Chapter 3

Encounters

Mustafu City was certainly far different from Daybreak Town, not just in the style of its buildings, but in its roads as well. Daybreak didn't have much in the way of vehicles aside from those used for construction and shipment. And considering the movement options available to Key-Bearers, and magic in general, getting around wasn't much of an issue anyways.

Here however, Strelitzia and Artemicion had taken a bus halfway across the town towards where the Moogle lived. She had stated that they could have simply ran along the rooftops but Artemicion had been most insistent that that would be a bad idea. And so they took the bus.

Now they were currently walking (well, the Moogle floated) away from the stop, towards a somewhat upscale residential area that must be where Artemicion lived.

Ever since the Moogle had introduced himself, she had a million questions. However Artemicion insisted that it would be a bad idea to talk about some things in the public, and would rather they wait until they were at his home to do so.

This didn't help Strelitzia's anxiety and confusion at all. Of import was one thing the Moogle had said, but wasn't willing to elaborate on at the hospital.

"This World."

What did he mean by that? How could there be a 'this World'? That didn't make sense! There couldn't be a 'this World' and 'that World'. The World was the World, the Realm of Light, everything that was. It was why in order to flee the War the Dandelions had to enter the a different realm entirely, the realm of things that could be.

However, he was able to cover some details, mainly those of this place that Strelitzia found herself in. This planet was comprised of humans and most of them had some sort of superpower known as a Quirk. Quirks had emerged almost 200 years ago and the number of people with Quirks had risen steadily since then until some 80% of the population had Quirks, and almost everyone Strelitzia's age had one.

There were rules against public usage of Quirks, meaning that Strelitzia's initial suggestion of rooftopping would not have gone over well with the locals. Since Strelitzia did not want to make waves, she (reluctantly) agreed.

The most fascinating thing however, was that there were those with Quirks who used them to defend others. Called Pro Heroes, reminding her of the Superheroes in comics she and Lauriam used to read. It was part of the reason she was so excited when she had learned she could become a Keyblade Wielder.

She hadn't read such stories in quite a while, in part because she had been living it, though of late she didn't really feel heroic. Her thoughts turned bitter as she started reflecting on her failures, and the situation back home. Things were been rapidly deteriorating, and she had been taken out like it was nothing.

Had the War already started? Was that why she was attacked? The doctor had not understood what she was talking about, but the war could have only just begun, not escalating yet. Were that the truth she should be with the Dandelions then. But was she really worthy to stand with them if-

"Hey, are you okay?"

Strelitzia looked up, seeing Artemicion standing (well floating) next to her.

"Huh?"

"You started slowing down and were looking very upset, kupo."

"Y-yeah. It's just a lot to t-take in." Strelitzia said.

"I'll bet, kupo. Don't worry, we're not too far away now." Artemicion said. "My place is-"

"HELP!"

Artemicion was cut off by a panicked voice calling out.

Former confusion and uncertainty was forgotten as the cry reached Strelitzia's ears. Someone was in danger. Her body moved on its own, towards the threat. Quickly picking up speed, Strelitzia rushed towards the sound, hearing a commotion from an alleyway.

There, she saw a sight that formed a knot in her stomach. A man was on the ground backed up against a wall while over him loomed a demonic creature. The main part of it's body was pure black, it's arms and legs ended in razor sharp claws, from it's forearms were small withered wings while another small pair extended from it's back, their small size doing nothing to impede the creature from floating in the air. From its waist extended a bladed tail, while beneath its feet hovered dark fireballs.

A Heartless! Strelitzia's eyes narrowed.

The Invisible wielded a wicked looking sword that it was currently pointing at the man cowering against the wall. However, when Strelitzia approached, the Heartless lifted the sword and turned towards her.

Its face was sinister and skull-like with glowing yellow eyes and a jagged mouth, along with a tall pair of sickly purple horns extending from it's brow, part of them forming a heart. In the center of it's torso this pattern was mimicked with a gaping heart-shaped hole it its chest.

In response to the Heartless' attention, Strelitzia held out her hand, calling upon Starlight, as she had done so many times before. However, as the familiar Keyblade formed, it looked wrong.

Unlike the grand, gold-highlighted form it had before, it was now back to its simple blue form. Had it somehow been downgraded? How? Strelitzia had upgraded Starlight herself, collecting the materials and going through the painstaking process of enhancing. She was tempted to check her other keychain to see if it had also been downgraded as well, but now wasn't the time.

Regardless of its state, Starlight was still a Keyblade, a fact most apparent to the Invisible, as its gaze focused on the weapon, before turning to Strelitzia and brandishing its sword.

Strelitzia did the same, dropping into a fighting stance, and just in time as the Invisible rushed towards her. Strelitzia raised Starlight, and the two of them locked blades.

The Invisible pushed, and Strelitzia tried to stand her ground, but was skidding backwards. So instead, she let go of her Keyblade, ducking at the same time. The Invisible drifted forwards while Strelitzia rolled underneath it, placing herself in between the Heartless and the man it had been attacking.

"Run! I've got this!" Strelitzia said.

The Invisible, rather than continue its attack with its sword, instead flew higher into the sky. It spun, unleashing a volley of dark spheres. Calling Starlight back to her hand, she deflected the dark magic and then countered with her own spell.

"Fire!" A jet of flame streaked out of the tip of her Keyblade. However the Invisible dove beneath the fire, forcing Strelitzia to cut off the spell as flew towards her. She leaped into the air, over the dashing Heartless, slashing it in the back as it passed under her, drawing a blue wound on its black flesh. As she hit the ground and turned, she already had another spell on her lips.

"Aero – Wind Barrage!"

As the Invisible turned to face her, Strelitzia hurled multiple waves of compressed air with swings of Starlight, cutting into the monsters chest, drawing more wounds. It tumbled back, battered by the winds, its flight going awry to send it careening into a wall.

Strelitzia was about to follow up with a finisher, only for movement in the corner of her eye to catch her attention. She instinctively ducked out of the way.

Reassessing the situation, she saw that her new assailants were smaller and ant-like.

Shadows.

As another leaped towards her, claw outstretched. Strelitzia countered, slashing it with her Keyblade, destroying the creature in one hit.

However as she did so, she noticed something, or rather the lack of something. There was no Lux emerging from the slain creature.

However, she didn't have time to ponder this, as the next Shadow leaped towards her, the others following. Strelitzia backed away, eventually leaping into the air, pointing her Key at the ground.

"Thunder!" She chanted, letting lose a bolt forked lightning from the tip, destroying the Shadows as they landed at her former position.

As Strelitzia landed, her instincts told her to move and she did, turning just as the Invisible had recovered and was now slashing at her.

She deflected its second swing and attempted to counterattack, but the Invisible instead lived up to its namesake and faded from sight.

She felt a sudden spike in temperature, as a circle of dark fire formed around her. Quickly leaping up as they converged into a burst of sinister flames. The Invisible emerged from the flames, brandishing its sword and preparing to take off, but Strelitzia was ready.

"Gravity!" A dark sphere briefly appeared over the Invisible, and it collapsed to the ground, its own weight suddenly multiplied.

Unable to move, it tried to form more fire, but it would be to no avail. Strelitzia raised her Keyblade and chanted. "Water – Surge!"

Spheres of water formed around her, and at a gesture from Starlight, were sent streaking into the Heartless, both extinguishing its flames and destroying it.

As the darkness dispersed, Strelitzia breathed a sigh of relief, dismissing Starlight as she did so. She could feel the magic for materials collection taking effect.

"That was amazing!"

Strelitzia jumped slightly, before she realized it was the man who had been attacked by the Heartless before. She had told him to leave, but apparently, he decided to stick around.

"A-are you okay?" Strelitzia said.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but-"

"WHOSE READY FOR AN ASS-KICKING!" A voice cried out from above. There was a blur at the edge of Strelitzia's vision, and she turned, shocked.

Having just descended from above was what Strelitzia initially thought to be a Viera. She had the height, the rabbit-like ears, and she was clad in a very skintight leotard that accentuated her both curvy and muscular figure.

Strelitzia blushed.

However, her initial assessment of her as a Viera was off. While she had the rabbit-like ears and predilection for skimpy attire, there were other things that were different. For one, her ears were wrong, coming off the side of her head where a Human's would be rather than the top. And she had a tail as well, which Viera lacked.

So she was most likely human, just with a Quirk.

"Wait… where's the villain?" The rabbit woman asked.

"It was those shadow monsters! She took care of them!" The man cheered.

"You did?" The woman said, turning to Strelitzia.

"Um… yes."

"Huh. You really should leave this sort of thing to the pro-heroes, kid. You could get hurt."

"What?"

"Technically, I should be arresting you for vigilantism." She sighed.

Strelitzia panicked. Had she already screwed something up? "Um… y-you weren't h-h-here and i-i-it was right on him a-and-"

"Er… that shouldn't be necessary, kupo." Artimecion sounded out, having finally arrived.

"Hey… I know about you." The rabbit Hero said. "You're that hero support inventor, Artemicion, right?"

"Yeah, and you're the Mirko the Rabbit Hero, am I correct?" Artemicion asked.

"You know it!" Mirko said, flexing. "Is this kid with you?"

"Yeah, please don't get too upset, kupo. Strelitzia's not from around here. Some of those uh… shadow monsters… showed up and she couldn't help but act."

"Oh. Well, it sounds like you'd do well as a pro hero. Is that what you're aiming for?"

"Uh…"

"We're still figuring things out." Artemicion said.

"Well, you got spunk kid, don't let it go to waste. As for me, once I find out who's Quirk is making these monsters, there's going to be hell to pay." Mirko said. She pounded her fist into her palm, before leaping high into the air and out of sight.

After breathing a sigh of relief, Strelitzia turned towards Artemicion. "S-sorry."

"Hey, there's nothing to apologize for, kupo. You did the right thing."

"Um… Okay." Strelitzia said. "So… now what."

"Well, we head to my home. We're still not to far off. Then, of course, the answers I hope I can provide."

So here we have our first fight scene. I wanted to emphasize how Strelitzia primarily relies of magic in her fighting style and I hope I've portrayed it well enough. Also hope I nailed Mirko's personality in this brief scene of her.

~Dragonexx