.

"And just what are you going to do?" Juniper grinned. "Gonna kill me? Do it then, be a big man!"

"Oh, no, I have another choice." He stated to her with a deep, echoing voice, and grabbed her by the face.
Nothing happened at first, until finally Juniper gasped, and Aang's eyes began to glow bright blue, and eventually as did his whole body. Juniper's turned dark purple and blue, quite possible to put emphasis on the darkness that dwelled in her. The bright blue energy that came from Aang began to envelope Junipers body, and both released bright energy beams from their eyes and mouth.

There was a blinding flash of light, and when it was finished, Aang was on the ground, panting with Juniper glaring at him, looking rather worn out.

"I… will…. destroy… you…" And she thrusted her hand out. Nothing happened. She did it again. Still nothing. "What…?" She gasped. "My… my powers…" She whispered.

"You don't have them anymore." Aang grinned. "I bended them out of you… a person who would abuse your powers like you did… doesn't deserve them…"

She growled and rose up. "I… don't care! I'll kill you all!" She lifted a hand and immediately fell to the ground. Michael stood over her, holding a dull looking rock in his hand.

"I'm not an earthbender but take that!" he panted.

"Are you okay?" Aang asked the Society member.

"As I'll ever be." He said, rolling his shoulder around. "Hey… where'd Claire and Miri go?"

As if on cue, Azula flew between the two of them, rather beaten, bruised and busted. "Mmm…" She moaned, barely awake.

"That's what you get for trying to attack my boyfriend behind his back!" Claire shouted, leaping beside Michael.

"No one attacks my brother and gets away with it…" Miri mumbled, her staff shortening down to normal size (She had a growing staff, able to stretch as far as she would desire. Cool, no?).

Zuko cuffed Azula, and Michael cuffed Juniper.

"Thank you for your help, whoever you are." Katara said with a bow to the girls who had apprehended Azula, who blushed and waved the compliment off.

"Well!" Michael exclaimed as he hefted an unconscious Juniper onto his shoulders. "This was a rather job well done, ain't that right guys?" He looked to his girlfriend and sister, both of whom were glaring at him. "Um…guys?" He asked them.

Toph smirked. "Don't need to have eyesight to know he's in trouble."

"No doubt." Aang and Sokka shook their heads.

…

"Okay, okay, ow, ow, ow! Too tight, too tight!"

"Someone keeps his legs down so he doesn't clock anyone in the face!"

"Someone grab the sword!"

"Need some help with the hands over here!"

And sooner than later, Michael was successfully tied down to his bed once more, and he looked mad. "I hate you ALL…"

"I love you too baby." Claire giggled, leaning down to peck her boyfriend on the lips sweetly. "Its for your own good ya know…"

"Indeed it is," Tash said as she walked in, looking amused and rather mad at the same time. "We don't need you busting anything more, we need everyone we can get out there!"

"Hm…fine." Michael mumbled, leaning back in his bed. "Guess I can rest…"

"Good!" Tash chirped as Claire snuggled herself closer to Michael, as Miri and Marcus (who had helped restrained Michael to the bed) chuckled. "And if you TRY to escape, I've let Adrian come up with some nice little booby traps around your doorway! So good luck getting out." She giggled. "Get better soon, mate, we'll be dropping in now and again!"

She walked out.

CLANG! ZZZIP!

There was a yelp and silence. Everyone in the room sweatdropped. "She… got stuck in a trap, didn't she?" Michael asked.

"Not that surprising." Miri said as Claire giggled.

"Shut up!" Tash shouted from the hallway.

Insert Exceptionally Dramatic Clow Card Here

A cheek was peeled slowly off the paperwork scattered on the desk, and an irritated scowl appeared as the reason for the woman's rude awakening became clear – one of the communicators was ringing very loudly in her ear.

"This better be a matter of life and death," she growled down the communicator.

"Good morning to you too Tash," Emma said. "We have a bit of a situation."

The co-head of the Anti-Cliché and Mary-Sue Elimination Society sat bolt upright, stubbing her toe on the leg of the desk as she did. The field reports on her desk scattered to the ground and she bit back the urge to curse.

"A Willowe situation?" she asked hopefully. "Did you find her?"

"Sadly no. We did find someone else… you know her rebellious, sequel-fodder younger sisters?"

"…you are kidding…" Tash muttered, sinking against her chair again.

"I wish I was," Emma said. "The good news is we have a lock on two of them."

"I'll go after one," Tash volunteered. "Which fandoms?"

Anyone outside the room heard a long volley of bad language before Tash stormed out, and hastily placed another call to another two Society members.

"Miriku, Michael, I need your help."

OOO

Meanwhile at Tomoeda Elementary School, a twelve year old girl seated herself next to Sakura Kinomoto. The pre-teen girl gave her a warm smile.

"You did well on that test Juniper-chan," she congratulated. Juniper Skye Broadband Topaz Veronica Esme Foxblade just smiled back, trying to look modest, a pretty blush staining her perfectly high cheekbones.

"Thank you Sakura-chan," she said, taking her chopsticks and starting on her lunch. "Have you seen Tomoya-chan? I wanted to go over outfits with her."

Sakura thought for a second before smiling again, this time mischievously. "I think she is with Eriol-kun…I'm pretty sure she likes him."

"The same way you like Syaoran-kun?" Juniper asked innocently. A cherry coloured blush spread all over Sakura's cheeks, but she nodded nonetheless.

"Y-yeah…" she went back to her food. Juniper let out a melodious laugh, and thumbed through her book while she ate, pausing at the front cover. A photograph of a beautiful young woman was taped to the front. Juniper fingered her shoulder length auburn hair, the same shade as the figure in the photograph.

"Who's she?" Both girls jumped (Juniper rather gracefully, Sakura squeaking in surprise) as Syaoran leaned over Juniper's shoulder to see the photograph. Truthfully, the young boy was rather taken by the striking woman in the picture, for she was incredibly beautiful.

"That's my sister," Juniper explained, her voice turning sad. Sakura shifted closer, her eyes sympathetic.

"What's her name?" she asked.

"Her name is Willowe," Juniper said. "People say I'm a lot like her… but she's much more amazing than me."

"Not possible," Syaoran said without thinking. Sakura gave him a slightly hurt look, and Juniper continued.

"She left me and my sisters to fend for ourselves… she said she was going to try and find a better life for us… I think she wanted to try and find our brother too. He went missing after our parents died."

Her sapphire coloured eyes were filled with tears that did not fall.

"We're sorry," Syaoran said, in a rare show of sympathy for someone who was not Sakura. Juniper smiled and pulled out another photograph, this one with more (amazingly beautiful) people in it.

"These are all my other sisters," she explained. "This was taken after Willowe left. There's me, Holly, the twins – Ashley and Aspen – and Palm Tree."

"…Palm Tree?" Syaoran asked, sure he had heard wrong. Juniper frowned, working her Sueish magic.

"Yes, my parents wanted a name that was exotic…is there a problem?"

Syaoran immediately felt guilty for sounding disbelieving. He did not know, that his guilt was actually a result of the spell Juniper's presence cast over everyone.

"Have you heard from her?" Sakura asked. "Willowe I mean?" Juniper shook her head.

"No. Alastor – my brother has though. They've been in contact recently. She's still searching for a home for us all. We can be a family again."

"So you found your brother?" Syaoran confirmed, wondering idly if this Alastor was half as intimidating as Sakura's brother Toya…and then he wondered why he cared so much.

"Yes," Juniper nodded. "He looks after me now."

OOO

"I still don't get why you dragged me out here," Michael complained, securing his Shakespearian Mask to his face. All three of them were waiting outside the school, debating on the best way to get in – through the front door was sounding like the most appealing option so far.

"Because I'm not thick enough to take Willowe's sister out on my own?" Tash said in a dry voice tugging her hat further down her forehead. "And besides, everyone else was busy except you two."

"I was busy," Michael retorted. "I was tracking down Alastor. I'm a Gary-Stu hunter, not a Mary-Sue hunter."

"Well consider it a day of trying new things Aniki," Miriku smiled, producing a squished box from her bag. "Cookie?"

"Where did you get those?" Michael asked, taking one.

"From under Tashy's desk," Miriku admitted.

"Where did you get cookies from?" Michael turned to Tash, who snatched the box away.

"I nicked them from Adrian's library," Tash said, before adding petulantly. "Don't steal my cookies!"

"They're not your cookies though Tashy," Miriku pointed out with a mischievous grin, while Tash gawped like an idiot, unable to think of a reasonable retort. Michael however, suddenly growled and dropped the remainder of his cookie.

"You're kidding," he muttered, ripping his sword from where it was sheathed. "Stay on our little Mary-Sue you two."

"Where are you going Aniki?" Miriku asked.

"To gut a Stu…" was the not-so-elaborate response.

OOO

Juniper was frowning to herself, as she stood in the corridor, her forehead creased in an artistic manner. She was annoyed that she had not yet managed to work her way into Syaoran or Eriol's hearts yet. As a Mary-Sue, she should have won them over. They both accepted her as a friend, but none of them had made any romantic suggestions yet. Juniper guessed that it was because she was only twelve and her Sue powers had not fully developed yet. She would just have to be patient.

She knew she had to be careful though. Alastor had warned her of a notorious group of people wanting to hunt their family and other people like them down. The infamous Anti-Cliché and Mary-Sue Elimination Society. They were not as brilliant as Mary-Sues and Gary-Stus and certainly not as powerful, but they had their own powers – author powers.

Speaking of the Society, she had a funny feeling that she was being watched, and she whipped around and ducked out of the way, as a body came charging at her, and collided into the wall with a resounding crack instead.

"OW! BOLLOCKS!"

"Tashy! You're in a school! Mind your language!"

"You charge face first into a wall, and we'll see how much swearing you're doing!" the young woman wailed, clutching her nose which looked broken from the amount of blood she was shedding.

"The Anti-Cliché and Mary-Sue Elimination Society I presume?" Juniper summarised.

"That's us!" Miriku proclaimed proudly, throwing off her trenchcoat to reveal her Society T-shirt. "You're under arrest!"

"On what charges?" Juniper demanded, moving as close as she could to the corridor window.

"Mutilating this fandom," Miriku stated. "Now come quietly and no one gets hurt…"

"You wish!" Juniper said, and with a tremendous explosion, the wall of the school crumbled behind her and she jumped through the hole, and hovered in midair. As the dust began to settle, the fire bell in the school suddenly went off and the sprinklers activated.

"Miri," Tash coughed (not pleasant when your nose is broken too). "You okay?"

"Just a slight loss of dignity," Miriku sat up rubbing her head, and looking out at Juniper. "How is she doing that?"

Juniper smiled prettily, an ominous glow coming from between her hands, which hovered by her chest. In the centre of this was what looked like a card, shining with a golden light.

"A Clow Card?" Tash spluttered. "How is that possible?...wait, she's a Mary-Sue, of course it's possible!"

"Now what do we do?" Miriku asked, getting to her feet.

"Nothing!" Juniper boasted. "I have this fandom in my grasp thanks to the Reality Card – everything falls under my control!"

OOO

"You found me then?" Alastor Everworthy Percival Francisco Kiang the Eighth asked, lifting an eyebrow as Michael stepped out from behind a tree.

"Willowe's sister was here," Michael shrugged, removing his mask. "You're her brother…I should have realised it ages ago."

"And yet it took me showing myself to you in order for that to happen," Alastor smirked, pulling out a small circular disk on the end of a string. It glowed and a sword appeared in its place (like Syaoran's did). Michael braced himself for a fight…just as the corridor above their heads blew sky high, and Juniper Foxblade was suddenly seen hovering amongst the wreckage.

"Shit…" Michael swore.

"Ah…I see little sister has met your comrades," Alastor smirked. "Now tell me, will you fight me, or risk losing your friends?"

Michael gave him a filthy glare before turning and racing towards the wreckage. Alastor shook his head.

"So predictable," he muttered before looking up at the sky. "Now let's see what Juniper is up to."

OOO

"Juniper-chan!" Sakura raced through the wreckage, her sealing staff in one hand, Kero at her heels. Syaoran was following closely, his own sword at the ready. They had heard the explosion and come running towards the danger (as all protagonists do). What they did not expect to see was Juniper hovering above the hole in the corridor, and two strange women lying in amongst the rubble.

"Sakura-chan," Juniper smiled. "These two were trying to take my Clow Card from me, so I had to use it to protect myself."

"You blew a hole in the wall!" Miriku shouted incredulously. "How is that protecting yourself?"

Sakura and Syaoran ignored the strange girl and focused instead on their friend. Kero's eyes were focused on the Clow Card instead.

"You need to be careful!" Sakura shouted, fingering her own Sakura Cards should the need to use them arrive. "That card could destroy everything!"

"I know!" Juniper shouted back. "But if I have to use it to stop these two from hurting other people that I care about in this school then I will!"

"Oh for the love of the Gods…" Tash muttered, though it came out strangely due to her broken nose. She fumbled with one hand in her pocket and pulled out a strange looking device. "So glad I'm writing a fanfic…"

"A plot device?" Juniper gasped.

"Yup!" Tash smirked, and Miriku's grin suddenly became unholy.

"Bye bye pretty girl!" she hissed.

"Sakura!" Juniper shouted. "Do something! Please!"

Sakura reacted without thinking, worried for the safety of her friend over what appeared to be a danger. She pulled the top card out and cast it – it was the Windy Card, and hurricane like winds sprung up around the school, causing all the dust and concrete to take flight again. Juniper, who couldn't stay in the air thanks to the winds, settled back down onto the ruined floor. The plot device blew out of Tash's hand.

"No!" Tash yelled in frustration, but there was nothing she could do, as a chunk of concrete slammed into her head from the gale force winds and knocked her out.

"Tashy!" Miriku's voice was drowned out by the gale, and immediately her eyes turned golden yellow as she began to crawl towards the discarded plot device.

"You can't hurt me!" Juniper taunted.

"Yes I can!" Miriku snapped and quickly activated the plot device, causing the fabric of reality to start warping. Juniper gave a scream of fear, and Sakura and Syaoran raced closer towards the utterly bizarre scene, their hair and clothes whipped around by the raging winds.

For a second, nothing moved…

And then three more figures appeared out of the dust, standing next to Juniper with smiles on their very similar looking faces.

Miriku's eyes went wide in horror.

"NO!"

In attempting to get rid of the Mary-Sue, she had inadvertently made the situation worse…three times worse.

"Juniper?" the smallest newcomer asked curiously. Juniper smiled, her wide eyes filling with tears of disbelief and joy.

"My sisters!"

At this point, Alastor clambered up the side of the ruined school building and stood beside his, almost completely reunited family, looking strong and indecently masculine as he observed his hugging, tearful sisters.

"Well…" he shrugged. "I suppose I'll finish you both."

He never got the chance though. Beneath the feet of the reunited family, a black hole suddenly appeared. The girls screamed, and Alastor gave an angry yell as all of them vanished through the mysterious gap in the fandom. The Windy Card vanished and the world suddenly settled back to normal.

"What was that?" Miriku asked, completely stunned by the bizarre and random turn of events. She grinned as she saw a familiar face clambering up the side of the building. "Michael!"

"Heh. Couldn't let you get killed," Michael shrugged, allowing the small girl to glomp him. "Though climbing up with one hand and summoning that plot hole at the same time was not easy," he admitted. "Especially in that wind."

"It still worked," Miriku nodded. "Guess we failed this mission…and now all of Willowe's sisters are here…except one. I don't know if you noticed but…"

"Holly was missing," Michael nodded. "Tash said there was another of Willowe's sisters running around another fandom – the one Emma is dealing with right now."

"Let's hope they have more luck," Miriku muttered, looking down at their friend. "Speaking of Tash, who's lugging the unconscious body back to HQ?"

OOO

Juniper gathered Ashley, Aspen and Palm Tree into her arms. Alastor had been torn from them somewhere in the plot hole and she had not seen where he had gone. Now they had been dumped in another fandom and they were all alone again. She sniffed. Would nothing in her life go right?

"June?" Palm Tree, who was eight years old and the youngest, tugged on her uniform sleeve. "Where is Willowe? And Holly? Did you not find them?"

"And who was that boy?" Ashley demanded. Her twin, Aspen, clung to her arm, fluttering her eyelashes cutely as she tried to blink back tears.

"That was Alastor. Our brother," Juniper elaborated. "And I don't know where Willowe and Holly are…but we'll find them! I promise you!"

OOO

"We lost the Sue," Miriku grumbled, munching on the last cookie in the box.

"I lost the Stu," Michael growled, sitting beside a pile of library books.

"I lost my hat!" Tash whined, slapping an ice pack over her forehead.

"Given the circumstances," Harriet said, shaking her head. "Let's just be glad you didn't lose your lives…"