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"Ryoma!!"
Ryoma jumped a mile out of his skin at the sound of the screeching voice, and whirled round to see those big blue eyes gazing up at him. He put his hand on his chest and breathed deeply. No matter how many times it happened, he still couldn't get used to his beloved pet… talking.
"It's an emergency, Ryoma!!" Karupin said, his sharp little fangs pointing out beneath the curves of his lips as his mouth flapped impossibly open to create the words. "Your ally The Captain has been taken hostage by a giant evil witch!! You need to become The Prince and rescue him immediately!"
Ryoma snorted, "Pshh, The Captain got captured that easily?? He still has a lot more to work on," he rolled his eyes, but Karupin batted a strange tennis ball made of beautiful yellow glass, up into Ryoma's hands. "Geez, alright," Ryoma said, concentrating his energy into his fingertips as he held the ball.
And the ball suddenly lifted into the air, glowing with a soft light that enveloped Ryoma and seemed to make him glow, too. Beams of light gathered on his legs and snaked along them, solidifying in a soft, warm burst. He felt something encircle his waist, drift under each of his arms and around, settle in a dazzling pattern on the crown of his head. Finally the tennis ball lengthened and grew, and he had the familiar sensation of a cushioned racquet grip in his clenched hand. Now he was no longer Ryoma, but The Prince, one of the chosen magical warriors sent to rid the world of evil with the power of justice and tennis. But mostly tennis.
Ryoma opened his bedroom window and prepared to sneak out, when a black cloud above suddenly broke in an outpouring of rain. He hesitated. "Ugh, do I HAVE to?" he said, and Karupin hissed and bit his hand.
Out, out into the night! And lashed with rain! Ryoma sped from roof to roof borne aloft by his love for tennis. When his powers activated, he shone and could fly through the sky, with his magical tennis racquet in his hand and his cat familiar on his shoulders. High above the houses in their Tokyo suburb, the little winking lights below distracted him, and he glanced around, looking for the source of the trouble.
Oh.
Yeah it was probably the giant cactus that was sprouting in the middle of the tennis courts at Ryoma's school. Ryoma took a deep breath and willed himself in the direction of school, the cool wind whipping at his hair and stinging his ears. As he got closer to the giant cactus, he noticed a few things: one, that there was a great deal of terribly annoying screaming in the area near the tennis courts. Two, he noticed that the cactus was moving PRETTY fast for a succulent. Three, there were two menacing horizontal slits that appeared to be eyes, and what looked like a wicked mouth curved into a sly smile. Four, what he had taken to be a lovely flower on the top of the cactus, seemed actually to be The Captain, with his battle gear fanned around him and speared on giant cactus spines.
Ryoma-- no, right now he was The Prince. The Prince flew lower, so he could see The Captain, trapped on top of the evil giant cactus. Suddenly their eyes met, and The Prince got the same feeling he always got when he saw The Captain out battling evil. He was impressive, he held The Captain in great respect, but now, alone and helpless, a different feeling seemed to brew, and The Prince tilted his head to consider.
"The Prince!" The Captain gasped, "It's too dangerous! Get out of here--" and with a terrible reckoning, the giant cactus reached out a succulent limb and stuck The Prince and Karupin out of the sky, dashing him hard into the tennis court below. Luckily, the power of the magical Tennis Ball had the ability to shield, and this broke his fall, creating a crater in the tennis court in which The Prince fell, quite unharmed.
"Che," The Prince said, the rain lashing down and filling up the crater, "now my battle gear is all soaked."
There was a strange, echoing chuckle from high above. "What's the matter?" The Cactus called from above, "Can't you play tennis in the rain?"
The Prince narrowed his eyes, "Bitch," he muttered, and Karupin squeaked, LANGUAGE!!
Summoning all his love of tennis, The Prince rose from the crater, and slowly floated up through the air, glowing with the shimmering and ever-changing light of a rainbow. When he was just opposite the giant, mean, green face, he halted there and watched it, watching him. Then, the great bulbous arm of The Cactus swiped at him again, but this time The Prince was ready: he hopped midair, and half a second faster than the big spines could pin him down, he escaped. He smirked at The Cactus, and The Cactus cracked open his sharp blue eyes and smirked back, without warmth.
"I felt for sure I could drop you like a bear," The Cactus said, with definite murderous intent, "but since you've returned, maybe I should swallow you?" Suddenly the mean mouth opened, and it was lined with spines inside like teeth. The Prince jolted at the sight, but suddenly, he felt himself being pulled into the great, circular maw. Karupin meowled in panic, and The Prince clamped his hand down on his cap to stop it from blowing away. He pushed all his weight into his shoulders and willed himself to fly away, but nothing was working!! The Cactus chuckled softly as The Prince got nearer and nearer to the great circle of dripping spines--
And then suddenly, he was being forced away. Like it was easy, like it was nothing. The resistance gone, The Prince spun around midair, and there he could see The Captain, struggling to get even up on one knee, held back by the vicious spines and were tearing at his battle gear. But a great light and a swirling wind, like a pillar of a tornado, emanated from him and pushed The Prince back, back, away from the Cactus. It was the Phantom, The Captain's Phantom!!
"Now you're trying to protect him?" The Cactus scoffed. The spines that held The Captain seemed to grow, up and up, carrying The Captain aloft with them, until The Prince could no longer feel the Phantom surrounding and protecting him. The spines over The Cactus grew until they suddenly burst open into dangerous, razor-sharp flowers that glittered like golden stars. The Captain's battle gear was torn and sheared away by the blades, and The Prince could see blood twinkling on the flower petals.
"CAPTAIN!!" he roared, and suddenly smoke appeared all around The Prince. He moved on instinct, using his magical tennis racquet to volley concentrated bursts of aura into The Cactus. Distracted, the star-shaped flower blades stopped growing, and The Captain breathed out a great sigh of relief. The Cactus turned it's spiny blue eyes back onto The Prince.
"You two are so alike," he said, with considerable scorn. The great wild arm of The Cactus came bearing down upon The Prince, but at that moment it became stuck midair. The Prince had caught the huge arm with his racquet, and, launching a burst of his rainbow aura right at it, seemed to somehow have pinned it aloft in the night sky. "This move, it's--!" The Cactus said.
"A Dragonfly, something something?" The Prince said, cocky as ever. "This time I was flitting like a dragonfly, and you know, it just came to me."
"I see," The Cactus sounded impressed, "I haven't tasted this thrill in a long time," he said. And then the great maw of The Cactus opened once more and began to draw The Prince inside.
But The Prince let himself be dragged. Faintly, the sound of The Captain's ragged breathing reached The Prince's ears, and he called out to him, too weak to use the Phantom. "You still have a lot more to work on," The Prince muttered, and then he sidestepped away from The Cactus' evil mouth and dashed up the side of the squishy body, reaching The Captain at the top. The Prince landed a smash with his magical tennis racquet and his shining aura, and destroyed the spines that were holding The Captain. He scooped his arms around The Captain's back, and supporting him (whilst trying not to look too hard at the ripped costume being blown back by the breeze as they flew), floated some ways before the face of The Cactus.
"No! It's you! You're free!" The Cactus gasped.
"I'm sorry," The Captain said, weakly, pointing his magical tennis racquet at their giant enemy. The Prince clasped his hand over The Captain's, steadying his grip. "You will not win this fight," The Captain said, and the ball they blasted into The Cactus had so much power that The Cactus seemed to shrink and disintegrate, until all that was left was a single green tear on the tennis court.
The Prince smiled at The Captain, but The Captain fainted in his arms. "Quickly!" Karupin screeched, hopping back onto The Prince's shoulder, "Take him to the clubroom!"
Once inside, The Prince laid The Captain down on the bench, and as he did, the ripped and torn battle gear revealed, uhhhhhh… well, it revealed a lot. Including The Captain's identity.
"Captain… Tezuka??" The Prince said, in total disbelief. The Captain-- Tezuka -- gave a small, answering moan as if to confirm his suspicions. A light enveloped The Captain, and he transformed, having grown too weak to sustain his magic. It was Tezuka, alright.
"Captain, hang in there!" he said, cupping a hand against Tezuka's face, but even as he did, he saw Karupin pad gently over Tezuka's body.
"He'll be okay, Ryoma!" Karupin smiled, "It's mostly cuts, and I've taken away the worst of the damage with my magic!"
"What exactly IS your magic, anyway?" Ryoma said, frowning at his very own magical talking cat.
"That isn't relevant to the story!!" Karupin hissed, and jumped away.
Tezuka moaned and opened his eyes. "The Prince?" he said, blearily. "What happened?" Ryoma-- oh that's right, he was still in his battle gear!-- The Prince smirked at him.
"Captain, let me show you something," he said, and he let the magic of his love for tennis flow back, back, away from him, and sealed it inside the magical tennis ball. He was Ryoma again. "It's me, I guess," he said, awkwardly, trying not to let his eyes linger too long on his Captain's torn clothing.
"Echizen!" Tezuka sounded stunned, "I'm so sorry I never recognised you… but it all makes sense…" Ryoma put his hand out and touched Tezuka's cheek again, which seemed to burn under his touch.
"I only recognise you because your battle gear tore," he admitted. They stared at each other. Then Tezuka placed a quavering hand on Ryoma's face.
"You saved me," he said, and he pulled Ryoma down to him, and Ryoma could taste Tezuka's love for tennis on his tongue.