“Well, well. Look who’s walked into the wrong neighborhood?” A freckled teen with a pompadour said.
“Oh dear, is the little girl lost?” Another thug said, getting into Arisu’s face.
Despite the four punks surrounding her, each with a weapon in easy reach, Arisu kept her usual steely eyes as she glared at them. She had to admire their guts. She’d made high schoolers wet themselves with that glower.
“It’s a free street, dumbass. Step aside.”
“Some mouth for a little brat.” The largest said, leaning closer to her face. “This daughter of a worthless drunk needs to learn some manners! You’re talking to the Guardian of Koiwa No. 4 Junior High!”
This comment made Arisu’s right eye twitch, the only emotion revealed on her face. Nothing earned her ire more than insulting her father. She might have spared them an ass-kicking if it wasn’t for that comment.
“Gah!” The leader howled in pain as he received a sudden knee to the gut, blowing the wind from his lungs.
“Boss!” His gang responded by pulling out their weapons, butter knives, chains, wooden kendo swords and other instruments of death. This only earned a slight smile from Arisu. She’d enjoy this.
“You’ll regret this, brat!” The leader gasped, hulled away on the shoulders of his buddies. Arisu watched with disdain as the Koiwa No. 4 Junior High students limped away. Serves them right for trying to encroach on the territory of Daini Kameido Junior. As a Guardian herself, called the Kameido Queen by some, she couldn’t allow such a blatant challenge to go unchallenged.
But such was Arisu’s life in her short twelve years, in a world where only the strongest survived. Frankly, Arisu thought she'd let them off lightly. After finally lighting her cigarette with her favorite lighter, she walked to school.
She was late, of course, but nobody cared. The homeroom was rowdy as usual, with students laughing and carousing, instead of doing any schoolwork, the home teacher was nowhere in sight, too scared of the delinquents in his class. But such was Daini Kameido Junior High School, the shithole home to the worst kids in Koto. The adults had long since given up trying to save them.
“Hey, Arisu!” But one student was studying, her vibrant pink hair swishing as she lifted from her book as Arisu took her desk.
“Hey, Hinata,” Arisu waved to her cousin, the only girl who didn’t deserve to go to this shithole of a school. Unlike the rest of them, she actually had some brains. Not that she wasn’t a delinquent herself; her dyed pink hair was evidence of that. “You’re hurt! Your cheek is bleeding.”
It was true, crimson dripping onto her dark blue sailor suit. Thanks to its color, however, the stain won’t be noticeable. “Some idiot pulled a knife on me.” Arisu gave a genuine smile. Besides her pops, Hinata was the only person who gave a crap about her. “Only a scratch. No big deal.”
Hinata frowned but otherwise said nothing. She knew her cousin’s propensity for getting into fights. It didn’t stop her from worrying about her.
After a school day in which nothing was learned, she joined Hinata as they walked home. As usual, Arisu smoked as she walked. It was a habit Hinata hated but tolerated for her cousin’s sake.
“You need to check it out. It’s super fun,” Hinata said. “The new arcade has this shooting game I’m sure you’d like.”
“Not today. I got Guardian business day. Some Ariake Junior jumped Matsuyama the other day, and I need to pay them a visit.” Even if she thought the guy was a class-act moron, Arisu protected her own.
“Okay.” Hinata sagged, disappointed.
Before Arisu turned to leave, her cousin stopped her. “Is this all you want for your life, Arisu?”
“What do you mean?”
“All this fighting. Don’t you want to do more? Do better? You can’t just spend your entire life fighting on the streets.”
After taking a long drag of her cigarette, Arisu looked away. “Got nothing else. Someone like me has no future. I accepted that long ago. You’re the only one who’s got a chance to be anything. Unlike my dumb ass, you’re smart.”
“Arisu.” Hinata faltered, lost for words. Arisu vanished down an alley. There was nothing to say.
Before anything else, Arisu checked into her apartment. It was a rundown dump in the worst part of Kota. Past due bills greeted her as she passed the mailbox, trash was scattered across the floor. Snoring at the dinner table was her father, drunk again.
After the economic bubble collapsed, Japan went downhill, and her father was one of many who’d lost their job and suffered. Unable to find another job, he’d turned to drink. Only money from her grandparents kept them afloat. She spent the next half-hour cleaning up trash and discarded beer bottles, tidying up the best she could.
“I’ll come back with dinner, poppa,” Arisu said, kissing her sleeping father on the cheek. After a half-muttered sleepy thanks, her father fell back to sleep. After turning off the light, she left their apartment.
“If I recall, those Ariake Junior like hanging around the seaside.” There’d be at least fifteen to deal with. Tough bastards, all of them. She brought along a baseball bat for insurance in case things got messy. A white surgical mask covered her face, proof she was entering a serious battle. With these odds, Arisu didn’t dare hold back.
People scattered as she approached. Arisu had developed an infamous reputation in the neighborhood, and others wisely kept their distance. Her metal bat sparked as it dragged along the pavement, eager to bust some skulls.
“What’s that you’re eating, fatty?” A girl said from a side street.
“Oink. Oink. Pigging out as usual.” Another said.
Two girls were tormenting a younger girl from their school, laughing at her as she tried to eat her bento box. The girl said nothing, looking down, not wanting to cause any fuss. The two bullies laughed and pointed, enjoying how they were making the other girl squirm. They yelped as a bat banged against a nearby metal sign, whitening as they saw who’d caused the sound.
“You have some nerve showing your faces around here,” Arisu said, swinging her bat across her shoulder. “I’m in a bad mood. Wanna meet a good friend of mine?”
“No, sorry!” The two bullies scattered to the wind. In their haste, they’d dropped their bags. Arisu beamed and crouched down, helping herself to whatever money they had.
“You really need to stick up for yourself, Kaguya,” Arisu said, pocketing some coins. “Those dumbasses shouldn’t talk to you like that.”
“I’m not as strong as you.” The girl said, looking down. “Never will be.”
They’d known each other back in elementary school as friends of sorts. Kaguya had been a heavier girl then, a prime target for bullying. She’d shed that weight, but the stigma had still carried to her new school.
“You sell yourself short,” Arisu said, standing up. “It’s about attitude. Got that, and people won’t dare bother you.”
“You make it sound easy,” Kaguya said, bitterness creeping into her voice. “Some of us aren’t you, Ikehara.”
Arisu sighed, shaking her head. Maybe someday her old friend would learn some spine and show her inner demon. But that was Kaguya’s problem. It was nothing she could fix. After saying her goodbyes, the stinging scent of the sea struck her nostrils.
The sound of punks guffawing and jesting grew louder as she approached, Ariake Junior making their presence known through graffiti and tags. They’d made an abandoned warehouse their home, its owners long scared away by the Ariake thugs. Two guards blocked her way, their bodies blocking their hideout’s broken, rusted entrance.
“What are you doing here?” One crouching thug said, taking a swig from a beer can. “Get lost, kid. Else you’ll get hurt.”
“You idiot, that’s the Kameido Queen, Arisu Ikehara!” Another thug said, trembling.
“What?” The first dropped his beer can in surprise, hair-raising in tension.
“Got some business with your boss. Ya gonna move, or do I have t’a make you?” Arisu crouched down and lit a cigarette, showing her most unappealing smile as she pulled away her mask to reveal her face.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“Um.” Both guards trembled, knowing their day had turned for the worst.
“Don’t worry, I got this.” A massive brute exited the warehouse, glowering at the impudent intruder. Almost a year and a half her senior, he’d grown to an impressive size, nearly twice her height. But Arisu was unintimidated, taking another disinterested drag on her cigarette.
“Kenji Ono,” Arisu said, matching the giant brute eye to eye from her crouched position. “One of your idiots hurt someone from my school. The guy’s a fool, but we at Daini Kameido Junior have a reputation to protect.”
“That right?” Ono passed a comb through his pompadour, his tone just as disinterested. “And you expect to do something about it on your lonesome?”
“Against you wusses?” Arisu gave a dismissive snort. “I won’t even need to break a sweat.”
“Why you!” One thug lost his temper, pulling out a metal chain, eager to strangle the intruder to death. But his boss stopped him.
“Temper. You’re just as bold as I’ve heard, Arisu Ikehara. I’m going to enjoy this. Stay out of this, boys. It’s just me and her. It’s a fight between Guardians.” Ono cracked his knuckles, standing to his full height.
A slight smile grew on Arisu’s lips, eager to get into this fun rumble. Ono was a karate black belt. He had gotten kicked out for picking too many fights. Just her sort. She rose and got into a fighting position with her bat.
Before it could come to blows, however, the unexpected happened. Lightning flashed, despite there not being a cloud anywhere. The air became heavy, like she’d climbed to the top of a mountain. The lightning flashed again, but Arisu blinked as she thought she saw creatures within the storm. Impossible! Monsters didn’t exist.
“What the hell was that?” Ono said, their fight forgotten. Everybody yelped in surprise as figures dropped from the sky, their appearance something from a nightmare. Human in appearance but with a bulbous body with sickly gray skin. Their faces resembled pigs, but oily tendrils wiggled free from their mouths, tasting the air. Each digit held a jagged spike, twice the size of her bat. They looked at the surprised teenagers with gleeful malevolence, licking their tentacles in hunger.
“Alright men, grab everyone you can.” The biggest said, towering twice over Ono’s already impressive height. “The king’s looking forward to a feast tonight, and we want the delectables ready for seasoning. Leave the women folk. I have something special planned for them.” This voice was oily, making one ill just listening to him. His chuckle was like metal scraping together.
“You sick ****!” Arisu kicked forward, hitting the leader right between the legs. The monster squealed in pain before toppling over. She didn’t stop kicking him in the royal jewels until her leg got tired. Arisu won’t allow these idiots to do as they please. While this city was a shithole, it was her shithole.
“Boss!” The monstrosities said, frightened by this sudden assault by a seemingly puny twelve-year-old girl.
“You want some too?” Arisu glared at the monsters, her bat ready for action. They backed away, their tentacles wiggling in distress.
“What’s going on here?” An unfamiliar voice said. Arisu watched in amazement as someone floated down from the air, flying like a bird without wings. Unlike his twisted buddies, this man looked human, though his long glam rock star hair was bright blue and neon-like. He wore leather, all black from head to toe. He glared at the humans with obvious disdain, pissing Arisu off royally.
“Lord Captain Vice!” The monsters said, tear sparking in their eyes in relief.
“Fools, you can’t handle a single girl?” Vice said. “I expect better from our elite of the elite. Succeed, or our lord will learn personally about this.”
This got the monsters’ attention, deciding that Arisu was a lesser danger than disappointing their leader. On trembling legs, the big guy rose to his menacing height.
“You got lucky, brat.” The big guy said, the pavement cracking as it failed to hold his weight. “Come on, boys. She can’t beat all of us.”
“Tsk, how annoying.” Arisu pulled her mask into position, ready to face the rushing horde of monstrosities. Dozens of tendrils lashed around her weapon arm, holding her baseball bat in place. The monsters showed impressive speed but yelped as they faced her fists instead.
“Die!” The big guy pulled a sword the size of a tree from his belt, lashing out at the distracted Arisu. Steel clashed as someone intercepted the blow.
“Ono. I didn’t ask for your help.” Arisu went back to back with him as they faced the monstrous horde together.
“You’re not the only one who wants to protect his shithole of a city.” Her guardian rival said. A monster squealed as the stupid tentacled face met fist, yellowish viscous blood oozed from it’s shattered nose. “To me, gang. Let’s show these freaks why they can’t mess with Tokyo!”
“Yeah!” The Ariake Junior thugs said, their voices rising to a fever pitch as they backed up their leader.
It was a rough bout as the delinquents gave as good as they got. Yellow blood pooled under their shoes as they pounded their foes into dust. Arisu received a nasty blow to the shoulder, definitely dislocating it. Crimson dripped into her eyes from multiple head wounds, the monster’s claws were sharp as knives. Ono was an ugly mess, his school uniform having several bloody slash wounds.
“You’re next!” Arisu said, standing on the fallen head monster’s face. She pointed her bat at the final monster, eager to learn if he also bled yellow.
“Like that, freak?” Ono cracked his knuckles. “I’m ready for round two.”
“Tsk.” The leader said, scowling as he lowered closer to earth. “I wasn’t expecting such heavy resistance. But your pretty act of defiance ends here,”
“Gah!” Arisu howled in pain as a gust of something shot from his extended hand. The force of a mini-cyclone tore their feet from the ground, sending them flying. Arisu screamed as she struck the pavement hard, skin scratched raw by the impact.
“And here’s where you die, pest.”
---
“This is bad!” Charity flitted about in distress, horrified by the damage the Slithcar Empire was causing to this helpless planet. Like many others, they planned to consume this planet whole before moving to their next victim. While the humans were fighting back, they fought an impossible battle. King Slithcar was beyond anything they could face. Even magical girls were powerless against his might.
But saving this planet wasn’t her mission. Starlight Dream had sent her to observe and analyze possible countermeasures. Magical girls were coming, but they’d likely arrive too late to save anyone.
“Gah!”
A scream of pain caught the fairy’s attention, watching in baffled astonishment as a young girl pounded the largest of Slithcar’s monsters, Captain Deathlok, to the ground, each debilitating blow striking between his legs. A preteen girl did this?
And the young, noble humans fought well, keeping their own against the monstrous horde. They fought with a courageous spirit, receiving a terrible beating, but fighting the monsters back.
“Bastards!” The young girl among them said, paying back a nasty gash across the forehead with a baseball bat into the Deathlok’s tentacled face. The creature babbled nonsense before getting knocked unconscious from a second, heavier blow.
Impressive. Was the girl part of some baseball club? It made sense. While else would the young girl randomly carry around a bat?
“Tsk,” Vice said, scowling as the rest of his monsters fell.
“Like that, freak?” The giant human said, crushing a tentacled monster with a foot. Other than some bloody gashes staining his school uniform, he seemed fine.
“And you’re next!” Much to Charity’s alarm, the girl pointed her bat at the airborne Lord Captain. Didn’t the girl realize just who’d she challenged? The monster lackeys were one thing, but Vice was on an entirely different level. He could level cities with a flick of a finger!
Before Charity could warn the poor humans, Vice lashed out. Light gathered within his hands, lashing out as a viper-like whip. Charity screamed in horror as an explosion of light blasted the young humans to the four winds, many getting blown into the water. The heat and force of the blast left them blackened and battered. It was over. In a single stroke, the Lord Captain had defeated them all.
“Bastard!” A pained voice said. The taller human weakly lifted a head, struggling to his feet. “Ikehara, you still alive?”
“Damn right.” The girl had also pushed herself to her feet despite her terrible wounds. Her mask slipped from her face, revealing a mouth that was smiling a wolfish grin. “Takes more than that to kill me! You hear that, you bastard!”
Vice remained unimpressed, glaring down at the still-defiant humans. This time, he’d ensure the humans wouldn’t defy him again. Charity couldn’t hold back anymore. While breaking protocol, she refused to allow these brave, noble humans to die.
“No!” Before Vice could strike another killing stroke, a small white figure drove into his chest at full force, blowing the wind from his lungs.
“Huh?” The humans watched the scene in evident confusion.
While the Lord Captain was still recovering. Charity flew towards the young, brave girl, taking a risk that likely wouldn’t work.
“Quick, grab my paw!” The fairy extended a paw.
“What? What the hell are you?” The girl asked, eyes wide.
“A friend. If we bond, Charity can give you the power to fight this monster.” Charity replied. It was a long shot. Only fairies that matched a human’s wavelength could bond, but it was this planet’s only chance.
“What the hell are you talking about?” The girl said, baffled. Charity noticed details she’d missed from high in the air. The girl had a rough demeanor with hard, scary eyes. She reeked of cigarette smoke, odd for a preteen. And her hands were rough, like someone who often got into fights. Wait, what had she gotten into?
“Fairy?” Vice said, eyes blazing with hatred. “So, Starlight Dream thinks they can save this world? Fool. Haven’t you already learned your lesson? Wasn’t the corpse of the last magical girl Master Slithcar sent you enough proof of the folly of opposing us?”
“What is it you hope to accomplish, little fairy?” The Lord Captain said, voice dripping with mocking contempt. “Like bonding with this fool girl would accomplish anything. You so-called protectors of the cosmos are impudent little children, trying to police an adult’s world they can’t begin to comprehend! Burn in hell with the last three magical girls.”
No! What had she been doing? Why had she broken protocol? She should have known it’d be pointless. She trembled as Vice gathered light into his palm, eager to extinguish her with a single blow. A gasp escaped Charity as something grabbed her paw.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but if you can give me the power to kick this guy’s arrogant ass, I’ll take it. Name’s Arisu Ikehara.”
“Charity.” She stared, awestruck, sensing something within her, bright and warm. Was this hope? They both gasped as a red-colored diamond-encrusted brooch dropped into Arisu’s hand.
“What’s this?” Arisu said, examining it.
“Hold up your brooch and yell, Change Change, Magical Love Dress Up.”
“What? That’s stupid.”
“Trust me.”
“Impossible,” Vice said, eyes widening in shock as he noticed the brooch in Charity’s new partner’s hand.
“Watch this. I’m about to kick your ass!” Much to Charity’s dismay, Arisu pulled out a cigarette and lit it. After taking a deep drag, she thrust her brooch skyward. “Change Change, Magical Love Dress Up!”
Blinding light filled the dockyard, warm and intense. Arisu stared at herself in astonishment as her school uniform changed, becoming a long frilly skirt. Five pinkish-white petals extended from it, both simple and elegant. Additional petals spouted from her chest, with her red brooch shining as a beacon of power.
“You did it! You’ve become a magical girl!” Charity whooped, flipping around in the air.
“Is that what I am?” Arisu examined her new costume with astonishment, pulling at her skirt.
“So what? You’re dead all the same,” Vice said, unimpressed.
“Wow.” The tall human watched this, eyes wide. “Arisu, you’ve become some kinda hero!”
“Guess so.” Arisu squatted down, cold eyes glaring at the Lord Captain. “Call me, Arisu Ikehara, the Wicked Queen!”
“Um, are you sure?” Charity cringed. What kind of magical girl moniker was that? She sounded like a villain. Whatever. She’d convince her partner to think of a better name later. “Extend your hand. You can summon your magical girl weapon!”
“Got it!” Arisu extended a hand, and a staff embedded with an apple-like jewel landed in it.
“Like some newbie magical girl can beat me. Try your best, little girl.” The smirk vanished off Vice’s face as the apple jewel embedded itself into his face, blood spurted everywhere.
“Take that, you bastard!”
“What are you doing?!” Charity said, alarmed. “That staff is meant for channeling magic, not brawling!”
“That sounds lame.” The Lord Captain’s whip cracked at her partner at impossible speed. But Arisu slipped past like the wind, hitting him in the chest. He coughed blood as ribs pierced his lungs. “This works way better!”
“You haven’t seen the last of me,” Vice said through pained gasps of air. “You only got lucky!” Before her partner could finish him, he teleported away.
“Tsk, coward. And it was just getting good.” Her partner released her transformation.
“That was incredible, Ikehara. You kicked ass!” The tall human said, rushing over. The other humans, which Charity realized were delinquents, ran over to give their congratulations.
“What has Charity gotten herself into?” She put her paws into her face. This was her life now? What would her friends say? Or Captain Izanami?!
“Hey, what are you so glum about?” Arisu said, putting a hand on Charity’s shoulder. “We kicked ass!”
Charity only sighed. “Nothing. Charity’s glad we fought them back for now.”
“What was that? It was like I could sense the danger before it happened.” Arisu said, looking at her brooch in amazement.
“That’s your power. Every magical girl possesses one. Charity thinks you must have some ability to sense future events.” That was a rare power. It’d serve them well in future battles against Slithcar’s forces.
“Why do you refer to yourself in the third person? It sounds stupid.”
“No, it doesn’t! It’s cute!” The nerve of this girl! Everyone laughed as the fairy fumed at her partner, inflaming her temper hotter. Unbeknownst to them, this random encounter would change the entirety of the cosmos forever.
---
I apologize to any real life schools used in this chapter. I'm sure you're very nice and aren't a delinquent ridden hellhole.