“What the hell is that?” Kaguya stared up dumbfounded as horrible monstrosities descended from the sky.
What had she walked into? After separating from Arisu, she’d followed her delinquent friend to see what trouble she’d courted this time. Though loath to admit it, Kaguya admired Arisu’s combat abilities and loved watching her fight. She envied that kind of power, not having the guts to become a delinquent herself. Her mom would kill her if she did.
But these monsters were beyond compare, invaders from outer space lusting after the conquest of their planet! Even the Delinquent Queen of Daini Kameido couldn’t handle such demons!
“You sick ****!” Kaguya smiled in amusement as Arisu kicked their lustful leader between the legs and beat him senseless.
Or not. As usual, Arisu could handle herself against any foe. Kaguya had seen her friend defeat college-aged students! Combined with Kenji Ono and his Ariake gang’s help, they made quick work of the invading monsters.
“Seems I’ll need to handle this myself.” A floating, leather-bound figure said, disending from the heavens like a black angel of death. Kaguya gasped in horror as the demon laid out her friend and her companions with contemptible ease.
Impossible! Arisu lost? Kaguya wanted to help, anything to save her oldest friend. But, no. She was Kaguya, the worthless girl who’d starved herself to lose weight. She wasn’t tough enough to lose weight through training or hard work. No, she puked her guts out to feel normal. Kaguya wasn’t like Arisu, who could accomplish anything.
But a miracle happened, Kaguya watching as her friend became a divine being. She shone like the sun, casting away the darkness. The leather-bound warrior actually flinched just looking at her.
The Wicked Queen? What a cool name. Kaguya watched in awe as Arisu’s incredible power defeated the once seemingly invincible monster captain. Like a coward, he vanished as the Wicked Queen’s first hit landed an almost fatal blow.
Wow! The other delinquents cheered Arisu on as they celebrated her victory. Kaguya rushed to join in the revelry but stopped herself.
No, she didn’t belong with them. She wasn’t from their world. Kaguya was just a pathetic coward who’d done squat to help against the invaders. She slunk into a nearby dark alley, eager to return home.
Heh, punk ass losers. Kaguya jeered as the invader’s ships darted back into space, fleeing the planet’s new protector. Before she exited the alley, Kaguya froze as a hand gripped her shoulder from behind.
“You aren’t going anywhere.”
“You?” Terror stabbed into her heart, recognizing her attacker. It was the alien leader. Though bleeding from the mouth and holding his wounded gut, his grip was like iron. Despite her best efforts, his hold was unbreakable. Kaguya opened her mouth to scream for help, but the other hand clamped over her mouth.
“None of that. Forgive my impertinence, but the Slithcar Empire will need you to defeat that friend of yours. I noticed you observing the fight. The Wicked Queen is a friend of yours, isn’t she?”
Kaguya wanted to scream in protest, anything to stop this creature. But it was too late, and the monster vanished with her in tow.
---
“This way!” The monster captain said, pushing her through dimly lit corridors. From their red tint, it was more like being led through a blood vestal than an alien spacecraft.
“No, please! Let me go!” But Kaguya’s pleas fell on deaf ears, the passing monstrosities didn’t even glance at her.
After another score of identical corridors, her captor guided her into a vast chamber. It was so bleak and dark that Kaguya feared getting swallowed up by the void. A howl of pain escaped her lips as her captor roughly threw her to the floor. She recoiled as it pulsed and undulated beneath her. Was it alive?
“Captain Vice, I am not pleased. Not pleased at all.” The voice made Kaguya involuntarily tremble. She curled up in a ball, fearing to even breathe.
“Lord Slithcar.” Vice gave a stiff bow. “I can explain. We came across tougher resistance than expected.”
“Oh, I know all. How your entire force was beaten back by a bunch of middle schoolers!” The voice from the darkness replied.
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Despite her terror, this made Kaguya laugh. “What do you expect from the most badass students of Daini Kameido and Ariake Junior High?”
“You little!” Vice fumed, ready to beat Kaguya senseless for such an outburst.
“But the point is valid,” Slithcar said, saving Kaguya from a beating. “The inhabitants of this planet are tougher than we expected. No matter. They only faced our scout troops and a minor captain of my guard, little else.”
“I could have handled them if that fairy hadn’t interfered,” Vice said, bristling at his leader’s dismissive tone.
“Yes, the magical girl, stronger than most.” The shadow leader said. “A star among the chaff. She wouldn’t be easy to subdue.”
“That’s why I brought the girl, master,” Vice said, kicking Kaguya in the stomach. “She’s this Wicked Queen’s friend.”
“I ain’t telling you anything!” Kaguya said, all bravado. Inwardly, she quivered with fear. Who knew what horrors they’d subject her to for the answers they sought? She yelped as something slid across her cheek. Kaguya wasn’t even certain it’d been physical.
Pain tore at her limbs as something roughly jerked her upwards, quick enough to rattle her bones. Whatever it was, her soul quailed, threatening to bring bile to her lips.
“You seem to assume you have any choice.”
Something stabbed into her skull, blinding her with pain. Was she dead? Kaguya couldn’t tell. Blackness consumed her already blind vision, losing track of everything as her soul withered. Her body decayed as it lost all courage, her mind empty to focus on the omnipresent pain that had consumed her existence.
Reality returned as her body struck the writhing floor, jolting her back to her senses. Her vision returned slowly, just making the shape of something above her. Kaguya quickly turned away, sickened.
“Did you get the information you sought, my lord?” Vice asked. What? Had Slithcar somehow read her mind when he touched her? Kaguya shivered at the blatant violation.
“This Wicked Queen will be a troublesome opponent. But she has her weaknesses.” Kaguya’s stomach dropped as the speaker’s eye charged direction towards her.
“Please, leave me alone.” She needed to flee. Anything to avoid this creature’s touch again. But a firm grip forestalled any escape.
“Apologies, young lady. But the master still requires your attention.” Vice said, tone mocking.
“Indeed! She will prove a useful weapon against this new magical girl.” Slithcar chuckled to himself. “I, Slithcar, Lord of Monsters, shall grant you a boon, Kaguya Sawajiri.”
“Please, don’t!” But fighting was useless. Vice’s grip was impossible to break. Kaguya didn’t fight back her tears of shame and fear.
“You shall become a blight on this planet,” Slithcar said. “You wish to be like your childhood friend? Then you shall become her polar opposite. A vampire. A creature of evil and darkness that feeds on life instead of nurturing it. You will mother a whole host of monsters that will descend your planet into darkness.”
Pain stabbed into Kaguya’s neck, paradoxically agony and euphoric. She moaned, consumed by this strange sensation. She collapsed in a heap as Vice released her.
“What, I?” Her voice was raspy, like she had drunk nothing in days. Her head was hazy, her thirst an ever-present demand. What was happening to her?
“Will this work, my lord?” Vice said, examining their newest creation with some curiosity. “She doesn’t seem that powerful.”
“Perhaps, but she’ll be a useful distraction.” Slithcar laughed to himself. “By preying on its inhabitants, she will weaken this world.”
“Thirsty! Please! Give me something to drink!” Kaguya said, raising a weak hand towards Vice. It didn’t matter that he used to be an enemy. Anything to quell this damned thirst.
“And you shall have it, Kaguya Sawajiri! Feed, my child!” Slithcar laughed as the world jerked as Kaguya suddenly fell.
Her entire body quivered as it struck the hard pavement, a nearby wall cracking as Kaguya smacked against it. Night had fallen, leaving the alley pitch black and freezing. Kaguya barely noticed. All she cared about was saiting one thing.
“What are you doing here, fatty?” Hiro, a bully from school, said. She peered into the alley, drawn in by the strange noise.
“Crying in a back alley, are we? Pathetic.” The other girl, Kaede, said, laughing.
But Kaguya didn’t respond. Only a growl escaped her lips, sounding like a predator prowling its prey. The bully’s mockery turned to apprehension, instincts warning something was amiss. They stared fearfully as the red eyes glinted from the shadows.
“But we see you’re busy,” Kaede said, giving a weak laugh.
“Right, later!” The other said, retreating several steps.
“You aren’t going anywhere!” With an animalistic scream, Kaguya pounced.
---
“What happened?” Kaguya shook her head, confused. Her mind was a jumble, uncertain where she was. Her breath caught as she saw crimson staining the bricks of the surrounding walls. She retreated a step, freezing as her foot struck something. A gasp escaped Kaguya’s lips as she saw the mangled remains of two people she recognized.
“What?” Kaguya hyperventilated, putting her hands to her face, only to scream as she discovered them dripping in blood. Then everything returned in a flash. It was her who had done this. She’d lost control and tore her former classmates to shreds to taste their delicious blood. A croaking laugh escaped her lips, tinted with madness. Now she remembered! She laughed harder at the absurdity of it all.
“I’m a monster!” These mangled bodies were her reality now. Kaguya was a creature of darkness! She broke down, sobbing into her blood-soaked hands.
A scream caught her attention, freezing as a woman pointed at the blood-soaked girl with glinting fangs. More people gasped in horror, calling for the police. Part of Kaguya wanted to stay, to allow these people to punish her for her sins. She deserved it.
But she vanished into the darkness, flowing into it like water. No. she couldn’t surrender to them or anyone. Beyond anything else, Kaguya wanted to survive. After everything she’d suffered, she refused to die like a dog. If that meant becoming a monster, so be it. She would survive.
Kaguya marveled as a single leap propelled her thirty meters in the air, floating like a bird. The cool air felt fantastic against her pale skin, like she’d always belonged to the night. With gentle steps, she landed a fall that would kill another. She laughed harder when she reduced the hardened concrete to dust by flicking a finger. And this was only a tiny sample of her awesome new abilities.
“I deserve this,” Kaguya stared at her blood-soaked hands with a new light. She licked them, savoring the blood’s sweet, nectar taste. The weak, bullied Kaguya was dead. She was a vampire now, a Night Princess! She would enjoy pushing her new abilities to their limits.
“Slithcar, you’ve made a serious mistake!” The fool had no clue what enemy he’d just created. She’d envied his power, how he’d made others tremble with his mere presence. That’s why she’d make it hers. If it meant further abandoning her humanity, so be it. Humans were weak. Kaguya scowled in contempt, hating what a pathetic creature she’d once been. Nothing would stop her, not even her former friend Arisu. She was an enemy now. It was inevitable. Kaguya was the girl’s polar opposite, just another monster needing slaying. But it didn’t matter.
“Free, finally free!” Kaguya spread her arms and laughed. She licked her lips, her thirst returning like an annoying itch. But the night was still young. This princess would enjoy all its splendor.