12. A Cold Reunion
She carefully re-tied the red and golden ribbon around her collar as she waited for the teacher in the classroom to call her in. Why did I ever wear three of these? I was such a silly girl back then.
She took the teacher glancing at her with a slightly unnerved look in his eyes as her cue, and walked in. She stopped in front of the whiteboard and looked at her classmates, some of whom were unashamedly gaping at her.
"Hello, it's nice to meet you all. I'm your new-" she hesitated for a moment. She wasn't really new… She had a different body, different face, and in some ways a different mind, but she had met them before. Well, most of me is new, I guess.
"-classmate." She touched the whiteboard with one hand without turning around. Her name appeared on it in big capital letters, this time spelled correctly.
"My memory says my name is Frederika, but I don't like it much. So I'd like you all to call me Elleanor. You can call me Ellie too, if you like. I hope we'll all get along." She took a small bow.
Her first classes went relatively well.
Her mother had updated her mind, so now she could read and do maths on the same level as students her own (albeit in her case, artificial) age. When she had awoken, Hera had sounded so relieved. It took a moment for her to remember who she really was, and some data in her mind clashed with each other.
"It's because I imported you into a new body," her mother had explained.
"It must've had some data already inside." This would explain why Ellie didn't immediately recognise Hera as her mother, and why she thought her name was Frederika.
Her mother was absolutely delighted to have her back, as was her kitten, which she'd decided to call Gidget. She'd gotten the name off a website of popular cat names and figured it fit the little robot creature better than more animal-related names such as 'Whiskers' or 'Fluffy'.
Certain memories of her previous body were foggy, but one was burned clearly in her mind, as if it was the most important thing to her: Seeing the Pretty Cure through the maw of her own Glitch right before it closed down on her. She hadn't felt any pain (as she simply couldn't), but she remembered her vision messing up and eventually completely shutting off, and hearing for a while after her vision had gone out.
Her mother had quickly caught her up on what had happened in her absence. It had made one thing very clear to her: The Pretty Cure had to go, and as quickly as possible.
"Is it really you?" A boy from her class asked at lunch. She'd sat down all by herself and was reading a book, as she didn't need to eat and didn't think she was close enough to anyone to sit with them. She still wanted to thank the tan blonde from her class (whom she now learned was named Nana) for giving her Gidget, but she seemed to be in a very serious discussion with another classmate of theirs; the long haired, shy daughter of Clairewood's vet, Saiko, and a short, black girl Ellie didn't know.
"Am I really what?" Ellie asked him. The boy shuffled in his seat a little.
"Y'know, Hera's kid. The robot girl who got tossed into that garbage monster." Ellie lifted her eyebrows (she had those now, unlike her older model).
"That's what I'm known for now, getting crushed?"
The boy shook his head. "N-no, mainly still for fighting the Precure. But your... uh, your 'death' got filmed and I think everyone saw it. It was on screens all around the city."
Ellie nodded.
"Mother told me. She was very upset."
"I think most people were. I mean, it looked pretty brutal."
Ellie paused for a moment. Her new body had a more advanced mind than the old one, and she'd learned and realised quite a few things she had never thought about before.
"I destroyed quite a lot of property with the Glitches I made. I endangered people at times, whether I meant to or not. Weren't people happy to be rid of me?"
The boy scrambled to find an answer. "Well, you didn't mean to, right? I think people wanted you to stop, but they didn't want you dead."
Ellie smiled at him.
"You keep saying I died. But I'm here right now, so I'm alive again."
"Um, that's good, I think?" The boy squeaked. She wished he wasn't so frightened of her. He had nothing to fear of her, after all.
"Y-you look good now, you know. A lot more like a real human." Wow, that's a little tactless, she thought. But he meant well, she surmised.
"You seem really on edge," she told him, as she leaned forward a little in concern. "I want you to know you don't have to be afraid of me. No one should! I don't mean anyone any harm, though I can't promise there won't be… collateral damage when I make more Glitches." The boy's eyes widened.
"You're still gonna make them?"
Ellie nodded. "The Precure are still around. I can't stop until they're gone, I'm sorry."
While walking home after class, Ellie decided to take a detour through the city centre. Not much seemed to have changed in her absence, though maybe that wasn't that strange as she hadn't been gone for that long. She did notice all the adverts for that one cyber-idol, Luzia, had gone. Maybe the campaign wasn't a success? Ellie didn't particularly care, as she'd never been a fan of Luzia's overly sweet demeanor.
While walking through a narrow street that was lined with small, family-run shops and food places, she halted in front of a store that appeared to be selling all kinds of figures and other memorabilia of tv-shows and games Ellie didn't know.
Except one.
With big, colourful letters emblazoned on the window and a big white frame that made it stand out, was a podium full of figures depicting the Pretty Cure.
She studied them through the window. The four of them were in animated poses, all looking very heroic. Oddly enough they weren't wearing their masks. Did people know what they looked like without them? Maybe they found out while Ellie was gone… But then her mother certainly would've told her.
She walked into the shop, which was packed so tightly with glass cases full of figures it was hard to move around. At the back of the shop she spotted a short, older man sitting behind the counter. He gave her a friendly nod.
She pointed at the Precure display behind her, and said: "Those Precure dolls, they don't have their masks," not really sure what else to say as her surprise at the figures existing at all hadn't quite worn off yet.
"A stickler for realism, are we, young lady?" the old man chuckled. "They come with the masks too, if you prefer them that way." Ellie stared at the old man in disbelief.
"I don't want to buy them, I don't have any money. How… How do you know what they look like?" She hoped the man wouldn't make fun of her for not knowing, she'd never been good with being made fun of. But she was better at controlling her temper now. Or at least she thought so; nobody had tested her yet.
The old man shrugged. "It's just a guess. Nobody knows what they look like under those masks, so they don't look like anyone in particular. Do you like them?"
Ellie turned around to look at the figures again. I do not like the Precure, she thought. But these figures are nice. Something about them made her feel… odd. She felt a pang of what might've been either jealousy or longing, she wasn't quite sure which.
"The Cure Volt one looks off," she said after a short while.
"Is that so," the old man responded. Ellie nodded, continuing to study the figures.
"She wouldn't pose like that, with her arm behind her head and her back arched like that. She's been really clumsy every time I've met her. I think she'd pose in a more reserved way, or maybe you could make a figure of her stumbling or something."
"You would know, wouldn't you, young lady?"
Ellie turned to look at the man. As he had very bushy eyebrows and a long moustache that almost covered his entire mouth, his expression was nearly impossible to read.
"Yes," she answered simply.
"When did you come back? I thought those girls did quite a number on you," the old man continued.
"Just today. Mother gave me a new body." She gestured at herself. The old man simply nodded.
"Well, welcome back miss… Ellie, was it?"
Ellie's eyes grew wide. "Y-yes, that is correct. I didn't think anyone would know my name."
"Most people don't," the old man said, as he started rummaging under the desk. "But you've got a bit of a fanbase, actually."
Ellie wasn't sure what to say to that. "I thought people didn't like me. I break things and I'm really short-tempered. W-well, I was, at least," she added quickly.
"I think people see a bit of themselves when they look at you. You went to Clairewood High, right? And you went to a robot gadget shop to get a pet. Of course, things didn't go quite… right, whenever you were there, but you went there because you wanted to be normal, right? Nobody's going to fault you for that, girl." The man stopped rummaging and placed something on the countertop.
"Deep inside, everybody wants to fit in."
Ellie walked closer to the counter and to her amazement saw that the object on the counter was a figure of her. It lacked any paint, as it was completely grey. She had her arms in her sides, her legs were wide apart, feet firmly planted on the base and her chin was tilted up; she looked very confident. Her mouth was pulled into a smirk. It was very detailed, the figure was wearing the Clairewood uniform and has three ribbons tied around her neck in a sloppy manner.
"What do you think?" The old man asked. "I should update her design now, obviously."
Ellie turned the figure around on the spot, careful not to damage anything.
"I look kind of cocky, I think," she said.
"How would you like the figure to be?"
Ellie raised her eyebrows. "You're gonna make a new one?"
The man nodded.
"Of course! Your fanclub will want to have a new edition now. And who better to ask for advice than she herself?"
Ellie thought for a moment. "I... I don't really know. I've never seen figures like this before." She looked around the store. "I like kittens. Can you make one of me petting a kitten?"
The man smiled. "I'll do what I can. And you can have this old prototype, if you'd like. See it as a welcome back gift from me and your fans."
[break]
Ellie left the store, plastic bag containing the little figure of herself in hand. As she was walking she thought about what the conversation she had in the store. I have fans? How can people like both me and the Precure?
Suddenly her head snapped up, as she remembered something important. She stopped just outside of the alley and looked around. I better let the Pretty Cure know I'm back.
Her hand lit up and she ran it over four different cars, which quickly started changing into semi-humanoid monsters. Their "feet" broke the concrete they stepped on, and one ripped a lantern out of the ground and started wielding it like a sword. Ellie sat down in front of the alley, making sure they wouldn't get in it. I don't want that shop damaged. That'd be really rude, after that man was so kind to me.
Soon enough the team of brightly coloured heroes appeared, Bit in tow.
"Ellie! You're back!" Spark exclaimed, dramatically pointing at her.
"Oh, thank goodness you're okay," Volt sighed in relief, which earned her a jab in the ribs from Static.
Ellie calmly got up. Static and Circuit had begun engaging the Glitches (though without much success), but Spark now stood in front of her, Volt a little ways behind her.
"Why did you do it this time? Angry you can't drive?"
Ellie felt anger flare up deep inside her, but managed to suppress it. "Don't you think it's more important to do something about those," she gestured at her Glitches, "rather than chastise me?" Spark frowned at her.
"You're different," she noted. Right then one of the Glitches turned its attention to her and punched her in her side with full force, knocking her flat on the ground.
"Spark!" Volt yelled as she tried to help her friend up. From that moment on the Cures left Ellie alone for a bit, leaving her some peace to study their teamwork.
The four car-Glitches towered over her team. Static was punching one in such quick succession her fists looked like two purple blurs, but it didn't seem to bother the Glitch much at all, as it swatted at her as if she was a only a mosquito.
"Maybe we should take them down one by one," Volt suggested.
"I don't know," Circuit called from above. She was kicking another one of the Glitches, causing it to stumble backwards a little and closer to the other Glitches. "This one keeps trying to wander off, I'm worried they're going to cause a lot of damage if we don't herd them together."
"I know, I know!" Bit called, flying out above all the commotion. "I just remembered something!" The girls turned their attention to Bit, landing Static a smack from a Glitch which catapulted her into a nearby building.
"If you press down on the catface on your gauntlet and yell 'materialize', something amazing will happen!"
Without hesitation Spark, Volt, and Circuit followed Bit's instructions, with Static following after she'd climbed out of the building.
Spark's gauntlet began to glow and reform. It slid off her arm and hung still in the air for a second, looking like liquid light, when it started to grow and take shape. Almost instinctively she grabbed the hilt when it appeared, and the light sparked off the object her gauntlet had become. She quickly grabbed it with her other hand; it was heavy! Looking a little closer, her gauntlet seemed to have shifted into a broadsword. It was white and pink, with a wide-eyed cat face right above the hilt and the middle a see-through pink that looked like it was made out of glass. The edges were white and shimmery, like Bit, though they looked awfully sharp.
Volt held out her arm as if a giant tarantula had made its way onto it without her notice. She slowly rotated it, her face contorted in confusion and slight fear. Where her gauntlet used to be there now sat what appeared to be a crossbow, emblazoned with a sleepy green-eyed cat face.
Circuit was studying what appeared to be a large yellow staff, which faintly glowed at the top. Static was smirking, holding up a giant hammer. "Weapons!" She shouted happily.
"You can use these now you're all together! Otherwise it wouldn't have worked," Bit explained. "They all have different powers. You'll find out when you use them."
Spark and Static immediately started using their weapons; the broadsword easily sliced off one Glitch's arm and Static beat in the head of another with her hammer.
Volt and Circuit on the other hand were now standing together on the ground, staring at their weapons, uncertain how they even worked. "I… I don't know how to shoot it," Volt said as she looked up at Bit.
"Do I just stab them with this?" Circuit asked, making a spearing gesture with the staff, though she didn't look confident in her assumption.
"Your weapons are a little different," Bit said as he hovered between the two. "Circuit, your staff is more for support than for attacking. And Volt, you need to point at where you want to shoot."
"That's all?" Volt said, hesitantly moving her arm to point at the chest of one of the Glitches.
"N-nothing's happening," she said after a few seconds, dejected.
"That's because you don't put enough power into it. You gotta really believe in yourself, Volt!" Bit exclaimed.
"You can do it." Circuit smiled at Volt.
She took a deep breath and pointed once again, a little more determinedly than before. The moment her hand stopped moving, a target appeared out of thin air, the inner circle matching up with the tip of her pointer finger. Beep beep beep…
Volt jerked her arm back as a salvo of bright green arrows flew at the Glitch, penetrating its chest; some of them so deep they disappeared into the metal, leaving small, burning holes behind.
"Wow," Circuit exclaimed, clutching her staff and staring up at the Glitch which was now toppling over. Spark and Static quickly flew behind it to catch it, as to avoid it falling into a building.
"So what do I do?" Circuit asked Bit.
"It's a little risky, but you can confuse the enemies by slamming the butt of your staff on the ground. You have to stand close enough for it to work, though!" Circuit quickly scanned for an opening, eventually deciding trying to get in the middle of the group of Glitches was too risky, so she stood off the side, next to the one holding the lantern.
"Here goes nothing," she mumbled, as she hit the ground with the butt of the staff.
Something that could not be described as anything else but a visible sound wave rippled and distorted the ground surrounding Circuit. The Glitch stopped moving and dropped its arms, the lantern now hanging limply in one of its hands.
"It's more of a support type attack than the other weapons have, but it's still really useful!" Bit chirped cheerfully.
Nana swiftly cut the paralysed robot in half, and with their new weapons it didn't take them long to weaken the Glitches down enough to purify them.
After examining the now normal four cars and Bit gathering the chips on them, Spark turned to Ellie, who was now getting up from her spot next to the alley.
"That's new," Ellie noted as Spark walked up to her.
She put her arms in her sides and took a stance similar to one a mother disappointed in her child would, which struck a nerve with Ellie. She balled her fists at her side, suppressing the urge to start shouting at Spark.
"Why did you do it this time?" Spark frowned. Ellie simply shrugged.
"To lure you out. Clearly it worked."
Spark sighed. "Can't you tell you're endangering people with this? You made four Glitches, look at all the damage they caused!" Spark gestured behind her. The four cars, which were in pristine condition, stood in the middle of the road, which had massive cracks in the asphalt. The broken lantern lie abandoned next to the car which had wielded it, and office workers were staring down at the scene from the broken glass window in the building Static had been smacked into.
Ellie shrugged again. "Nobody got hurt. Except maybe her, but I don't care about that." She pointed at Static, who to her surprise looked apologetic rather than aggravated in response to her remark. "I won't stop."
She stared Spark down.
"I know you're a robot and all but you need to grow up. Considering you're supposed to be a high school age girl I think you're being really childish with all these tantrums you thro-"
In one swift motion, too quick for Spark or any of the other Cures to react, Ellie punched Spark so hard in the jaw she fell on her knees. Volt gasped and bent over Spark, while Static and Circuit stepped closer to Ellie, though none of them actually did anything.
"Stop treating me like a child. I'm not the same Ellie I was before you murdered me. And I will not stop sending Glitches after you until you stop your Precure activities. How far I must go to do this, is up to you four." She gave them a quick nod, though all but Circuit now seemed too preoccupied with making sure Spark was okay to really pay her any mind, then resumed her way home.
"I think I like people," Ellie said, absentmindedly staring at the ceiling of her room while laying down on her bed, while petting Gidget.
"I am happy to hear that," her mother replied from the other room. "I bet people like you, too!"
Ellie sighed. "I think most of them don't, since I break a lot of stuff. But today I found out there's people who do like me." She looked at the figure, which she'd put on her night stand.
"Is it okay to like people? I mean humans."
"Oh honey, of course it is! As long as you don't forget that you are a lot stronger than they are. It's a pity, but humans are very frail, which is exactly why they need so much protection." Her mother uttered an endeared laugh. "Why don't you try to make some new friends at school tomorrow?"
