<i>Moonshine had been supposed to come along, but Moon Beam had ended up instead being their familiar for this trip instead. (Apparently Miracle Mary wanted him with her). It was hard to get them mixed up considering Moonshine was white with blue eyes, and Moon Beam was black with purple eyes.
While on the bus to the Samuel's old criminal stomping grounds, Starlight Stella had asked,
"I have one question, why Vicars and Clerics? What do they have to do with religion? Why Apostates? What does someone who rejects beliefs have to do with the former two?"
"You asked questions during Mirror Mira's orientation class too right? Good to see that's still there." Moon Beam remarked, playing Tetris again on his mobile remarked causally. "Well, this was back when some Protestants thought Catholics to secretly be a Satanist cult. And we happened to have one of those who was a big funder of ours. So they thought it would be funny if they named these ancient horrors after servants of bishop. They wanted to call Omega Level Shattered Ones 'Popes' and 'Cardinals' originally! The Sanshu no Jingi have been discussing new designations that aren't so prejudice."
Samuel had never been that religious (he had laughed at it) but Stella admitted that was in bad taste.
"They're currently thinking of Chi and Psi as they're the letters in the Greek Alphabet before the letter Omega."
"So why Apostates?"
"Well, we were stuck with the intelligent enemies of humanity being named after Catholics at the time, so naming something that went against 'the rules' as we knew them at the time felt logical."
Starlight Stella looked out the windows, they'd left Red Rock behind quite a while ago.
"Was the whole 'Moonshine's magic kiss will make us fall asleep if we try to leave' thing a fib?" Stella asked.
"Oh it's real. And if you try to go AWOL the same thing will happen until your transformation is finished. When your transformation is complete, you'll either not want to run away, or never want to ACT on the want. You'll be too pure hearted to want to ACT on the desire to abandon your sisters, the only thing a Magical Girl ever abandons is corpses. Not always the SMART way, but it's the RIGHT way."
"Are ALL magical girls pure hearted?" Stella asked feeling a bit uncomfortable, like a girl attending her first day at a new school.
"As a completed magical girl, being pure hearted is pretty much part of the package, it's why 'normal' magical girls were all pure hearted grade-school idealists. Being made into a sparkling eyed hopeful type is an inevitability, you're without hope except to become a stubbornly hopeful little girl, crazy eh? Every magical girl is unique though, some express hope as an endless brawl against despair, others see it as spreading seeds of happiness everywhere they go. Others see hope as something that needs to be guarded."
"Wouldn't that cause conflict between the ranks?" Lee/Kicking Kodachi asked.
"Magical Girls can see a different TYPE of good, and don't see a 'slightly-different-good' as 'evil.' It's part of what makes you girls no longer quite human. Compared to the fluffy dresses and super powers, that pure heartedness is what REALLY makes you incomprehensible to the average human."
Moonlight Maria of all people got a question out, a rather unpleasant and tactless one. "So. You feed on ambient happiness. Does that mean we're going to be technically attack a food source of yours?"
Moon Beam frowned. "Drug induced happiness isn't really nourishing, I think a good comparison for you would be diet soda. It's just empty. Or maybe it's better to say it's trying to eat a DRAWING of a diet soda. And even besides that, the despair, misery, self-hatred, and the rest that comes out of drug addict WAY out weight any kind of fake happiness."
Moonlight Maria politely backed off from the cabbit's stern tone.
"Can I use my magic to be a grown up?" Magma Madeline asked (there was really no trace of Matt Nickson at this point).
"There's a Magical Girl who can manipulate her age to become whatever job is needed on hand: cheer leader, swimmer, artist, stewardess, doctor, police woman. But the average magical girl CAN'T manipulate her age anymore than a normal human can, maybe a little less actually. There are also a few Magical Girls with time magic, who can age up and age down people, but it doesn't quite work as well on your own kind, you snap back. The absolute oldest Magical Girls get is sixteen, and they're the most rare. Most are in their lower teens. The rest run the full range below and between."
Starlight Stella asked, feeling like it was a formal farewell to something rather than a real question. "If the Star Stone went bye bye... would we... get stuck in between, or change back?"
"Oh no, your magic and form are completely internalized. 'Magical Girl' is your NATURAL STATE now. Your body, mind, spirit, are all just playing catch up."
"I understand." Starlight Stella nodded. 'So long Samuel. Here's hoping I can help clean up my mess.'
Ironically, Starlight Stella, nor any of them once asked why Magical Girls didn't get involved in wars... Starlight Stella already knew the answer in her heart of hearts. Like all her kind did. Magic wasn't to be hoarded by one country or nation, and it wasn't meant to be a tool for humans to kill other humans. Like Atomic Annie had when she became a mahou shoujo. Magical Girls did NOT get involved in political wars. Starlight Stella knew this like how she knew how to breath.
+++
The girls were surprised when the old motor coach came to a stop, Moon Beam looked only moderately surprised.
"Why'd we stop?" Starlight Stella asked.
"Just somethin' Ah gotta do," Sweet Susannah said.
Again, Moon Beam didn't look all that surprised.
The wild west Magical Girl jumped off her driver's seat, and walked out of the bus.
The neophyte mahou shoujo all looked at each other, and as young girls tend to be, curiously followed.
Outside the found a grassy desert hill, cars indifferently speeding past, having their own places to go. And on top of the hill, was three large rocks. Each had a symbol engraved, one had a maple leaf, another a tomahawk, and the last a feather.
Sweet Susannah had taken off her hat, along with her twin magical six shooters. She knelt before the stones.
"Hey girls, just dropping by, can't stay for long. Have another crop of newbies to shuttle along. Been doin' okay. Always more trouble makers to take care of doesn't it? But you were right Maple, the world is a bit better than it was before Ah think. Just wanted ya to know Ah'm still truckin' along. No they haven't assigned me a new squad. And Ah haven't formed one either. No it ain't that. Ah just think Ah'm doin' the most good where Ah am. Somebody's gotta make sure these girls get back home in one piece."
Sweet Susannah put her hat and guns back on and walked back towards the bus.
The neophyte mahou shoujo magical girls quicly made way for her. She didn't say a word to them.
+++
"Aren't you cold like that?" Kinetic Keira asked looking at the half dragon magical girl in her armor swim suit in the middle of the rain.
"No... not really," Magma Madeline admitted, the rain drops fizzling off her. The rain also just rolled off the other girls' costumes. "Excuse me," Magma Madeline asked Moon Beam awkwardly. "I know it's a little late to ask but... do we really have the right do this? I mean, if the police can't just arrest them anyway, what right do we have t go barging in and beating up people that we're told are the bad guys.
Moon Beam smiled, "Nice to see you showing concern Madeleine." Then said matter of fact. "You're formally sanctioned by an international organization, the forces of Magic itself, and nearly every nation on Earth. You're more than legally able to make citizen's arrest and bring in suspects for questioning for the local authorities."
"So we're government endorsed vigilantes right now?" Moonlight Maria asked.
"Better to think of it as Superheroes," Moon Beam said. </i>
+++
Tommy Barnett, boss of the Warrior's street gang and perceived as an invincible criminal in his tiny dark corner of the underworld, didn't understand what he was looking at.
His two armed, experienced, ruthless men, Mike Davis and Jack Murphy, were on the ground, unconscious, looking like they'd lost a fight with Bruce Lee armed with a cannon.
The tag along wimpy dog of a man Caleb Jacobson was standing a few feet away with his hands in the air, looking like he'd seen a parade of ghosts.
And standing there... was some mutilated house pet, a cosplayer too young for the character, another kid dressed up like a witch, a teenager dressed up like a loligoth, a bad cosplayer of Xena or something, and a little girl in a crazy dragon costume.
That none of them were wet while Caleb and the rest were drenched didn't even register in Tommy's brain.
Either these brats had taken by surprise his men and beaten them with nothing but costume props (absurd), or Caleb had grown a pair and lost what little brains he had and backstabbed his men from behind and taken them out (equally absurd).
Tommy didn't even acknowledge Caleb's non-presence.
"Alright! Whoever really did this! You come out in the next ten seconds or I let Kevin kill the brats! But that was five seconds ago!"
The human brain will go through any number of triple summersault backflips through flaming hoops to avoid having to face facts that contradicted their world view.
"Kevin'll start with the brats who think they're Sabrina and Smaug!" Tommy added.
The video game cosplayer could only say, "Sweet Buddha." The little brat's eyes widened in shock. Heh, little brats realizing too late this wasn't some stupid game of pretend. It was so cute when her eyes narrowed and she frowned darkly. Like she could actually do anything when Kevin had a bead on them.
+++
Lee Chin/Kicking Kodachi, could understand these men wanting to defend their turf, but but Stella and Madeline were definitely just little girls... Lee had never believed in 'honor' nor 'justice', but when Kicking Kodachi saw this casual attempted killing, things clicked into place inside her.
+++
"You won't be killin' anybody ya big meanie!" The video game cosplayer said. There was a flash of light... and the girl seemed to get... younger? And her cosplay costume looked a lot better too. A flash of light, and a pair of fancy gold and blue engraved nunchucks formed in her hands.
Tommy, Kevin, and Ernie were all momentarily confused by the magic trick. Caleb seemed to have accepted he'd simply gone mad.
THEN a golden sword with rubies in the hilt appeared in a flash of light in the half-lizard girl's claws. Absurdly it was longer than she was tall! What was MORE absurd was that the blade was covered in flames!
The other girls themselves seemed surprised at this.
"Yer a bad man!" The half finished lizard costume brat snarled. He didn't get any younger, or physically change in the least, but something behind her eyes had changed. "Wuv's fires will burn away yer hate! I'm Magma Madeline, dwagyon of wuv!" She said with no trace of irony nor sarcasm.
"ENOUGH WITH THE STUPID SPECIAL EFFECTS!" Tommy snarled. "Kevin, do it!"
Kevin didn't need to be told twice as he let out a series of bullets, the now younger fight game cosplay swung her nunchucks so fast that she left after images like an Agent from Matrix, each one deflecting a bullet harmlessly away, not hitting anymore.
"Burn in the fires of luv!" Then the dragon girl actually flapped her wings and TOOK TO THE AIR... Tommy couldn't see the wires. The other cosplayers seemed surprised by this too.
Tommy turned to Enrie snarling. "YOU BASTARD! YOU DRUG ME MAKING ME SHIT THAT ISN'T EVEN THERE!"
"YOU MEAN THE LIZARD GIRL IN THE AIR?! I SEE IT TOO DAMMIT!" The pig faced man squealed in self defense. Only the unrealness of the situation kept him from running away.
"FLAME STRIKE!" The lizard girl hissed, and a crescent of flames flew from her sword as she swung it, right at Kevin who was reloading fast like a pro, and Kevin apparently wasn't have the problem of accepting (or rather not caring) about what he was seeing, and actually dodged the impossible attack.
She'd apparently misjudged the force of the attack as it sent the rest of the brats scattered too along with Tommy, Ernie, and the worthless Caleb.
What truly surprised Tommy, and sincerely and completely made no sense to him in the least, was when the kid dressed up as a witch actually darted TOWARDS Mike and Jack and shielded them from the flames with her cape.
The freak animal almost looked like it was smiling.
Nearly being cooked alive seemed to snap Ernie mostly out of it, and decided to get while the getting was good and ran back inside for the back door. "ERNIE! YOU COWARD! SCARED OF A FEW STAGE TRICKS!"
Tommy aimed his gun at the retreating backstabber. The girl dressed as a doll... her black costumed gained some pink trim, seemed to regress in age two years, and her skin turned a bit more pale. And her hair... turned pink?! Whatever the case, she slammed her fancy looking gauntlets into the ground, this caused a tremor, that messed up Tommy's shot, making him miss Ernie, but also sent the costume brats off balance too.
Caleb was doing what he did best and was being useless, Tommy noted to beat the hell out of him later for this.
The Xena-harem wannabe swung the big metal hulahoop at Ernie, with hit his legs and tripped him up, but didn't knock him out.
Kevin by now had recovered and reloaded and took another string of shots at the brats, not caring if bugs Bunny and George Washington came knocking.
The Peter Pan wannabe was too far away in the air. The girls were now too spread out for the video game cosplayer to block all the shots with the same cheap trick.
The goth blocked some of the shots with her fancy metal gloves. The dragon girls' sword also blocked some. And the cosplayer was also to use her Nunchucks to defend herself.
The Xena-harem girls' metal hoop flew back to her like with magnets, but it wouldn't make it in time. (Ernie got back up and began running again.) And the dress-up witch covering his two boys looked paralyzed in fear. Idiot Kevin, didn't he know how hard it would be to replace Jack and Mike?
But the bullets headed towards the 'witch' and 'Xena' were knocked out of the air by ANOTHER set of bullets from nowhere Tommy didn't see! The girls themselves seemed a bit surprised, and ashamed.
A sniper! He knew it! This was an act! He didn't know why they were playing these stupid games, but too bad for them!
+
Well outside the junkyard. Sweet Susannah blew the smoke off her magical six shooter.
+
"SOLAR FLARE!" The brats all covered their eyes. Kevin and Tommy didn't. Caleb seemed to realize what was coming, making Tommy slightly more open to the idea the worm had something to do with this.
There was a HUGE blinding light like from a flash grenade. Tommy couldn't see a thing! He began to shoot his gun wildly. So did Kevin.
Tommy had no idea what happened next. Something hard knocked his gun out of his hands, and he struck in the face, the gut, he kneecaps, and he was slammed into the ground feeling like a punching bag going toe to toe with a pro-wrestler.
When Tommy's vision came back, he saw Kevin on the ground, the half lizard girl monster standing on top of him with her sword against his neck.
Kevin's prized and beloved guns lady bisect nearby like they were butter cut by a flaming hot knife. Kevin's expression was that of a cage's animal. Caleb had his hands above his head kneeling, the cosplay standing next to him.
He also found the witch brat kneeling on top of him, her wooden toy wand against his throat.
"All I need to do is say a word, and you're a pile of ashes, there won't be a body to find, no one will mourn you, no one will avenge you." He saw the other freak girls look shocked. The trained circus animal looked scared.
Tommy hissed. "Then what are you waiting for?! DO IT! YOU STUPID CRAZY BEOTCH! IF YOU'RE REAL THAN FIND SOME BALLS TO LIVE IN THE REAL WORLD! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO LIVE IN YOUR STUPID FANTASY WORLD! IF YOU'RE HOPING I'LL BEG THEN YOU'VE GOT ANOTHER THING COMING!"
The little girl looked deeply at him, so closely she likely saw her own reflect in his eyes. The girl leaned back, and sighed. "No... that's... that's not the magical girl way... and it's not my way. Not anymore. I... skittles, fudge, and cashews, I want to show you there's a better way than... all this! I... I... I want to be your flowers and gumdrops friend! I... I KNOW this is the Star Stone's magic at work but... but I don't care! And I only kinda care that I do care. But I DO care about is leading you to a better future than the electric chair, being face down in the river, or gunned down by a rival gang or the police. I SHOULD hate you! I DID hate you! But... hating you won't change anything. You're done. You aren't going to hurt anyone again."
Tommy in that moment didn't see some freak or delusion, instead there was a little girl with the gift of magic who thought if she believed and tried really hard, she could leave a positive impact on the world. And it made him sick to his stomach. Not the magic crap, but this disgusting optimism of some brat who clearly had never dealt with the real world. Whatever meaningless babble she was rambling about.
"That's it isn't it? I screwed up my life myself, I didn't give a darn I did, and this is what I get for my just rewards. I belong to the magic as much as the magic belongs to me." Then he seemed to get SMALLER, and her costume more pretty: dotted with gold stars, and her eyes seemed bigger. "But I do have a question." The witch girl asked sternly, which would have been absolutely adorable if Tommy wasn't frothing with rage at the moment. "What do you know about Samuel Payne?"
"Samuel Payne? Ha! Guy was my inspiration. Knew what he wanted and took it. But you think that loser would've remembered that there's only room for one at the top! We're all stepping stones for each other!"
The witch freak paled. "I-inspiration?"
"Yeah. That means he's what gave me the idea to be in his business, oh I get it! You're his little sister aren't ya?! HA HA! Your big brother isn't some hard working saint girl! Sorry to shatter your fantasy for ya! HA HA!" Tommy laughed in the shocked girl's face. He kicked her off him, and ran, only to get kicked in the stomach and sent flying back, the wind knocked out of him and the world refusing to stop spinning.
"Looking for this?" A teenage girl in a gaudy cowboy outfit asked, holding up a hog tied Ernie Moretti ask if he was as light a feather.
The other costumed freaks looked like they'd been called out by their school teacher.
"Well, that wasn't too bad." Said the weird animal, in english, like a person. Tommy wondered when these drugs he'd been slipped would wear off.