So, hi again! Some personal stuff, technical difficulties, and a few drafts later, finally got a second chapter done. Given that one of my betas will be busy with a move, I can't promise when the the others will be coming; I'll likely be using the time to build up a backlog. I honestly don't have too much to say for this one, so I will once again thank
@Shadell and
@Kei for being willing to beta read this for me and massively clean it up, please go check out their works!
Episode 2: We Can't Be Teammates?! Jeremy's Shocking Denial!
It was a trite cliche, but it's true, Jeremy thought as the pair stared at each other; at that moment you absolutely could've heard a pin drop. The girl– the
real girl– named… Charity, was it? Yeah, Charity. She gazed at him dully, hazel eyes completely uncomprehending. Understandable. An amazing, brave warrior taking off their mask and being somebody as pathetic as him would shock anyone.
The emotional high Jeremy had been riding proved all too short. Charity's gaze appeared to mentally eject him from his own body; it was like his mind was coated in a sheet of stifling suffocating plastic, creating a barrier between him and the world. However, that could only do so much.
He could still all too acutely feel the tightness in his arms; it was a bit like when the doctor tests for blood pressure, only so much worse. So much more crushing, so much more overwhelming. Desperate for some relief, his hands slowly began clenching and unclenching. Clench. Unclench.
But before they started to clench again, he grimaced slightly.
No idiot, she's going to think you're going to punch her too.
He slowly loosened his fists. He felt no relief, only a mild sense of shame. Simultaneously, his legs started tightening, and tightening, and tightening. To Jeremy it felt similar to how the victim of a boa constrictor must feel as the beast started to crawl up your body; crushing your ability to run away, leaving you utterly helpless. In a way, it being the actions of a predator would have been a relief; it would mean that the sensation would stop. He decided to tap his feet to give them something to do, and maybe lose himself in the repetition motion. Tap. Tap. Tap.
But before they started to move upward for a fourth time, he grimaced again.
No, idiot. She's going to think you're being an impatient jerk.
All he'd done was make the shame he felt double. He let out a sigh. He decided to compromise by choosing to bounce on his heels. It didn't help either, but at least it felt like a somewhat natural thing to be doing.
Fortunately, Jeremy shifting his focus inward had given Charity enough time to compose herself, and she let out a light, airy laugh. "Umm… the truth is, I'm not quite sure myself?" Her eyes darted this way and that out of embarrassment, clearly looking for some kind of lifeline. God, this was such a mess.
Suddenly, her savior arrived, as a rather pipy but still masculine voice entered the conversation. "Alright, I think I can sort some of this out, at least."
Jeremy moved his head this way and that, trying to find this stranger, so that Jeremy could berate him for not even trying to help when Charity almost got
murdered, but he saw no one. He looked back at Charity, his expression screwed up in confusion, and she simply pointed down and to her right.
When he checked, he saw a jet black cat trotting up to them as fast as its four little legs could muster. With its small beady black eyes, smooth, impeccably clean fur that gleamed in the sunset, and perked-up ears, he had to admit that, objectively speaking, the little thing was positively adorable. It looked almost identical to a plushie he had seen at a toy store once and had been so tempted to purchase, before rationality won out.
Then the cat made some indecipherable sound that Jeremy realized was it trying to get his attention, and said:
"Yes, I think an explanation is definitely in order here."
Yeah, okay, that voice was definitely coming from the animal. Alright, a talking cat. That might as well happen, Jeremy supposed. He gave a light shrug and listened.
"So, where to begin…" The cat paused in thought for a moment. "Well, I suppose it would be best to jump straight to the point. I am Benzii, and you are a Galactic Soldier whose job it is to save the universe!"
Jeremy froze as several competing questions ran through his mind at once. Between everything that had happened in the last hour or so and everything being explained to him now, it felt like he was underwater, being swept away by ferocious rapids. However, the cat, evidently named Benzii's, last sentence gave him something to cling to as a sort of foothold. He was apparently some grand hero that was going to save the universe.
In terms of absurdity, that especially stuck out. Save the universe? Him? He was someone that could barely reach the minimal expectations set out for him (sometimes not even that), and now he had the well-being of the entire
universe on his shoulders?
"Yeah, no, setting everything else aside, you've got the wrong person." He said firmly, folding his arms. "I am not exactly World Saving Hero material." That was putting it mildly. He didn't feel the need to get into detail on his thoughts on the topic, but definitely needed to draw the line, for himself if nothing else.
"Regardless of whether you think you are or not, the Power Gem chose you." Benzii insisted, trotting closer to him. Despite the cat hardly seeming a threat, Jeremy could feel his body tense up further at the encroachment into his personal space. He backed away slightly.
If the cat noticed Jeremy's discomfort, it chose to ignore it, and continued. "If you weren't worthy, the item would have simply passed you by. The fact that you were chosen indicates that you have potential, even if you don't realize it."
Jeremy felt awkward trying to argue with a cat, talking and intelligent cat or no, so he turned back to Charity instead.
"I can't be a hero, I don't deserve it." To him this was a self-evident truth. The idea of him saving anyone seemed absurd. Okay, so "he'd" saved Charity, but that had been all Albedia. Meanwhile, the real him couldn't even save himself. How was he supposed to rescue an entire universe?
"It's not about what you, or anyone, deserves," Benzii evidently didn't care that this was now essentially a conversation-by-proxy, their voice growing more adamant by the second. Charity then decided to chime in.
"Listen Albedia, you clearly could be great at this! Can you please just listen—"
He turned back to Charity. "Don't call me that." Jeremy spat, like the girl had hurled a vicious insult. " I am not Albedia, and never will be." He could see Benzii bristle out of the corner of his eye. "My name is Jeremy Hughes. Sorry I can't help you. See you around, I guess."
He gave a small, awkward wave and refused to look back, as he briskly headed home.
Charity slowly made her way back to her own house, kicking wayward pebbles, which landed onto the gray pavement of the nearby road. This sucked! She finally finds a teammate, and they're hot, and she can't even get her— him, rather—to agree to join up with them!?
She made a forlorn sigh, and continued her trek. Her home was near the urban core of the town, so it was a lengthy walk. Benz continually prodded at her mentally, but she ignored them. She needed to sulk for a bit.
After around five minutes, she grew tired of being childish and decided to acknowledge the cat's badgering.
Alright, what's up?
While she didn't look down at them, she could sense Benz's glare.
'What's up' is that we need to figure out how to recruit your new friend to help us!
"Friend" was a weird word to describe a girl she kinda had a huge crush on who turned into a boy she both felt absolutely nothing for and knew absolutely nothing about. Rather than argue the point, however, Charity simply gave a weary shrug.
If she, er, he, doesn't want to do it, he doesn't want to do it! We can't force him to risk his life like that!
No matter how much she might want to, Charity chose to leave unspoken. Even setting aside the whole "crush" thing, the fact was that everything would be so much easier if she had a teammate; if she had somebody that she could fight alongside, somebody who would have her back.
But then again, there was another wrinkle she hadn't even really thought about. if the teammate was just Albedia? No question, she'd be as enthusiastic as Benz to get her on-board. But she remembered the dull, dead look in Jeremy's eyes. Could she trust someone like that to be her partner? She frowned as she realized she couldn't answer that question.
"Listen, maybe we can give it another try tomorrow," she accompanied the words with a soft sigh, her reluctance apparent, as the pair reached Charity's house. "But I'm not optimistic." The boy seemed to be stubborn as a brick, and Charity had no idea how to get through to him, especially when she wasn't even convinced she entirely wanted to.
She grit her teeth as she opened the front door. Why did life have to be so complicated?
After another thirty minutes, Jeremy finally reached his home. Something that immediately would catch somebody's eye is the family's two cars parked in front of the house, both relics from the Nineties. They definitely showed a good deal of wear and tear; both were beaten up, with dents in the bumpers and his dad's Buick having a tiny crack in the windshield. But they had been showered with love and care, and possessed a reliability only an old car can have. It was sentimental, but Jeremy honestly would have felt far less safe in the flashy new models that proliferated the parking lot of his school.
His home was equally modest. It was just one floor and looked, and sometimes felt, like it could get blown over by a strong breeze. It showed its age: the white paint on the front of the house was heavily chipped, and the wooden floorboards of the steps to the front door were slightly off-center. You could tell that his parents had gotten it for cheap. Jeremy still respected the place though, it had proven that it could hold strong and carried on.
That was what Jeremy had to do above all else, hold strong and carry on. He might not be as reliable as their car, or as sturdy as their house, but he had to push forward. It's what his parents wanted, after all.
He closed his eyes for a second, imagining himself as Albedia, standing tall despite any villains that stood in her way, ruthlessly beating down all opposition… Then he shook his head. That just wasn't him. It could never be him.
Setting the thought aside for the moment, he went inside. While his father wasn't there - he had night shifts at the hospital for the next week or so - his mother's workload must have not been too overwhelming today. She immediately came out of her small study after the closing of the front door. Her ruby red lips formed into a wide smile, and she charged toward Jeremy.
"Sweetie, you're home!" Barbra Hughes said, the taller woman running him to him in her ruby heels and giving him a huge hug as a greeting. Something about returning these displays of affection always felt maddeningly awkward and insincere. Which was bizarre; he loved his mom, obviously he did. But it was just another thing about him. When other people gave affection, it felt right. When he tried, it always felt empty, and emotionless. Another way he was broken- he couldn't even reciprocate the love showered onto him. He meekly returned the hug regardless.
He shook his mom off after a minute and manufactured a soft smile. "Yeah, I'm home," he said. "Mind if I go to my room, mom? I have schoolwork to do." His mom dismissed him with a wave of her hand — the ruby nail polish she was wearing today was a nice color on her he noted absently– and he quietly made his way to his room, the furthest room from the front door in the house.
As Jeremy entered it, he consoled himself with the fact that that wasn't a lie, even if he didn't care about schoolwork right now. His mind had been hard at work processing everything that had happened this afternoon, and he'd at least evolved from feeling like he was being swept away by the tide to "merely" treading water.
He began twirling a lock of his hair, the ring finger on his right hand absently toying with the strands. So, okay, what had just happened!?
Becoming a magical warrior, that was bizarre in itself. But turning into a girl? Against his own will? He'd heard about this sort of thing in speculative fiction he read, but wasn't that like… hugely unethical in real life!?
He couldn't even dwell much on the rush he'd gotten from being useful for once, because he was still trying to desperately process what on Earth was going on, and his mind kept looping back to the elephant in the room.
How was changing his gender like that even possible? Didn't you need to give yourself a bunch of chemicals and painful surgery and stuff for a boy to become a girl? It wasn't supposed to be automatic like that!
And why couldn't somebody who actually needed it gotten to have that privilege? A lot of people could benefit from something like that, while it just intensified how pathetic he felt
God, why did life have to be so complicated?
He felt like he wanted to cry. He clutched hs eyes shut, but as always, the tears never came. So he merely waited until the wave of sadness subsided, and collapsed onto his bed. He was determined to get some answers tomorrow.
Worn out, his schoolwork was completely ignored, as he instead drifted off to sleep. Before he fell into dreamland, he felt his hand protectively curling around the bracelet he had never taken off his wrist.
When Rubeda was called to her Queen's chambers, she had been expecting the worst, and was immediately vindicated. Milady looked imperiously down at her, with a razor thin smile that was actively scornful. It befit a vengeful Goddess more than it did a Queen of mercy.
"There are two of them now," It wasn't a question. Rubeda said nothing.
"We still only have one Power Gem, and
there are two of them now." Her voice was cold, and contained the solemnity and disappointment of a Queen sentencing her formally loyal subject to death. Rubeda realized, with as close to anxiety as she ever felt, that that scenario was worryingly close to being her current position. When it became apparent that her liege had nothing more to say, she responded, putting effort into making sure her voice stayed smooth and calm.
"Yes, my Queen, but the new girl came into her abilities recently, at the very least. She can not possibly have the experience to-"
"I believe that is exactly what you told me about the first one, and yet, she is still both alive and in possession of one of
my Gems." Her Queen stood as tall on her throne as she could, and began drumming her fingers on her right temple. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen her Queen this angry.
The Woman paused for a moment in contemplation.
"Perhaps you need assistance. It might be time to bring Cibra off guard duty."
This sent huge klaxons of alarm sounding through Rubeda's mind, and she straightened up as much as possible, suffusing her voice with as much determination as she could manage.
"Completely unnecessary, Milady. I will handle this matter, I assure you. I will not fail again."
The Queen gave a smile, but it did not reach her eyes. "Very well. Go. Bring me back both Power Gems, the two humans can keep their lives or die, I care little." Her lips curved downward, and her tone became more solemn. "If you fail this time, however, we might need to come up with… alternate arrangements."
Rubeda winced, but nodded, and disappeared, teleporting back into her quarters. Rubeda might be the older sister by milliseconds, but she was still the older sister. Just as she was her Lady's sword, she would be Cibra's shield. This was her responsibility, and this time, she would succeed.
Charity rubbed her eyes sleepily as she entered the AP Literature classroom, utterly dispirited. Her sleep had just been nightmares of Sunny bloodily slicing and dicing her on loop, and that meant she was hardly in the mood to entertain Benz's badgering to get Jeremy to help them that morning. Which made sense. After all, since she and Jeremy weren't going to be partners, that was looking more and more like a likely outcome next time she and Sunny ran into each other.
She reached her assigned seat, fell into the blue and plastic chair, and collapsed onto the desk, head colliding with the polished wood with a thump. She let out a barely audible groan.
"Something got you down?" A voice said from directly behind her.
"How'd you guess," she grumbled as she shifted and turned backward to face Melody Graham (or as Charity preferred, Mel), her bestie since grade school.
"Hmm… can't say. Truly a mystery." Mel responded, her black nails scratching at her chin in faux-contemplation. She then paused for a second and tilted her head, a teasing smile playing on her lips. "Boy trouble?"
Charity simply shook her head weakly. Mel gave a firm nod in understanding, with her blue eyes seeming to twinkle in sympathy. "Girl trouble then."
She paused for a moment, trying to decide the safest way to put this. "Sooorta?" She said weakly, waggling her left hand in response. Melody simply raised a manicured eyebrow, running a hand through her green hair. She waited a second, presumably expecting Charity to elaborate, and when she didn't, simply shook her head vehemently.
"What on Earth does 'sorta' mean!?" Mel almost shouted. She leaned in toward Charity conspiratorially, and lowered her voice back down to a whisper. "Listen, tell me more, I promise I won't snitch!"
Charity smiled ruefully. She'd love to— Mel had always been her confidante, somebody who she could tell her most important life secrets to. The girl could provide surprisingly insightful advice. But Mel was the head of the school's Journalism Club, and she really doubted she would be able to shut up about her best friend saving the world by moonlight. This needed to stay secret. The less people knew, the less likely Sunny would decide the best answer was to just go on a killing spree.
But when Mel got a hunch that something was up, she was like a dog playing fetch—she'd chase after that hunch and sink her fangs into it as hard as she could. She'd already suspected that something was up given Charity's behavior the last two weeks, and this latest mystery would simply make things worse. She had to figure out some innocuous explanation for everything that was going on… but had come up with nothing so far.
She'd tried saying that she was spending her free time with her new cat, but she seemed to find how well behaved Benz was for a supposed stray suspicious in itself, so that excuse just compounded the problem.
Benz, you don't have any mind control abilities do you? Like… mind-wiping or something? Mel is being so annoying!
Charity, even if I did, I am not going to mess with your friend's brain.
She quietly groaned to herself, her lips curling into a little pout as she laid her face back onto the desk. Unfortunately, she evidently was not quiet enough.
"Okay, seriously, what's up?" Mel's voice suddenly radiated sympathy, and Charity heard her friend get out of her chair to come to her side, gently putting a hand on her shoulder. "Listen, I just want to help." Her voice was soft and soothing, like a mother attempting to reassure a child. From most people Charity would feel patronized, but from Mel it simply radiated compassion and warmth.
Okay, maybe she could at least try and explain some of it abstractly…
But right before she started to try, a deeper voice injected itself into the conversation.
"Oh, sorry, am I interrupting something? I'm sorry, I'll go-" The words came out in a rush, a flurry of words spoken so fast it took a second for Charity to process. But that wasn't important, given that she recognized the voice instantly.
She gazed up at the new member of the conversation. "Oh, no, it's fine. Jeremy. What do you need?" She asked.
Ask him if he's changed his mind! Said the little pest in the back of her head.
First of all Benz, no, second of all, I absolutely can't do that while Mel is here, are you crazy!?
Jeremy did his best impression of a deer in the headlights when both Mel and Charity turned their gazes on him. Charity made an effort to look as sympathetic as possible, but it didn't seem to be working. She wondered if Mel being here was making this more complicated for him, or if the boy was so skittish he'd be like this regardless.
Jeremy looked down at his white tennis shoes, lightly kicking his feet as he talked. "I, um, didn't really get the homework from last night, and I know you always pay attention in class, Charity. Do you think you can help?"
Mel looked like she wanted to say something, but Charity was capable of reading between the lines, and answered immediately. "Oh, sure. Can we meet up after school? I'm known for my tutoring skills!" She gave Jeremy as much of an encouraging smile as she could manage, but the boy didn't acknowledge it. He just gave a weak nod, slowly turned around and walked back to his seat. .
When she turned to face Melody, she could see that her blue eyes were narrowed with suspicion, and Charity just shrugged. "We've talked a couple times before," she tried to make her tone sound as casual as possible, but even she could tell her voice had a defensive bite to it.
Mel threw her hands up in surrender, and went back to her seat. Class began shortly thereafter, and Charity tried her hardest to think about anything except the afternoon ahead of her.
For Jeremy, the school day was usually agonizingly slow. His typical routine was to disguise his anxiety, act out his part as the diligent student, and move on with his life, repeating the same cycle
ad infinitum. Today felt different. A spanner had been thrown into the works. His thoughts were still a swirl of anxiety, but under the surface was something else… anticipation, maybe? Excitement, even?
Jeremy doubted it was the latter; he wasn't sure what there was to be excited about, really. He was just going to get an explanation of what right they had to turn him into a girl without his consent, and then have nothing to do with any of them ever again.
Yet, there was still something that made the day feel less like it was merely a blur of conditioned motions, but instead an agonizing crawl, where playing his part felt far more effort-consuming than it usually did. He decided he would try and figure out exactly why later.
When the bell finally rang. Jeremy was usually one to slowly get out of his seat, put everything in his backpack, and head home, body firmly on autopilot. Today, he threw everything into his backpack haphazardly as quickly as he could, zipped it closed, and walked out of the classroom as quickly as possible. Charity had agreed to rendezvous with him at the front gate, and she met up with him there a few seconds after he arrived.
"So, don't worry about us being bothered. Nobody is home at the moment." Charity's explanation was accompanied by an awkward laugh. Jeremy wasn't sure why exactly she was uncomfortable, but it was none of his business.
The pair walked through the urban sprawl for around 20 minutes before reaching Charity's place, and Jeremy realized the likely reason for her awkwardness. Her home was a nice two-story house, with a coat of rich blue paint that shined in the sunlight, just as the blades of grass on the lawn sparkled from a recent watering. It was clear a good deal of work was kept into keeping the place maintained.
By laborers they underpaid. But he quickly banished the bitter thought. He needed to stay on good terms with Charity for the moment, and it wasn't his place to judge.
Charity scratched the back of her head and let out a laugh just as awkward as the first before motioning for them to head in, her cheeks tinted faintly pink.
After they entered the place, Charity gave him a quick tour. There were a variety of paintings hung on the walls in fancy silver frames, well-preserved fine china placed in golden drawers in the kitchen, and everything looked shiny and clean. Jeremy felt another stab of bitterness, but shook his head. Charity was a good person, he shouldn't let his own less fortunate circumstances make him look down on her like that.
After the tour, Charity showed Jeremy the way upstairs, and the pair quickly headed to her bedroom. Charity plopped onto her bed, and stared at Jeremy, clearly not knowing how to proceed. The awkwardness between the two intensified as they sat in silence, before Benzii freed them.
"So, did you request this meeting because you agreed to join us?" They sounded desperately hopeful, and from the look in Charity's eyes at least part of her shared that hope. He couldn't help but feel guilty that both their dreams were about to be shattered.
Jeremy quickly shook his head. "I can't be some kind of superhero, I'm not good enough to be who you need. I know that. But… I need something explained."
Charity tilted her head slightly. "What's that?" Her voice radiated confusion.
"Well… like… you know that magic bracelet… force-femmed me, right?" When Charity simply stared at him in bewilderment, he shuffled his feet awkwardly and then cleared his throat. If he was blushing, he'd be very unsurprised. "Er, turned me into a girl, I mean."
Charity stared at him for a second longer and then nodded, "Okay, I was kinda… wondering about that too. If you're a Guardian Soldier do you have to take the form of a woman or something?" She raised an eyebrow, "That seems odd."
Benz let out an indignant meow, which was not cute, absolutely not. Just… pleasing to the ear, yeah, that's it. Charity proceeded to let out a soft giggle. It was clear that if cats could flush with embarrassment, they absolutely would have.
"I had hoped that this planet wouldn't have the same preoccupation with gender that mine did, but regardless…" They then let out a quiet hiss that sounded like an attempt at a sigh. "That isn't how this works. Your duty is essentially to act as heroes called to save the universe from devastation, and that sort of power isn't that picky, as long as the person is strong of heart. Many men have been Galactic Soldiers in the past."
Jeremy couldn't imagine being "strong of heart" enough to be chosen- he was wretched. Broken. But now wasn't the time to think about that– this was more important than going through a despair spiral. He needed to pay attention.
"The Power Gem essentially functions by taking something akin to your ideal self, and molding you in that image." Benzii continued. "Whatever it is your dream self looks like, that is who you transform into. I don't know any cases where an individual's gender has changed, however- as far as I'm aware, that is unheard of, "
Jeremy nodded. That actually made a lot of sense. He had always wanted to be something other than himself, somebody who was a good person, a worthwhile person, someone who could help others. So he needed to be the opposite of who he actually was, and what was less like him, a useless pathetic boy, than a strong, confident, powerful girl?
Charity gave a nod of her own, and then turned her head to him. "That said, maybe you should try transforming again, Jeremy?"
Jeremy gave the girl a skeptical look, eyes narrowed. She quickly waved her hands in what was clearly supposed to be a pacifying gesture.
"Listen, I'm just curious if Benz will sense something when you transform that might clarify things, no ulterior motives, I promise!"
The sparkle in Charity's eyes made a lie of that promise, but regardless, he agreed. He knew that he couldn't resist that rebellious part of him lurking in the back of his head; the part of him that did want to do it again. To try and recapture that wondrous feeling of happiness and freedom he felt when he'd transformed that first time. It was as euphoric as any drug he could imagine and he desperately wanted another hit.
He ran his hand across the gold heart on his bracelet, and felt himself begin to transform.
Melody Graham had no fucking idea what was going on, but was absolutely convinced her best friend was trying to bullshit her. They hadn't been able to hang out for weeks now because she always had "some other business" to take care of, business that she was clearly covering up, by the way, and now she's suddenly palsies with some nervous kid with dead fish eyes that she had never seen Charity talk to in her entire life, and they're hanging out? When she is "too busy" to even give Mel the time of day?
Something was absolutely going on there. She doubted they'd hooked up; she really didn't think anxiety-ridden weirdos were really in Charity's strike zone, but the pair of them had some kind of secret, and she was absolutely going to uncover it.
Thus, when Charity and the boy- Jerry his name was? Something like that- met up outside the school's front doors, Melody quietly followed them. Her place wasn't far from Charity's, so for most of the trip her being right on their heels was entirely inconspicuous.
To some people this might seem a little extreme, but her motivations were entirely pure; first of all, as a veteran of the Journalism Club, she knew a scoop when she saw one. Yeah, some people whined about her being a "gossip" or whatever, but it gave her good instincts for when something was going down, and something was absolutely going down. And more importantly, it involved her friend.
The fact was, she was a little worried about Charity. Sure, like, she was a grown girl, she could take care of herself and all that. But it really came across like she was biting off something bigger than she could chew; she'd seen how exhausted the girl had been at school the last couple weeks– she'd been caught napping in class multiple times. Old Charity would be the one to snitch on someone daring to doze off during a lecture!
Not to mention that more recently, she'd just… had a metaphorical rain cloud over her head. The way she talked to Melody, it was like she felt like she had the world on her shoulders, and that she knew she was going to collapse if she had to bear that weight.
And what were friends for but to help carry the load?
So she, well, stalked them, she'd cop to that. She stalked them all the way to Charity's place. Fortunately, they didn't lock the door behind them, so a few minutes after Charity had unlocked the front door and headed in with Jerry, Melody quietly slipped in, making sure to shut the door behind her as quietly as possible.
She then quietly made her way up to the second floor, wincing when one of the stairs made a quiet creak as she stepped on it, but sighing in relief when she didn't hear any indication that she had been found out. She then hid right outside Charity's bedroom door, and listened in.
And nothing she was hearing made sense. Who is the third person in the room talking to them? What on earth were they talking about? Superheroes? Saving the world from devastation? And what the heck was a Galactic Soldier?
Rubeda was soaring high in the skies of Hexitrude Town, with all senses alert. She was carefully scanning for any sign of either of the magical girls, whether that sign be physical or mental, and inwardly groaned when she found nothing. The Milady of the past would have likely been sympathetic if she returned with no results… she was unsure if she would be so charitable now.
As time passed, she grew more and more frustrated. She wasn't even sure what exactly she was looking for; given that she didn't even know the two's identities beyond their Galactic Soldier names. It's not like she could track them down. She simply extended her spiritual and mental senses, desperately praying that she'd find a clue.
And then. Perfect. Her lips curled into a smile as she felt a similar tug to what she had felt yesterday, when she sensed one of the Soldiers. She absently noticed there were subtle differences, but she was too busy trying to follow this tug to its source to truly try and focus on the minutiae.
This time, there would be no mercy. No holding back. She would strike the two of them down in the name of her Queen.
Charity tried really hard to not blush when Jeremy transformed into Albedia again… and she failed miserably. God, why did this fake form have to be so hot?! She didn't get it. Life could be so cruel.
"Okay, so, Benz, did this help-"
But before Charity could even finish her sentence, she heard an all-too-familiar voice, the one time she really didn't want to hear it.
"Okay, what the fuck is going on here?!"
Melody charged into the room, and just stared at the scene in front of her. Her utterly flabbergasted face would normally be hilarious, but - given the circumstances - filled Charity with despair. Mel couldn't get involved with all this. She just couldn't.
Oblivious to Charity's inner turmoil, Mel simply started pointing at things randomly- "W-was that cat the other voice I heard? Since when could cats talk? Why did Zombie Boy become a girl? What is this weird bullshit about you two being superheroes? I just… Please, help a girl out! Throw me a bone here!" Her voice was quickly shifting from bewildered to pleading, and she clasped her hands together in supplication.
And then right as Charity's mind was desperately racing for some kind of reasonable explanation for all this, she heard another voice, one that was becoming distressingly familiar.
"Explanations won't be necessary."
A moment later, Sunny materialized into the room. One second there was nobody behind Mel, the next second the albino was right there.
Poor Mel didn't even get a second to react, Sunny moved as quick as lightning, chopping her in the neck and slamming her fist into the left side of her head. Mel collapsed onto the carpet, like a puppet with its strings cut.
Charity charged toward her friend, and saw out of the corner of her eye that Albedia was about to do the same thing. Sunny, however, was faster. She grabbed Mel with her left arm, and with the right quickly summoned a weapon; it was thin and resembled an icepick, with a light bronze sheen.
"Come to the forest to hand over your Power Gems to me, or your friend dies. You have one hour to comply."
With that said, Sunny and Mel just disappeared. Sunny could teleport out of places just as well as she could teleport into them, apparently.
Jeremy just stood there in shock. Did that girl just kidnap Charity's friend and hold her hostage?
Jeremy would have pondered on what they should do, but wasn't sure what choice they really had. The only option seemed to be to surrender. He couldn't let anybody's blood be on his hands, no matter what was at stake.
Jeremy expected Charity to concur, to demand that they go turn in their Gems immediately. Alternatively, to shut down; to collapse onto the carpet and break down crying. She did neither and just looked at him, her eyes alight with determination.
"Okay, we need to rescue Mel. Either of you got a plan?"
Benzii, who had been still as a statue ever since Charity's friend had burst in, seemed to perk up at this, a speck of hope in their eyes. However, Jeremy merely shook his head.
"There is somebody's life on the line here. What we need to do is hand over our gems."
Charity just glared. "I won't let Mel die, but I'm not going to sign this universe's death warrant either. Mel would never forgive me."
"We have no leverage!" Jeremy insisted. "I barely even know how to fight! What exactly do you expect us to do!?"
"She expects you to think," Benzii said, intruding into the argument. "What good is saving the girl if everyone dies as a result?"
Jeremy felt anger spike at the calm way the cat was discussing this, but quickly bottled it up and shoved it down, down, down into the dark depths of his psyche. He couldn't let himself get angry. Anger never accomplished anything.
He breathed in, and breathed out. "I don't know what you expect me to do here," He repeated. "I'm not a hero."
Charity paused. "You could be."
"What?" Jeremy was dumbstruck.
Charity stared directly at him, her eyes burning with more passion than he'd ever seen the girl have.
"Listen, you know I have a crush on you… well, this you, right?" She gestured at Jeremy's current form, and he simply nods.
"That isn't just because you're cute and hot, though you absolutely are. It's because you saved me. You didn't need to be asked to do that, you did it without a second thought. Because you thought I needed help. Because you cared." She gave Jeremy as bright a smile as she could manage. "You were a hero, Albedia. You were my hero. I think you can be again."
Jeremy had started to object, but when Jeremy heard Charity call him- well Albedia- cute, he was silenced. He feel his cheeks go hot, and whatever he had been planning to say, his train of thought had been completely derailed. The declaration gave him a strange warmth inside his chest, and helped to calm down his racing thoughts. For some reason being called cute sent a sharp thrill up his spine. He wanted to smile, but managed to bottle that feeling up and set it next to his anger– now wasn't the time.
She took a breath. "Now just take a deep breath, stop panicking, and help me come up with a plan."
Jeremy surrendered. Charity was right, really. With so much at stake, it was wrong to give up before they even tried. And it's not like he was Jeremy right now. Jeremy was a coward. Jeremy could never do anything right. Jeremy would run away and never look back. Jeremy was an awful person, and he could never fix that.
But Albedia? Albedia was strong. Albedia was confident, Albedia both wanted to save people, and had the power to do so. He had been looking at this all wrong; he was given a gift here- a chance to be somebody he obviously wasn't, to try and do something great for everyone around him. Sure, he wouldn't be remembered for it, but Albedia would. And that was enough.
So, sure. He could play pretend.
Albedia took a deep breath, though he could still feel a hint of heat in his cheeks, and nodded. He—no, Albedia wasn't a pathetic boy—
She looked right at Charity, her lips now a determined line.
"Okay, you're right, let's brainstorm." Albedia tried to inject as much confidence into her voice as she could manage
Benzii, giving Albedia the brightest smile they could muster, quickly made that hairball sound she was pretty sure was him clearing his throat. "I might have a suggestion."
Thirty minutes later, Charity, now Citrinia, entered the woods. She was, for a moment, worried about how exactly she was going to find Sunny, but the other girl had made things convenien for her, by simply teleporting directly to her right. One arm clutched the unconscious Mel, the other held the icepick.
Citrinia closed her eyes, and affected the most solemn expression that she could manage. "I admit defeat," she said, lowering her head and moving to take off the necklace that contained her Power Gem. Lowering her head served two purposes- it would make things look authentic, and also because she didn't have a poker face worth a damn.
Sunny merely nodded. "You made the right choice. This may seem tragic now, but when you feel nothingness for the first time, I'm sure you too will-"
Before Sunny could finish her thought, Albedia rammed into the girl from behind, slamming her right shoulder into Sunny's back. Caught off-guard, she dropped the icepick as she stumbled forward, and Citrinia charged at Sunny and gave her a firm punch to the right side of her head.
Her head snapped far enough leftward that Citrinia could swear she heard Sunny's neck crack, and she immediately collapsed to the ground, motionless. For a moment, she thought Sunny might be unconscious, and started to slowly approach her.
But once she was within arm's length, Sunny's revealed her bluff. Her hand snaked around Citrinia's ankle and pulled, knocking her down onto the grass. She let out a weak groan, and tried to get up, but Sunny had been faster. She quickly retrieved her blade and pinned Citrinia with her knee. She then leant over Citrinia, the icepick aimed directly at her heart.
"We've got to stop meeting like this," Citrinia said weakly, giving Sunny a wan smile.
Sunny didn't react, not letting her eyes off Citrinia. She was obviously concerned the girl had an ace up her sleeve. Well, she wasn't wrong.
"Before I die, can you at least tell me why you're doing this?" Citrinia said weakly, making as much of an innocent, doe-like expression as she could muster.
Sunny seemed to consider this for a moment, before saying. "I suppose you proved a competent enough foe that I can tell you that much." She paused for a moment, then continued. "We seek to bring the wondrous feeling of nothingness to the universe. There will be no more pain, no more suffering, no more betrayal." Her voice actually sounded almost… wistful. "Life causes everyone to stumble mindlessly through their lives, feeling empty. We free them from that emptiness." To Charity shock, her lips slowly forming into a soft smile.
"And is there no way I can talk you out of it?" Citrinia said, giving a soft smile of her own. "There's no real need to do this, I'm sure we can work something out."
Sunny shook her head. "Our goals are like oil and water. You wish to allow people to live their lives and suffer, we wish to end that suffering. There can be no compromise."
She then gave one of her manic grins. "What was this supposed to accomplish, regardless? Did you actually believe you could convince me to betray my Queen with a smile and some trite words?"
Citrinia's smile widened. She could sense her now.
"I was buying time, mostly."
Before Sunny could even process what Citrinia had said, Albedia charged toward her, and performed a jump kick, smashing her heel into Sunny's face. This sent her stumbling, stunned, backwards. She was only off-guard for a second, but that was all Citrinia needed to get free from her prone position and wrench the blade from Sunny's hand.
Citrinia held it to Sunny's neck- just to keep her in place, but a second later in front of her was nothing but air.
"Behind you!" Albedia yelled, and Citrinia turned and quickly jumped back, dodging Sunny's forward thrust, having already summoned a bronze sword. Immediately afterward, Citrinia charged forward, and attempted to punch Sunny in the side of the head. Sunny ducked and dipped away from the blow, but Albedia followed this up by shoulder-checking her, slamming her larger body into Sunny's. Sunny falls to the ground, losing control of her second knife, which Citrinia's partner immediately snatched.
The two went back and forth for some time, and Citrinia noticed that the longer the fight went on, the more manic their opponent's movements got, and equally as desperate. Sunny would throw her whole body into large, extended swings that were slightly harder to dodge, but also left her overextended, and far more vulnerable. The pair began to get more and more strikes in. Citrinia and Albedia also make sure to never give their opponent an opening to summon another blade, which gives Albedia, the one with the weapon, a substantial advantage.
After another ten minutes of back-and-forth, Sunny looked at them, her eyes gleaming with the sort of mania Citrinia had seen before, but it was extremely different. It lacked any sort of joy, instead radiating desperation. Sweat ran down her brow, and her breaths escalated to mild pants. While Citrinia certainly felt worn down, it was pretty clear who was inevitably going to lose this fight.
"There's no need for this," Citrinia pleads. "It's obvious that we've won, just give up."
"I… can't," Sunny panted, despite her labored breathing. "If I fall here, I fall here, but I must not..." Suddenly, she perked up, clearly caught off-guard by something invisible to Citrinia's eyes, and then vanished into the aether. The two of them stayed alert for a couple minutes, waiting for the next surprise attack, but it didn't come. She'd actually given up? Or something forced her to leave, at least. It wasn't the outcome Citrinia had hoped for, but at least Mel was safe.
Citrinia felt like jumping up and down, letting out a cheer of delight, but all she did was hold out her hand to Albedia. "Good job, partner. I couldn't have done it without you." Albedia seemed to be considering something, and after a moment's thought, took it.
"Thanks," she said shyly, refusing to look Citrinia in the eye. Citrinia then closed her eyes and sighed deeply. Speaking of her friend… "Now I need to figure out how to explain what just happened to Mel."
