Filia dreamt as she was unconscious. It wasn't blurry or chaotic like her dream earlier that day had been. She was sitting on a fuzzy Sailor Moon blanket on top of a grassy hilltop far off on the outskirts of New Meridian. It was one of the few places without any concrete or pollution or even other picnickers that overlooks the sea. Filia realizes that part of her must know the city well to find a beautiful spot like this.
She's there with someone. Another girl who's a bit shorter and frailer and has unknowingly stolen Filia's attention away from the orange-gold sunset over the water with the way the sea breeze ruffles her short brunette hair and the subtle rising and falling of her chest through her loose sundress. Filia notices her shiver.
"You cold, Carol?" It comes out of Filia's mouth without her needing to think. The girl looks at her with a shy smile.
"I-its fine."
"No, it's not. Hang on, maybe I can…" Filia knows what she wants to do. She's seen it a million times in every tv show on earth. Just slide your arm around her shoulders. Easy. "I mean we're sitting on a blanket, right? Lemmy just…" Filia cringes at her own cowardice as she crawls halfway over Carol's legs, eliciting a meek little "Eep!" from her crush as she tries to grab the far end of the sailor moon blanket to wrap around her.
Filia didn't realize how weird this was, and now has every instinct in her head telling her she's blowing it as she desperately turns her face away to hide her scalding blush. She's so wrapped up in thoughts of what a loser she's being, that she doesn't hear the clattering of their plates and silverware as she yanks the blanket over. Its only when Carol cries out from having a plate of coleslaw dumped on her lap that Filia realizes what she's done.
"Crapcrapcrapcrap! I am SO sorry, Carol!" Filia flips out. Knocking the plate somewhere off down the hill as she frantically scoops coleslaw off her crush with her bare hands.
"It's alright, really. It's not so... Filia?" Her voice goes from calm to concerned as Filia frantically throws open their picnic basket and begins tossing napkins one after another over her shoulder.
"It's okay! I got this!" She sounds like a psycho and she knows it. She just can't let Carol dislike her. She's the only person who Filia can talk to. Really talk to and be genuine with without worrying if she might turn around and start spreading rumors or trying to get some favor out of her. Filia had to keep her as a friend. She couldn't give Carol a single reason to dislike her, even if it meant she couldn't be honest about how she felt. It was best that way.
Filia felt two slender arms slowly, gently wrap around her waist. A cool body pushed itself against her back.
"It's alright Filia. It's not a big deal." Carol's voice feels like a melody to Filia's ear as her cool cheek presses against Filia's burning red one. "And look, I'm not cold anymore, so lay down and relax with me. Okay?" Filia was grateful for her curtain of cascading, blonde hair to hide her nervous face from Carol's, and as they both leaned back, cuddling into the warmth of the Sailor Moon blanket and each other, Filia nervously said, "You know, this isn't my blanket right? I mean, I don't even watch anime!"
"Sure you don't Filia."
As Filia opened her eyes, a little groggy but otherwise a perfect ease, she could tell she hadn't been out for long. It was still a cool, full mooned night in the New Meridian, but that wasn't her first concern when she woke up. More pressing was the concerned pair of pale blue cat eyes only a few inches away and staring directly at her.
"Why do you talk about not watching anime in your sleep?" the stranger asked.
Filia yelped and jumped backwards, colliding with a wooden post behind her and sending her head ringing. She clutched her ears in pain and as she held them she vividly remembered a shotgun blast that violently removed one of them not too long ago, yet here they both were.
"Wow, nice bedside-manner there." Samson scoffed.
"Sorry, I was just curious!" the stranger said. Filia's eyes were squinted shut as her head throbbed in pain, so she didn't see this as this young woman gently and soothingly slid her long slender hand along her cheek. Despite still being mad at her, Filia couldn't resist leaning into her palm, it was cool and rough, yet gentle as it held her, like soft sand on a midnight beach. "Hey," she said, voice soothing and with a soft, maybe literal purr to it. "you okay?"
Filia opened her eyes and saw her slight smile and sharp, ghost-blue eyes, all encircled with a shimmering pale-blonde bob-cut with two, very familiar cat ears on top.
Filia screamed as she jumped to her feet, "Holy shit! You were just a head earlier!"
The catgirl gave a sharp flick of her tail along the ground as she rolled her eyes, "I mean, yeah, but way to overreact, girl." she stood up, "guess you were right Samson, no need for a clinic or anything. I'll tell my guys no need to worry." The cat-girl then pulled from one of the many pouches around her belt a little conch shaped radio. She stepped away a few feet as she began talking into it.
"Damn straight she doesn't need it. Filia's tough as nails!" Samson said, Filia's hair gave her a loud slap on the back, making her wince and rub her spine.
"Samson, who is this? What happened?" Filia asked. Looking around, she could see she wasn't at the same street corner where she passed out. They were on an empty sidewalk with a steep drop off one end into a wide black, bay; it's shimmering water extending out into an endless ocean. Up one way a densely packed collection of fishing boats bobbed it the small waves, while further out and up the other direction she could see a criss-crossing jumble of piers and buildings extending out into the middle of the water, like a large, floating neighborhood.
"While you were out we moved you up a few blocks." Samson said, "Fortune here said she knew some doctors who would patch you up without asking questions. I said you don't need it, but she wanted us to move you up here by the water where they can get to you just in case."
"Fortune?" Filia asked. The cat-girl had put away her little conch phone and had turned back to Filia with a cheerful smile.
"Nadia Fortune." She said, taking and pumping Filia's hand up and down like a spigot before the girl knew what was happening, "That's Miss Fortune to any bad guys I find, but to you it's just Nadia!" Her wide grin showed that she was really proud of getting a chance to say that. Filia looked down at her savior's outstretched arm, stopping to stare at the two heavy rings of pale scar tissue wrapping around her forearm and bicep. She had identical, symmetrical scaring rings along her other arm, torso, legs and neck. "It's almost like this kitty's gotten into her fair share of fights, eh?" She said.
"Sorry! I-I didn't mean to stare." Filia blushed.
"Nah, I don't mind." She gave a dismissive wave and a cocky, catlike grin. "I wouldn't dress like this if I was afraid of a gaze or two, would I?" Nadia locked her fingers together and stretched them over her head as she did a slow pivot on her heel, giving Filia far more generous view of her body then she would ever think of asking.
She was slender, but powerfully muscled and well defined. Nadia was clearly very proud of her body since she hardly covered it with anything. Her pant legs were shredded into disconnected bands of cloth that only clung to her muscled legs from their sheer tightness, giving an unobstructed view of her scars. Her pivot showed off to Filia just how little of those pants she actually kept intact as her upper thighs, hips, and firm ass were on perfect display, moonlight glistening off the thin layer of sweat across her mocha colored skin. Even her tight, teal crop top was trimmed to be shorter, giving Filia more undeboob then she felt she could handle.
Filia tried to do anything but stand there slack-jawed and scarlet faced, but utterly failed. She tried to at least say something but all she could force from her lips was a weak, half mumbled, "C-cool."
It was clearly enough to make Nadia happy though as she exploded into a fit of laughter. Filia wished she was still unconscious as Nadia fell apart in front of her, and in a far more literal way then Filia had ever wanted to see.
As the cat-girl leaned back cackling with tears in her eyes, the scar around her abdomen split open, revealing muscle fibers and juicy, red innards that strained to keep her top half from falling backwards off her hips. Filia shielded her eyes and face, now not from embarrassment, but from fear of becoming sick.
"Aw, come on," Nadia said through dying chuckles, "You're not squeamish are you?" Filia peeked through her fingers and could see Nadia was leaning in close again with a playful grin.
"I'm sorry, I just… uh… is everyone in Little Innsmouth like… you?"
"An adorable flirt or a zombie?"
"Uh..." Filia felt almost as exhausted talking to this girl then she did during her fight with that robot.
"Forgive me for interrupting you two's eh, girl talk," Samson said sarcastically, "but weren't you gonna tell me how the hell did you found us back there? If you were any slower uh," Samson didn't want to finish that thought, "well... thanks." He murmured before quickly adding, "Did Yu-Wan send you?"
"You know my landlord?" Nadia cocked an eyebrow, "for a toupee, you sure get around a lot!"
"Hey! I'll have you know I haven't worked as a toupee in decades."
"Wait a sec," Filia interjected, "If Samson's friend didn't send you, how and why did you come to help us?"
"Pshh," Nadia waved her hand dismissively, showing off her long, claw-like nails. "Beating Medici brains in is basically my hobby at this point. As for the 'how,' yeah, like it was hard to follow the sound of gunshots and shitty pop music. I mean, look at the size of these things!" Nadia pulled the cat ears on top of her head straight up, "and I'm just supposed to ignore that racket? No thank you."
"Like a superhero..?" Filia said in an awestruck voice.
"I don't buy it." Samson said, "You just clober crooks free of charge?"
"I mean, kinda. Little Innsmouth is where I grew up, someone's gotta keep the streets clean. Trinity knows the cops aren't doing it with trash like this everywhere." Nadia pointed her thumb towards a pile of metal next to the sidewalk's railing. Filia squinted at the beat up pile of garbage before realizing with a start that it was the battered remains of Ottomo. With its limbs twisted around it and with its head bashed into the rest of his torn up metal frame, it looked like a particularly sad, suit-wearing cube of trash.
"W-what are you gonna do with him?" Filia asked. Even in its current state the robot still put her on edge.
"Him?" Nadia tapped a finger against her chin as she walked over to it, her face scrunched up in exaggerated thought, "Hmm... whatever do you mean by… him?" she put a foot on Ottomo's remains and tried to casually slide him out towards the bay, "because we're the only people… Hrrrgh... I see… Huff... Holy crap he's heavy…"
Filia tried to be helpful, "Uhh, do you want me to-"
"I said... we're the only ones… HERE!" Nadia yelled as she barely managed to tip the pile of scrap into the water with a massive splash.
"Smooth moves," Samson said, "real casual-like. Now can we get to Yu-Wan's already? This sea water is bad for my hair."
"I hear ya hairball." With a lazy yawn, Nadia stretched her arms over her head exposing the bright red muscle fibers under their scars, "I'm beat besides. Come on, we've all earned a rest. Grub at Yu-wan's is on me."
"Um, one last thing." Filia said. Nadia had already started off towards home, but turned back to Filia. "So, you can, uh… hear Samson?"
"What?" Nadia was confused. "Well yeah, his mouth takes up the width of your head."
"R-really?!" Filia turned her head back and forth to try and see.
"Did you think I was like, imaginary, kid?" Samson asked, almost sounding offended.
"K-kinda? Or maybe you were like, a split personality disorder or my id made manifest or, or," Filia kept flicking her head to and fro to try and catch a glimpse.
"Wow, what psychology textbook did you crawl out of?" Nadia teased.
"Kid! Kid! You gotta stop twisting or you're gonna break your own neck." Samson said, "I'm not your imaginary freudian brain fart, alright? Just give a sideways glance into the water."
Tentatively, Filia scooted to the edge of the pier. The water was smooth, and in it she saw her face reflected back at her for the first time since waking up; it wasn't familiar. She was pale and chubby cheeked with her iris a bright, startling red. It was far from the strangest look she'd seen in this town, she supposed she's lucky she didn't find out her face was covered with scales or something, but her own face still struck her as unnatural and unnerving. She wondered if that was a normal feeling for young adults.
"We don't have all night, kid." Samson said.
"R-right." Filia turned sideways to the water, one eye on her reflection, and gasped.
"Hi kid." Samson's bright, almost luminescent, solid-yellow eye looked back at her. It's shape suggested a glare, but Samson's tone was neutral, if not a little solem. When he talked the row of jagged, ivory spikes on her head that resembled a grizzly hairband flapped back and forth, a bright pink tongue occasionally visible in her head.
"H-hi Samson..."
"You're not gonna pass out again are you?"
Filia sighed, frustrated that fainting was now what she was known for, but more so because looking at her friend, and her own head actually made her feel weak. Still, she looked his reflection in the eye as calmly as she could. "No Samson. I'm not gonna do that anymore."
"Heh, we'll see, kid..."
A few miles up shore a fat, pink, very wet, and very very little man in overalls and a wife beater washed up onto the sand. Coughing and sputtering, he clambered up onto dry land.
"Idiots… Ehugh! Eck! Never even noticed I was in the bot. Eh-hugh!" He rolled over onto his back, gulping in air, "You still got it Tom, you still- Ehugh-ech! Oh, wait 'till Vitale hears about this…" He leered at the far off shapes of the two women walking back down the pier.
"Till Vitale hears about what, exactly?" Tom looked up behind him to see the drooping, catfish face of a burly, blue scaled Dagonian. He looked almost regretful as he pulled a butcher's knife from his belt and pointed it at the mouse sized mobster, almost. "You should know as well as anyone that we don't appreciate Medicis in our part of town, Tom."
"Uh, H-hey Shumei. Uh, w-we can talk about this... right?"
"Sure we can talk!" Another musclebound Dagonian called out from in front of Tom. He casually walked up and out of the surf with a snaggletooth grin. His head was that of a hammerhead shark. As he rose out of the waves, brownish, polluted bay water pouring down his teal, muscle-bound body, he flipped the anchor he was dragging one handed so that its bulk rested with a heavy smack into his other palm, "lets go have a talk down in Little Innsmouth!" He brought his foot down on Tom, pinning him face down, whimpering through a mouthful of sand, "I'm sure the rest of the carpenters would love to hear what you have to say!"
And with that, he was lifted by the collar of his wife beater and stuffed yelling and pleading into an empty takeout box.