Funny English Grammar Story: Pronoun Squadron Watasees Part 1 - Terror! The be-verb Monster! (First Half)

Ai, Mai, and Mee.
When the three of them, all in the same first-year junior high class, made the same mistake on a be-verb question at the same time, space-time warped.

Suddenly enveloped in darkness, Ai looked around.

"Where is this...?"

Just then, light poured down from the heavens.
Nearby was Mai, who always wore a scarf and had her orange hair in twin tails.
Beyond her was Mee, with long blue hair.

(This is Grammar World. You will fight monsters in this world.)

A voice echoed from the sky.
Ai shook her black ponytail and looked toward the light.

(Defeat the be-verb monsters. You will learn how to fight as you fight.)

"Huh? That's asking way too much!"

Ai shouted, mixed with anger.

"We have to fight without knowing anything? You demon! You devil! You test!"

Mai also cried out in protest.

—A test?

Ai almost burst out laughing at the unique insult.

(Use this when you are in trouble. It will become your finishing move.)

A staff descended to the three of them.

(Finally, I shall bestow a name upon you. You are the Pronoun Squadron Watasees. I wish you luck.)

And then the light vanished.

—Wait! Watasees? That's so lame!

Just as Ai was making a mental retort, what appeared before the three of them was...

A monster that looked like a bee? Or maybe not? It seemed like something was missing.

"I am the be-verb monster! Here are my clones: am, is, and are. If you don't shoot them down, they'll sting you!"

Even as the monster spoke, the clones buzzed around them.

"If you get stung and fall, it's game over. Hee-hee-hee-hee!"

"He sounds scary, but he's actually explaining things for us."

Mee smiled a little and looked at Ai and My.

"But how are we supposed to shoot them down? We don't have anything that looks like a weapon, do we?"

Ai voiced her doubt.

"Hey, hey, why does that monster look like a bee?"

My asked a simple question.

"I'm guessing it's because 'bee' is spelled 'bee' in English, so it looks like the 'be' in be-verb."

Mee explained by writing the spelling in the air.

"Oh! It's missing an 'e', so its body is incomplete too!"

At My's observation, Ai took a closer look at the monster.

Head, thorax...

"It has no abdomen!"

Ai burst out laughing, My pointed at the missing abdomen and laughed, and Mee covered her mouth and giggled. The monster was furious at their reaction.

"How dare you point out what I'm self-conscious about! I won't forgive you!"

—So he was self-conscious about it...

The three of them were staring at his "abdomen."

"Where exactly do you intend to 'sting' us? You don't have a stinger on your rear, and you don't even have an abdomen."

Me tilted her head in wonder.

"Maybe he just intends to sting."

The monster flew into a rage at Ai, who was laughing hysterically.

"You there, the rude one with the red clothes and ponytail! What is your name?"

"Me? I'm Ai. I am Ai."

At that moment, a beam of light shot from Ai's hand.

It struck the monster's alter ego, 'am'! 'am' vanished.

"D... damn it!"

The monster's panicked voice echoed.

"Oh, so that's how it is?"

Ai muttered, looking blank.

"Then that means we just have to say sentences that include 'is' or 'are'!"

Mai said, looking happy to have figured out the method.

"But, you know, that monster is... kind of a klutz, right?"

As Ai whispered that, Mai and Me also laughed and nodded.

"Grrr! I can hear you! But there are still two of you left. What are you going to do?"

While the monster was ranting, Me pulled a notebook out of nowhere.

"Hmm, let's see. 'am' is for when the subject is 'I'. 'are' is for when the subject is 'You'. Everything else is 'is', I see."

"H-hey! Where did that cheat sheet come from?"

Sweat of surprise erupted from the shouting monster.

"It's my self-study notebook! Now I understand!"

Me's eyes sparkled.

Continued below

The image is my poor drawing (lol) that I had an AI clean up for me.
I created this in the hope that it would help people learn tedious English grammar in a fun way.

Will the three of them be able to defeat the be-verb monster safely?
Please look forward to the second part (?) lol

Also, regarding Me's self-study notebook, I omitted the distinction of plural forms because they haven't been learned yet in the early stages of the first year of junior high, so I followed the textbook.

Series magazine below