A six-armed woman with a spider’s rear end ran her duster across the last room in the house, the living room. She checked every possession and every piece of furniture to make sure it was dust free. When she finished, she smiled. “Now to finish it all off with a good old-fashioned vacuuming session,” she said. As one of her arms set the duster aside, the one below it plugged the vacuum cleaner in while another arm grabbed the handle and a fourth switched it on. Once the cleaner spun to life, one of her arms pushed it back and forth while two of them kept the cord out of the way and another two lifted the furniture as needed. Once that was done, she admired her handiwork, then headed to the kitchen and emptied the cleaner of the dust it picked up. The instant the cleaner was put away, she heard keys go into the front door’s lock. “And there’s Megumi and her girls, right on cue!” chuckled the spider woman.
“Hello, Lisa!” called her employer.
“Hello, Megumi!” replied the spider woman, Lisa. She headed off to see the three women that entered the house. Two of them wore gray sweaters, ascots, and skirts with massive amounts of petticoats while the third wore pants, a jacket, and tie. They all had Japanese features when it came to the face. One had straight, long, black hair and brown eyes while the remaining two had short, wavy, pumpkin-orange hair and green eyes. The woman with black hair had blue petticoats and ascot, the pants-wearing woman with orange hair had a blue tie, and the remaining woman had yellow petticoats and ascot. The black-haired woman was Megumi Hishikawa, the pants-wearing woman was her daughter, Kaede Saunders Hishikawa, and the last girl was Kaede’s twin sister, Kaitlyn. “And how were classes today?”
“They went just fine,” replied Megumi. “It was an easy day today. Just did some free writing in all of them. Managed to meet with the girls early today!”
“Did that help your lunch date reservations?” asked Lisa as she took their bookbags.
“Actually, there was another factor that helped,” replied Kaede. “Someone had cancelled their reservation, giving us a spot.”
“And let me tell you,” chuckled Kaitlyn, “it was a fantastic place! I see why Famine recommended it!”
“She recommends a lot of eateries,” remarked Kaitlyn. “It’s kind of her thing.”
“All right, girls,” Megumi called to her daughters, “we still have to get ready for the party. Go get dressed and make yourselves up. Lisa, I trust you’re coming?”
“Madam, I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” replied Lisa. “I’m sure that the Wayne Foundation will make a slight donation.”
“Alfred told me Mr. Wayne won’t be attending,” replied Kaede.
“What? Why?” asked Megumi, disappointed that one of her old friends wouldn’t come.
“He’s got a meeting with the headmaster of Damian’s boarding school.”
“Hold on!” giggled Kaitlyn. “Batman has a parent-teacher conference?! Is he in the PTA?! Tell me he’s in the PTA!” She cleared her throat and held her pointer fingers to each side of her head. She then spoke in a rasp. “We need more chaperones for Homecoming. Who needs to be convinced to sign up?”
“…You wouldn’t say that around Bruce, would you?” asked Megumi.
“…You wouldn’t tell, would you?” gulped Kaitlyn, dreading the potential Bat-glare. Megumi smirked. Kaitlyn dashed off to get dressed. Kaede headed off as well. Megumi strolled into her bedroom and opened her closet. She found the dress and swapped her After Academy uniform for it. After she adjusted everything, she opened a small cabinet containing various hair adornments and pulled one out before making her way to her vanity. She then washed her face, dried it, and put on fresh makeup. After that was done, she pinned her hair ornament to the left of her head. Once she was done, she blew a kiss to her reflection, then got up and left the bedroom. She found Lisa in a different maid outfit, Kaitlyn in her princess outfit, and Kaede in her detective clothes.
“Time, Lisa?” asked Megumi.
“We’ve still got two hours to kill before Richard gets back,” replied Lisa.
“In that case, I’m switching on the news.” Megumi switched the t.v. on, then arched an eyebrow as the news anchor was NOT the one she expected. “Er, Kaede, could you help your mother solve a little mystery?”
“I was hoping I heard wrong,” muttered Kaede. “So, it’s NOT Dad on t.v.?”
“Unfortunately, no.”
“But this is his time slot, yes?” asked Kaitlyn.
“I thought so.”
“It’s definitely his time slot,” confirmed Lisa.
“Er, guys,” gulped Kaede as she looked out the window, “I see Dad coming up the drive and…yep, he saw me and he’s not looking all that happy.” Megumi dashed to the door (an amazing feat with all those skirts) and opened it to let her husband, Richard, in. He looked broken.
“Hello, everyone,” he muttered.
“Richard, what’s wrong?” asked Megumi. Richard didn’t respond immediately. Kaede switched the t.v. off as Richard sat down on the sofa and put his head in his hands. He breathed slowly before speaking.
“There’s no easy way to say it,” he said, “but I don’t want any sit com shenanigans. Megumi, Kaede, Kaitlyn, Lisa, the single man of the house is now unemployed.”
“You didn’t quit, did you?” asked Kaede.
“Believe me, after today, I wish I did. I saw what the teleprompter was gonna say. It was continual praise about this ‘Baron Sonavok’ and how he’s a much better leader than Flora is!”
“But no one knows who this guy is!” protested Kaitlyn.
“So, I put aside my request for a raise to confront my boss about it. I told him that there was no research involved in the teleprompter’s transcript and he asked me if our viewers really cared!”
“We do!” argued Lisa.
“That’s what I said, and he called me an ungrateful ignoramus who has no reason to work in MNN, saying he had a replacement for me if I didn’t fall in line. I called his bluff…and saw my replacement.”
“So, the man we saw in your time slot’s your replacement, huh?” growled Kaede.
“And he went out of his way to give me an actual pink slip titled ‘walking papers’ just to rub salt in the wound!” Richard pounded the coffee table in front of him as Megumi placed her hand on his back. “The man makes me want to murder people!”
“He had no business firing you!” hissed Megumi. She then took a breath. “Does your unemployment leave this house?” Richard steadied his breathing.
“Like I said, I want to avoid sit com shenanigans, but I don’t want to tell everyone,” he explained. “Let’s keep it with immediate family and those who took the time to watch at least a snippet of my old time slot.”
“We can certainly help you find a job,” offered Kaede. “I know the police station could use a news anchor for their news channel.”
“I believe After Academy is also looking for a news anchor for their channel,” recalled Lisa. Richard smiled.
“I don’t know how I got so lucky to have a family like you,” he sighed.
“You survived two encounters with Vortech and had parents that excelled in teaching you respect,” replied Megumi.
“…I’ll tell Mom and Dad you said that,” said Richard, “and I think they’ll be flattered.” Just then, a wind kicked up in the house. “Okay, did I leave the door open?”
“No, it’s shut,” replied Kaede. A noise then filled the house. Megumi and Richard’s eyes popped open. Kaitlyn then arched an eyebrow in confusion.
“I know I heard that noise before, but-!” An object then materialized in the room. It was a blue box that said “Police Public Call Box” on all four sides around the top, just under the light that was flashing. It had two windows on each side, just under the police box signs, and one side had a door handle. There was a sign near the handle that said “Police telephone free for use of public. Advice and assistance obtainable immediately. Officers and cars respond to all calls. Pull to open.” There was a circular sign on the other side of the door handle that advertised “St. John Ambulance”. Kaitlyn goggled as she recognized the box. “Now I remember where I heard that sound before.”
“Yeah, you and past versions of the Vortex Riders used it as a taxi in Hill Valley,” recalled Richard.
“Daddy!” protested Kaitlyn. The door then swung into the box (despite the sign saying pull to open) and a man carrying a woman then fell out.
“Doctor!” yelped Megumi. She checked the man’s pulse, then frowned. “That’s funny, I thought the Doctor had two hearts. I’m only getting one…no.” Her face fell. “Damn. He’s dead.”
“The lady’s got two hearts,” said Lisa as she finished checking the woman’s pulse.
“I’ll get Emily and Michael,” declared Richard as he got up, eager for some activity to distract him from his woes for the moment.
“Lisa, help me get the woman to the couch,” directed Megumi. “Girls, put the man-” The man then gasped loudly, as if he was sucking in air desperately, and grabbed Megumi’s arm out of reflex. Megumi shrieked in surprise. The man’s breathing evened out. He then looked at Megumi and grinned.
“Hey!” he greeted. His accent was American. “Name’s Captain Jack Harkness! And you?”
“Dn starr,” mumbled the woman.
“I was just saying hello!” protested Jack. His face then fell. “Look, weird question, but is there someone who can help a Time Lord?”
“Oddly enough, there is,” replied Megumi, having gotten over her fright. “My husband’s calling her right now. I’m Megumi Hishikawa.”
“Ah, so YOU’RE the Hero of the Vortech Wars,” remarked Jack. “The Doctor was talking about you just before she regenerated. I didn’t get a chance to see what she looks like now.”
“Well, here she is.” Megumi and Lisa hoisted the new Doctor up onto the couch. She had ginger hair and Jack goggled at the face.
“Hold on, that face was one of her old companions, an old friend of ours before she had to have her mind wiped!” he explained. Richard got off the phone.
“Emily and Michael are on the way,” he said to Megumi.
“Good. We could use some answers about Jack here,” said Megumi.