Baka newbie, Celly thought wickedly. She has no training at all! She takes no notice of her surroundings, her arguing can be heard for miles around, and she can't control her aura! Oh... lavander... is she Nuriko no Otaku, or does she not know who her Bishounen is yet? Celly rapidly sorted out these bits of information for future reference. I wonder how she ever entered the Game?

The pair had moved closer to her hidden position and Celly tightened her grip on her BBBoD. I'll show them for daring to enter my domain! Celly wasted no time as she leapt from her position, swinging her BBBoD in an arc the narrowly missed smashing her opponent in the chest.

Kristsi squacked in surprised, falling over and landing on her butt. Kell moved to attack to protect his charge, when he caught sight of who had attacked them.

"Damn!" he exclaimed, then moved away from the two girls.

"What are you doing?!?" Kristsi exclaimed as she quickly stood up and faced her Guardian. "You keep trying to protect me when I don't want it, but when I need it you won't help me!"

"Because he is not allowed to interfere in a fight between Otaku," Celly replied. Kristsi turned and faced the fuku-clad girl. "Who the hell are you?"

"Damn, you really are a newbie, aren't you?" Celly smirked. She raised her BBBoD in a salute position. "Watashi wa Tsukino Celeste desu. I am Otaku, and you are intruding upon my domain. Face me in battle!"

"What the...?" Kristsi couldn't finish her sentence as Celly rushed her and hit her with a punch to the jaw. Kristsi spun around and while her back was turned, Celly kicked her in the back. Kristsi flew back a few yards, landing on her back.

Celly held back from attacking again. "Didn't you hear me? Face me! Fight me! This is the nature of Otaku!"

Kristsi shook her head to free it from the stars circling her head. She growled and threw a knife at Celly in an instant. She was shocked to see the ebony-haired girl deftly snatch the knife from the air before it could wound her.

Celly regarded the knife with a little smile. "Pathetic," she muttered, tossing the knife away. "Listen, I know you're a newbie and all, but I need a workout, dammit! Now face me in honor."

"Screw you."

"Me? Screwed? I think not. You're the one who fell into HammerSpace. This is my turf, and I'm not letting you out until I get the fight I want."

Kristsi stared at Celly in shock. "I--I can't fight you..." Damn, I didn't know how good she would be! I thought that she was just a looney! She's damned dangerous! Kristsi thought worriedly.

Celly frowned, her expression becoming hard. "Face me," she said gravely, morphing her BBBoD into her sword. Kristsi's eyes widened at the sight of the obscenely long, wickedly sharp Escudo sword. "Or I will beat you black and blue with the flat."

Kristsi sat dumbly. What the hell have I gotten into?!?

"Fine, you've made your decision." Celly moved swiftly, turning her sword in her grip and whacking Kristsi in the arm with the flat of her blade.

"Ow!" Kristsi tried to fight back, but it was impossible to stop Celly from beating her with the flat without risking cutting herself on the edge. She covered her head in her arms as Celly whacked her a dozen times. She didn't hit hard enough to wound, but hard enough to bruise. Kristsi realized that Celly was mocking her; showing her that Celly could have easily killed her. The bruises would color and be extremely embarrassing. They would colorfully proclaim her inability to face Celly.

Celly stopped whacking the girl and laughed. She pulled open a portal, hefted the girl and tossed her out of HammerSpace before she could recover. "Come back when you learn to fight!" she called after her. Celly turned to the dragon Guardian and held out her hands. "You too, Guardian."

"You know that Kristsi is going to be very pissed with you, right?" he asked.

"Good, maybe it'll encourage her to learn to fight! Hunting the Otaku isn't fun when they don't even put up a decent fight." Celly picked up the Guardian and was about to deposit him in the portal when she asked. "What's your name, by the way?"

"Kell. It's been a pleasure meeting you. I highly enjoyed seeing Kristsi getting her butt kicked."

"Any time!" Celly laughed, and tossed Kel into the portal. Celly closed the portal and whistled a juanty tune as she walked back to Castle Anthrax.

When she entered Special Ops, she found Dionysus and Bob laughing their asses off. She grinned and chuckled as well.

"Shimatta, Ce-ko," Dionysus said between guffaws. "That was mean of you to beat her like that! It is very embarassing to have to carry such bruises. She's gonna be out for you for humiliating her like that."

"I know. This'll make the Game all the more fun."

TBC...