Chapter 10

              The weekend passed slow and uneventful, and everyone who was a member of The Spektrum Fan Club eagerly awaited their special announcement to be made over the P.A. system during Second Block.

            “Heyyyy Pirates!” came the peppy voices of the announcers. “Today we’ve got a very special announcement for a very special someone.”

            All over the school, students jeered at the possibility of someone giving a shout-out to their crush via the P.A. It wasn’t that far off of an assumption.

            “Hey, Spektrum, if you’re listening--”

            “Hey, Frank! Careful with that sheetrock!”

            The sound of reconstruction on the section of the school Pu-ao smashed his way through boomed through the quad at what was undeniably an incredibly bad time.  Students in the main buildings, the gym, and the science wing could barely hear what was being said, and those in the portable classrooms, the shops, and the P.E. fields could hear distant yet still noticeable echoes of the forklift bringing the sheetrock, of the beams being reset, and whatever the hell else was going on outside.

            “No fair!” Cyndi whined. “How’s The Spektrum gonna know what we’re asking?!”

            “Please accept our request. Thank you in advance, from The Spektrum Fan Club. Until the next announcements, have a great dayyy, Pirates! Arrgh!”

            The members of the club were mortified. Did The Spektrum understand the message? Did anyone understand the message? What were they going to do if he didn’t? Unfortunately, the only way to know was if he showed up in public without Zorb or his henchmen showing up first.

            Simon could sense the disappointment of the other club members, of the other students who weren’t members, and those just in his own class. He himself felt disappointed and wronged, so The Spektrum was going to make it right.

            At the beginning of lunch, Simon stowed his things in his locker, which he hadn’t done at all since he got it back in freshman year. He was surprised he even remembered the combination.

            He rushed to the nearest restroom to transform. However, he was stopped by an unfortunately familiar face getting in his way.

            “Hey, superhero,” Craig greeted, his friends around him like a pack of wolves.

            “Hey, scumbag,” Simon greeted back as he passed.

Or tried to, when Craig grabbed his collar.

            “Listen, punk: I’m not letting you make a fool of me!”

            “You’re right, you did that to yourself,” Simon wryly retorted. “So could you let go? I’ve gotta use the restroom.”

            Simon’s snarky remarks only made Craig twist Simon’s shirt collar tighter.

            “You tell everyone who you are or-”

            “Or you’ll what? Code Black smashed your phone, destroying your video proof of who The Spektrum is.”

            “Did the report say which Code smashed the phone?” Craig asked, making Simon realize he misspoke. “You guys heard that right?”

Craig’s friends nodded and smirked, and one held up a cell phone.

            “Got it all on here,” he says.

            “Another phone?” Simon mumbled.

            “So what’s it gonna be? You tell or we tell. Either way, the world’s gonna know.”

            “Please, Craig, do you really think the public will believe you and your friends after what you tried to pull?” 

Simon could feel the attitude of Code Silver coming over him.

“What’s this going to do? Oh, oh, let me guess: I could crush that phone, too, but that would prove to you that I am The Spektrum. Only problem is, you guys already know! You’re trying to prove it to others, which makes this completely pointless.”

            Simon knew he had proven Craig’s plan was full of holes because Craig looked really pissed. Craig pulled his arm back, ready to punch, when some other students came through that part of the hall. A few stopped, recognizing Craig.

            “Oh, that’s good, dude, beat up on this guy to make you feel better about the Spektrum thing.”

            “No, you don’t understand,” Craig tried to explain. “This guy IS The Spektrum! We have proof.”

            “What?” another of the newcomers asked. “Really?”

            “Yeah! Tommy, play the tape.”

Craig’s friend, Tommy, pressed a button on his cell phone, and Simon’s words played back through the tiny yet powerful speakers.

            “So?” said the first newcomer. “You got this kid saying Code Black smashed your phone. Everyone knows you tried to blackmail The Spektrum with proof of who he was. This audio doesn’t prove this guy’s The Spektrum.”

            “Then how did he know it was Code Black that smashed my phone?” Craig demanded, still clutching Simon‘s collar.

            “A lot of people saw that happen, news probably traveled fast. Always does.”

            Craig was again humbled and defeated, and reluctantly let go of Simon, much to Simon’s relief.

            “Thank you,” Simon said sarcastically at Craig.

Craig’s group moved on, and Simon sincerely thanked the student who got him out of that predicament peacefully.

            “No prob,” the student replied. “Name’s Dan, and if that guy bothers you over this whole Spektrum thing, just ask me for help.”

            “Uh, okay. Thanks again. Oh, and, uh, that club-”

            “Oh, yeah, the fan club for The Spektrum. They having another meeting tomorrow?”

            “Yeah, in Room 243.”

            “Cool. My friends and I might check it out. The Spektrum’s pretty cool, and something tells me, you two do have enough in common for jerks like that guy would mistake you for him.”

            “Wow, uh, thanks,” Simon said, rather flattered; sure he was also The Spektrum but it means a lot that someone thinks Simon is a “pretty cool” person.

Simon headed towards the restroom, as he had planned, while Dan’s group moved on to where they were headed.

“Always gotta help the little guy, huh?” one of Dan’s friends said.

“Well, we are seniors, aren’t we?” Dan said back. “We should be setting examples and helping out, stuff like that.”

            Simon entered the restroom. Luckily, there was no one in the restroom at the moment, so Simon wouldn’t have to worry about transforming. However, remembering the stunt Craig pulled, he didn’t want to be so reckless this time. As a precaution, Simon entered one of the stalls, and asked Computer to Toggle Appearance to Code Silver.

       “Understood. Activating Code Silver.”

            In a flash and scan of silvery white light, Simon was transformed into Spektrum Code Silver, blue-and-yellow camouflage and all. He stepped out of the stall to find the restroom was still empty, which was good, and headed outside. The hall was empty, also good, so Code Silver snaked his way to the first floor of B-Hall, where all the staff offices were.

            “Excuse me, could you direct me to the room that the P.A. microphone is?”

            “Yes, it’s that room--” the young woman was stopped by the fact that she just realized it was The Spektrum she was talking to.

Her hand pointed at a room two doors down from where she and the superhero stood, and The Spektrum thanked her as he headed straight for it. She couldn’t respond, because she was utterly star struck.

            Code Silver entered the room, looking for whom to address. He wasn’t sure, but Code Silver believed this was the principal’s office, since most principals have the P.A. microphone in their offices. 

            A student attendant spotted him almost immediately.

            “Um, h-how may I help you?” he stammered. 

            “I’d like to make an announcement, if that’s fine.” 

Code Silver was a little shy, since he’d never done something like this ever.

            “I’ll have to ask the principal for permission.” 

The student poked his head inside another door, which must have led to the principal’s real office.

 He talked with the principal for a few minutes then came back with a response.

            “I’m sorry, but the principal won’t let you--”

            “Did you tell her who--”

            “Yeah, I did tell her it was you, but she still said no.”

            “Well, I wanted to respond to that announcement from this morning, where… well, my fan club wanted to interview me.”

            “Oh, uh… I guess I could ask her if that would be okay.” 

The young man went back again, and once more poked his head into the inner office, and conversed with the principal.

            “May I remind our principal that I saved this school five times so far in the last week?!” Silver yelled, interrupting the conversation between the principal and the young man.

            A minute later, the young man returned, and gave him the go-ahead.

            Silver took the microphone, pressed the on button, and began his little speech.

            “Heyyy, Pirates! It’s your local superhero, The S-P-E-K-T-R-U kidding me? How do you not know who I am? Just wanted everyone to know, I did hear the interview request the fan club had made, despite the construction work. No, I don’t have superhuman hearing; I just pay real close attention when I hear my name.” 

            Code Silver hoped students at least chuckled at that line.

            “To The Spektrum Fan Club of San Leandro High, I’d be more than happy to have an interview with your club’s student leader.  I’ll come by Room 243 to arrange the when and where. Until then, have a great dayyyy Pirates! Arrgh!”

            Silver enjoyed ending his message with the same catchphrase the usual announcers did, and he released the button and put the microphone down feeling satisfied with his work. He rushed back to the restroom, since he thought he heard stampeding students converging on B-Hall.    

            Once inside the quiet restroom stall, he Toggled back to regular Simon, and returned to his locker to pick up his things. As predicted, students swarmed down the halls, looking for where The Spektrum may have gone.

            “Simon! Simon!”

It was Cyndi.

            “Oh, hey,” he replied.

            “Did you hear the announcement by THE SPEKTRUM?!” 

            She was incredibly ecstatic.

            “Yeah, and he wants to have his interview with you!”

            “I know! Well, he didn’t say me, my name, but he said the club’s student leader! That’s ME!” Her eyes lit up like cute little blue fireworks.

            “I know, so cool, huh?!”

            “Yeah! And it’s thanks to you!” Cyndi squealed giddily as she pounced on Simon with a hug.

            “W-what?” Simon stuttered as his face burned up.

            “You encouraged the idea and wished it luck, so it succeeded!” Cyndi explained as she released him from the unexpected, yet welcomed embrace.

            “Oh, well, then, you’re welcome, I guess.” Simon smiled and chuckled as Cyndi grinned and giggled back.

            “Wanna go have lunch with the others?” Cyndi asked, implying her friends and Room 243.

            “Sure.”

The two left together, Simon feeling even better than before.

 

            Zoey Mizaki looked from person to person, wondering why literally EVERYONE BUT HER was eating oranges. And not just oranges: orange flavored gum, orange flavored hard candies, and orange flavored Jell-O. The students of Encinal High were even drinking orange juice and orange flavored soft drinks.

            “Karina, Marina, please tell me you’re not--”

            Zoey turned to see that, in fact, her friends were indeed eating oranges, just like the rest of the school. 

            “Oh no, not you two, too!”

            “But of course,” Karina responded. “Why wouldn’t we be?”

            “Yeah,” Marina chimed in. “I mean, oranges are good for you, after all.”

            “But everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, eating them on the same day, at the same time?” Zoey inquired. “Something strange is going on…”

            “Zoey,” Karina said, “we know a lot of strange stuff has happened since the power surge gave you superhuman abilities and made you part cat. Like the shark-dinosaur sightings, and The Spektrum versus Zorb and those alien bandits. But there is nothing wrong with the oranges. Go ahead, just try one.” 

            Karina peeled a brand new orange and held it in front of Zoey’s nose. The sweet, citrus smell caused Zoey’s new cat instincts to react in confusion and disgust.

            “No!” Zoey blurted out as she turned her head.

            “C’mon, just a bite.”

            “No! I don’t want to!”

            Karina pushed the orange into Zoey’s face, and the cool rind touched the taller girl’s lips. An instinct in Zoey made her swat her friend’s hand away and growl. The orange Karina was holding fell to the ground and rolled away.

            “Okay, sorry!” Karina said, holding her hit hand in the other. “You almost scratched my hand!”

            “Sorry,” Zoey said, only partially apologetic. “Along with cat-like abilities, I think I got cat-like personality traits and behaviors.”

            “Yeah, we’ve noticed,” Marina said. “Not just this, but other things. You get easily distracted by stuff like string, or a flashy trinket. You get sleepy during afternoons, and yawn more than you used to. And your diet has changed. Didn’t you used to like oranges?”

            “No,” Zoey replied. “But now, as a Catgirl, I’m even more against them.”

            “Is this one of yours?” someone asked, walking over with Karina’s dropped orange.

            “Shaun!” Zoey said, giving her boyfriend a hug. “Have you had any oranges?”

            “I haven’t, but I was planning to,” he said back.

            Zoey grumbled, disappointed her boyfriend was part of the strange bandwagon. She was never the one for being the odd-one-out, but strangely she refused to concede on this orange issue.

            “What’s the problem?” he asked. “They’re just oranges.”

            “But everyone is having them! At the exact same time!”

            “So? Maybe everyone likes oranges. Nothing is suspicious about that. It’s just a coinci--”

            “Shaun, this is not just some coincidence. There is something very wrong here!”

            “Zoey, you’re just being paranoid. Sure, crazy stuff has happened since those reports about electrical power surges, like the appearance of Catgirl and the mutant shark-dinosaur, but oranges suddenly becoming popular is not one of these crazy post-surge paranormal activities.”

            “And how do you know!?” Zoey said with a stomp.

            “Oh, Shaun’s in trouble with his girlfriend,” Xavier teased as he opened his bottle of orange juice.

            “X, shut up,” Shaun snapped, and his friend put up his hands in mock defense.

            “Alright, man,” Xavier said. “Don’t get mad at me over your girl’s paranoia.”

            “I’m not paranoid!” Zoey shouted. “I’m cautious! There might be an evil plot behind all this, and--”

            “Zoey, what kind of villain would use oranges?” Shaun asked.

            “I-I don’t know!” she said. “But if the Penguin is a villain who uses birds, then why can’t there be a villain who uses oranges?”

            “Because gimmick-using villains only exist in comic books and cartoons,” Shaun countered.

            “Such a nerd,” Xavier said snidely. “C’mon, Karina babe, let’s go somewhere private for lunch.”

            “Not even IF this was a villain’s evil plan,” Karina said, moving behind Zoey as Xavier stepped closer.

            “Always teasing,” Xavier grinned. “You keep this up, babe, I might just find someone else.”

            “Good!” Karina said. “You can go torment some other poor young woman into hating you.”

            Still grinning, Xavier walked away, and Karina moved out from behind her friend. Shaun turned to follow his obnoxious friend, but stopped halfway.

            “Zoey, remember,” he said. “Not everything is a crisis.”

            Shaun then turned all the way around, and jogged to catch up with Xavier.

            Glass shattered, and something heavy hit the ground! Everyone around turned towards the source, the cafeteria.

            “See? This is it!” Zoey shouted to her friends. “This is the villain making his move!”

            “FIGHT! FIGHT!” someone closer to the cafeteria shouted to everyone.

            As the other students gave into the usual instinct to rush over and watch, Zoey sighed, and went to find somewhere private to change. As she searched, she grumbled about how stupid and violent some students could be.

            Zoey slipped into a Girl’s Restroom, and then into an open stall. With no one around, she transformed.

            In a scan of light, her blue denim jeans turned into pink spandex shorts, her white tank top became a black T-shirt, and her sneakers and striped socks became pink boots and black socks that came short of the knees. 

            Her dyed-red hair turned bubble gum pink, her human ears disappeared while cat ears popped out from a spot above, and her brown eyes turned yellow. Lastly, a long black tail grew, forcing its way over the belt of her shorts.

            As Zoey exited the stall and restroom, she thought pleasantly to herself how this was a perfect opportunity to blow off some steam.

            Now as “The Alameda Catgirl,” she weaved through the crowds of students that lined up to see the fight.

            “Excuse me!” she shouted. “Superhero coming through! I-- I said let me through!!”

            Most moved aside, others stayed in her way, either not hearing or not caring. Eventually she entered the cafeteria to see a rather familiar cast of thuggish characters.

            “Really? You guys again?” she asked the dozen or so sloppily dressed students. “I thought I settled this fight for you all last time.”

            “Learn ta mind your own business, Cat Skank!” the closest thug shouted.

            “You guys are fighting in MY school,” she replied. “This IS my business!”

            Catgirl walked forward, right up to the very thug that insulted her. While stepping, she threw a punch. He leaned back out of the way, but couldn’t do anything about the elbow that came around from her spin. The thug’s nose was hit hard, and he stumbled backwards into a chair and table. The table and chair screeched and groaned as it slid out from under him.

            The other thugs glanced over at what just happened, but didn’t stop fighting. Despite Catgirl joining the fight, they weren’t going to let their score against each other go unsettled.

            Catgirl stepped onto one chair to step onto a table, then jumped from that table onto one of the fighting gang members. She used her body’s dead weight to topple him over, which caused him to fall face first onto the floor. She immediately stood up and faced the guy that guy was squaring off with.

            The thug threw a punch that was easily slapped aside, then countered by a thrust to the throat. As her opponent choked on no air, Catgirl swung her foot in a circle, the side of her boot hit him in the side of his head. He turned left, and was kicked again in the eyes by the toe of her boot. To finish it, Catgirl knocked him down with a booting kick straight into his chest.

            “This is just as easy as last time,” she shouted to all the fighters. “Why do you guys insist on fighting when you’re so horrible?”

            Enraged, one of the fighters threw a chair at Catgirl, who had plenty of time to move out of the way. In return, Catgirl lifted a chair into the air with one foot and shoved it at the thrower with both hands. It hit him seat first in the jaw, and he fell down, clutching his mouth.

            “Apparently you’re just as bad at throwing and catching,” she smirked.

            Another fighter rushed her, holding a chair over his head to strike her down with. Catgirl punched his nose, then spun and punched his ribs. The chair fell out of his hands, and he was again punched in the nose, then swing-kicked in the chin!

            Catgirl’s kick turned her around, so the remaining thugs thought to attack her from behind! But she was prepared for novices like these. She turned right back around, grabbed one by his arm, got behind him, put him in a headlock, then yanked him sideways and clothes-lined him hard, a foot hooked behind one of his to disrupt his balance.

            In the smallest pause from the thugs, Catgirl fiercely whipped around and kicked another fighter, heel of her foot jamming into his sternum, then stepped onto another‘s hip like a step-ladder, rammed her knee into his chin, and hopped down just as easily.      Only two troublemaking thugs were left, and neither wanted to be next. Both glanced at each other, trying to see who was braver and who was dumber. From Catgirl’s point of view it was all the same.

            Not letting them decide who goes next, Catgirl dashed over to them in three steps, reached back, and uppercut the one on her left with an open palm strike. As that fighter fell from chipped teeth, Catgirl merely shifted her weight to turn and rammed a knee into the final thug’s gut, then as he doubled over, an elbow into his back.

            In a matter of only minutes, Catgirl had stopped the fighting by knocking down, and even knocking out, ten young men bigger than her.

            “Impressive,” a voice said over the PA system.

            “Who’s that?!” students blurted.

            “That doesn’t sound like Vice Principal Tater,” others said.

            “Attention students of Encinal High,” the voice continued. “It is I, your new lord and master, Citrus-C!”

            In response to the voice of “Citrus-C”, all those who had consumed anything orange flavored—from students to teachers to even the school custodians—entered a hypnotic trance, their eyes glazing over.

            Catgirl took notice of the change in many fellow students’ demeanor. Outside, Shaun also noticed the change in behavior, because two guys turned their attention during their game of Frisbee as the catcher let the plastic disk pass by him for it to smack into a tree.

                “Yo, Xavier,” Shaun asked his friend, “what’s going--”

            Shaun turned to his friend to find he and the others were also glassy eyed, staring at nothing.

            “X?” Shaun asked, growing worried.

            Shaun looked back at the main building as the unknown voice spoke again.

            “I command all those within the sound of my voice,” Citrus-C shouted, “to destroy this school! Windows, desks, chairs, anything you can get your hands on! And for any who try to stop you, do with them what you will!”

            As commanded, the hypnotized masses began breaking anything within their grasp: chairs are thrown through windows; vending machines are tipped over and forced open; sinks and toilets are smashed into bits, flooding the bathrooms and halls with water; even Shaun’s friends lifted the nearby picnic table and flipped it upside down!

            “I knew something was going on, and you didn’t believe me!” Catgirl shouted, meant for Shaun even though he wasn’t nearby.

            Catgirl hurried through the halls to head for the main office. Citrus-C had to be there if he was talking through the PA. She turned a corner and gasped as she saw Chloe about to be hit with a metal stool. Catgirl tackled the aggressor to the floor, sending the stool rolling away.

            “Zoey, thank goodness you got here in time!” Chloe said as she got up and hugged her friend and hero.

            “Chloe, how come you’re not under Citrus-C’s hypnosis?”

            “I had planned to have an orange for a healthy snack, but when I got to the cafeteria, they were all gone.”

            “Well, then I guess it was actually a good thing that you were late for once.”

            The two friends laughed, knowing that Chloe makes it her life’s goal to always be punctual. But the laughter stopped when they noticed the hypnotized students turn their attention to Catgirl. They targeted her for stopping the chaos, as Citrus-C said!

            “Chloe, you need to go find a safe place to hide. I’ll find Citrus-C and see if I can make him release the school from his control.”

            “Okay,” Chloe shouted as she ran outside.

            Mind-controlled zombie students rushed Catgirl, but she easily slipped through their hands. She spotted Shaun running inside, looking around with a panic.

            “Zoey!” he shouted. “Zoey!!”

            Catgirl wanted to respond, but she had to keep moving. She slipped away from more grabbing hands, and made it to the next hall. Just as she walked up, someone stepped out of the Vice Principal’s office. He was wearing a helmet that looked like a giant orange, which was a dead giveaway who he was.

            “Citrus-C!” she shouted.

            “The Alameda Catgirl,” he sneered. “How is it you resisted my Hypnoranges’ mind control?”

            “First off, that’s a really cheesy name,” Catgirl said. “Second, I obviously wasn’t going to have any of your nasty oranges!”

            “Nasty?!” Citrus-C shouted. “Oranges aren’t nasty! They’re tangy and sweet and delicious!”

            “Well, not to my new feline taste buds,” she said. “Cats prefer the taste of fish and milk, not fruit.”

            “Oh, so those are real,” Citrus-C said in reference to her ears and tail. “I thought you were just acting like a cat.”

            “It’s no act, pulp-for-brains! Now, give up and release the students from their trances before I have to trounce you!”

            “Go ahead and try!” the lunatic dared.

            At that, Catgirl crouched and leapt at the man with an orange for a hat. Citrus-C ducked out of the way, and searched for a weapon.

            “This will do!” Citrus-C shouted as he grabbed an emergency fire extinguisher.     Citrus-C took a swing, and the bottom of the extinguisher narrowly missed hitting Catgirl’s head. She decided to run down the hall in the direction of the cafeteria.   

            “Come and get me, you orange juice jerk!” she taunted.

            Citrus-C chased after Catgirl as she went into the cafeteria. It turns out oranges were indirectly part of the lunch menu in the form of orange chicken and duck à l'orange. That last one was actually pretty fancy for a public school.

            “Dead end, Catgirl,” Citrus-C gloated. “Now, submit to my sweet and tangy power! Citrus Kinesis!”

            The villain laughed maniacally as he raised his arms. Suddenly, oranges rose up from cartons in the kitchen and into the air!

            “Attack!” Citrus-C shouted.

            As commanded by their new master, the oranges flew through the air! The pulpy projectiles pummeled Catgirl in the head and body.

            “Ow! St-stop it! Ouch!” Catgirl shouted as she did her best to defend herself.

            In order to avoid the airborne oranges, she ducked behind the one thing not filled with fruit: the breakfast bagel cart. The oranges barraged the bagels, but Catgirl was safely protected.

            Citrus-C approached the bagel cart, and the oranges went into standby mode so as not to hit their master by accident. Catgirl heard his footsteps come closer and closer. She waited until Citrus-C was directly on the other side of the cart. She stood up then grabbed a bagel from the tray. 

            “Eat whole grain, jerk!” she shouted as she threw one at his head.

            Citrus-C ducked out of the way again, and the bagel continued to fly across the cafeteria. It landed at the feet of a hypnotized student. It was Karina!

            Karina picked up the bagel and examined it with a blank stare. 

            “A bagel,” she mumbled monotonically, “from the school cafeteria. If it’s a bagel from the school cafeteria, then it is school property, and must be destroyed.”

            Karina’s stomach begins to growl.

            “I am hungry, and if a bagel is eaten, then it technically is destroyed…”

            Karina takes a bite of the bagel, chews then swallows. She swayed and groaned, as if from a stomach ache, then placed a hand to her head.

            “What…? Where am I?”

            Karina looked around to see Catgirl and Citrus-C looking at her with confusion.    “Zo-- I mean, Catgirl?” she said. “What’s going on? Who’s that guy?”

            “Nevermind that,” Catgirl said. “How are you no longer hypnotized?”

            “No longer hypnotized?” Karina repeated.

            At that time, Marina and other hypnotized students arrived.

            “Marina!” Karina exclaimed as she walked over and hugged her.

            Marina stood motionless.

            “Hey, is something wrong?” Karina asked.

            A lightbulb went off in Catgirl’s mind in that moment.

            “Karina!” Catgirl yelled at her friend. “Give her a bite of the bagel!” 

            “What?”

            “Just do it!”

            “Okay, okay,” Karina said as she tore a piece off. “Open wide, Marina.”

            Marina obeyed, and Karina put the piece in her friend’s mouth. Marina chewed and swallowed the bit of bagel. Just like Karina, Marina swayed and groaned, then was released from the trance.

            “Karina? What’s going on? Where are we?”

            “Got me…” Karina shrugged.

            “WHAT?!” screamed Citrus-C in dismay. “My hypnoranges defeated by a simple bagel?”

            Citrus-C growled and glared at Catgirl as he swung the fire extinguisher again!

            She ducked back down and shoved the cart into Citrus-C. He stumbled back and doubled over from the blow. Making the most of this opportunity, Catgirl stepped out from behind the bagel cart and decided to finish the fight with one move.

            “Neko-neko style signature attack: Spinning Crescent Kick!”

            Catgirl spins rapidly counterclockwise. On the third time around, she stuck out her left leg and hit Citrus-C on the left side of his head with the left side of her left foot.  The blow sends Citrus-C spinning and tumbling to the floor, utterly unconscious.

 

            Hours later, Citrus-C was taken into custody by the local authorities, and all the students and staff were fed bread in order to release them from the crook’s control. No one quite understood the chemical interaction responsible for grain undoing Citrus-C’s citrus based hypnosis, but everyone was grateful there was a solution at all.

            As with the giant school fight last week, the students and staff once again thanked and congratulated Catgirl, who humbly accepted with an “Aw, shucks…”  She then ran off to find a place to hide and change back into Zoey, and when the normal, everyday-girl reappeared, the school bells rang and it was time for the students to head to their next classes.