Loke might have seemed like he was real popular with the ladies, but he was surprisingly a greater artist as well. He's been working with this girl named Ashely and have made great comics, manga, and such. The two of them actually made a great team as Ashely was inspired to write her stories from Loke's pictures and Loke can make the illustrations to her stories. In fact, Loke was working on some pictures of Celestria and Salamondra right now.
"Wow, Loke." Lucy said as she and the rest of the art class took a look at what Loke did. "Some of these drawings are incredible."
"Lucy's right, pal. You really know your stuff." Cana said as they all took a look. "Lots of Celestria and Salamondra."
"Thanks, guys." Loke said. "For some reason, I've been in the mood to draw stuff like this. We have Celestria and Salamondra on the anniversary they became heroes. There's one where they have a family together. We have one from when they fought Nightmare and facing their fears. Salamondra pulling crazy shenanigans on Celestria. Finally, we've got one of them giving gifts to each other. I don't know why, but I'm just feeling nostalgic."
"I doubt that one with the family is really going to happen, but the rest of them look great." Lucy said.
"Is Ashely going to use any of this for her stories?" Erza said.
"Maybe. I'm hoping it will give her inspiration." Loke said. "Lucy, I've got to thank you for bringing me and Ashely together like this again. She and I have made great things together."
"It was nothing. I just thought that you two would make a great team together." Lucy said.
"Maybe a little more." Loke said as he was actually blushing. "Lucy, you do some writing yourself. How about I make some illustrations for the stuff you write? If you ever decide to become a writer, it might get people interested in your things."
"You might want to hold that thought." All of them looked to the door and spotted Ashely walking in with a big smile on her face.
"Hi, Ashely." Cana said.
"Hey. I got some more drawings that I thought you could use for more inspiration." Loke said.
"Thanks, but that might have to wait." Ashely said. "I've got exciting news. When we made our comics and manga before, we were just showing them to our friends. I think it's time we take it to the next level."
"What do you mean?" Loke questioned.
"I heard that there's a publisher in Paris." Ashely said. "I think it's time we take what we made and go public with it. I'm going to try and submit what we've made to him." She said as she took our the first comic they made about Celestria and Salamondra and wants to share it with the rest of the world.
"You want to turn it into a real comic?! You mean like one where people can buy it, and it's being sold like it's done by professionals?!" Lucy said as this sounded like a very big deal.
"Do you really think you're ready for something like that?!" Loke said.
"I believe so. A lot of people love our work. I'm sure it's all going to go well." Ashely said as she was confident she could get her comic published and become a real author.
"That's incredible, Ashely!" Lucy said. "Go for it! You've got to give this a try!"
"Lucy's right! This is a really big deal!" Cana encouraged as everyone was feeling excited about this.
"This is awesome! Do you want me to go with you? He should meet the both of us." Loke said.
"Thanks, but I'm going to try and do this alone." Ashely said. "I want to try and look professional about this. I think having a meeting with just one person might be a little more beneficial, and since I am the one who wrote the story, I can explain it. I'll let you know what happens."
"You'll do great, Ashely." Lucy encouraged.
"The guy would have to be crazy to not take it." Cana said as everyone supported her. Ashely was really feeling the love as she left the room and was feeling good about this. Ashely left the art room and was on her way out of the school. Unfortunately for her, Taylor was walking in with Samantha following. It also didn't help that Ashely accidentally bumped into her and dropped the comic.
"Sorry about that, Taylor." Ashely said.
"You better. Have you had your eyes on those stupid stories of yours that you can't see straight anymore?" Taylor mocked.
"Laugh at my work while you can." Ashely said as even Taylor wouldn't bring her down as she grabbed her comic. "We'll see who has the last laugh when my work is published by a real publishing company."
"What are you talking about?" Taylor questioned. "Who in their right mind would want to publish your dumb comic about that lame Celestria?"
"Just because you don't like Celestria doesn't mean others won't like this." Ashely said, but Taylor just laughed.
"No one is going to want to read your stupid comic. Big companies like that aren't going to publish kiddie books like that." Taylor said. "They want books that could actually sale, not something dumb and made by pathetic wannabes like you. I bet he'll take one look, say you have no talent, and the likes of you should just give up. Someone like you is more like...Samantha. You're best fit serving someone."
"All great stories have a beginning. Someone somewhere had to start writing amazing stories and made them as popular as they are today." Ashely said. "You wouldn't know since all you read are fashion magazines."
"You'll see... Just imagine what Loke will think when you fail." Taylor taunted. "You didn't honestly think a playboy flirt like him would be interested in the likes of you, right? I bet once he sees your a failure, he's just going to jump to the next beautiful and pretty girl he sees. Even if that someone is me." When she said that, it seemed to undermine Ashely's confidence for a moment. She did think Loke was out of her league, but she wasn't going to give Taylor that satisfaction.
"You don't know what you're talking about." Ashely said as she just walked away and kept her head up high and tried to stay confident.
...
Ashely
Ashely was able to track down the publisher she was speaking of. She was able to find him at a local coffee place. With one more good breath to calm her nerves, she went in to speak with him. Ashely knew which person it was, but it certainly didn't help that he looked rather busy on the phone.
"No. I said no. I'm not satisfied with sales, so I think it might be best to just cut it there." The publisher said and ended the call with him having some coffee.
"Excuse me." Ashely said as she tried to get his attention, but she had a bad start with this conversation. She walked right into him and she caused his hot coffee to spill over him. "Oh my gosh! I am so sorry!" She said as she tried to fix it and help him clean the mess.
"It's fine. I just look forward to my coffee all the time, but I just love having it spilled all over me." The publisher said with sarcasm as he just tried to get her off.
"I am so sorry, but I have something to show you." Ashely said.
"I don't have the time." The publisher said as he just brushed her off and walked away from her.
"No! Wait!" Ashely said as she wasn't giving up. "My partner and I made a comic book together and I was hoping you could look at it and have it published for us."
"I'm not interested." The publisher said as they exited the coffee place.
"But you haven't even looked at it." Ashely said.
"Aren't you still in school? How could you have made a comic?" The publisher said as he didn't really believe someone Ashely's age knew what they were doing when it came to this.
"I'm more experienced than you think. I write all the time." Ashely said. "Just look at it and read it for yourself. It's about Celestria and Salamondra." She said as she tried to give him the comic for him to look at, but he didn't seem interested at all.
"Not another who want me to publish their fanfiction. I happen to get that more often than you think." The publisher said. "I'm not interested in publishing that kind of stuff. I look for something more original. Now, not only have you ruined my coffee, but you are also wasting my time." This guy gave her the cold shoulder and shot her down hard. He just turned and walked away with Ashely devastated. She thought she could do this, but it looks like Taylor was right.
"No... That can't be..." Ashely said. She came into this fully confident it would happen and just got turned away. She was devastated. She held the comic in her hand and nearly crippled it. "I can't believe this. I'm gonna have to live with the shame that Taylor was right. Am I really just not that good? What about Loke? He'll be devastated. Is he really going to just leave me because I failed?" Ashely was starting to question her own skills, questioning everything, and she was starting to get scared and nervous about all of it. She's starting to doubt everything about herself now and has lost all confidence.
...
Black Knight
"A young creative spirit that has just been crushed by rejection and now filled with doubt. The perfect canvas for my artistry." Black Knight said as he plans to make another villain. He took an etherious in his hands and filled it with dark power. "Fly, my evil etherious, and evillize her creative soul!"
...
Ashely
Ashely dropped to her knees and just couldn't take it anymore. Having a creative mind can be a blessing and a curse because you think negative things about yourself and they can consume you. As Ashely was questioning everything about herself and her skills, the etherious made it's way to her and went into the comic with her being connected to Black Knight.
"Frightist, I'm Black Knight. Are you doubting your creative spirit? Rejection hurts, don't it?" Black Knight said. "Well, I'll be your publisher, a different kind of publisher. I'm granting you the power to bring whatever you create to life. It will surely show the whole world how creative you truly are. Since you write stories about Celestria and Salamondra, I'm sure you know what I want."
"Their miraculous. I'll get them." Ashely said as she accepted his offer and became a new villain. She was now in a rainbow bodysuit with her skin turning pale blue and a pair a stilettos. The comic was also turned into a giant paintbrush for her to use.
"Let's see what those critics think of my creativity now." Frightist said as she did some drawing and it was incredible. She drew with incredible speed. Once she drew what she needed, she gave the picture a powerful stroke and it was brought to life. She ended up creating a griffon that was black and blue with the front half of an eagle and the back half of a lion. Once she created it, she jumped right on it. "Fly, my creation! Fly!" She called as her griffon took to the sky and started flying to the sky to spread more creativity... Chaotic and hazardous creativity.
...
Lucy and Loke
"Loke, did you hear anything from Ashely yet?" Lucy questioned as she and Loke were walking down the streets together. "Do you think it all went well?"
"I'm sure it did." Loke said. "Who wouldn't want to read her stories? Plus, my art is something to behold."
"I think this whole thing is starting to go to your head." Lucy said as she didn't really like Loke's attitude. "I'm sure you're right. What could have gone wrong?" Suddenly, they saw a shadow fly over them. When that happened, they spotted Frightist riding on her griffon and was spreading more and more of her creativity as giant spiders and large rocks were falling all over the street.
"How often do you see rocks and giant spiders fall from the sky?! How's that for creativity?!" Frightist called.
"That voice... That's Ashely!" Loke said.
"I guess her meeting didn't as well as we thought!" Lucy said.
"Ashely!" Loke called as he chased after her. Lucy knew he had to do something to keep him safe, but she wasn't needed here. Celestria was needed more. Lucy dived down the subway and saw no one was around.
"I don't understand what could have gone wrong. Ashely's and Loke's comic is great. Ashely is a great writer and Loke is a great artist." Lucy said.
"I guess she's learning that not everyone will like her work, but it's time to get to work." Stella said.
"Stella, Twinkle!" Lucy transformed into Celestria and hurried off after Frightist.
...
Natsu
"A brand new supervillain has emerged and is bringing objects and large monsters to life! Citizens are advised to stay indoors until Celestria and Salamondra have this situation handled." The news reported with Natsu and Igneel being alerted of the situation.
"Another supervillain is attacking with incredible powers and large monsters. How original..." Igneel sarcastically claimed.
"It might not be new, but it is improved. We've got work to do." Natsu said as he was ready to jump right into action.
"Igneel, Fire Up!" Natsu transformed into Salamondra and hurried off to help Celestria out.
...
Frightist
Frightist continued to spread chaos and havoc through the city. In her villainous mind, she believes it's what's allowing her to show her creative side. As she rode on her Griffon, she saw the damage she was doing as she looked down at the city.
"Let's try something new. How about we have it rain fire?" Frightist said as she drew a series of fireballs and have them all rain down on the streets. Celestria had to do something fast and that's what she did. She swung herself up as high as she could and then threw her whip right at Frightist. Once it got around her, Celestria pulled her down with her and they both plummeted to the ground. "Save me, my griffon!" She called as her griffon flew down and was able to grab her with her talons while Celestria landed on the ground. "Leave me alone, Celestria! I'm just trying to show the world my creativity!"
"You're a writer, Ashely. You should be using your words instead of spreading chaos and fear." Celestria said as Loke showed up and watched everything unfold. "If there's a problem, I can help you. A writer like yourself should know how this is all going to turn out."
"Actually, I'm changing the story where you lose this time!" Frightist said as she was placed on the ground. "If people won't look at my work, I'll make them see my work! I'll bring what Loke and I created to life so we'll always be together!"
"Loke?" Celestria questioned as she didn't quite understood what she meant by that.
"Come, my creations!" Frightist ordered as she had a command over what she drew. Celestria looked around and saw a series of large spiders coming at her.
"Oh boy!" Celestria complained as this was looking like a real nightmare. She moved away and tried to get away from all those spiders.
"After her! Don't let her escape, and get me her miraculous!" Frightist ordered with her creations going after Celestria. Celestria tried fighting off her the spiders as she twirled her whip around and used it to deflect them as they jumped right at her. She kept trying to fight them off, but some of the spiders shot webs at her and tried to restrain her.
"It's no wonder people don't like spiders!" Celestria said as she tried to get herself out of there. It looked like the spiders were going to feast on her, but she felt someone tackle her right into a fountain and was able to get her free from the webs. When she came up for air, she saw Salamondra made it just in time.
"You always knew how to draw a crowd, but a crowd of spiders?" Salamondra questioned.
"Not exactly ideal, I know." Celestria said. One of the spiders leaped at them, but they both moved out of the way and it landed in the water with it melting away like fresh paint on a canvas.
"Talk about being a washout." Salamondra joked.
"Of course! They're like painted drawings! Water ruins them!" Celestria said as they were able to find a weakness.
"The only thing that's going to be ruined around here will be you two!" Frightist called as she rode on her Griffon and flew over them.
"You look like you could use a little refreshment!" Salamondra said as he tried splashing some water against her Griffon. A little got on it and it was just enough for her griffon to melt away. Frightist jumped off before her creation fell apart and worked fast as she drew a giant metal box and had it come down. Both heroes jumped away, but the box landed right on the fountain and blocked them from their only means of beating the drawings.
"You can't possibly get all my creations wet! There isn't enough water for you to do that!" Frightist said. "Let's see how you two deal with a real challenge." She used her powers once again and was able to life-sized ninjas, one for each of them. "Attack!" Both of her ninjas pulled out katana and they both tried attacking each of the heroes with them doing their best to fight them off.
"That giant paintbrush has to be where the etherious is! We've got to get it!" Celestria said as she was dodging katana swings.
"Can it wait so I don't end up like sashimi?!" Salamondra said as the two of them kept moving and tried to outmaneuver ninja. As for Frightist, she just enjoyed what was unfolding in front of her.
"Ashely!"
"Loke?" She turned around and saw Loke standing there.
"What are you doing? What happened with the publisher?" Loke said.
"What do you think happened?" Ashely questioned. "He turned me down. He wouldn't even look at our comic. If that's the case, how are we suppose to show our creative genius? What is going to keep you and I together?"
"What? What are you talking about?" Loke questioned. "You think we won't be so close just because our comic doesn't do well? That's crazy. It might have been what brought you and I together, but I'm not going to stop hanging with you just because of that. We'll just figure something else out."
"Really?" Frightist questioned.
"Don't listen to him, Frightist. Even if he does stay with you, how are you ever going to make it as a writer if people won't even look at your creativity. You shouldn't be denied it!" Black Knight encouraged. "Let your creations come to life!"
"He's right. I am a visionary, a creative individual, and I shall have the whole world see what I can do!" Fightist said as she started creating once again.
"No!" Loke called as he wanted to try and stop her, but she became too skilled of an artist to be stopped. As for the heroes, they were still trying to fight off the ninjas, but it wasn't easy. Celestria tried lashing her whip at her opponent, but the ninja was too fast. When it saw an opening, it jumped right at her and gave her a powerful kick and knocked her to the ground. Salamondra tried blocking each attack against him with his staff. However, the ninja swung its katana down and he blocked it. Still, the ninja kicked him back and he landed near Celestria.
"I knew ninjas were tricky, but I didn't realize how tough they were." Celestria said. The two of them moved carefully to try and keep the fight going, but the two heroes tired to think of a way out of this. Salamondra might have gotten one when he spotted a fire hydrant.
"Come on! Put one right here!" Salamondra dared his opponent to attack. The ninja took the bait as it tried to attack him, but he moved out of the way and slashed through the hydrant and the ninja got wet with it falling apart. Salamondra made sure to the other one as he used the umbrella feature and deflected the water to have it hit the other one and it broke apart.
"Not bad, but that's a major waste of water." Celestria said.
"Your Miraculous Starlight will fix everything either way." Salamondra said. That was when they heard explosions going off and saw that Frightist generated a high-tech tank that was massive, taller than most of the buildings. "We're going to need a lot of water for that one."
"It doesn't matter how much water we use. What we need to do is get our hands on that paintbrush or she'll just keep creating whatever she wants." Celestria said.
"How do we get close enough?" Salamondra questioned. Celestria knew there was only one way that could help her do that.
"Open the Celestial Gate!" She used her powers and ended up getting a ring with the Leo sign on it. "A ring?"
"Maybe some great force is telling you something about us." Salamondra implied. Celestria tried to figure out how to use the ring, but she saw nothing she can use. However, she got a good look at the ring and knows where she saw it before.
"That's it! What that great force is saying who can help us with this!" Celestria said. "I need you to keep Frightist busy while I get us a little help!" She said as she took off to find another who can help.
"Another helper? Aren't I enough anymore?" Salamondra questioned as he was beginning to feel like his value was becoming less and less.
...
Loke
Loke had to duck and hide for cover when Frightist created that tank. It wasn't looking good for Paris as that tank was running over everything. All he could do was watch this unfold, but he didn't have to watch for long. The ring that Celestria got was the same one Loke had.
"Loke!" Celestria said as she landed down behind him.
"Celestria?" Loke said.
"I need your help to defeat this villain and save Ashely." Celestria said.
"My help? Of course! Just tell me what I can do to save her." Loke said. That's exactly what Celestria needed to hear as Loke was fully confident in himself. Celestria used her whip and pulled out a gold and bronze hand chain. "Loke Starling, this is the miraculous of the lion. It will grant you the power of summoning. Any object you want will travel through the ground and come to you. You will use it for the greater good, and you will return it to me once the mission is over. Can I trust you?"
"Of course you can, especially if it helps Ashely." Loke said as he took the miraculous and placed it over his hand with it turning pure gold and Roar flew out of it.
"RRRROOOOOAAAARRRRR is who I am." Roar introduced.
"You're not a lioness? Too bad. We would have made a better team like that." Loke joked. "So, what do I do?"
"First, you need to say "Roar, Call". Roar instructed.
"Roar, Call!" Loke said as Roar was pulled into the miraculous and Loke transformed. His hair became more wild. His glasses changed with them having gold frames and orange lenses. He was given a gold-like suit with bronze gloves and boots. His weapon was a morning star as a spike ball and chain with it acting like his tail. He almost looked like a humanoid lion and made it look good. "Oh yeah. Royal Leo is in the house now."
"Good, but we'll have to move fast." Celestria said as she was running low on time. "All I need is for you to use your morning star to touch her paint brush. It doesn't matter how as long as it makes contact with it. That's how you'll activate your power."
"No problem." Royal Leo claimed. Hopefully, this new hero will be able to help. As for Frightist, she continued to bring upon destruction across Paris.
"Where are you? Come out and surrender, heroes! It's time to put a twist on your tale where you will actually be defeated!" Frightist called.
"Dragon Fire!" Salamondra acted on his own as he called on his powers and touched the tank with it falling apart.
"You really think that would help?" Frightist said as she just drew over the damage that was dealt and it looked as good as new.
"I figured it was better than nothing." Salamondra said as the tank took aim right at him and was ready to blow him to the moon. Frightist was about to fire upon him, but that was when she noticed Royal Leo's morning star coming around her brush.
"I got it!" Royal Leo said as he and Celestria stood on a building. He tried to pull the paintbrush right out of her hands, but she was not letting go.
"A new hero? That's not the twist in this story I was going for." Frightist said as she tried to pull her paintbrush back to her. Royal Leo couldn't afford to waste time, so he just pulled his morning star back. "Who are you?"
"Royal Leo. The best lion you'll probably ever see." He boasted and got ready to use his power. "Are you sure this will work?"
"Positive. As long as there's a path that leads to the object your morning star touched, it will work. The object just has to stay out of midair." Celestria said as she assured him this would work, and he trusted her.
"Summon!" Royal Leo called on his power as he slammed his hand against the ground. When that happened, a path of light traveled through the ground as it made it's way down the building, across the road, and even up the tank. It even went up Frightist's body and traveled over her arm with it making contact with the brush and it disappeared.
"What?!" Frightist said as that was unexpected. Royal Leo made it look like he practically pulled the brush right out of the ground and was in his hands now. When he got it, he smashed it right over his knee and the etherious flew out.
"No more evildoing for you, little etherious." Celestria activated her whip and did her part in this and used her whip. "Time to de-evillize!" She tossed the whip and was able to catch the etherious with it. "Gotcha! Bye-Bye, little guy." She said as it ended all the same. "Miraculous Starlight!" She tossed the ring and unleashed the magic stars with them erasing everything Frightist created and restored all the damage. When Frightist's tank was gone, she was back on the ground and became Ashely again.
"Pound it!" Royal Leo and Celestria celebrated. When it was over, Celestria used her powers to form a rainbow star charm.
"Come with me. I think I have something for you, but we've got to move fast." Celestria said as she took Royal Leo and took off.
"Hey! Where are you going?!" Salamondra said.
"What's going on, Salamondra?" Ashely questioned.
"I'll let you know as soon as I figure it out." Salamondra said as he took off on his own and left Ashely alone. She noticed the comic book and grabbed it, trying to figure out what to tell the others and how to go from here.
"Ashely!" Ashely looked and spotted Loke running towards her. "Ashely, you were etheriouized! What happened?"
"I... I failed...Loke." Ashely admitted. "The comic book publishing ended up being a failure. I... I suppose you don't want to hang with a failure."
"What? Don't be crazy." Loke assured. He grabbed her a hand and placed something in it. "If I thought you were a failure, would I let you have this?" He gave her the charm that Celestria created to show that he's still with her and he doesn't plan to go anywhere. "Start from the beginning."
...
Black Knight
"Someone is bound to rewrite this story, Celestria. Eventually, there will be a twist where I will be the one who wins!" Black Knight claimed as he still has many creative ideas himself as to how he will defeat the heroes.
...
The Next Day
At the art room, Ashely told the others all about what happened. All of them felt so bad for her, but surrounded her with support to try and lift her spirit up.
"I'm really sorry you had to go through that, Ashely." Lucy said.
"Forget him. He doesn't know what he's talking about." Cana said as everyone else felt the same way she did.
"Still... The rejection hurts." Ashely said.
"It doesn't matter." Loke assured as he put his hand on hers. "You still got me. We're still partners and we'll create even better stories."
"Sure, you might get rejected, but that's no reason to give up. Someone out there will publish your story." Lucy assured. "You'll get another chance. Someone will be willing to publish your work. Don't let one rejection bother you." Ashely couldn't handle the rejection of what she loves not getting out there, but she felt much better knowing her friends would encouraged her.
"Thank you. Thank you, everyone." Ashely said as she felt better knowing her friends and Loke support her so much. Things didn't work this time, but they might another time as long as she doesn't give up. Hopefully, a certain starry superhero will understand that with what she loves.
