Mai Makes Her Rounds

(sent in by Joseph Sutedja)
Written by: Ian Kim. HTML version by Chika.

   It was morning at the Retreat, and the Arnold's "Return to the Retreat" sake party ended yesterday. The current selection of sake that was ready from the Great Wall was of the non-alcoholic flavour. While some people cursed at this unexpected difference, others appreciated the fact that there would be no hang-overs the following day. Madoka seemed to have been in a pleasant mood from reaping in so much cash from the sake that she invited everyone to sleep at the Retreat that night. She didn't mention however that some people would have to be squished into single bed rooms. Some people, like the bounty hunters, opted to rough it out in the hallways or outside, hands on weapons. Mai stretched her tiny arms into the air, giving out a satisfying yawn, before collapsing back into her fluffy bed. She stared at the ceiling...there were some water stains from some plumbing that must have leaked at one point, but other than that, it was a clear white colour. Turning her head she saw that the light coming through the window glanced off the dust, creating beams of light. "Sugoiiii.." she whispered. To her right Emiko was tossing in her separate bed, whispering something about Rekishi. After a quick check of the clock, Mai sat straight up and reached for a clipboard on the coffee table near her bed. On it was listed a whole slew of names.
   "Wai! What a perfect time to make my rounds! Hmmm..." she twirled the eraser end of her magic pencil around her mouth a few times. "Now how to do this...I can't just visit at random, people might think I like some people more than others! Hmmm...I know, I'll just go door to door like a clock!" she made clockwise directions with her hand. "To make it easiest, I'd better start on the second floor. Sugoi!" Mai hopped into her cushy Kerroppi slippers and padded out the door, leaving Emiko to her dreams. She glanced down to the left, her eyes wide with excitement when she saw more beautiful light streaming through the window at the end. Ryan was snoring contently on the ground right beside her door, causing Mai to hop a bit in surprise, before supressing a giggle. "Silly Ryan-kun" she piped. Being so light, Mai made it up the stairs without bothering Ryan or RL-Nathan. At the top, she tiptoed to the end of the hallway, and stopped before the door on her right. "Okay." she grinned. Hoping the door didn't make too much noise, she pushed on the handle. Then she stopped. "Oops! I forgot the roof!"

THE ROOF

   Luckily, the stairway to the roof was right beside her. Padding up the steps, she stepped out on the the asphalt slanted roof. She saw Nana at the end apex of the roof, leaning against a chimney, while Eric snoozed on the side. Looking in both directions, Mai decided to go to her "mother" first.

Nana

   Nana felt a tap on her shoulder, snapping her out of her slumber. "Hmm?" she looked back, just in time to catch Mai-chan, who wrapped her arms around the angel and giving a big hug.
   "Ohayo Nana-sama!!" she cried, before slapping her mouth shut.
   "Goodness!" Nana exclaimed, seating Mai in her comfortable lap, "What's the matter Mai-chan?"
   "Shhh.." Mai whispered, "I'm trying not to wake anyone up."
   "Oh I see," Nana laughed cheerfully, a laugh which probably caused all the flowers in CAPOW to bloom again. "You'd better be on your way then!"
   "Haaaii!" Mai replied, hugging Nana once more before skipping over to Eric.

Eric Gen

   With Eric, Mai just put her face over his and stared at him with a very cheerful expression. Eric senced the shadow which passed over his face, and opened his blue eyes, muscles tencing for instant action, need that arise. But it was just Mai. "Oh, hello there." Eric grinned, "What, no hug for me?"
   "Nope!" Mai smiled back.
   "Oh, I see.." Eric smirked. With limbs that could break the sound barrier, Eric grabbed Mai by the waist and hoisted her in the air. "Well, looks like I'll have to...tickle you then!!"
   Mai squeeled as Eric tickled her sides. "Okay okay!" she cried through innocent laughter. Eric released her, putting her on top of him. Mai gave him a big hug. "Shh..." she said afterwards. "Everyone's supposed to stay asleep!"
   "Hai." Eric saluted, "Don't worry, I'm stay put up here."    "Arigato!" Mai hugged back, before heading back down the roof steps.

THE SECOND FLOOR

Madoka Donguri

   She returned to the door that she partially opened. Un-noticed before, she had to stretch her neck to read the sign. It read: "Mad's room. If it's not about money or sex, do not enter." Mai was somewhat dismayed. "Gee..I don't think hugging falls under any of those." she said perplexed. She poked her head inside, and noticed Mads wasn't there. The bed was in a very disorganized state, and the desk was littered with bank books and other things Mai roughly associated with money.
   "Mad-san?" she whispered. "Maaaad-saaaan..?" After a few more looks around without actually stepping in (and thus not violating the sign ^_^) she convinced herself Mads must have woken up really early. But then she saw it, a lump of flesh and clothing that lay on the floor beside the bed; she must have fallen off. Mai furrowed her brow, wondering what to do. Then, with a burst of inspiration, Mai retrieved a penny from her front pouch. "Sugoi.." she said to herself, "if I give Mad-san this penny, then it will be about money!" Mai bounced merrily in, landing on top of Madoka.
   "What the--?!" Mads coughed, watching helplessly as the little girl grappled onto her waist and not let go. "Mai!" Mads cracked, before relenting. "Oh hell." She hugged quickly back.
   "Ohayo gozimasu!"
   "Okay okay, I'm up I'm up." Hugs were hugs, but nothing felt right in the morning until she took a shower. Mai let go and put her hands together.
   "Hai! And this is for you!" She placed a penny in Madoka's hand like it was the most important coin in the world.
   "Uh..thanks..I think.."
   "Bai bai!"

RL-Susano (I did RL-Susano instead of CAPOW Susano, because I'm unsure as to Susano's current state of mind. ^^;;)

   Mai knew about this door. It squeeked a lot, so it was best to open it quickly. With a quick jolt, the door was opened at closed in under a second. As she looked around, her visual sences were immediately bombarded with images of Rei-chan. There was Ayanami wallpaper covered with Ayanami wall scrolls and posters. Resin models of Rei-chan sat scattered on the desk accompanied by Rei pencils, Rei erasers and Rei staplers. The wood floor had a big Ayanami rug on it. Mai tried her best to not step on anything...if Susano was anything like Emiko, he didn't like people messing with his otaku collection. She wondered if Madoka was aware that Susano had so severely redecorated the room When she reached the foot of his bed (noting the Rei bedsheets, Rei lampstand and Rei pajamas) she gazed up the wall and at the ceiling, which caused her to face-fault immediately. It was this huge enourmous pic....of RL-Jinx! O_o Mai got the nerve back to stand back up after a bit of recovery time. Standing beside him now, she couldn't resist the urge who was directing her to his stomach. With a big upswing, Mai slapped him in the gut.
   "Oof!" he gasped before falling victim to Mai's hug.
   "Ohayo gozimasu!!" she said as cheerful as ever. Laughing out loud, Mai danced out the door and was gone.
   "What the heck was that?" RL-Susano said, still in shock. It felt like he just went through some kind of hurricane! Looking at the Ayanami clock, it chimed and said "hai." 7 times. He slumped back to sleep.

RL-Arnold (Stryker? Who's Stryker? ^^;;;)

   Mai-chan knew Arnold was in here...after he left she sat in his vacant room with Anne crying their eyes out. Looking in, she noticed that the destruction Anne's spirit friends had caused two days ago was left untouched. The desk was toppled over, the dressers were chewed to pieces, the rug had hoof prints all over it, and the bed was in shambles. Only the place where Mai and Anne were sitting at the time was left unscathed by the wanton destruction. Even the windows were cracked. Coinsidentaly, the place that was undamaged was where Arnold sat, leaning against a ravaged bed stump. Jumping cautiously over the torn floorboard and shattered lamp, Mai sat beside Arnold and gave him a great big hug.
   "Ohayo Arnold-kun! Wake up!!"
   Arnold jumped up with a start. Seeing it was Mai, his heart stopped thumping. "Hi Mai-chan!" he smiled.
   "Waaah, you scare me by going off like that!" she cried, grabbed him harder, almost crushing his kidneys. "Now, if Arnold-kun is going to leave, you leave for good or not leave at all! No more scarying Mai, ne?!"
   "Uh..okay.." Arnold replied, a bit embarresed.
   Mai nodded her head, satisfied with his response. "Okay, I'm going!" Hopping off the bed she scurried out the door.

Jinx-chan

   Silber stood alert, watching as Mai approached. Mai ran up to the wolf like a bandit runs to treasure, and wrapping her hands around Silber's neck. Silber licked Mai all over causing her to giggle. "I love you too Silber!" Mai cried. "Now then, wait here while I wake up Jinx!" Silber barked obidently. But when Mai entered the room, Jinx was already up.
   "Konnichi wa, Mai-chan!" she cried gleefully.
   Mai was a bit disappointed. "Aww..you're already awake!"
   "Well," she replied with a shrug, "I gotta walk Silber, you know?"
   "*sigh*" Mai replied. "Okay, well then, good morning hug!!"
   Mai ran up before Jinx could react and overwhelmed her with a hug. Jinx hugged back with a cute giggle. "Hey, wanna help me walk Silber?"
   Mai stubbornly shook her head. "Nope! I gotta make my rounds, and I'm still on the second floor!" She dashed out leaving Jinx to wonder what 'her rounds' were.

Joseph

   The little girl jumped when the door squeeked open. Luckily, Joseph was still asleep. "Yatta." she grinned from ear to ear. Emitting silent footsteps to the bedstand, she curiously peered into a notebook lying there. "Hmm....The Guide..review notes for the Retreat....eck-cell-ent sake, but the manager is a little--"
   "--Ahem!" Joseph interupted.
   "Eek!" Mai scrambled under Joseph's covers.
   "Hey stop that!" he cried, her clothes making him ticklish. "Cut that out!"
   Mai climbed all over him, hugging him around the waist. "Ohayo gozimasu!!"
   Joseph struggled from his awkward position, accidentally hitting the bedstand and tipping the water jug onto the bed. "That's enough." Mai looked up to see a girl figure.
   "Oops.." she said, smushing her fingers together. "Gomen nasai, Josephine-chan..."
   "*sigh* what ever...I suppose this give me a reason to take a shower."
   "Heh heh.." Mai laughed nervously, before heading out the door. "Good morning anyways!" she giggled.

FIRST FLOOR - "Magic arrives"..or, "Ian decides this is taking too long and becomes cheap" ^^;;

   "Oh boy..this is harder than I thought!" Mai cried at the top of the stairs. "I still have to do Anne, Miko, Hunter, Dr. Feelgood, Rekishi, Ace, Jerry, Ryan, Emiko-sensei...*sigh* -_-;" she looked around to see if anyone one was looking or was awake. "Hmm...perhaps this is a job better suited for my friend, Magical Girl Pretty Mai!"

   Miko shreiked like a girl (oh wait, she is a girl ^^;;) when the door burst open. Before her was someone who looked a little like Mai, but had the clothes resembling what could only be defined as "Magical Girl." The petite female gave no warning.
   "Magical Girl Heart Hug Attack!!!"
   Miko remained frozen in shock as the girl waved her pencil around and thrust this huge heart at her. There was an explosion in the room, a huge white light casting over the entire area. Then, as quickly as it had come, the energy and the girl were gone. Miko felt herself all over, making sure all bones were still in check. Then, after a brief moment of contemplation, she came to a realization.
   "Hey," she said, "that felt pretty good!"

Dr. Feelgood

   "Sunshine Love is All REVELATION!!!!"
   The good doctor didn't even know what hit him...this book of love whacked him square in the forehead and knocked him unconscious. Little did he know what when he wakes up that he will know how it feels to be "A Doctor of Love" ^_-

RL-Nathan

^_-+  ---Pretty Mai casting a Super Hug Chain Love attack in the hallway 
O_o  ---Nathan's initial shock to this little girl standing before him 
o_O  ---Nathan's new shock over this huge chain of arms reaching out to grab him 
@_@  ---Nathan bewildered as the hugs consume him 
^_^  ---How Nathan felt after the hug attack 
O_O  ---Nathan getting this sudden urge to write a CAPOW stor---oh wait, scratch that one. ^o^

Ryan

   Ryan knew what real danger was, and nothing like that disturbed his sleep right now. But the brilliant explosion of light from down the hallway was a little hard to ignore. Wrenching out weapons, he rolled out on the middle of the floor and held them in a ready position, ready for action that would make John Woo proud. The glow from the end of the hallway had not subsided, and emerging from the blast was the silouette of a small girl holding a pencil.
   "Mai?" he asked under squinted eyes.
   The little girl seemed to gasp. "Err....yes! But not that Mai-chan you know! I'm Magical Pretty Mai!"
   "Uh huh.." Ryan mused. He's been through the entire Pepsi fiasco. For all he knew, this could be some Mai imposter.
   The girl raised her hand. "Super.."
   "Wait a second, what are you doing? Stop before"
   "...lightning.."
   Lightning?! Ryan pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. "What the..?"
   "...like but Cute Hug THUNDAA!!!" An Earth-shattering boom sent particles flying away, and Ryan was soon absorbed what could only be described as a nuclear bomb of energy.
   "Oh..my...G--"

   When Ryan recovered, he found himself standing in the middle of the hallway, unscathed. "Damn.." he rubbed his temples reflexively..one always rubbed the temples after an explosion..but today there was no real need. In fact, he felt pretty darn good all over. "What a day!" he grinned. "What an awesome day! I feel like taking on the world!" He looked around for the little one, but Pretty Mai was gone.

Damien

   Damien and EB were in the midst of walking to a different dimension when they heard it: "Love Transcends All Dimensions HUG!!!!!!"
   "Uh, EB?" Damien queried.
   "Yeah?"
   "What was that?"
   "Not sure, but--"
   The fireball (of love ^^) that struck them in the back sent them reeling through the first portal that came, pink hearts and yellow stars fluttering behind them. When the glowing and pretty lights stopped, they found themselves lying on what appeared to be some kind of fleshy mass. EB sat down in a seated position as in the distance there was some loud words being exchanged. They appeared to be in an Olympic Stadium.
   "Hmm.." Damien mused. "We're on top of an exploding Tetsuo, aren't we?"
   "Yeah, that pretty much covers it."
   "Interesting...you know, despite it all, this doesn't feel too bad." Damien grinned. EB couldn't help but smile.

Emiko

   When Mai returned back to her room, Emiko was still tossing in her bed. "Oh Rekishi," she whispered, "but..but..I don't know......oh, you're so bad......."
   "Ohayo sensei!!" Mai cried, hugging her teacher. Emiko, still asleep, hugged Mai back.
   "Rekishi..aren't you being rather forward today.....well okay, but just this once..." her eyes fluttered open, ready to kiss someone, when Mai's face appeared into view. "Oh.." she said flatly, "it's just you."
   "Haaai!" Mai piped back. "With Pretty Mai's help, I've almost hugged everybody!"
   "Oh really? Well, you'd better finish up before people get up for breakfast!"
   "Haaai!" Mai repeated. "Say good morning to Mika for me!"
   "Sure," Emiko laughed. Last time Mika was interupted from her cat-nap, the interupter got a nice scratch on the face. It was best to let cat-girls get up by themselves.
   "Arigato!"

Rekishi

   "Oh Emiko...I love you...I want you....what? You want me too? You want to do what?! T-t-take what off? Emiko-chan!!" Mai found Rekishi tumbling in bed like Emiko was, except from what she heard, the dream was a little more ecchi. She rushed up to him before things got too out of hand.
   "Rekishi-kun! Rekishi-kun!!" she yelled out.
   "Emiko..you're so beautiful when you're nake--erk!"
   Mai had put her hands over his mouth and nose. For a moment Rekishi looked like he would rather die than ruin the dream...but after a few minutes of strain, he relented to his life functions. "Gaah!" he sat straight up, grasping for air. He saw a curious Mai looking at him. The dream still fresh in his mind, a crimson line spread across his cheeks. "HA HA HA HA!!" he roared nervously. "Now see here Mai-chan..when I was talking about Emiko there, what I meant was..uh..heh heh...gee, how much of that did you get anyways?"
   "Don't worry Rekishi-kun!" Mai whispered while giving him a hug, "I won't tell Emiko, and I won't tell you about Emiko's dream about you either. *giggle*"
   "Wha..huh..nani!?" He grabbed Mai by the shoulders. "She was dreaming about me? What about? What were we going?"
   Mai just pat him on the knee, before slipping out towards the door. "Nuh uh, no telling! Bai bai!" There were tears streaming out of Rekishi's eyes.
   "Mai, you so mean!"

Anne, Jerry, Ace

   Mai met up with Anne on the way to the bar. "Wai! Ohayo gozaimasu, Anne-chan!!"
   "Ohayo gozaimasu, Mai-chan!!" They hugged each other. Anne was in a good mood today...not only because she didn't have any bad dreams last night, but because this was Mai's story. (^_-) Mai hugged all of Anne's animal spirits in turn, before they both headed for the bar. Jerry was sitting on the stool, sipping on some tea.
   "WAI!!" the both cried, before climbing all over Jerry. Mads was at the bar now and was eyeing the animal spirits cautiously. She was well aware of what Arnold's room looked like.
   "Hey you two!" Jerry laughed. With no wars going on right now (since this is Mai's story ^_-) there was this calm about him.
   "What do you have to teach me today sensei!?" Anne asked with excitment. Mai hugged Jerry once more before heading outside.
   Ace was resting against his rocket. Seeing Mai made him tence somewhat...although his little "infatuation" with her was over, she was still sometimes in his mind. "Hiya Ace-san!" Mai hugged him and sat down next to him, sipping out of a drinkbox.
   "Hey shorty." Ace said back. Mai was almost the only one in the Retreat that was shorter than he was. "What can I do for you?"
   "Mmmm.." Mai pondered. "I've done my rounds for today. Waaah, what a clear blue sky. Hmm...maybe I should do what my sensei tells me and 'expand my horizons'"
   "Hmmm?" Ace questioned with a raised eyebrow.
   "I know!" Mai cried, "Lets go to Noise! There's lots of people who need hugging there!"
   "Well...."
   "Pleeeeeze?!"
   Ace shrugged after looking into Mai's deep violet eyes. "I don't see why not."
   Mads rushed out the door. "Good man, Ace! Here's a list of things I need from the grocer over there." She tossed over a wad of paper.
   "You're going to have to pay for this you know." Ace commented.
   Mad's winked. "I'll just skim a little off you long tab, eh?"
   "Uhh.." Ace started, a sweat drop forming down his head. "Yeah, sure!"
   Anne hopped up and sat behind Mai. "I want to come too! Wai!"
   "yay, let's go Ace!"
   "Oh boy." Ace felt the weigh of the rocket increase as some of the animal spirits somehow managed to fit on too. "Well, here we go!"
   As the rocket propelled into the distance, Emiko ran out, apron around her waist. "Hey!" she cried, "and I just made breakfast!" Dachend walked up beside her, stretching.
   "Hey, did I miss something here?"

The End

Chika:  I'm gonna miss Mai...