Okay! Now I'm finally back! After losing my flash drive for a spell I'm finally back to writing! Enjoy!
It had been six days since the assault on one of Townsville's government buildings. The news ran the story constantly; with the limited information, they had been given. The news advised all citizens to be extra careful around the city and report any suspicious behavior. Uniformed police presence had increased over the days, but even with all of that life in the city went on as usual.
People went to work, shops and business opened, kids went to school and home again.
One of these kids was thirteen-year old Rayen Vega. She had darkly tanned skin and wore a long sleeve shirt, decorated with pink flowers, a simple jean skirt, and a pair of sneakers. Her long deep red hair was tied in a low ponytail and swung from side to side as she walked down the street at a brisk pace. She held the straps of her backpack while a plastic bag full of snacks hung from her left elbow. She only had a couple of hours before she needed to go home and do homework, and she wanted to check out her favorite Magical Girl manga, Galaxy Derby, was on the shelves. It was supposed to be out soon.
Rayen had always loved Magical Girls. She really loved all forms of superhero media, but she loved Magical Girls the most. She loved the bonds of friendship between the girls, the way justice prevails, the romance, the cute outfits! It was all so amazing and left her with a warm and fuzzy feeling in her chest. She had wished— multiple times in her life— that she could be a magical girl and fight for justice!
As she rounded the corner a delicious smell floated into her nostrils.
"Mmm..." Rayen licked her lips; she could smell cake! From where she was standing she could see a small cake shop with a smooth brown stone front with a black awning. A cartoonish picture of a cake on the shop window.
Rayen was now faced with a dilemma. Did she continue off to the bookstore or did she spend her money on some cake; especially since she already had snacks in her plastic bag.
"I'm sorry Madame—"
"Please!"
"—but there's simply no market for this style of makeup."
Madame M slammed her hands on the man's desktop. "Trends come back all the time! Look at high waist pants!"
The man shook his head. "Not this trend," he said simply, "now I must ask you to leave. Don't make me call up security."
Madame M, Maddison Mikkelson to her inner circle, cursed under her breath, banging her fist on the desk once more before she gathered up her cosmetics and left.
Madame M had, at one point, been one of the quick up-and-coming makeup moguls in the city. She was a trailblazer in what was known as the Trashy Look; excess mascara, thick lipstick, and loud eyeshadows were her trademark. Her makeup brand had been popular for awhile but it all came crashing down. Makeup started heading toward a more natural and— in Madame M's opinion— dull look. Eventually, Madame M had to close down her business. She had tried to shop her brand around; to get it picked back up again. There had been no takers.
Madame M made her way to the nearby park, slumping down on the park bench, her makeup bag sitting by her feet. She was disheartened; she knew she couldn't keep doing this. Her style was out. She needed to move on to something else.
Madame M was so focused on her own plight that she didn't notice the small ball of black light zipping through the air.
"I guess I have to start looking for another career..." she mumbled to herself as the small black light floated closer toward her. Madame M placed her face in her hands. "I can't believe this is happening..."
As she let out her first sob the black light hit her, dissolving into her body and causing her to radiate the black light. Her body shook, her sobs growing louder and louder until, eventually, the sound of growing laughter could be heard.
Madame M's hair shifted to a stark white color and she threw her head back, laughing even louder. A few passersby turned to look in her direction.
"No," she laughed, "trends come back all the time! This one just needs a little help!" She grabbed her makeup bag and headed off. She had some business to take care of.
Rayen had spent more time in the cake shop, Sweet's Palace than she had intended. The shop had such a wide variety of confections that, in addition to eating two slices of cake along with a cup of tea, she ended up spending, even more, money on a couple of cupcakes.
"Oh man...I'm stuffed!" She worried about what her mom would say when she finds out that Rayen had ruined her appetite. But how could she resist?
She left the cake shop, promising Ima, the daughter of the owner, that she would return and even bring some friends with her. Her walk home was relatively uneventful, kids running about and business people heading the way and that.
Then there was a scream.
Rayen froze, whirling around to find the source of the scream. Off down the street, she could see a pink and white blur dash between the buildings.
'What was that,' she thought, doubling back a bit. Other people were starting to run away as well, trying to get away from the source of the scream.
'Is this another terrorist attack,' she asked herself. Some knocked into her and she fell to the ground, her snacks falling free.
A laugh sounded from high above and she looked up. On top of a nearby building stood a woman in a pink jumpsuit and tall black boots. Her hair was a stark white and stuck out in all directions, her face was caked in heavy makeup.
"Now, now," the woman called, "None of this! I'm simply trying to create a beautiful world in my own image! You should all be thanking me, Mask Kara!"
The woman jumped down, landing with a hard thud. Rayen sat up and she should see various makeup items between her fingers. The woman dashed forward, getting two nearby men. She had somehow caked their faces in makeup similar to hers. Soon the pair started to scream and fell to the ground, scratching at their faces.
"It burns!"
Rayen knew that she needed to get out of there, others have probably already called the police.
"Daddy!"
A little girl ran up to one of the men writhing on the ground. She was crying and pulling at her dad's shirt.
"Stop your blubbering child! Don't you want a pretty father!" Mask Kara laughed.
The little girl cried harder. Rayen knew this would spell trouble.
Mask Kara frowned and started toward the young girl.
"You leave her alone!" Rayen ran frowned and scooped the little girl into her arms.
"And what can you do?"
She swallowed, silently cursing herself for her rash actions, "I won't let you touch her."
Mask Kara laugh. "Alright child, I'll deal with you first!"
Rayen braced herself for whatever Mask Kara would do to her. But then her attention was briefly caught by what looked like a ball of white light zooming toward them.
Rayen started to run with the girl in her arms.
"You can't escape! Wha—"
Mask Kara only noticed the light just when it was about to hit her; she ducked out of the way, off to the left so that the ball missed her. Then balled ended up hitting Rayen in the back, nearly knocking her over. The young girl fell from her arms and a white light engulfed Rayen. Power surged through her and a black choker appeared around her neck, a pink tulip jewel imprinted on the front of it.
"Powerpuff girl," Rayen called and the jewel started to glow a pink light, "Transformation, Blossom!"
In an explosion of light, wind, and petals Rayen was transformed; her hair was now a bright fiery red, in a high ponytail, held in place by a large red hair bow. She wore a dress, the top section of the dress was black with a pink tulip emblem on the left chest, while the rest of the dress was pink as well. She had on knee high white socks with black trim on top and black mary janes.
Rayen looked down at herself, surprised at her transformation. "I'm..."
"Pay attention girlie!" Mask Kara shouted and shot forward again to attack her.
But this time Rayen could see her movements and dodge. She picked up the little girl again and bounced back and away from Mask Kara, setting the little girl down.
"Go on and get out of here, to somewhere safe," she told the little girl as she sat her back down, and the little girl ran away.
Rayen turned back to look at Mask Kara, clenching her fist. "Okay, you...you villain! I'm going to stop you once and for all!"
Mask Kara laughed again and got ready to fight. She attacked, striking out at Rayen, who dodged and blacked her. Rayen was amazed by her power and agility. It was like a dream come true. The only problem was that she didn't know how to stop Mask Kara.
Mask Kara dodged one of Rayen's fist, spinning and kicking her in her stomach and sending her into a nearby building.
"You've been a bit of a nuisance," she said as she approached Rayen. "But its time to end this."
Rayen pulled herself from the building surface. 'She's fast...I have to think of a way to slow her down...freeze her in her tracks.' She took a deep breath, feeling a tingle in her throat and the chill of her breath. 'Whoa...'
Mask Kara raised one of her hands, her nails turning into long and sharp claws. "Goodbye."
Rayen took a giant guess and took another deep breath, envisioning ice in her mind, and then blew out super-chilled air, causing ice to form around Mask Kara; stopping her cold.
She jumped up and grinned. "I did it!"
But her celebration was short lived though as Mask Kara cracked the ice.
"Uh oh..."
A van honked off to her left, barreling down the street. The van pulled up between Rayen and Mask Kara. Out of the van stepped a woman in a long lab coat with a bob cut and a man on a pair of crutches.
"You need to get out her here," Rayen told them.
"Don't worry young lady," the man said as the woman pulled out a rather large looking gun.
The woman walked around to the other side of the van and shot the gun. A red laser shot out and encompassed Mask Kara. The man hobbled around toward the back and opened the door, the woman placing Mask Kara in the back, still in the red laser.
Rayen was surprised.
The man turned toward her. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Professor Utonium and this is my partner Dr. Tanaka. If you'll come with us we can explain what seems to be happening."
Rayen paused, but ultimately decided to go with them. If anything happened she was sure she could handle them.
The man and woman drove Rayen to what looked like an ordinary three-story house. They pulled into the garage and once inside Professor Utonium pressed a button and the floor opened up; an elevator bringing them down to a large underground lab.
"Whoa..."
"Give us one moment," Professor Utonium said and both him and Dr. Tanaka stepped out of the car. They opened the back of the van took out Mask Kara and brought her to some kind of metal cell. Dr. Tanaka stepped off to the side to make a call to the nearby hospital, to inquire about the people who had been attacked.
Rayen stepped out of the van, looking around at her surroundings, taking in all the lights, computers and machinery. This was so cool!
"This is your house?"
"My house," Utonium said, "yes. I was able to have it built under my home after the...attack."
Rayen's eyes widen. "You were there that day?"
"Yes, we both were." Dr. Tanaka said as she rejoined them. She motioned to a chair. "Please."
All three of them sat down.
The Professor took a deep breath. "I was working on an experimental chemical to help heal people but, as you know, we were attacked. The chemical was stolen by a...mutant named Mojo Jojo. I think...well I believe that this Mojo Jojo had done something to the chemical and caused well..." he motioned to Rayen's current state and off to Mask Kara.
Dr. Tanaka typed onto a computer and brought up a couple of graphs. "We were able to trace the source without own notes on Chemical X. As you can see," she pointed at the screen, "there are multiple smaller sources, one inside the woman we have. Then there are five much larger sources. There were six, but one went into you."
Rayen blinked a couple of times. "So...I'm like, kinda like Spiderman. Like a superhero...a henshin hero...a magical girl?"
"Well...I suppose..."
Rayen squealed and jumped out of her chair. "I accept!"
"What?"
"Oh...um," Rayen rubbed the back of her neck. "I mean well I got hit with those giant power sources. And like...I could help catch the people like Mask Kara. At least, until...you guys figure it out how to save them. Yeah?"
The scientist shared a look.
"Um...miss..."
"Rayen, Rayen Vega!"
"Miss Vega," Professor Utonium said. "We...appreciate your offer but we don't really...know if this is the best option."
"But—"
"We'll keep it in mind," Dr. Tanaka, "but for now we would like to handle it ourselves."
Rayen pouted.
"Come on," Professor Utonium said. "Let's figure out how to get you changed back so we can get you home, alright?"
Rayen sighed but nodded, not wanting to argue. But promised herself that, if need be, she would call on this power again.
She had been given this power and if she could protect people she was going to do just that.