Disclaimer: I do not own the Scott Pilgrim series or any of the characters mentioned in this story. All original characters and lines belong to Bryan Lee O'Malley. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Any similarity to persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental. Also, snow is not fun. Sure, it's all cool when you're a kid, but then you become an adult with a job and you don't get to stay off all day and play in it, and then, it just becomes a bit of a headache...
Wait... what was I saying again?
Oh yeah... enjoy the story?
A/N: It's been a long time. Trying to get back in the swing of this, because I finally had an original idea. My other story, "Ramona Flowers vs the Timewarp" may one day be completed, but I think I've actually had a slightly better idea than that, so I'll probably just leave it in the Land of Misfit Fanfictions. Anyway, hope you enjoy this one... I have no idea what's going to happen, but I made up everything else as we went along, so why not this one?
Lily Pilgrim vs. Christmas Break
Prologue
The rain poured down as Julie Powers (Status: Wet and Pissed off... back away people!) walked briskly down the street. Another late night at the bar, she thought as she rounded a corner and headed for her house. When was she going to learn that staying late and getting the overtime wasn't always worth it?
A shadow quickly moved behind her.
Julie pulled out her keys, fumbling in the cold rain to get the right one in her hand. She had it for a moment, but suddenly the entire key-ring shook in her hand and flew away, almost as though someone had tied a wire to it as part of a cruel joke.
"XXXX!" she blurted as she watched the key-ring fly through the air and land in her front lawn.
Muttering to herself the whole way, Julie walked back out into the rain, trying to judge where the keys would have landed. Finally, her eyes lit upon the shiny key-ring as a flash of lightning cracked the sky. Quickly she went to pick up the keys, but then stopped short.
A boot was sitting on her keys.
A boot attached to a leg.
Julie's eyes wandered up the leg as she looked to find who was so rudely standing on her keys. A look of confusion flashed across her face, but only briefly before she realized who she was staring at.
"Wait... aren't you..."
Lily Pilgrim (Age: 19, Status: On top of the world!) woke up and looked around the dorm room she shared with her best friend, Kayla Simson (Status: Brushing Teeth... got to maintain good dental hygiene. Remember that kids). There was still a pile of books where they had both been studying the night before. A picture of John Jacobs (Role: Kayla's boyfriend, songwriter for Tanooki Dream) adorned Kayla's desk on the far side of the room.
"Lily? You up?" Kayla called from the bathroom. "Don't you have class?"
Lily wiped the sleep from her eyes. Class? What day was it? Monday? Thursday? All she could remember was that Little C had told her he had special plans for that night... that would make it...
WEDNESDAY!
Lily's eyes shot open (Time from Sleepy to Wide Awake: A staggering 0.4 seconds... faster than a Crash and the Boys song... but just barely). She jumped out of bed, brushing a stray strand of electric blue hair out of her face. In no time at all, she had pulled an outfit on, not even looking to see if it matched, and was headed out the door. Kayla stopped her short at the door though.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Kayla said with a bit of a smile.
"Umm... no? Yes? Maybe?" Lily struggled.
"I'm assuming you'll see Little C today?" Kayla ventured.
Lily's mind raced. She knew she had a Canadian History final in 10 minutes, but she quickly brushed that aside and mentally ran down her schedule. There was lunch obviously, followed by another final at 2, packing to go home for Christmas break, and then... and then...
"Little C's bass recital!" Lily exclaimed.
"Honestly Lily Pilgrim... if your life had a face... it would be on backwards," Kayla sighed as she turned Lily back around. They would have to be quick, but she could possibly fix this fashion disaster and get Lily ready in time...
Stephen Stills (Status: STILL the talent... and also owner of the North Toronto branch of the Happy Avocado... gotta pay the bills somehow) closed the door of the small house he shared with his partner, Joseph. He usually left earlier for his job, but a late night jam session the night before with the old Sex Bob-omb crew had taken a toll on him. Still, he should make it in plenty of time, he thought to himself.
As he rounded the corner to head toward the restaurant, two figures blocked his path. His eyes were still adjusting to the sunlight, and he squinted a lot anyway, but he thought he could make out...
"Whoa... what do you guys want?" Stephen Stills stammered.
The figures didn't answer him. They merely closed in on him. He backed away slowly, but bumped into something. He didn't even have to turn around to know trouble was behind him.
Lily Pilgrim looked at herself in the mirror. The outfit Kayla had set up for her was simple, but it wouldn't look out of place in either the test chamber or the concert hall. She wore a black top, layered so that just a bit of a blue camisol peeked out of the top. The blue matched the long streak in her blonde hair, a streak she had modeled after an old photo of her aunt Knives.
Kayla peeked out from behind her. "There. NOW you're ready to take a test and then see your boyfriend."
"What would I do without you, Kay?" Lily smiled.
"Get dumped by the best guy around," Kayla smirked.
Lily froze for a moment. A thought had seized her, one that she had from time to time. She shook it off quickly though. No reason to get worked up over one of Kayla's harmless remarks. Besides, there was no time. Lily quickly swung her subspace purse (Status: Not available at fine retailers everywhere) up onto her shoulder and rushed out of the room.
Neil Nordegraf (Status: Now the third minor character to appear in this chapter... wonder what's gonna happen to him. Let's watch and see!) sat in the Second Cup coffee shop, enjoying his usual. It was a blend he was introduced to by his wife, Stacey, when they had first started dating. Now, it was the coffee he drank to start every day.
He glanced at the TV, which was now showing a story on the disappearances of Julie and Stephen. Julie didn't worry him that much, but Stephen leaving without so much as a goodbye made him pause. Even Joseph hadn't known where he had gone. And two random disappearances was one thing. This seemed targeted.
Neil took a sip from his coffee. Now he could feel something. Eyes watching him from somewhere. He shrugged off the feeling. He was just being paranoid. What was so important about him, anyway? Yes, he was friends with Stephen and Julie (Obviously more with Stephen), but that didn't mean that he would be next. Hell... maybe the kidnappings were random, and had somehow just struck upon two of his friends by happenstance.
A woman stood up in the coffee shop behind Neil, making her way over to him with silent footsteps.
That was it, Neil decided. It was all circumstantial. There was no reason for him to get all worked up. He sipped his coffee again. Hopefully the police would find Stephen and everyone would be safe, and then he could laugh about this later. It might even end up in a chapter of a Voice4theMute story. He always liked those...
The glint of metal caught Neil's eye off to the left. He turned towards the source and realized that, at least in fiction, paranoia isn't always unfounded.
Lily slid into her seat, feeling no small amount of empathetic anxiety for her boyfriend, Little C. The concert hall was filled with people, and though Little C, a freshman, would only be performing one song before the older students, Lily could still remember the stage fright he once had, and had to worry that it would return today.
Little C (Rating: 11/10... hey... can't a girl be a little biased?) walked out onto the stage, where his bass was standing up next to a chair, waiting for him. He bowed and took his seat, taking a quick moment to scan the people. When his eyes met Lily's, he smiled broadly and launched into his piece.
"That was absolutely amazing!" Lily gushed at him (Lily Pilgrim Note: Classical music recital, and I only nodded off once! Win for Little C!) after the concert was over.
"Thanks Lily," Little C blushed (Little C Note: Saw Lily nod off, but that's what late night study sessions with Kayla will do).
"So... did you hear that John got us a gig for over the Christmas break?" Lily asked as the two crossed the courtyard. Light snow was beginning to fall, but they would be home after one more final.
"Is THAT what's he's so excited about?" Little C sighed. "He's been calling me all week, but I had to practice. You'd think he'd lay off of it after what happened the last time we did a show."
Lily shuddered. She remembered the last time Tanooki Dream had done a live show. It was the night she had fought the twin Katayanagi robots in an attempt to rescue Little C. She had passed out in the building. And the time before that, the entire band had been forced to fight Lynette Guycott. They had destroyed the stage (Shameless Plug: No idea what I'm talking about? Read my first story, "Lily Pilgrim vs Their World." Go ahead. I'll wait.)
"Lily?" Little C peered at Lily.
Lily shook loose of her thoughts. She tried to remember that it was over. She had fought the mastermind, Sean Williams, and won. The legacy of her mother's exes was over. She smiled at Little C. "I'm fine. Spacing out in the crosshairs of a Biology final. See you at home?"
Little C smiled back. "Christmas break... wonder what kind of adventures we'll have on this one."
"If there's a just and living God, I'd really appreciate being able to just veg out on my parents' couch and enjoy Christmas," Lily responded. Then she leaned in and kissed Little C, a move that still made her see fireworks on the backs of her eyelids.
You know I'm not going to do that. I mean... a story about Lily Pilgrim and her friends having a nice, relaxing Christmas break from their first year of college? Might make some people happy, but I write action stories. So.. a few questions, cause that's how I roll: Who is kidnapping secondary characters from the Scott Pilgrim universe? And for what purpose? And when will I learn that describing a girl's outfit only shows that I have the fashion sense of a man who owns mostly T-shirts depicting phrases from his favorite TV shows? Find out the answers to these questions and more in the next chapter!
