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Episode #20

TROUBLE! Rahanimu, the Furious Fish Man

Synopsis written by Tim Miller

The power of Rezo's explosive spell was so immense that not only has all of the ground water been forced up to the surface, but the water has actually been heated up - as Amelia finds out when she slips on a rock and falls in. Fortunately, she doesn't get seriously burned in the process.

They gather in a shed, all of them except Sylphiel sitting around a small fire; Sylphiel has sunk into a deep depression over her father's death, and appears to be sleeping on a cot in the corner as the others discuss how they can try to fight Rezo. Gourry mentions their fight against the original Rezo, and asks why Lina can't fight this Rezo the way she beat the original. Lina knows what Gourry is talking about: the Giga Slave, her single most powerful spell ... a spell which draws power from the Dark Lord beyond all Dark Lords, the Lord of Nightmares itself - and a spell which is so powerful that even Lina can't cast it on her own, but has to draw additional power in order to control the spell at all while she's casting it, from a magical item such as Gourry's Sword of Light.

Zelgadis agrees that they'll have to try the Giga Slave - risky as it is, it may be their only chance to fight Rezo. But Sylphiel has awakened, and now warns Lina against ever casting the Giga Slave again, if she can avoid it. "If you miscast the spell," she warns Lina, "it wouldn't just kill us; it could consume the world in a void of nothingness." This revelation surprises even Lina - she knew that casting the Giga Slave meant putting herself at a major risk of death or worse, but to risk destroying the world?

With the Giga Slave disqualified, the group's best chance to fight against Rezo is definitely somewhere in the original Rezo's legacy: the items that are sealed within his old laboratory. And there's only one person in the group who knows how to get to that laboratory: Sylphiel. But she's still so depressed over her father's apparent death that she's seemingly unwilling to lead them to the laboratory, so Zelgadis starts prodding her: "Are you going to let them [Rezo and his allies] get away with murder?"

Unable to stay, Sylphiel says that she's going to get more wood for the fire, and goes outside. Gourry decides to go after her, to try and cheer her up if he can. Outside, Sylphiel is having a hard time gathering the wood she needs - she can pick up a few sticks, but soon she's dropping a piece every time she bends down to pick up another, and Gourry decides to try and help her. A minor mishap which causes them both to stumble starts bringing Sylphiel out of her funk, and she actually giggles when she realizes that she and Gourry are holding onto the same piece of wood.

As for Lina ... she's taking advantage of the hot water to enjoy a good soak. Amelia doesn't seem to be too happy about Lina's carefree attitude - she's more worried about what's going on and what they're likely to face; Lina tries to persuade Amelia to stop sulking and come enjoy the water. Neither of them notices that they're being spied on by some kind of fish-man which is hovering overhead ...

As Sylphiel and Gourry finish gathering wood, they begin talking about Lina Inverse; Sylphiel is in love with Gourry, and is worried that he may actually like Lina. Gourry, on the other hand, is too clueless to realize that Sylphiel's in love with him. She starts to ask him, "Promise me that you'll come back alive from fighting Rezo; if you do ..." She trails off, and Gourry tries to fill in the blank: "You'll make me some more of your great cooking?" Sylphiel just smiles, laughs a little, and lets Gourry think of it that way.

In the meantime, the fish-man which was spying on Lina and Amelia is reporting to Eris on what he saw. Eris, however, has her own claim on Rezo's legacy, and doesn't plan to let the others get there before she does. The remainder of her chimeras are released from their tanks, and she sends the fish-man Rahanimu, along with the other chimeras, to kill the adventurers.

Morning dawns, and Lina leads her group as they set off to uncover Rezo's legacy and look for a way to defeat Rezo. Things go smoothly at first, with Sylphiel picking out their route through what's left of the city as they run; however, trouble comes looking for them in the form of Rahanimu, who is capable of flying with incredible speed. He stops for a moment in front of the group, clearly visible long enough for Lina to get disgusted - and for Gourry to comment on the fish-man's "sexy legs" - then resumes his attack, trying to smash into Lina in mid-flight. The group splits up then, with Lina forced to stay flat on the ground while Rahanimu's buzzing her ("Why do I always get the ugly fish monsters?"), and Zelgadis and Amelia driven into one of the few intact buildings, where a large horde of other chimeras attacks them in turn. Gourry and Sylphiel wander even further off, winding up in the Miasma Forest, and they aren't alone: Zangulus shows up to challenge Gourry.

Fighting alongside Zelgadis, Amelia alternates between spell attacks and fighting with her own bare hands and feet - apparently she's picking up Lina's style of combat. But, there are too many chimeras for them to fight piecemeal, so Zelgadis orders Amelia to get out, and then finishes off the entire horde with a sizable fireball. Amelia manages to scramble out just ahead of the explosion; Zelgadis protects himself with a Raywing spell, escaping the building, then lands next to Lina and helps her finish off Rahanimu - holding up his sword and slicing the fish-man in half as Rahanimu flies past. Lina is almost embarassed by how easily Zelgadis dealt with Rahanimu.

Back in the Miasma Forest, it seems that Zangulus has the advantage when Gourry's arm smashes into a tree, leaving him injured; Zangulus is pressing in for the kill when Gourry lunges to save Sylphiel from a falling tree, and Zangulus knocks his sword away. Panicking, Sylphiel tries to attack Zangulus in order to protect Gourry; however, he forces her back - and Gourry is able to grab Sylphiel's staff and smash Zangulus in the face with it. Zangulus winds up retreating, his pride and looks damaged.

Shortly thereafter, Amelia is the first to see Gourry and Sylphiel - and totally misinterprets what they're doing, as she turns around and tries her best to keep Lina from looking at the two of them. Amelia actually leaps up and grabs onto Lina, smashing her chest into Lina's face in her efforts, but all Sylphiel is doing is healing Gourry's arm. Lina proceeds to pry the younger Amelia off of her and starts beating her up unmercifully. "Bad enough that a younger girl has bigger breasts without getting them squashed into my face!!" Lina shouts as she tortures Amelia. Hearing the commotion, Sylphiel turns and waves at the other three, and eventually they get moving again.

Rezo is somehow able to "see" Lina and the others, as though in a dream vision, and he gets up from the "chair" while Eris is sleeping. She wakes to see him standing several feet away, surrounded by a red aura ...

Lina and her cohorts finally reach the original Rezo's old laboratory without further incident, and she opens the door with a Flare Arrow spell. None of them have any guess as to what they'll find inside, but there's no turning back now ...

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