Sylia Stingray got off the elevator, took a deep breath, and slowly walked down the hall to the room. She was looking down, her head was throbbing and her hands were trembling. She looked up just in time to keep from bumping into Linna. The younger woman smiled at her, trying to hide the concern she felt for her friend and leader. "Well Sylia, are you ready for this?" Sylia took another deep breath as she nervously clutched at the strings of the purse she had hanging off her shoulder as if for support. "Ready as I'll ever be," she answered, managing to smile back. ---Five Days Ago--- Sylia was alone. Again. But then, ever since the rogue boomer incident that killed Nigel, she felt alone and lost even in a room full of people. She was tired and sore from the night's fight with the rogue boomer over at the mall, where Priss' absence forced her into action. All she wanted to do was go downstairs into her little mini bar and drink the loneliness and pain away. A slight smile appeared on her face as she thought of the sweet oblivion, the numbness, which momentarily awaited her. So much easier than dealing with messy things like pain, loss, or regret. The elevator door opened, and Sylia was surprised to see her brother Mackie and Nene standing in front of the bar with Linna. Behind them stood Henderson and Priss, the singer's arm in a sling. "What are you all doing here?" Sylia demanded, "The boomer was blown away an hour ago. Nene," she added as she eyed the blonde suspiciously, "I thought you and Mackie had a date." Mackie looked at his sister sadly. Nene, looking down at the floor with her arms folded, spoke up. "Some things are more important than dates." Sylia suddenly got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Such as?" she asked as she took a defensive stance with her hands on her hips. "Such as this." Linna suddenly broke in as she held up one of Sylia's whiskey bottles in front of her. "One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small," Priss sang out sarcastically, holding up several of Sylia's pill bottles, "And the one that mother gives you, don't do anything at all..." Sylia's face suddenly turned red with anger. "What in the hell is this?" "I believe," Henderson broke in, "that it's called an intervention, madam." "A what?" "Sis, we're worried about you," Mackie said. "Ever since Nigel passed away, it's like you've given up on life. Sure, you drank occasionally and took one too many pills before, but not like this." "You're drinking yourself to death," Priss added. "And these pills we've found lying around here...Sylia, I grew up around street junkies who wouldn't mess with some of this shit. Valium, sleeping pills..." "Priss," Sylia growled threateningly, her hands clenched and her whole body beginning to tense up, "I don't owe you, any of you," she said, looking around at the little gathering, "any explanations whatsoever!" "Oh really?" Nene asked defiantly, "And what about the boomer fight two weeks ago?" "The fight..." Sylia's face went white as she remembered the battle. ------ Nene and Priss arrived first, but were almost immediately in trouble. The rogue assembly line boomer had connected a tentacle from its body to Nene, and had begun trying to absorb her suit into itself. When Priss tried to defend Nene, the boomer had swung another appendage out, catching her off guard and knocking her into the corner of a building hard enough to crack the armor around her lower arm, fracturing her ulna. As both Priss and Nene screamed in agony and terror, Sylia and Linna landed in an alley nearby. Linna came out of the alley first, stopping momentarily to look back at something, and then turned back to the rogue boomer and her friends. A few minutes later, Sylia came out of the alley. She seemed to move slowly at first, but then gained momentum as she got closer to the action. She and Linna together managed to take down the boomer and get their injured fellow Knight Sabers to safety before the AD Police arrived. ------ "Priss and I were listening in on our audio frequencies," Nene said. "You and Linna both arrived at the same time. So why did you come out so much later than Linna?" "Why didn't... Look, I had my reasons," Sylia stammered out, "Not that it's any of your business, but there were extenuating circumstances and..." "I'll tell you why," Linna interrupted, her eyes cast downward as she attempted to avoid her leader's gaze, "When we landed, I saw her pull her visor back to throw up before she could come help." Sylia was stunned, "You back stabbing bitch!" she yelled. She'd never felt so betrayed by anyone before. She saw Linna turn away from her as tears began to form in the corners of the younger woman's eyes. Nene leaned her head on Mackie's shoulder as she wiped away some tears of her own. Priss silently stood and looked from her two fellow Knight Sabers back over to Sylia. Henderson now tentatively stepped forward. "Miss Stingray," Henderson said, "you need help. All you seem to do is drink. You always have a glass in your hand nowadays. You don't go out anymore, unless it's on one of your missions. And as for the Silky Doll..." his voice died off as he caught sight of look of unbridled rage Sylia was giving him. "Fuck the Silky Doll, fuck the Knight Sabers and fuck you!" she screamed at the group, her voice cracking as she shook with rage, "I pay your salaries, damn it! You all work for me! Who the hell do you think you are, talking to me like I'm a fucking child?" There was an uneasy silence in the room, the only sounds coming from the tick-tock of an old grandfather clock and Nene's soft crying on Mackie's shoulder. Then Priss took a deep sigh and walked forward, reached into the pocket of her leather jacket with her good hand. As the others watched, she pulled out the envelope filled with money Sylia had given her earlier that evening. "I can't believe I'm doing this," she said, shaking her head with a smirk. She then tossed the envelope at Sylia's feet. "Priss..." Sylia began, but stopped short when Linna and Nene likewise tossed their envelopes at her. "In case you hadn't figured it out yet," Priss said, "You're more to us than our boss, and we are way more than employees to you, whether you are willing to admit it or not." "Get out." "Sylia, please." Linna said, tears now running freely down her cheeks, "We've been through too much together. We saved the world, damn it! We destroyed Galatia! Don't let something like this end it," she pleaded as she held up the whiskey bottle again. "I said get out." Sylia replied as she narrowed her eyes at Linna, "Now!" Nene was now loudly sobbing as Mackie led her out of the room. "Well, we tried." Priss sighed as she threw her hands up in defeat. Henderson followed the singer out, his head bent low. Sylia and Linna were now alone, the tension in the room palpable. They said nothing as they stared at each other uneasily for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, Linna sighed sadly, put the whiskey bottle up on the counter, and left with the others, leaving Sylia once again feeling terribly, terribly alone. ---The Present--- "Hello," a middle aged man said as Sylia and Linna entered the room, "my name's Toshiro Itano," he added as he bowed gallantly to the two young women, "You're new here aren't you, miss..." "Stingray. Sylia Stingray. And this is my friend, Linna Yamazaki." "I'm here for moral support," Linna said, smiling at Toshiro. "Wonderful. It's good to have you here. Please, have a seat, and make yourself at home." ---Three Days Ago--- The first thing Sylia noticed, other than the awful taste in her mouth and the stench in the room she was in, was the pain in her side. After shaking her head a few times to clear her thoughts, she realized her side hurt from sleeping on the bathroom floor. She looked in front of her and saw an empty pill bottle and mostly empty whiskey bottle. Quickly putting two and two together, she realized that some time after she had blacked out she must've continued on her little binge, perhaps even attempting some crude form of suicide after the disastrous intervention that had taken place. As she weakly tried to get up, her head pounding and her legs feeling weak, she noticed two more things. First, she'd been sleeping in a small pool of her own vomit, the fact that she was sleeping on her side instead of her back probably the only thing that saved her from death by asphyxiation. Secondly, she had lost control of her bowels while she was out, ruining her new dress and causing the young woman to wince in disgust. As she used the bathroom sink for support, she saw her reflection in the mirror. Her once beautiful hair was matted and sticking to her head in clumps, partially digested food, pills and other items were stuck in it. Her eyes were sunk in, and her lips were pale. She looked like one of the homeless bag ladies she occasionally ran into on the outskirts of the city. She started sobbing at the sight, violently shaking all over. Standing in the bathroom which was now reeking of excrement and vomit, she managed to get her clothes off and herself into the shower. Thirty minutes later she was in her room, a bathrobe on and the cell phone in her hand. "Hello?" "Don't hang up! Please? Linna, it's me. Linna, I...," she had to stop, her voice was cracking and she could barely see the room she was in through the tears now clouding her vision. "I need help. Please?" ---The Present--- "It's great to see everyone back here tonight. And we have a new member. Miss, would you like to start us off?" Sylia slowly got out of her seat and nervously looked around at the room full of strangers staring at her. She was shaking all over, partly from three days worth of withdrawal, but also from fear and nervousness. She hated this feeling of complete and total vulnerability she was experiencing, and she avoided eye contact with anyone else as she struggled with the sudden urge to run from the room. It was one thing to admit to yourself you were weak, but to do so to a room full of strangers... She was shaken out of her dark thoughts by a slight pressure on her left hand. She looked down to see Linna squeezing her hand, their eyes meeting as she gave the leader of the Knight Sabers a small smile of reassurance. Sylia took a deep breath as she squeezed the office lady's hand back. She then looked back up at the men and women in the room. "Hello," she began, holding her fellow Knight Saber's hand as if it was a lifeline, "My name is Sylia Stingray, and I'm an alcoholic..." -To Be Continued- End Notes: Believe it or not, the initial impetus to write this story was watching one too many episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000. I was sitting there one day viewing a B.G.C. episode where Sylia was shown fixing herself a drink, a small container of pills lying nearby. Suddenly the voice of Tom Servo popped into my head, "Hello, I'm Sylia Stingray and I'm an alcoholic," and it got me to thinking. Of all the people, Sylia seemed the least likely in my opinion to either admit she had a problem or seek help; exactly what would it take to get her to let go of her ego and reach out? This fanfic was the result. Future chapters will be much less dark, I promise
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