"Not What It Seems"
Chapter 1: Delusions.
7 years after the events of the Story Mode…
"And… cut! Good take everyone." Said the director of a particularly popular TV show. The crews have concluded yet another episode of 'Annie: Girl Of The Stars.'
The star herself was relieved to have ended another successful episode of her long running show. She was also excited, since the next episode is going to be another collaboration with the former wrestler, Beowulf. The two may have a lot of things they butt heads with -mostly with Beowulf- and such, they have been proven to be excellent partners in the show.
Annie sat on a nearby chair, dropping her sword just to her left, with her parasite friend, Sagan, sitting comically on her head, much to her satisfaction. Florence and the others were discussing about the follow-up episode, but not before complimenting to Annie about her outstanding performance, as always.
"That was a pretty good take, ain't it Sagan?" Annie asked him. Sagan just answered with a rawr. The girl giggled at this.
Annie was normally strict at some point, but today was different. She felt… cheerful today. Anything but frustrated, mad, etc. Maybe it was because of the collaboration? Or maybe it's just one of those days. Well, however you would put it, the young star was wearing a huge grin on her face and carrying a happy mood inside her. This carried on for a solid month, and everyone were also having the same mood she had, albeit having a tedious schedule.
But is it going to last forever? Annie herself has been alive for centuries and hasn't aged a day. She was still the same young girl for a long time.
A presence from behind startled Annie, but it just happens to be Florence.
"Oh, Florence. You scared me back there." She said, putting her hand on her chest and her pounding heart.
Florence chuckled at this. "My bad Annie. It's just that someone's here to see you." She said.
Almost immediately, Annie beamed with excitement, thinking it was her collab partner. But when Florence told her it wasn't, her excitement dissipated slightly.
"Oh. Then who is it then?"
"Well, just see for yourself."
Annie raised an eyebrow, but agreed and followed Florence to the office. The star was met with a lowly man, whom she immediately recognized as the studio's janitor.
"Good day sir. You called me?" Annie asked politely. The man nodded, then said that the conversation I just going to be just the two of them, so Annie gestured to Florence to leave the room and she did.
Annie just sat in the couch, right next to the man and the man looked solemnly in her one eye, since an eyepatch covered the other. Well, Sagan actually had her other eye, and the parasite himself was sitting on Annie's foot while hugging her leg.
"Annie," the man began. "I have something to tell you."
"Yes?" Said Annie, who was all ears for what the man had to say.
"The Skullgirl… She's back."
Hearing this made the girl's one eye widen I shock. "Oh yeah. It's now been seven years since her last appearance. I knew it's cycle wouldn't end soon enough. It's too personal for me to even explain how I knew it…"
"Not just that though," the man interjected. "I've heard rumors that your mother might be this year's Skullgirl."
"W-wait…" The young girl stuttered. She remembered when her mother became the Skullgirl herself, and a wish she made on the Skull Heart beforehand resulted in who Annie was today. "Where'd you get the information. And how are you gonna prove to me you're not lying?!"
"I… I don't have anything to prove to you. You just have to trust me…" The man said before leaving.
Annie's mouth remained wide open in shock. Did her mother really come back to life to become the Skullgirl? Did she actually become the Skullgirl again? 'No, it's not possible. Is it?' Annie asked herself. A lot of things stormed through the girl's mind after hearing the news and the man leaving her alone in the office.
That's when another knock came from the same door mere minutes later. "Come in." Annie called out. Her smile returned when she saw the former wrestler/her collaboration partner, Beowulf. She went up and hugged the huge man in front of him. Well, he looks huge in comparison to Annie's relatively small size.
"Hey Annie. How you doing?" Beowulf asked. Annie just kept hugging tighter.
"I'm fine. I'm just excited to be making another episode with you!" Annie responded cheerfully.
Beowulf chuckled at the girl's enthusiasm. "I guess that explains why you're so cheery today." He pointed out.
As the two headed outside the office, the same man from earlier had hidden beside the door, the side where its hinges are. He sees the two walk outside and after the door closes via a spring mechanism attached to it, he pulls out a radio.
"So, how'd it go with the girl?" A static-ish voice loomed from the radio.
"I ain't sure if she's buying it, but let's give her some time." Said the man.
The voice just gave a deep grunt in response before the line cut off.
Almost immediately afterwards, a member of the stage crew saw him and called out, "Oi, we need a clean-up at the studio before rehearsals. Mind helping us?"
The man nodded after having hidden the radio in his cart, then followed the stage crew member to the studio.
Meanwhile, in the Medici Tower; Top floor office…
A man was looking out from the window of his office after ending a radio call when another presence, a woman with an insane looking gun on her arm, came inside via elevator.
"So, updates on the plan Vitale?" The woman asked as she reached the desk.
Vitale turned around and approached his side of the desk before proceeding to speak. "Good so far. Our goon has told the news to Annie, even though I wouldn't reckon the Skullgirl could and will appear today."
"Do you think the plan will still commence?" The woman asked.
"Dahlia, you need not worry. You'll be able to do your part of it soon enough." Vitale assured her.
Black Dahlia just nodded and went back inside the elevator. Then Vitale continued to look out the window.
End of Chapter 1
So yeah, first chapter is done, and I'm honestly experiencing Writer's Block while writing this chapter. I still haven't come up with a solid plot for the rest of the story, but I may be coming up with one soon. And thankfully, at least some parts of the plot were final enough for me to start the first chapter. Also, I watched both Beowulf's and Annie's Story Modes twice, and I am implementing what I watched there into this story. Hope you peeps like it so far, and this is my first non-PAW Patrol-related fan fiction, so everything about this story –the plot, composition of the storyline, theme, characters used and focused on, etc.- are kind of new to me. But I will try my best.
Follow-up chapters coming soon…