Disclaimer: Don't own 'em. Ain't making money from it.
That should be enough.
The merry chirping
of birds drifted through an open window in downtown Tokyo, their
song rousing the city from sleep and the happy dreams most probably
wished to continue. The
lazy morning sun filtered through curtains, an additional reminder
that it was time for most of
Tokyo to book it to work. But past the curtain in the one window
mentioned above, one girl
was already up and about - had been for an hour, thank you very much.
This young lady sat
at her vanity mirror in her small, pink bedroom, preparing for another
great day of school.
"That's it! Fuck 'em!"
A rubberband was tossed
unceremoniously to the pink carpet and stomped on as the girl
marched to her closet, gathering the articles she would wear, remembering
to consider it was
picture day.
"Damn odangos," she
muttered, hauling out a pair of white slacks and a pink sweater.
"Never get 'em right. It's just hair, anyway." Throwing
on the clothing, she hefted a pink brush.
"And what the hell is with all this pink?!"
Actually, it was the
fault of her psychotic mother who, at the time of pregnancy, had a
thing for pink, which prompted her to buy the horrific color for her
daughter-to-be, stocking up
on clothing for little Lina on up through her teenage years.
The sentiment was completely
crushed to moot by the time little Lina turned eight and developed
a mind that processed pink
equals get beaten up on the playground at lunch.
Which inevitably led to Lina's short temper and fast fists.
"Feh. Whatcha gonna do?"
After her first dozen
suspensions, kids took their taunting elsewhere, much to the delight
of the school nurse, who was tired of setting broken bones and scraping
the black, flaky skin
from some of the crispier victims of Lina's wrath. Nope, those
who wanted to rumble with Lina
Inverse were few and far between, anymore.
Her fiery cascade of
hair never touched the fluffy fabric of her sweater as she shot like a
cannon out the door, down the staircase, and out of the house; just
a pink and white streak in the
corner of her mother's vision as she fixed breakfast.
"Hungry, de-. Oh, late again..."
The pink and white
streak continued up the road, turning sharply at the end onto Shiro
Avenue.
"I'm late! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!"
This mumbled cacophony
followed the streak to Crossroads High School, "The
Crossroad of Your Education". (More like "The Thorn in Your Ass").
Slowing to a
distinguishable blur, Lina reached her locker in record time and made
it to first period an
astounding three minutes after the bell. She took a seat in the
back next to Xellos, her best friend
since elementary school.
"Thanks for saving
me a seat," she whispered once the teacher's strict gaze returned to
the dry erase board.
Xellos flipped short,
violet purple hair from his face and gave her a coy wink. "Early
today, are we?"
"Shut up! I can't help it if I like to sleep."
"Why don't you let me stay over? I'll give you a real reason to sleep in."
Lina, however used
to his teasing - and fully understanding the sincerity behind it -
couldn't stop the rosy tinge creeping to her cheeks. Xellos was
in rare element today; he usually
wasn't so direct in class.
"If I wasn't already attached, I might take you up on that offer."
"Meaning you'll expect me tonight?"
Her eyes widened exponentially. "Huh?"
He rolled his own at
her stupidity. "Lina, the only thing you're attached to is that crazy
notion blueboy knows you exist."
"Hey! Don't call
him that!" She flipped her Japanese book to the correct page number
obtained from the board. "And I'll have you know he... probably
knows I exist."
A slight huff.
"Please, Lina. The man could care less about you. I, on the
other hand,
know you, have known you for a long time, and am more than willing
to share your bed. And
other things, of course," he added, smiling his entirely too wide smile
with closed lids.
"Pervert." The slight twinkle in her eyes took the preferred edge off the remark, however.
"Miss Inverse?"
Lina's head shot up to see the angry, gray eyes of her Japanese instructor.
"Lina, will you please read the passage for us?"
Xellos cast his eyes
down, but not before Lina caught the mirth he tried to hide. Lina
cleared her throat and prepared to read.
"Ahem. There once was a man from Nantucket-."
"To the office!"
She gathered her things and rose, ignoring the looks her classmates gave her.
"See you next period,
Lina-chan!" Xellos called as she retreated. The redhead waved her
goodbye and left the room.
~
The remainder of her school
day proceeded as normal, with at least five referrals and three visits
to Principal Gaav's office. Her picture turned out horribly due
to a badly timed sneeze, but she'd never
had a good photo before, so big deal. Ah, thus was the life of
Lina Inverse. Now she walked down
Shiro Avenue, accompanied by Xellos who claimed he only wanted to see
her home, and then he'd be
on his merry way. Ha! At the door he'd ask if her mom was
in, which she wouldn't be since the
hag could care less if some pervert tried to take advantage of her
daughter, then try to nonchalantly
worm his way into her bedroom and perch seductively on her bed.
She would then fireball him, haul
his sorry carcass outside, and punt him in the direction of his house.
Isn't life grand?
"Much of the school
is in awe of you, Lina," Xellos was commenting, arm slung casually
over her shoulders. "You've emerged from the principal's office
fully intact and alive on several
occasions. Tell me, is he a giant as I've heard?"
Lina shrugged.
"He's imposing at first, but you get used to it after the first few hundred
times you're sent to him. The guy's really a big, arrogant jerk.
I think he hates my visits more
than I do. Keeps telling me I have some kind of attitude problem.
I'll show that asshole some
attitude..."
Xellos's mouth twitched
slightly at the corner, suppressing a smirk. "How ever would he
get that idea?"
"Beats the hell outta me."
All conversation ceased with this statement until they reached Lina's porch.
"Don't even ask, Xellos."
Her ruby eyes dared him to challenge her, promising a flare
arrow where the sun don't shine.
"Ask what?" The violet-haired youth was the picture of innocence.
Lina pursed her lips, refusing to say, but the crimson staining her cheeks told all.
He leaned close, right
next to her ear, and whispered, "Ah, that." The next instant was
a
blur as his mouth somehow maneuvered onto hers without her knowledge.
A flare arrow was
already forming in her palm, but she found herself reluctant to cast
it. The kiss deepened.
It wasn't until Xellos's
roaming hands moved below her waist that Lina put the
screeching halts to their exploration.
"Fireball!"
Or maybe that should
be "scorching" halts. Either way, the young man was reduced to a
twitching mass on the floor.
"I can't believe you, trying to take advantage of an innocent girl!"
The unidentifiable
heap reformed and brushed off some of the soot. "Who's innocent?"
This earned him a sharp rap on the noggin.
"Don't get smart with me! I'm the victim here!"
"Victim? As I
recall, that was your tongue in my mouth at one point. I don't believe
I
can work my own tongue down my throat." His voice had regained
that teasing note Lina hated.
"So I liked it, okay."
She narrowed her brows at his self-appreciative smirk. "But you
went too far, Mister Happy Hands."
"Are you sure I can't accompany you upstairs, Lina-chan?"
Lina was quickly losing her temper.
"I told you already. I just can't when I-."
"Him again, is it?"
Xellos nodded in understanding. "Very well. But if he's not
available for whatever reason, know that I'm here." Amethysts,
suddenly serious, studied her
carefully, searchingly.
Her hand wove into the silky strands of violet, pulling him to her for a brief kiss.
"You're my best friend, Xellos. Remember that."
"Hai." His thumb traced the curve of her cheek, then he turned to leave.
A loud sigh was issued.
"Oh, what the hell. Come in." Lina's rough grip nearly tore
his
arm from his socket as the young man was hauled into the doorway and
up the stairs.
~
Xellos stumbled out of the
house a few hours later, staggering dumbly off the porch and down
the walk. Behind him, Lina waved from the door.
"See ya at school tomorrow!"
the redhead called, then bounded back inside when Xellos
nodded a mute reply.
Mrs. Inverse was just
pulling in the drive, the gay pinkness of her Volkswagon somehow
breaking through the fuzz in his brain enough to draw his attention.
When she saw the state her
daughter's best friend was in, she halted the monstrosity beside him.
"Xellos! Look
at y... Did my ruffian of a daughter beat you up?" The anger
in her
expression far outweighed the concern.
"Like you wouldn't
believe," Xellos answered with a dazed grin and continued his
stumbling journey home.
Mrs. Inverse parked
the pinkmobile in the garage and thundered through the door. "Lina!
come here this instant!"
The now spunky and
less irritable young lady raced down to the kitchen a minute later,
running a hand through her hair and straightening her sweater, which
seemed to be missing
various clumps of fuzzies.
Her mother took one look at her and blanched. "What the hell happened to you?"
"Oh." She giggled
nervously, scratched the nape of her neck. "I got quite a workout.
You know how fragile these things are, he he."
"And speaking of workout, I saw your friend on the way in."
"Y-You did?" She retreated a few steps.
"He told me you beat him up."
A sigh of relief. "Well, technically yes... and no."
"It's either yes or no," Mrs. Inverse huffed.
"Then... yes?"
"To your room, missy!"
"Yes, Ma'am."
::Oh well. I wanted a nap anyway.::
So heading yet again
up the stairs, Lina yawned. "I'm tired. And sore. I can't
wait to
jump into my nice, warm, comfy bed and fall into a coma." She
grasped her doorknob and
twisted.
"Maybe I'll have a good dre-. Huh? What the hell...?"
"Mama!"
"Excuse me?"
Lina stared at the
figure on her bed, a child only a few years younger than herself who
exuded an air of sugary cuteness. The stranger smiled brightly
and waved while bouncing
exuberantly on the mattress, the actions enough to give Lina cavities.
"I hate to break it
to ya, kid, but you're what? Fifteen? I couldn't possibly be
your
'Mama'." She snorted at the thought.
The strange girl shook
her head. "But you are." Her eyes scanned Lina's form.
"That
fiery hair, those ruby eyes, that flat chest...."
"Hey!" Subconscious
covering of "breasts". "This is my room, sis, and my
house! How
dare you barge in here and insult me?!"
"Same short fuse, too. You don't change much."
"Okay!" Lina
advanced on he bratty, raven-haired teen in annoyance. "You asked
for it,
you little spore!"
The stranger's eyes
took on a dreamy quality. "Aw! You even call me by my pet name!"
She thought a moment. "I guess that says a lot about Mama's feelings
toward me."
"Just shut up so I can kill you!"
The spore sighed and
preened her cute hair. "Listen. You attend Crossroads High
School
and have arrived late on all but three occasions. Your school
record resembles a criminal record.
The entire high school body is afraid of you, minus your best friend,
Xellos Metallium."
Harumph. "Any of that information can be easily obtained."
"You secretly measure
your breasts every night for signs of growth, and your father was
placed in the city's home for the mentally unstable because he claimed
to see pink everywhere he
went."
"Hey! How did
you know that? The documents concerning my father are sealed but
are
nevertheless accessible for someone who knows what they're doing.
The other thing... no one
knows about it but me."
Sweatdrop. "That's kinda the point."
"Well, frankly, I'm
more liable to believe you're some pervert with a roaming pair of
binoculars."
The manifestation of
cute heaved another pained sigh. "Whether you believe me or not at
this point is moot, I suppose. Once I relinquish unto you that
which is my express purpose to
give, you will see my heart is just and pure. Never will a lie
pass these voluptuous, red lips! I
devote myself to good for all eternity!"
The self-important
rant finished with the girl atop one of Lina's bedposts, finger pointing
ceilingward, coincidentally in the direction of the nude poster of
Pierce Brosnan.
Lina, meanwhile, held her head in her hands. "Get down, will ya?"
"Oh, sure! Hold on a secaaahhhh!"
Her balance on the
post was precarious at best, so it wasn't surprising that the girl lost
her
footing completely and crashed face-first onto the pink carpet below,
lavender skirt flying over her
head to expose... Well, the phrase "bum to the breeze" should
apply here.
Since no one was around
and willing to poke her rump with a stick, she was forced to
become offended at the general air and somersault herself into another
heap.
Once the young lady
had quit making a fool of herself and stood upright, Lina reluctantly
asked, "This item... It wouldn't happen to be worth something,
wouldn't it?"
The Shining Light of
Justice, which can only be described as an extremely gay twinkle,
shone in the cute spore's sapphire orbs. "Absolutely not!
I can't believe you would suggest
selling something so precious and detrimental to the survival of your
home city! For shame,
Mama!"
"Who the hell are you?! And what do you want with me?"
"I'm Amelia Wil Tesla
de Crystal Tokyo! And with the ornament I give to you, together
we'll fight crime and restore justice to this fair city!"
Lina thrust a finger toward the door. "Out of my house!"
"Here, I'll prove it."
To the redhead she tossed a pink, jewelled brooch, crafted into the
likeness of a heart. Amelia then lifted her own pink wand into
Lina's sight, striking an adorable
pose of justice.
"Eh?" The teen
held the bejewelled trinket before her, studying it for secret
compartments or collapsible jewels. Coming up empty, she glanced
inquiringly at her
"daughter".
"I'll show you how
it works," the other girl said, inspecting her wand. "If I could
just
remember how you showed me..." Across the room by the mirror,
Lina sweatdropped, the
droplet becoming so large she fell over with the weight.
"Ah! Of course! I hold it up like this and shout, 'Moon Sceptor Power'!"
In a flash of light
and ridiculous confetti, the lavender dress Amelia wore was replaced with
a pink miniskirt and white bodice. Bows, also in the color Lina
has come to hate with a swollen
passion, adorned the costume and extended in a hideous flare over the
chest and ass. Go-go
boots in that all-too-familiar shade of red topped off the ensemble
from lesbian heaven.
Amelia's smiling face bumped up a notch on the cuteometer. "Impressive, huh?"
"Impressive in the complete lack of fashion sense," she snorted.
An offended frown. "Just say the phrase."
"What phrase?"
Sweatdrop. "Oh, uh, 'Moon Prism Power'."
Grumbling, the redhead
held the ornament away from her and mumbled, "Moon Prism
Power."
Not really expecting
anything to happen, Lina was fairly surprised when the light
engulfed her as it had Amelia moments ago, automatically changing her
into her crime fighting
fuku. At least one good thing came out of it: her skirt
was blue. Otherwise, it consisted of a
white bodice with red boots and bows. Her transformation brooch
nestled securely between her
breasts, clasped onto the bow. Reaching a hand to her forehead
where she felt the cold kiss of
metal, she found a tiara.
"..."
Sporella grinned hugely,
checking out her mother's new attire, so different from the
gowns royalty were forced to wear. "Well? What do you think?"
"..."
Amelia's eye twitched,
recognizing the look in Lina's eye as the one her mother used to
give before-.
"Fireball!"
"Aaaeeeiiii!"
Now would be as good
a time as any to explain Slayer Moon's powers. For starters, the
heroine would naturally possess strong magical abilities and fast learning
skills. However, a
fireball is a common spell that can be cast by anyone - though usually
only after several decades
of study. Lina, being the sorcery prodigy that she is - learned
the spell at age nine and has
strengthened it, among others, to a high level. Meaning it has
a higher destruction ratio than
those created by other practitioners of the black arts. In laymen's
terms, Lina is one tough bitch.
Let's speak of the
tiara for a moment, shall we? Despite its gaudy appearance, it has
significance. Once a family heirloom of the Inverse clan, it
was passed from mother to daughter
for over three centuries. It was speculated that it was given
to Princess Lina's great, great, great,
great, great - uh, et cetera grandmother by a powerful Mazoku lord.
Though this was never
verified, there was no question it was a powerful accessory.
All who wore it experienced an
amplification of their magical power tenfold. This little trinket
was the secret behind the Inverse
Royal Family's four hundred year claim to the throne of the Moon.
But, when an enemy
even stronger than the Queen, tiara equipped, attacked the Moon
Kingdom, it meant the end to the Inverse reign. The Queen used
the last of her strength to
destroy the moon and everyone on it, sending the residents and the
visiting court of royals from
other planets off to Earth, where they were to be reborn. And
to ensure her daughter's rightful
ascension to the throne, she sealed Lina's soul into the ruby of the
tiara before she died, to be
with her when she was reborn. As a generosity, she sealed the
souls of the visiting princesses
from the neighboring planets into tiaras, as well - nothing more than
cheap replicas of her
precious heirloom, though. Screw the peasants, she figured; she
didn't have the time. And then
she died.
With the power of her
past life combining with that of her new, plus the tiara's
amplification magic, a harmless fireball meant bad things. It
could now correctly be dubbed
"The Fireball of Death". Now, fireball equals plastic surgery
and extensive hours of skin
grafting; fireball equals a huge ass hole in the wall; fireball equals
a rather nice view of the huge
ass crater in the lawn next door where the neighbors house used to
be; fireball equals a crater that
spans across the next two properties, now houseless, also; fireball
equals huge ass lawsuit.
Translation:
"Fuuuuuuck."
Fortunately - or unfortunately,
depending on your viewpoint - Amelia was able to dodge
the fiery mass of death and destruction lobbed at her by jumping into
the open closet door. Thus,
the wall took the impact for a better outcome, although still unpleasant.
Even with her quick
action, a few chunks of the crumbled wall fell atop her.
Crawling out of the
closet over the rubble, she lifted angry, tearful eyes. "Mama!
How
could you?!"
Lina, who had been
listening to me drone on about the significance of her
fancy-schmancy headband, felt her bloodpressure rise to unhealthy heights.
"How dare I? If you,
my justice-preaching spawn of Satan, hadn't neglected to tell me all
that vital information, this
would not have HAPPENED!"
Amelia had the decency
to look guilty, displaying a sheepish smile. "Uh, heh heh...
I
guess I should've done that first."
"I guess so..."
The cute, too developed
for her own age girl didn't care for the devilish gleam in Lina's
eyes. Or the sadistic smirk, for that matter.
"...because you're going to take all the credit for this mess!"
Amelia facefaulted. "What?!"
"When the authorities
come," she explained with measured calmness, "you'll tell them
you were playing with this chemistry set." She produced her childhood
chemistry lab from the
rubble. "Obviously the chemicals you were experimenting with
didn't exactly mix."
"But... but... that's a lie!"
"Either you do it, or I'll aim a little better."
"Alright!" Amelia agreed in a shaky voice.
"Lina!" the young sorceress's
mother trumpeted from downstairs. "Are you alright? I
thought I heard an explosion."
"Explosion?"
Sirens could be heard across the city, getting closer.
"Oh. I must have been imagining it, then. Well, dinner will be ready in an hour, honey."
"Okay, Mom!" Lina replied,
dashing to the door, shutting and locking it in case Mother
Dearest might decide to be sure everything was really A-OK. She
leaned against the door warily,
eyeing Amelia with disdain.
"What do I do with you?"
The question seemed
to pull Amelia from her stupor, and she brightened for a moment.
"Let me handle that."
"I plan on it."
The squeals of tires
rang clear through Lina's new window, signalling the arrival of the
police a few nonexistent doors down.
"Slow when ya need
'em, fast when ya don't..." she muttered. Already, she could see
the
"bacon" inspecting the crater with interest. Any moment now and
they would glance up and see
two figures gawking at them through a missing wall.
Amelia gulped. "Should I...?"
Lina waved a hand in the general direction of the cops. "Do your job."
"H-Hai." The
spore, slumped, detransformed and leapt outdoors, resigned in her
punishment.
~
Things couldn't have
gone better. Scratch that. They could've gone better for Lina,
but
for Amelia, everything was honky-dorey.
Lina was mentally exhausted,
upset, she never got her nap so she was still sore and tired,
and she was a little depressed. Everything was going great for
Amelia, and it infuriated and
depressed her both at the same time.
The chat with the pigs
went better than Lina could have dreamed. Her obnoxious spore of
a daughter merely pulled one of her adorable, hurt puppydog looks and
managed a guilty pout,
and she had them eating out of the palm of her hand. They dropped
any and all charges then and
there - in front of the crispy victims! A couple families were
homeless, and now they would
receive no compensation for their losses or emotional trauma.
Actually, if Lina was in a good
mood, she'd think it was funny.
But the redhead did
NOT find anything funny about the situation. She could never
weasel out of a dilemma with her stick-like figure and irate personality.
They'd probably slap a
sexual harassment suit on her bill right along with a fat sum for every
splinter and blade of grass
destroyed. The thought was indeed depressing.
And the icing on the
cake was that that vile worm of a teenage daughter only took five
minutes of charming to break her mother's normally steel resolve to
let her stay with them. Now
her mom wouldn't stop doting on the brat. She even called her
the "daughter she never had"!
"Argh!" Lina
fluffed her pillow in agitation. Her own mother loved a total stranger
more
than the daughter of her loins. "Well, fine! Hmph.
I got her back." A fist connected with the
pillow, and she all but screamed, "Xellos and I used your bed!
Ha!"
"What was that?"
Amelia emerged with
a pair of cotton pyjamas. She gazed innocently at the fuming
sorceress.
"Nevermind," Lina sighed. "Why do you have to sleep in here, anyway?"
"Because!" The
teen bounded into the room and over to her makeshift bed on the floor.
"I'd feel more comfortable staying with you, someone I'm familiar with,
in a strange place. For
the first night, at least. But I still think you should let me
use the bed."
"Hell no, squirt! We had a spare room prepared for you. If you want a bed, go there."
"You're more hospitable back home."
Lina shifted onto her elbow. "I have a question."
"What?"
"Well, when that strange
voice was speaking of the Moon Kingdom, she mentioned this
tiara as being sent with me to my new life. But how come I had
to get it from you, and where the
hell did you find it? It doesn't pan out."
"Simple answer," Amelia
beamed, somewhat relieved. She nestled further into one of
Lina's pink comforters. "As the mysterious and unexplainable
voice said, the Queen sent five
princesses - and one prince she failed to mention - back to Earth with
their souls sealed in
trinkets. Soon, they were reborn at the same Tokyo hospital on
the same night due to the
Queen's lack of creativity in assigning birthdays. But when the
children were born wearing their
ornaments - and causing much pain to the mothers, I might add - the
nurses, considering the
events a sign of ill fortune, gathered the five tiaras and one set
of cufflinks and threw them into a
storage bin in the basement to collect dust for no particular reason
at all. So Mama sent me here
to retrieve them and give them to their respective owners."
The ever-fuming, genius
sorceress blinked. "Uh, okay... So what now? We have
to find
the others, too? If you knew me, you must know who they are,
as well."
Amelia shifted slightly,
uncomfortably. "You see, Mama never told me who they were.
She, um, likes to challenge me. But I think she kinda likes it
when I'm clueless and frustrated,
too."
Sweatdropping, Lina mumbled, "Sounds like me..."
"Well, regardless,
the others shouldn't be hard to find. What I am worried about, though,
is the cufflinks. They weren't with the tiaras when I went to
the hospital."
"Damn. Then whatcha gonna do?"
A shrug. "Handle
awakening the others, first. It's the best option. We can't
afford to
delay."
"Alright." The
bed grunted as the sorceress rolled onto her side, taking the position
she
usually fell asleep in. A few seconds of silence passed, then,
"One more thing..."
"Hm?"
"Who is your father?"
Amelia grinned in the
darkness and quoted her favorite stolen phrase. "Now that, is a
secret!"
AN2: Just something unrelated. I'd like to express my condolences
to those who have lost someone in the tragedy that occured on the eleventh.
My heart goes out to you all.